Ezra Levant confronts Mark Carney’s Liberal supporters in Georgetown, exposing their dismissal of Paul Chang’s Chinese-language call for kidnapping a conservative rival—a $1M bounty aligned with CCP talking points—while Carney’s weak response avoids accountability. In Calgary, Thomas Keeper’s campaign crumbles after eight abuse allegations, yet he secures a restraining order against journalist Kian Becksy by falsely claiming physical threats, mirroring past tactics with Ann McGrath; mainstream media like CBC ignores Becksy’s prior reporting while Rebel News and Counter Signal push for transparency. The episode reveals systemic failures in vetting candidates and silencing investigative journalism, warning of deeper risks to democratic norms when foreign interference collides with unchecked political power. [Automatically generated summary]
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Tonight, a liberal MP calls for the kidnapping of a conservative rival.
And Mark Carney's fine with it.
It's March 31st, and this is the Ezra Levant show.
Shame on you, you sensorism bug.
Ezra Levant here.
I'm in Georgetown in the Halton Hills area.
Where is that?
About an hour away from our office in Toronto.
We came here on very short notice.
I didn't wear an appropriate winter gear and it's pretty chilly out, but we're here because we were told that Mark Carney, the installed selected prime minister, was having an event at the St. George Pub.
And indeed it was.
We came here and there was a lineup outside.
I asked some people questions.
Why are you here?
Obviously, there are Liberal Party stalwarts on the list who would have been given last minute notice just like we received.
Many of them were severely normal people, very friendly.
I asked some of them what they liked about Mark Carney.
The answers were pretty vague.
One or two people said it was his command of economics.
That's a fair answer.
Others said his values, but when I pressed them, they couldn't really list any.
Some people said voting liberal was a family tradition.
Here's some of those friendlier responses to my questions in the lineup outside in the cold.
And what's the number one issue?
So you're liberals, because that's your tribe and that's your tradition, but is there something in particular you like about them?
Yeah, economics.
I've looked for somebody that was competent all along.
I like Trudeau because I thought he would listen to experts.
I like Mark because he is an expert.
And how about yourself?
And again, it was only a compliment, but you did look young enough that maybe you've never voted.
Is there a particular issue or is it just sort of the family way?
I think there are a lot of issues.
I think this will probably be the most important election for Mark News.
Why is that?
I mean, I agree, but maybe we have different reasons.
Why do you think it's important?
I think that with the way the stage is going, there's a lack of compassion for other people.
And I don't think that at this time, the leader of the Conservatives feels that compassion.
I don't think he relates to many Canadians, and so I don't think he feels that way.
And that's important to me.
Last question, and you've been very generous with your time.
Who do you prefer?
Justin Trudeau or Mark Carney?
Well, I like Mark, I think, for his expertise.
I have no problem with Trudeau.
All right, well, thanks for talking with me, you guys.
Hi, what brings you up today?
I came to see Mark Carney.
Oh, yeah?
Well, fair enough.
Are you from town here?
No, Campbellville.
Oh, yeah, so how long a drive is that?
Half hour.
Okay.
And are you a liberal by nature?
I have been since the Trudeau years.
I was brought up as a conservative.
Oh, really?
So when did you switch?
Harper.
Oh, so you switched away from the conservatives on the harbor?
Yeah.
So you were a Justin Trudeau gal?
Justin Trudeau.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Looks like you're almost in, so I don't want to take up too much of your time, but if there was one reason other than sort of tradition and habit, one reason you like Mark Carney, what would it be?
It's to stand up to Trump.
That's my big, biggest issue standing up to Trump.
Now, Trump tweeted something unusual the other day.
He tweeted that he sort of prefers Kearney being the PM, and I didn't understand that.
I didn't believe that.
Do you think that was like disinformation?
I started an argument with my neighbor who thinks that that's true.
And I don't.
I think that's just Trump.
Trump just throwing it out there to mess up things.
So a little bit of chaos.
Yeah, I don't think that he really wants to deal with Kearney.
And I think he knows that he's got Polyev.
He's under some.
I think Polyev would sell our country off.
In what way?
What's your fear?
Thinking he can deal with Trump and make trades on things.
I think he'd sell off our resources, our water, things like that.
My boy here is excited to meet the Prime Minister.
Yes, I'm really excited.
And why are you excited to meet him?
Because I've never had an opportunity like this before, and I'm just really excited to meet him.
And what will you say to him if you meet him?
Just welcome to Georgetown.
Are you from around here?
Yeah, I was just saying.
And what are you hoping that he does as a prime minister?
Just everything that we were asking for.
Are you a student in school?
What grade are you in?
I'm in grade six.
Oh, yeah.
Well, good for you for coming to a political event.
Is that your dad or your grandpa?
Okay, well, good luck.
Thanks for talking with me.
Cheers.
Are you a liberal already or are you just checking out the merchandise?
I'm a liberal.
And are you excited about Mark Carney?
Yeah.
Yeah.
What do you like about him?
He's a banker.
He's sensible.
You like bankers?
That's the first.
I never heard that.
I like his policies, what he's outlined so far.
I'm here to support him.
The Liberals are doing very good since a long time.
They are good for the Canadians.
They are good for the people of Canada.
They take care for them.
Even internationally, they take care for everybody.
Can I ask what you like about Mark Carney?
Well, Mark Carney seems to be a pretty nice guy, like, you know, having a cool head and something like, you know, that can benefit Canada from his experience of whatever the education he has, whatever the experience he has, like, you know, working with top banks in the world, top economists, like, you know.
But are you worried about the fact that he's not really connected to Canada?
I mean, he only came back a few weeks ago.
He's been in Europe for 10 years.
Do you think he really understands the plight of ordinary Canadians?
Yeah, but he was always connected with the Liberal government.
Like, you know, he was always there.
So it's not like that he's just a fresh guy coming into the politics here.
Like, you know.
So I think so that he will be good for Canada.
Like, you know.
So tell me, are you a liberal by tradition or are you just here to check out the liberals for the first time?
Are you part of the party?
No, by tradition.
What do you like most about Mark Carney?
I like his values.
Give me one value that you like.
I'm not trying to put you on the spot.
I'm just trying to learn what you like about him.
I don't want to press you if I'm making you nervous.
He's a good speaker.
He's a good speaker.
Okay.
Well, I had some prickly questions too.
And before I get into it, let me tell you the background.
There's a liberal member of parliament from Markham, which is part of the greater Toronto area.
He was actually, he's a Chinese Canadian, but he was born in Pakistan.
So I guess that makes him a Pakistani Chinese Canadian.
I don't know, but it won't surprise you to learn that such a man was given a prominent role in the DEI policing efforts in the Greater Toronto area.
He speaks many languages, and of course he's friendly with Pakistani people and Chinese people and hopefully Canadian people.
And apparently he served for about a quarter century as a cop and then he ran to be a liberal PM.
So for MP, so far so normal.
But a couple of days ago, he said the most astonishing thing in Chinese to a Chinese language news conference in the GTA.
And he said that he called upon people to kidnap a conservative Chinese Canadian candidate who's active in the Hong Kong freedom movement to kidnap this conservative, take him to the Chinese consulate, where there is a $1 million Hong Kong dollar bounty for him.
He didn't say this as a joke.
He didn't say this lightly.
He said this in a deadly serious way in the Chinese language to the Chinese language media.
Just absolutely shocking.
And that's not a fiction or a fantasy.
There really is a million Hong Kong dollar bounty for that man.
And China has been credibly accused of kidnapping other Canadians who have a track record of standing up against communist China and in some sort of a rendition, taking them back to China.
And then there's, of course, the kidnapping of two ethnic Canadian people overseas, the two Michaels, Michael Spavor and the other Michael, who were kidnapped and held for years in China.
So for a liberal MP to say, go out there and kidnap my opponent and bring him to the Chinese consulate for a million dollars, not a joke, not a spoof, not a riff, a message, a message that does two things.
First of all, it might actually cause the man to be kidnapped.
Second of all, it terrorizes and terrifies any Chinese Canadians in Canada who resist and oppose the Chinese Communist Party.
And third of all, it signals that Mark Carney and the Liberal Party of Canada are in league with the Communist Party of China, which we already know because there are 11 MPs in parliament who were compromised by Chinese influence in the last election, according to CSIS.
And although Mark Carney has refused to disclose his finances, we know from public records that he recently negotiated a $250 million loan from the Chinese government, that he recently met with Xi Jinping.
Mark Carney has said that China is the future.
China is ambitious.
China is responsible.
One of the many strengths of China is their perspective, their medium long-term perspective.
This is an ambitious G20.
It's an ambitious Chinese leadership.
What we don't know is what holdings Mark Carney still has that make him exposed to Chinese influence or power, other than, I suppose, a quarter billion dollar loan.
Now, incredibly, after ignoring the issue for days, the media finally reported on it, the mainstream media, that is.
And today, Mark Carney had a press availability, but only for Beijing Media.
But to their credit, they asked about this atrocious statement by Mr. Chang.
And let me just remind you, if you need reminding, kidnapping is a crime in Canada, one of the most serious crimes.
And committing a crime in concert with a foreign power is another criminal offense as well.
I forget the exact name of it.
It was actually a fairly recent law passed in the last year or two.
So what Mr. Chang did was actually a crime.
You listen to Mark Carney talk about it as if it was some verbal gaffe, as if it was stumbling over a word or getting something a little bit wrong, a little bit of a whoopsie.
Take a listen.
In fact, I'm going to play for you about six minutes of Mark Carney making excuses here.
Take a look.
Look, the comments were deeply offensive.
This is a terrible lapse of judgment by Mr. Chang.
He has apologized for those comments.
He has apologized directly now to the person that he mentioned.
I apologized directly to him yesterday.
I've spoken to Mr. Chang as well over the course of the weekend to understand his position.
He is a veteran policeman.
Mr. Chang is a veteran policeman with more than a quarter century of service to his community, 28 years of defending rights in his community.
And he will continue with his candidacy going forward, having made those apologies very clearly to the individual, to the community, and moving forward to serve.
I should say the conservative candidate has come out and said apologies not sufficient.
And then previous to this, he was speaking with the RCNP about his safety.
So I'm just wondering why you feel comfortable continuing with a candidate that was parroting conservative, sorry, I should say, Chinese Communist Party talking points to try and attack a political candidate.
This is a person of integrity who's served this community, his community, as a police, as a senior police officer for, as I said, more than a quarter century.
He's made a terrible lapse in judgment.
He's made an apology for that.
It's also an individual who has family in Hong Kong.
He's under no illusions about the situation there, the situation in broader China.
He's made those apologies.
He's made them directly to the individual concerned.
He's made them directly to me.
He has my confidence.
It's not just opposition parties calling for Mr. Chiang's resignation.
It's also at least 13 civil society groups.
What message are you sending to Canadians who are worried about pressure from China when you allow him to stay on?
And how can you credibly criticize Pierre Pollier for his lack of security clearance when Mr. Chiang is considered a worthy candidate?
Well, the first thing, I can very credibly criticize the leader of the opposition for being at 930 days running and not having a security clearance.
Paul Chang Controversy00:15:01
I will say as well, in the course of my responsibilities, current responsibility.
I didn't do that.
That wasn't me.
I did manage to cut the piece of wood second time running.
Although I was under expert supervision.
No, getting back to the serious, these are serious matters, so I appreciate the question.
But in the course of my responsibility as Prime Minister, just yesterday, I received an additional briefing on foreign interference and potential matters related to that.
Of course, I can't share any details of that.
But it just underscored once again, A, I take my responsibility seriously, but the extent to which Leader of the Opposition does not and hasn't for more than three years.
In terms of, but to go back to the specifics of your question, this situation.
Look, I am deeply offended by those comments.
As I said, they're terrible lapse of judgment.
I view this as a teachable moment.
It re-underscores the respect with which we treat human rights in this country, the differences between Canadian society and other countries.
This, after all, though, I will go back to the character of the individual who made a lapstudy.
This is someone who has served our community, has been on the front line of policing for almost three decades, and has been standing up for those rights and has that track record for it.
He's made his apology.
He made it to the public.
He made it to the individual concerned, made it directly to me, and he's going to continue with his candidacy.
Thank you.
I notice multiple GTA area candidates behind you.
If you're still standing behind Mr. Chang, why isn't he standing behind you today?
He has other responsibilities in his writing.
We have multiple, but not every candidate.
Mr. Carney, I'd like to press you a little bit more on Paul Chang.
He lives in a riding that is 70% diverse, people of color.
Half of that are people from Chinese ethnic origin.
And of that population, about 20% are from mainland China.
The question that people from Hong Kong have asked me to ask is whether or not you are putting appeal to those voters, those voters who may support the policies of China ahead of the democratic rights and safety of dissidents who have called Canada home and mainly Hong Kong democracy activists who now live in Mr. Chang's riding.
Absolutely not.
Absolutely not.
Stand Foursquare for rights, Foursquare for our position, our very strong position vis-à-vis China, respect for Canadian citizens, all rights of Canadian citizens, irrespective of whether they hold dual citizenship or not, to be absolutely clear.
And Mr. Chiang has long history of service to that community, history of protecting those rights.
Mr. Chang is well aware of these issues, including having family in Hong Kong.
How can he be an effective representative for them when they no longer trust him after he said this?
The question, as you know, Mr. Carney, you know that Canada has executed four Canadians this year.
You know that there are human rights activists in China in detention right now.
How can Mr. Chiang, how can your party keep him as a candidate knowing this context?
Mr. Chang has apologized for his comments.
It's a lapse of judgment.
He's apologized for his comments.
He's apologized directly to me.
He's apologized directly to the individual.
He has a long record of service.
He's going to continue his candidacy.
Yeah, no, it's not a teachable moment because you're the student who's supposed to learn the lesson, or maybe you're the teacher in this metaphor.
I don't know.
But when someone calls for a crime to be committed, it's not a teachable moment.
It's an arrestable moment.
Let me ask you a question.
If it had been not Paul Chiang, Liberal MP and candidate, if it had been a trucker in the convoy in 2022, who had looked in the camera and said, I want you to kidnap a mayor of Ottawa, or I want you to kidnap an RCMP officer and bring him to me.
And if they said it seriously to the camera like that, and if they were talking about it in a way that suggested it was possible, and remember, Mr. Chang is a former police officer.
That's what's so astonishing here.
He knew what he was saying was illegal, and he said it with the brazen confidence of a man who I suspect has said it many more times than that.
For him just to casually say, oh, can you kidnap this guy?
Just say it in Chinese with utter confidence.
Do you really think that's the first time that Paul Chang has called for the enemies of communist China to be violently treated in this country?
I simply don't think so.
It makes me wonder what he did in his 25 years as a cop.
Makes me wonder how many times and how recently he's been on the phone or visited in person the Chinese consulate to know that this particular conservative candidate in Toronto that he called to be kidnapped, to know that there was a bounty against him is such an obscure piece of knowledge.
Was he briefed on that by the Chinese consulate?
Was he working with them?
But instead, Mark Carney just says, oh, I was disappointed in him and he apologized and we're moving on from this teachable moment.
Well, first of all, Mr. Tay, who was the victim of this proposed kidnapping, has not accepted the apology.
And since when do you get to call for a high capital crime and then just say, whoops, I'm sorry.
He didn't even say he misspoke.
The trouble with what Paul Chang did was that it revealed who he is.
It's not actually the words that are the worst part of it.
The words are likely a crime.
But the words reveal who he has been and who he is.
He's someone who does China's bidding in Canada, not Canada's bidding.
He's someone who puts obedience to the Chinese Communist Party ahead of his loyalties to Canada.
Mr. Tay, who was the target, it's not about ethnicity.
Both men are ethnic Chinese.
One of them is a Canadian.
One of them is an instrument for a foreign country.
Anyways, I asked a few questions about Mr. Chang.
Not surprisingly, the crowd was hostile and didn't have much to say.
Here's a taste of that.
Do you agree with Mark Carney's decision to allow Paul Cheng to stay as a candidate?
What do you guys think?
Anyone have an opinion on Paul Chang?
It's a very serious matter.
What do you guys think of Paul Chang staying as a candidate for the Liberals, even though he called for a conservative to be kidnapped?
Stay warm.
Do you think that's befitting the Liberal Party that you know and love?
Are you worried that maybe he's one of the 11 MPs that were compromised by China?
Is it something to laugh about?
You're something to laugh about.
Well, I mean, Mark Carney wasn't laughing today.
He said it was deplorable.
Do you agree?
Like, why would you laugh about something like that?
He called for a rival to be kidnapped and hand over to China.
Do you think he was joking?
You don't care, do you?
All right, you just keep laughing about it.
What do you think about Paul Chang getting the green light to be a candidate, even after asking for people to kidnap someone?
Don't you think that's a little?
I have no.
How come?
Like, how could you not have a comment on the most shocking thing?
I have no comment that I'm going to share with you.
Okay, and why is that?
Who will you share it with?
Maybe my friends, maybe my family, not with rebel news.
You're coming here to show your support for the party that has endorsed Paul Chang.
Don't you think that's weird?
No, I don't think it's weird.
A lot of other people are here too.
I find it strange that you guys are here, but whatever.
I'm here to hear all points of view.
That's not weird.
It's weird to support someone who believes in kidnapping.
Don't you think?
Is Mr. Polyev going to get a security clearance or where are we standing on that?
That's a great question.
Is that sort of a setoff here?
If Pierre Polyev gets his security clearance, will you condemn this Chinese agent?
Would you do a deal like that?
Because if I said that, he would agree, right?
I don't know.
I don't know why you raised it, so maybe it's like a setoff.
You're asking me silly questions, so I thought I'd ask you one.
You really think it's a silly question that you have someone who's calling for the kids?
Move on.
There's a lot of other people online.
Sure, I just'm trying to understand the liberal thinking here.
And so far, it's very hard.
All right.
Anybody have some thoughts on Paul Chang?
What do you think about Paul Chang and that whole situation?
I don't know the situation at all.
I'm not familiar with it at all.
Well, your leader had, I don't know if you're a liberal, but Mark Carney had a press conference today, and he said it was deplorable, but he's keeping Chang as the candidate, even though he said he wanted people to kidnap his conservative opponent.
What do you think of that?
I don't know.
I'm not up on what's going on that way.
All I know is Mark Carney is the man for the hour.
I voted conservatively all my life, and I'm voting liberal for the first time.
What made you flip?
Because he's the man of the hour.
He knows how to handle money.
And also, I'm not very high on Pierre Polyev.
To me, he's a barking dog.
That's it.
And what's the number one issue for you?
You said managing money, but would you say Donald Trump or the economy?
Or what's the number one thing for you?
Both, economy and Donald Trump.
But you did vote for conservatives in the past?
All my life.
Really?
So when did you switch?
When Carney ran.
Wow, you like the guy.
He's the best man for the job, hands down.
Well, can I ask you an international question?
Because there's a candidate in Markham named Paul Chiang for the Liberals who asked for people to kidnap his conservative opponent and hand him over to the Chinese consulate.
And I found that shocking.
Did you hear about that?
Yeah, sometimes some incidents are happening.
They should be dealt properly.
And do you think that guy should still continue on as a candidate for the liberals?
It is up to him.
He has to decide it by himself.
It feels like that would be serving China's interest to kidnap someone.
That's not a really Canadian move, is it?
They should dealt according to the law and information, but I have been.
Do you feel comfortable?
What do you think about the Paul Chang situation?
Have you been following that at all?
No, I'm here with my grandfather.
Good for you.
It's a family outing.
Yes, yes.
So I'm still in the learning phase.
So I'm continuing with the articles and the news.
So I better not push.
Fair enough.
Well, thanks for talking with me, anyways.
That's the right attitude to take.
How about you, boss?
Do you have any thoughts on Paul Chang?
I don't have any thanks, Ezra.
Okay.
Well, thanks very much, you two.
Do you guys have any opinions on Paul Chang running as a candidate?
Do you know who I'm talking about?
Yeah, I know.
That statement that he gave about, it was a little unfortunate.
Maybe he was not in his senses at that time.
You think it was that minor incident, just like a hiccup or like a verbal typo?
Exactly.
Like, you know, you would say a verbal typo, nice word, like, you know, a verbal typo.
But that was pretty much it, I think.
So, like, not seriously to be taken like that.
Yeah, he didn't say it was just a joke.
He didn't deny it.
I'm worried it represents something deeper.
I'm worried he was one of the 11 MPs who were in league with Communist China.
Are you not worried about that?
No, I'm not really.
I think so.
It was a light moment that probably he.
Come on, a kidnapping.
How's that light?
He wasn't joking.
He wasn't laughing when he said it.
I think so.
He was in a light mood.
I should take it like that.
I mean, but no one else is taking it like that.
The guy who he wanted to be kidnapped, he's not laughing.
He didn't accept the apology.
Like, you know, I can understand that it's a situation like the elections are close by and people are trying to take advantage of anything like, you know, that comes out of the mouth.
But still, like, you know, I would take it lightheartedly like now.
Do you guys have any thoughts about the Paul Chang matter?
That's the candidate.
Not revel news, man.
Why is that?
What don't you like about Rebel News?
I can take it.
Not a fan.
Tell me two things we could improve.
I'm not, I'm good.
You can keep going down the line.
I'm good.
Come on.
You got to help.
You can't say that and then decline my invitation to fix this.
I totally can, actually.
Yeah, obviously they're not going to talk about that.
They either claim they didn't hear about it or don't have an opinion.
Look, what can you say?
I mean, what can you say when your party is now known as the Chinese Collusion Party?
Not that these liberals care.
Anyways, Mark Carney showed up and he walked by.
I thought I would holler out a question.
I knew that he either wouldn't hear me or if he heard me, he wouldn't be distracted by it.
I wanted to know, did Paul Chang commit a crime by calling for the kidnapping of a Canadian citizen to suit the interests of a foreign nation?
Is that a crime?
I hollered it a couple times.
Here's me projecting.
Did Paul Chang commit a crime?
Mr. Carney, did Mr. Chang commit a crime?
Did Paul Chang commit a crime?
Mr. Carney, did Paul Chang commit a crime?
I'm just vocalizing.
I'm projecting.
No surprise, I had no answer, but at least I put the question to the air and the wall of police who were standing in front of me.
Let me give you some final thoughts from the location of the St. George pub.
It's a good turnout for an hour's notice.
Questions To Ask00:09:53
It's not a bad turnout.
Mark Carney is learning a little bit to have, to at least fake the common touch.
There was a group of people outside here in the cold, and he walked through them and he shook their hands and he said, you're the real VIPs.
And he spent about five minutes going through the crowd of the people who couldn't make it in.
That's a good move for a politician to do.
He still stippes a board.
It's not natural for him to talk to the unwashed masses, but he did it.
He's learning.
I think Mark Carney is a formidable candidate, not particularly for anything he's done, but because of the way the ground has changed.
Donald Trump, Donald Trump has scrambled this election.
Three months ago was going to be a shoe-in for Pierre Polyev.
Now it's all tied up.
In fact, many of the polls show that the liberals have an advantage.
There's still a month left to turn this around.
But for conservatives, they should know they're in a tough battle, not so much against Mark Carney, but against a new landscape that's tilted against the conservatives.
At least that's how it felt today.
You know what?
I'm on the road right now.
I got to make my way back to our head office, so I'll sign off from the field.
And I had an interview with my friend Kian Bexy in Calgary.
Let me throw to that.
Well, very exciting news out of Calgary the other day.
The election has just begun and its first casualty has happened.
I'm talking about the former Liberal candidate in Calgary Confederation.
His name is Thomas Keeper, and he was an MP.
It all started to fall apart when our Rebel News alumnus, who's now the boss of Counter Signal and part of Juneau News, he was waiting outside the Liberal campaign office for Mr. Thomas Keeper.
Take a look at how that went.
Mr. Keeper.
Thomas.
Hi, Thomas.
I just have some questions to ask you.
We just have some questions to ask you.
Hi, Mr. Keeper.
Okay, great.
Thank you.
No, no, no.
Carnival, come in.
We just have some questions to ask you.
Well, joining us now live from Calgary is the star of that video, Kian Becksy himself.
Kean, very exciting.
Tell me what was in the envelope and tell our viewers what happened in the hours and days after that.
I'm not even going to call it an encounter.
It was a near-miss encounter.
Tell us a little bit more.
Yeah, so as you know, when it comes to reporting and getting both sides of the story, we have an obligation as journalists to pose our most prickly points to the subject of the story.
You taught me that when I worked for Rebel News, that it's important that we share with them what we're about to publish so that they can't come back and say, oh, no, this was wrong, this was wrong, and we're going to sue you for defamation.
So we listed everything that we had, and it was a long list of accusations about Thomas Keeper.
Usually, you know, we get tips here and there of something some candidate might have done in the past, but in Thomas Keeper's case, dozens of people came forward and eight people went on the record with me to discuss allegations of sexual abuse, physical abuse, and verbal abuse against men and women.
And we had to put these questions to him and ask him if he had any defense at all about what we were about to publish.
And we have a lot more to publish that we're now not, I think, going to publish because I don't think it's necessarily in the public interest to go after some random real estate agent in Calgary.
But this man wanted to be a member of parliament.
He wanted to sit in Ottawa right behind Mark Carney and make laws controlling our lives, controlling the military, controlling tax policy.
And people like that need to be held accountable.
Yeah.
You know, you're so right about putting the prickliest comments to the subject, especially if you're dealing with something like a sexual abuse allegation that's so extreme, so devastating.
First of all, you don't want to get it wrong for your own sake, and you don't want to get it wrong for his sake, too.
If it's not true, you want to know.
Now, I'm going to guess based on that footage that you had sent him some sort of warning shot, like an email or something, because he looked like he knew what you were up to when you came there.
Like he knew who you were, obviously.
He ran inside.
They closed the door.
I take it that you had sort of reached out in a less direct way before.
Is that true?
Yeah, we had emailed him, we texted him, we called him, and without even looking over his shoulder, he knew exactly who was standing behind him.
Wow.
Now, there's one more wrinkle, and I remember talking to you on the day.
It was Chris, you filmed everything, and that, I think, is rule number one when you're doing the kind of close contact journalism because this guy is, you know, like a rat in a corner.
I'm not calling him a rat, but it's like that panic.
He's boxed in, he's painted into a corner, and he's looking for some way out because he knows his house of cards is about to come tumbling down.
I understand.
So you filmed everything.
We saw the altercation.
There was no altercation.
You didn't touch him.
You didn't enter his building.
You didn't make any threatening words.
You basically just said what you just said to us here, which is you wanted to deliver some prickly questions to him.
Now, before he knew that your video showing the incident happened, I think he called the cops.
Tell me a little bit about that.
Yeah, so we were filming this on a hidden camera because you never know what will happen.
It's to protect him and me.
You know, in that exact same riding, Calgary Confederation is the same riding provincially where Ann McGrath called the cops on me.
I remember that.
That was one of your finest videos with us.
I actually launched my career of on-the-ground journalism.
Was Anne McGrath there?
I'm not talking to the rebel.
Has any other media organization asked?
Okay, we're in public, so I'm allowed to ask you these questions.
I'm not allowed to ask you questions.
Not on a sidewalk when I've told you I'm not talking to you.
This is harassment.
It's not harassment.
You're a public figure and a communist who wants to represent Albertans.
This is harassment.
It's not harassment.
It's reasonable questions.
I just want to know why you're a communist.
No, I'm just going to call the police.
You're calling the police because I'm asking you why you're a communist.
You're harassing me on the sidewalk.
So I knew, you know, if the cops show up, you want to have video evidence of everything that you've done so that you can say, look, this guy, you know, and luckily, that's exactly the case.
You were alluding to it.
He apparently told the police that I got physical with him, that I came in, guns ablazing, and got physical with him.
And that was the basis for a restraining order that he was going to file against me, which would be outrageous behavior to stop a journalist from speaking.
Imagine getting a restraining order against Rosemary Barton.
Not that Trudeau would ever, or Mark Carney would ever need one against Rosemary Barton, but it's the same thing.
It would be outrageous.
And he said to those police officers that I got physical with him, and we have the footage to back it up that I didn't.
You know, and when you lie to a police officer, when you make a false report, it's bad enough, but to do that to save your political skin is crazy.
I think we have a clip that you published of an interaction with the cops.
Let's play just a little bit of that just to show folks.
Let's take a look.
Only time was there any physical contact or anything like that?
No.
Any threats?
No, not to me.
Okay.
Or to him, obviously.
Yeah, just the nature of the interaction is just you asking them just questions.
Yeah.
They may seek a restraining order.
The restraining order gets granted.
There may be a cause and there will no communication.
Just be careful with that.
You have served a copy of it before it is.
Okay.
So I heard your side of story.
I heard a sign of story.
I guess you were claiming you went in and came in kind of hot and made physical contact with them.
What?
Yeah, I mean, I think that, I mean, put yourself in the place of a beat cop, especially in an urban, large urban city.
They're dealing all day with people high on drugs, with people who are mentally ill and in the streets.
They're dealing with tough customers.
And sometimes they're social workers as much as they're cops.
Occasionally, they're dealing with violence.
And then they get a call from some fancy pants liberal candidate who's upset that a journalist, and I'm going to call journalists Fancy Pants 2, because, you know, this is a very white-collar interaction by two people who are a million miles away from requiring police assistance.
On the one hand, they're probably thinking, what a bunch of BS.
On the other hand, maybe it's a break from the regular police work, which I wouldn't envy.
I think they pretty quickly figured out that they were being fibbed to as a political tactic.
Is that how it worked in the end?
Well, yeah, I mean, that video goes on to a second interaction with the police.
I crossed the street to give some breathing room to Thomas, who was obviously scared.
And the police came out and they said, look, this guy wants a restraining order against you.
And I said, you guys, I mean, that's outrageous.
We have it on camera.
I'm going to head out.
You guys probably have better work to do.
And, you know, if it comes to me having to defend this in front of a judge, I'm down.
I'm down to tango.
We have all the evidence we need.
Yeah.
A very small part of me feels sorry for the guy.
He must have put all his high hopes into running and he registered.
Satire and Suspicion00:07:36
And obviously the Liberal Greenlight Committee, I think that's what they call their candidate vetting committee.
I mean, I wonder if he misled them or if they said, oh, this is so long ago and so minor.
Do you have any hunch about that?
Because, I mean, I don't know what this year's liberal campaign asks, but I've seen political party vetting forms before, and they can be dozens of pages long.
I've got to think that criminal proceedings is one of the very first things every party asks about.
How do you think this guy sneaked through?
Yeah, I mean, that's a great question.
I have the exact same experience with you.
My father just got vetted by the Conservative Party of Canada to become a candidate.
And you need to provide detailed so many details about your life, including a criminal record check, something that says, yeah, the police don't come to my door for domestic violence assaults and on and on and on and on.
And in this case, I don't know what happened.
These committees are black boxes.
I don't even know the extent of my father's vetting.
And Thomas Keeper definitely not.
So my only guess is that either Thomas lied or the Liberal Party betting process is not as rigorous as Mark Carney seems to think it is.
Yeah.
You know, we're in a very strange campaign.
Three months ago, it looked like a slam dunk for the Conservatives.
Now it's very much up in the air.
I mean, frankly, if the election were held today, I don't know if the Conservatives would even win, let alone a majority.
And the media, I think, feel like they've been shot at and missed, as in they have a reprieve.
They were certain that Pierre Polyev was going to win and defund the CBC and probably upend all the media subsidies.
So I think you have a regime media that is more motivated than ever before.
You say that eight different people came to you with the goods on Thomas Keeper.
You know, maybe they went to you because they know you're skeptical of liberals.
Maybe they went to you because, like me, you have a certain political ideology.
Or maybe they went to you because no one else would inquire.
Maybe they went to the CBC or the Calgary Herald or QR 77, if that's still the radio station there.
Maybe they went to everyone else first and they said, no, no, not interested.
Even though it's extremely interesting if a candidate has such accusations against them.
Do you have any indication?
Did the people who came to you first, I mean, no disrespect, but you are not the leading media outlet in Calgary.
The Calgary Herald would probably be that.
I know for a fact that multiple of my sources went to other media outlets in the city and they did not cover this story.
They had everything that I had.
They could have covered this story.
And it's not like there's a ton of political scandal or intrigue right now in Calgary.
It's the dream of any local reporter who always has to cover Jody Gondeck to be able to cover something of national intrigue.
And they still decided not to, despite having similar sources to me.
I mean, I didn't know these people until they reached out to me.
Yeah, very interesting.
I think that this election Is already very distorted compared to other elections.
And I think this really is the do-or-die election.
This is the final battle for the regime media.
If they can pull Kearney across the finish line, they will save their jobs.
If they cannot, hundreds, perhaps thousands of them will be out of work.
And put aside ideology just from sheer survival, stories like yours will be muffled.
Now, let me just close on this note.
I see that after you did the due diligence, and by the way, going and hand-delivering questions to someone, that is the height of, you know, what lawyers call responsible journalism.
Like you are trying so hard to get the answers.
You are going to his place.
Like that, I mean, any judge, like, and I remember you mentioned at Rebel News, we would talk about this.
You do it so your journalism is accurate, but you also do it just in case you're ever sued for defamation.
You could say, Judge, I tried literally everything.
I even went there.
So, I mean, you did the height of responsible communication.
It really is amazing.
And you claimed the first scalp of the campaign.
And I see the CBC is writing the story, but they didn't mention you in it at all.
They just wrote the story as if it just happened.
Have they edited their story to make reference to you, or did they just steal your scoop and write it without reference?
Like when I looked at your first version, they didn't mention you at all.
Did that change?
It hasn't changed to my knowledge.
We're submitting a complaint, a formal complaint to the CBC ombudsman.
And we've had good results in the past, actually, with them correcting their journalism.
Of course, it doesn't matter.
Nobody's going to read it, the story in a month.
But it's still a matter of public record that we did the job that the CBC is tasked with in the whole purpose of them existing is to do stuff like this, not to host the Junos, right?
So we are going to hold them accountable.
We're going to make sure that they fix their story, and we'll keep you posted if they do.
Yeah.
It's a real difference between how the CBC covers, let's say, Premier Danielle Smith and how they cover this rogue candidate.
Well, listen, Keen, congratulations.
It's fun to see you again.
We remember your work at Rebel News with fondness.
And give us 30 seconds to talk to us about Countersignal and Juno News.
I've already talked to your colleague, Candice Malcolm, about it, and she explained it a little bit.
Give me 30 seconds.
What does it mean?
Are both entities still proceeding?
Yeah, so the Counter Signal is still existing, still publishing all the work that we're used to publishing.
We tend to be more Alberta focused, but anything that's about the, you know, it's in the name.
It's the Counter Signal.
We're covering all of the stuff from a different angle that the mainstream media likes to ignore, and we're fact-checking the CBC constantly.
But we are working with Juno News hand in hand to make sure that Canada has a wide variety of news options.
We're also launching some satire sites as well.
Oh my God.
That's hard.
There's nothing harder than to be funny, by the way.
Yeah, it's not me, thank God, because I'm the least funny person I know.
But we are going to be trying to sort of take a page out of the Babylon Bees book.
You know, the Beaverton does satire in Canada all the time, and they have kind of a monopoly on it.
So we need some conservative satire in this country, and we're going to try and get that done.
Yeah, well, the Babylon will be very successful in the States.
This hour is 22 minutes.
Once in a while, I'll grant them like maybe one in 10 times they're fun.
But the other time, nine times, I feel like I'm watching a liberal campaign ad with a laugh track.
Exactly.
And I think the real sin of this hour is 22 minutes isn't that it's left-wing.
It's that it's unfunny.
It's just not funny.
And I think it's because their boss, Mark Crits, is a liberal diehard.
His wife is a liberal activist.
And again, they know that they'll probably be put up to pasture if Polyev wins.
Well, I look forward to that comedy, that satire.
That is very, that's an ambitious goal.
I hope.
I mean, it's hard to be funny.
And I look forward to being impressed.
And boy, do we ever need it in Canada?
David's Driving Saw00:00:47
Anyway, great to catch up with you.
Thanks for taking the time.
Thanks, Ezra.
There you have it.
Kean Bexty, Rebel News alumnus.
He's the boss of the Counter Signal and part of Juno News.
Stay with us, Moorhead.
What brings you down here today?
You actually, there's nothing worth seeing here, right?
Well, good for you.
I see you got your Pierre Polyev hat on.
You live just in the neighborhood?
I was just driving by and I saw the cops.
I guess he needs that kind of security, right?
And then I saw you, actually.
Well, nice to see you.
Thanks very much.
You know, my friend David Menzies, he's in New Brunswick today, so we're out here covering the home turf in Ontario.