Ezra Levant highlights Canada’s ostrich farm culling as a test of government transparency, where Health Minister Marjorie Michelle dodged questions about CFIA-RCMP cooperation, despite Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s interest in studying the birds for avian flu immunity. Police blocked inquiries, disrupted filming with flashlights and drones, and delayed winter preparations—raising suspicions of strategic delays. Levant compares this to Justin Trudeau’s broader crackdown on dissent, like the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh, and corporate figures avoiding scrutiny. Meanwhile, Ireland’s City West Hotel scandal, where a 10-year-old girl was raped by an unvetted migrant, sparks protests and political outrage, pushing Levant and Lincoln Jay to Dublin for coverage. Both cases expose governments’ eroding trust with citizens under pressure from secrecy and perceived overreach. [Automatically generated summary]
Did you see what I did the other day with the federal health minister?
I asked her a super friendly question, maybe even a softball question, and she just stood there blinking while her staffer said, Don't answer, don't answer.
Well, he actually said, Next question, next question, but it had the effect of bossing his actual boss around.
Crazy stuff.
I'll show you the video that explains it all.
But first, let me invite you to become a subscriber to Rebel News Plus.
That's the video version of this podcast.
I want you to see my interaction with Marjorie Michelle.
That's the new health minister.
It was crazy, and I want you to see it and have my explanation for it.
To see it, you need to become part of Rebel News Plus.
Just go to rebelsnewsplus.com, click subscribe, it's eight bucks a month.
You get all the video content in this show, plus the satisfaction of keeping Rebel News strong.
All right, tonight, seriously, what's going on with those ostriches?
It's October 20th, and this is the Esther Levant show.
Shame on you, you censorious bug.
You know, I didn't get the ostrich story for a long time.
It just seemed a little too odd, a little too niche, a little too obscure.
I mean, not to be mean, but I don't really have a natural affinity for ostriches.
I don't think a lot of people do.
They're not exactly swans or even peacocks.
I mean, they're not beautiful.
But this is not a test of your affection for a particular species.
I mean, it's very easy to love dogs, isn't it?
Much more than to love ostriches.
But that is not the point.
The point isn't even about animals themselves.
I don't actually believe in animal rights.
I believe that animals are property.
We should treat them humanely.
But that's more a limit on our own conduct.
It's not for the sake of the animals.
We must not be cruel to other people or other living things.
But this ostrich story, the more I've learned about it, it's about people and about governments.
Ostriches just happen to be the flashpoint.
It's about a government that insists on mass killing hundreds of healthy birds because last year, a fraction of them got sick, but then they all got better and now they are immune.
That's an interesting story.
And it's about a foolish, slavish adherence to Kafka-esque rules, red tape that makes no sense, processes that make no sense.
And if you ask about it, you'll be told don't ask or you'll get in trouble.
Like, I mean, one of the craziest things is that the farm themselves have offered to test the birds to show they're not sick.
And the government says, if you test the birds on your own, that is an offense and you'll be fined or even jailed.
That's Kafka.
It's about a total lack of transparency, including even about the so-called science.
I'd like to see the science here.
What is the science exactly that says we have to kill healthy birds?
It reminds me of the same science that for a period of a few years during COVID-19, suddenly natural immunity, i.e., the kind of thing we all did when we were kids.
You know, I remember when I was a kid and someone got chickenpox or measles, all the other moms and dads had our kids play with those kids, had their kids play with those kids, so you would get sick as a kid and then get immune.
That's called natural immunity.
It's been known about for centuries.
Suddenly, natural immunity doesn't apply to COVID-19.
Suddenly, natural immunity doesn't apply in the case of these birds.
I mean, that's what I mean by junk science, but we're supposed to believe it because they're wearing hazmat suits.
It's also about the thuggish threats of police to enforce foolish political policies.
There were some police forces around the world that said, yeah, no, we're not getting into mask patrol.
We're not getting into six foot of separation patrol.
But those were fewer in number than the police who loved it.
I remember seeing a video of some cops literally with a measuring tape in a barber shop to make sure that barbers chairs were six feet apart and not an inch less because, you know, science, if it's six feet less an inch.
Of course, in some countries, it was two meters, not six feet.
They're not the same.
In some places, it was one meter.
You think there was science behind that?
There was not.
All of those things are back here again.
All of them are back.
And there's lots of questions to be asked about it, but very few answers.
Just speculation and conspiracy theories fill the void.
And if you remember, the very first person I interviewed when I went to the ostrich farm was the cop to try and get some understanding.
There was no understanding to be coming.
Basically, the cops said, we're not in control.
We're here to be errand boys for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
They're calling you shots.
We're just doing what we're told.
Really?
Can anyone rent you for this?
Can any bureaucrat get 50 cops to be pulled away from everything less important, to go into the middle of BC for a month or two and just be on standby?
I mean, what powers to this CFIA have?
And just all of these things and no transparency.
Of course, conspiracy theories are running wild.
It has to fill the void.
And in that way, it's just like COVID too, isn't it?
And if you dare say the wrong things during COVID times, you'll be shut down on social media, on Facebook, on YouTube.
If you dare say, well, maybe it came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Well, back then you would lose your voice.
And so far, that hasn't happened here.
It reminds me of that silly saying, shut up, he explained.
That's the only explanation we've received from authorities.
So I went to the source about this whole regime.
Who's the boss?
Who's in charge?
It's not the RCMP.
They told me.
The CFIA, well, they answer to someone.
Who do they answer to?
Well, I Googled it.
And the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and again, why is the Food Inspection Agency having anything to do with ostriches that are not for food?
That's weird.
Do they even have any experience with it?
That's weird.
Anyways, they all answer to the Minister of Health.
And I didn't know who Mark Carney's new Minister of Health was, but her name is Marjorie Michelle.
And she's actually from Justin Trudeau's old district in Quebec called Papineau.
She's a Haitian Canadian.
And I found this really interesting.
Her dad used to be the prime minister of Haiti.
So I don't know what that says other than if she grew up in the household of a prime minister.
She probably is fairly savvy.
Even if she's not that smart, and I have no idea how smart or dumb she is, she would know how a prime minister talks and, you know, pivots and dodges questions.
Like, even if you're not smart growing up in the household of another politician, you just learn.
So I'm guessing she's not a bad politician.
And I assume she's smart enough to make it in the cabinet, although looking at Melanie Jolie, realize it's a very low bar, Stephen Gilbo, even lower.
Anyways, so I was looking forward to putting a question to her.
Now, how could I do that?
Because of course, Rebel News never gets accredited in the House of Commons.
Well, that's the thing.
Marjorie Michel was on the road.
She was going to Alberta for a joint press conference after joint meetings with all of her provincial counterparts.
So it was the federal health minister, Marjorie Michel, and all the provincial and territorial ones gathered together.
So Alberta was co-hosting it.
And I applied to be credentialed.
I applied through the federal government.
They simply refused to write back.
So I applied to the provincial government.
And I said, look, don't let the feds bring their Ottawa censorship to free Alberta.
And there was a back and forth.
And in the end, the federal government agreed to credential Rebel News, which was pretty cool.
And they said, Ezra, are you going to be on your good behavior?
And I said, of course I am.
I mean, when am I not?
I made a joke about, you know, that clip from the office where Jim was asked, Jim, I need you to be on your best behavior.
He said, Well, I already promised someone else I'd be on my worst behavior.
I made that joke, and then I immediately said, I'm kidding.
I'll be on my best behavior.
I was early.
I checked in.
I introduced myself.
I got my name tag.
I was literally, I think there was one other journalist in the room.
I checked in so early.
I sat near the mic, and I thought, what a good boy am I.
And then they open up the questions.
And I put a question to the Alberta health minister about a different subject.
But then I asked the fit, I was given two questions.
I asked the federal health minister a question, and she actually looked engaged.
She actually looked interested.
Here is my question.
My question sounds long, but I timed it.
It's actually less than a minute.
And there wasn't even one second after I finished my question that someone interrupted.
Here, watch for yourself.
Here's the whole thing.
Take a look.
Thank you, Minister, for agreeing to accredit Rebel News.
I very much appreciate your dedication to freedom of the press.
I have a question about the ostrich farm.
Now, don't worry, I'm not going to ask about the lawsuit because I don't want you to talk about anything that are before the courts.
But there was a letter, and I noticed in the statement you talk about Canada-U.S. cooperation.
I know that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., your U.S. counterpart, has written saying he thinks that there's some medical research value in these ostriches because they had avian flu, but then have recovered and are now immune.
In fact, he's offered to do the research and even to pay for it.
It seems to me that we need allies around Trump's cabinet table.
And if you could throw him a bone and say, sure, Secretary Kennedy, you can study these birds.
It's sort of no skin off Canada's nose.
And don't you think it would be helpful to have an ally in Trump's cabinet when we're doing our trade negotiations?
That's my question.
Don't you think it would be helpful to have a friend?
Next reporter, Merci.
Oh, you're not going to answer, Minister?
Prochen question, Merci.
I don't understand.
Did I do something wrong?
Next question.
Thank you.
Minister, did I miss an answer?
I don't get it.
Okay.
I'll sit down.
I guess it's question period, not answer period.
What on earth is going on?
You know, as soon as I said my question, he said, prochen question or something, which I knew enough French, I mean, it's the next question.
I thought he maybe didn't, I thought maybe he was saying, all right, wrap it up, Levant.
You've been talking for a full minute.
Where's your question?
I honestly thought his first interruption was because I was going long.
So he said, oh, that is my question.
Why won't you throw Trump a bone?
And then he just said, next question in French.
And I thought, am I missing something?
So I put on my simultaneous translation headphones.
But no, he kept interrupting.
It took me about three times to realize what was going on.
Now, the minister herself looked at me.
She was attentive.
I know she can speak English.
And even if she didn't have a strong grasp of it, those headsets are translation.
But why was some guy whose name I don't even know, who was he, who was interrupting his boss?
I mean, why would you have a press conference and why would you credential journalists if you simply weren't going to answer?
Now, part of me thinks she was being handled by that staffer.
And if I was a leftist, I'd say, oh, so he was man-splaining to her.
He didn't think the poor little lady could answer.
He was white-splaining to her.
That's what I would say if I was on the left.
Not really on the left, but it is noticeable that she was being handled by someone who we don't know.
She's not really the cabinet minister in charge of health, is she?
Reports to a boss, some guy on the side saying, Next question, next question: Who is the boss?
I do not know, but I have a theory that that guy who kept interrupting, I have a theory that he's some communications staffer, probably sent from the prime minister's office to stop her from interacting from Rebel News.
And I actually, hand to God, I think he believes their BS propaganda that we are like January 6th insurrectionists or domestic right-wing extremists, and that maybe I was going to hop over and you know, wrestle her or something.
I think they believe they're BS.
They thought this about the Canadian truckers.
Oh my God, they're so dangerous.
No, they got bouncy castles and hot tubs.
These people hate ordinary Canadians, especially those on the right.
Anyways, it was sort of fruitless in a way.
It's sort of like when we used to talk to Jagmeet Singh.
Remember that loser, that foot known in history, that nothing, that empty suit?
And we would ask him questions, and he would never answer.
Remember when Drea Humphrey put a great question to him at the last leader's debate?
Oh, here, let me play it again before you take a look.
Hello, Mr. Singh.
Drea Humphrey, Drea News.
Your party takes great pride in standing against hate, such as white supremacy, Islamophobia, and all.
Sorry, I didn't get your outlet.
Drea Humphrey with Rebel News.
Okay.
Your party.
You know where I'm going to go with this, all right?
Can I speak?
Yeah, you can.
I'm just going to say, you know where I'm going to go with it, though.
Wow.
Your party takes pride in standing against hate, such as white supremacy, Islamophobia, and online hate speech.
Yet you stay silent about ongoing attacks against Christians, even after conservative MP Jamil Giovanni's order paper question revealed that over 200 churches have been targeted by arson and vandalism since claims of remains being discovered at former residential schools swept the nation in 2021.
These claims have been disproven by bands that excavated and remain unproven by those that have not.
Will you condemn the rise in acts of hate against Christians today and explain what your party will do moving forward to keep Christians safe from hate in Canada?
Again, thank you, but I'm not going to respond to an organization that promotes misinformation and disinformation like Rebel News.
So no, I'm not going to respond to your question.
Wow.
What she said had questions and answers.
Perhaps you didn't hear me.
Over 200 Christian places of worship have been attacked in Canada since 2021.
Many served First Nations communities.
Many were historic.
And they diverted police and resources and put others at risk.
What do you say to Canadians who see your refusal to answer, especially from one of the few media outlets here that are not funded by the state, as proof that a vote for you is a vote for a dangerous radical party that gaslights the public into thinking it stands against hate when its silence is instead embolding Christophobia?
Your question is another example of why I don't respond to agencies like Rebel News that promote misinformation and disinformation.
Why Silence Emboldens00:05:29
In the case of Jagmeet Singh, and I say this, I've thought about this a lot.
I don't think this is name-calling.
I think Jagmeet Singh was always a little bit dumb.
Have you ever seen him say anything deep or complex or full of policy?
He, you know, he was always like as deep as a puddle, and he would have a few catchy phrases.
I think his say, oh, I don't talk to Rebel News, was just a dumb guy's way of saying, I don't have any clue what you're talking about.
I don't have a good answer.
So I'm going to rename my stupidity as some sort of weird principle that I don't talk to conservatives, which is not a good principle.
Anyway, so I tweeted, Rebel News first tweeted, and then I personally retweeted that video.
Between the two tweets, about a million people, a million people watched my, I wouldn't even call it an interaction because it wasn't very interactive, watched my question and the lack of answers.
And I don't know if most people had even heard of this Marjorie Michel before.
I honestly didn't until I Googled her.
What a bad way to make your introduction to Canadian life, to Canadian political life, as the woman either unable or unallowed to answer a pretty friendly question.
Let's play it one more time.
I put it to you, this was friendly.
This was me on my best behavior.
And I thought this was an interesting question.
I bet you haven't heard that question before, have you?
Here, take a look.
Thank you, Minister, for agreeing to accredit Rebel News.
I very much appreciate your dedication to freedom of the press.
I have a question about the ostrich farm.
Now, don't worry, I'm not going to ask about the lawsuit because I don't want you to talk about anything that are before the courts.
But there was a letter, and I noticed in the statement you talk about Canada-U.S. cooperation.
I know that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., your U.S. counterpart, has written saying he thinks that there's some medical research value in these ostriches because they had avian flu, but then have recovered and are now immune.
In fact, he's offered to do the research and even to pay for it.
It seems to me that we need allies around Trump's cabinet table.
And if you could throw him a bone and say, sure, Secretary Kennedy, you can study these birds.
It's sort of no skin off Canada's nose.
And don't you think it would be helpful to have an ally in Trump's cabinet when we're doing our trade negotiations?
That's my question.
Don't you think it would be helpful to have a friend?
Next reporter, Merci.
Oh, you're not going to answer, Minister?
I don't understand.
Did I do something wrong?
Next question.
Thank you.
Minister, did I miss an answer?
I don't get it.
Okay, I'll sit down.
I guess it's question period, not answer period.
Merci Bouco.
Yeah, just stonewalling.
In a way, it reminded me of my one-sided interview with Abiyamini of Albert Burla, the CEO of Pfizer.
Remember that one?
Here's just a few moments from that.
Mr. Boorla, can I ask you, when did you know that the vaccines didn't stop transmission?
How long did you know that without saying it publicly?
Thank you very much.
I'm sorry.
I mean, we now know that the vaccines didn't stop transmission, but why did you keep it secret?
You said it was 100% effective, then 90%, then 80%, then 70%.
But we now know that the vaccines do not stop transmission.
Why did you keep that secret?
Have a nice day.
I won't have a nice day until I know the answer.
Why did you keep it a secret that your vaccine did not stop transmission?
Is it time to apologize to the world, sir, to give refunds back to the countries that poured all their money into your vaccine that doesn't work, your ineffective vaccine?
You know, I get that a lot at Davos.
Here's a few moments with Larry Fink, the boss of BlackRock.
Same thing, no answers.
Remember that one?
Mr. Fink, are you going to follow Donald Trump's plan and get rid of DEI and ESG in your companies?
BlackRock really is the opposite of Donald Trump in so many ways.
Are you going to change it all in light of the U.S. presidency?
How is Donald Trump, have you talked to Donald Trump since he was elected?
Is the World Economic Forum a counterpoint to Donald Trump?
The thing about Burla and Larry Fink is they're not political officials.
They're public in the sense that they're in the public sphere and the public, you know, there's a lot of interaction that control a lot of things.
But at the end of the day, Albert Burla and Larry Fink work for companies, not for me.
I'm not a shareholder of their companies.
I'm just a media person on the street.
In a way, I mean, I think it shows a thin skin on their part.
I think it shows a lack of transparency.
I think it shows a haughtiness.
But I don't know if there's anything morally wrong with a businessman ignoring a stranger journalist.
But what about Marjorie Michel?
Because I'm not an outsider.
Drone Face Off00:15:42
I'm a full Canadian citizen.
In fact, I've been a citizen longer than she's been.
I was a citizen since I was born.
How dare she look down her nose at me and her staffer?
That's so gross.
This is a cabinet minister who works for me.
I think in Canada, they've been in power so long that they believe that the government is our master, not our servant.
I think they need to have their attitude changed on that, don't you?
Stay with us for more on this subject.
Welcome back.
You know, I've done my best to reach out to authorities to try and get their explanation for things at the Edgewood, BC ostrich farm.
In fact, when I was out there briefly a couple of weeks ago, the very first person I interviewed was an RCMP spokesman.
And I thought, you know, I've heard the criticisms.
I've heard the case made by the ostrich farm.
Let me do my best to get the other side of the story.
And I have to say, talking to the police officer was not fruitful.
I mean, basically, his answers to everything was, we're just here as security for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
And they, of course, had nothing to say themselves.
Here's a quick clip of that longer interview.
I'll only show you about a minute.
Take a look.
Rebel News, our motto is telling the other side of the story.
And we're sympathetic to the ostrich farm and even the ostriches.
But it behooves us to get your side of the story if the police indeed have a side.
Maybe you could start by telling us who's here on behalf of the RCMP and what your mandate is.
Yes, well, so any situation where there's protest, we are an impartial party.
So in this particular case, we're on site at the request of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
And our role here specifically is public safety, to keep the peace, and to enforce the law if necessary.
Now, I spoke to some of the other officers.
They're coming in from pretty far afield.
I mean, it looks like a pretty big operation.
Are you at liberty to disclose how many RCMP are involved?
We don't speak to the numbers specifically for operational security reasons.
What I can tell you is there are a number of different support units under the Critical Response Unit here.
So overall operations is conducted by a critical response unit, which responds to such things as wildfires, floods, things of that nature, as well as protests.
Those support services that you may have seen over the last couple weeks, we have remote powered aircraft system, obviously.
We've got some medics here, among others.
So to ensure that we don't compromise public safety in any one community, we bring in officers from across the province.
As you may have seen on Friday, I actually had a chance to put a question to the federal health minister herself.
And I tried to be so gentle and softball.
You saw me.
I said, don't talk about the lawsuit.
Just try and help me understand why the federal government wouldn't at least pause the execution of these birds, even to placate U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
And you saw how that went.
She just looked at me blankly and her staffer insisted we move on.
Here's a clip from that.
Thank you, Minister, for agreeing to accredit Rebel News.
I very much appreciate your dedication to freedom of the press.
I have a question about the ostrich farm.
Now, don't worry, I'm not going to ask about the lawsuit because I don't want you to talk about anything that are before the courts.
But there was a letter, and I noticed in the statement you talk about Canada-U.S. cooperation.
I know that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., your U.S. counterpart, has written saying he thinks that there's some medical research value in these ostriches because they had avian flu, but then have recovered and they're now immune.
In fact, he's offered to do the research and even to pay for it.
It seems to me that we need allies around Trump's cabinet table.
And if you could throw him a bone and say, sure, Secretary Kennedy, you can study these birds.
It's sort of no skin off Canada's nose.
And don't you think it would be helpful to have an ally in Trump's cabinet when we're doing our trade negotiations?
That's my question.
Don't you think it would be helpful to have a friend?
Next reporter, Merci.
Oh, you're not going to answer, Minister?
Merci?
I don't understand.
Did I do something wrong?
Next question.
Thank you.
Minister, did I miss an answer?
I don't get it.
Okay.
I'll sit down.
I guess it's question period, not answer period.
So weird.
I got to tell you, there's all sorts of theories and rumors and hunches that people have.
And the silence in the case of the health minister, total silence in the face of legitimate questions, it's not helping.
It's making things look even more suspicious.
I mean, there's got to be a good explanation for things.
And failing us being told that, we'll come up with our own theories.
Well, one man who's been on the ground of the ostrich farm for, I think, over a week now, and he has brought some interesting tools and an interesting eye to things, is our friend Chris Dacey.
Normally, he's in Ottawa.
Sometimes we see him in Toronto or other places, but he has decamped for Edgewood, B.C. Chris Dacey joins us now.
Chris, great to see you.
Thank you for joining us from British Columbia.
Yeah, thank you.
And it's actually going on over just over two weeks now.
Oh, my gosh.
Well, time for, you're becoming an old-timer out there.
When I visited, it was very brief.
There was a fairly good-sized crowd of people there.
Are the people still there in their RVs and their tents and their cars?
Is it still a bit of a mass event?
Yeah, definitely.
There's still a large number.
I would say the number has slightly dwindled, but people are still coming and going continuously.
So, yeah, the numbers are a bit lower, but it's still quite a few numbers or quite a large number of people here.
Presently, a few are gone.
There's actually a rally going on in, I believe it's Kelowna this morning.
So there was a rally at the RCMP, and a lot of people went over there for that.
Now, you're used to covering the Ottawa protest scene, which is a very particular group of people, both on the police side and the protest side.
I mean, I suppose there's different protests, but it's a bit of a different thing.
I think in BC we have a permanent standoff.
How would you compare what you traditionally report in Ottawa versus what you're seeing in BC?
Are there any similarities or it's just a completely different kettle of fish?
Yeah, I would say that this is a pretty unique situation.
The only similarities is being stood up face to face with police, which I, I mean, that's happened to me a number of times, but other than the RCMP and the large number of police, this is a pretty unique kind of place and a pretty unique protest.
I don't even know what's protest.
I wouldn't say that.
Supporters, I don't even know what to call it, to be quite honest.
Now, you mentioned you've been there for two weeks.
I guess time flies.
I think the police have been there now.
I think it's going to be measured in months.
And I don't quite understand it because they're, like I said, they're there sort of as the escorts, the bodyguards to the farm inspection people, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
So the cops, at least they say they're not the deciders here.
They're not the bosses here.
It's like they're the helper outers.
How are they doing?
I mean, I asked the cop, what's your morale like?
And his answer was, well, it's our job.
You actually managed to see an image of an RCMP chaplain as in a religious clergy member who traditionally, if I understand, military or police chaplains, their job is to help with morale, help pep people up, help people get over grief or a crisis.
Why would the RCMP be bringing in a chaplain for their own people?
Yeah, well, I imagine that people must be having a hard time.
If there's a chaplain generally, it's because people are in need of, like you say, moral support.
I have posted in the last few days a little bit about the behavior or kind of the stress of the RCMP.
There's been a number of incidents, you know, even with RCMP leadership yelling at supporters here, yelling at each other, and even an incident where an RCMP officer was yelling back and forth at a PLT.
So the RCMP.
That's just for our viewers, that's a police liaison team.
That's sort of like the police ambassadors.
Is that right?
Yeah, correct.
So we have those in Ottawa as well.
We have them on Parliament Hill.
So those are kind of go-betweens.
So they are police officers, but they're not really involved in the policing.
They're more go-betweens.
But there has been obvious tension here.
And it seems to me that it's not really about the supporters.
I think it's tension being under the orders of the CFIA.
Every time you ask the RCMP anything or there's a request, the RCMP are basically, they're going to hand off notes and they're going to ask permission from the CFIA for everything.
And then they come back to the family and they'll say, oh, yes, no.
Generally, it's no for every question.
The CFIA is definitely in charge.
It's very strange, honestly.
Yeah.
Now, I mean, that's one of the things I asked the cop spokesman is where are all these police from?
Because Edgewood is just a very small place.
Kelowna is about two and a quarter hours away by highway.
It's not a huge city, but it's a city.
To get that many police officers, I estimate there's about 50 of them altogether.
And they come in different shifts and they're coming back and forth.
Like it's a really big operation.
My guess, Chris, is it's the largest police operation in British Columbia.
It's been going on for more than a month.
People have come in from quite far away to get 50 RCMP.
Now, they are getting paid a premium overtime, travel pay, like they're making money, but it wouldn't surprise me if they're lonely, if they're a little irritated, if, like you say, they're not used to working for some government bureaucrats in the food inspection side of things.
Plus, you know, police are curious people.
They go online.
They would check social media.
They probably are getting an earful and some might be numb to it.
But, you know, I think police want to think of themselves as the good guys.
Maybe it's all adding up.
Being away from home, a purposeless mission, being criticized by the public and social media.
Maybe that's why the chaplain's there.
These cops just don't want to be there.
Yeah, it very well could be.
And I know that since I started providing certain kinds of video, Mike Rood has taken some incredibly good video with the family equipment that we have here.
And we're just trying to answer questions that the public have, right?
The RCMP attempted to help answer this question by flying a drone to do a headcount.
And they were reprimanded by CFIA.
Really?
Yes, yeah.
So, I mean, I can see that there'd be frustration.
I mean, it's starting to get to a point where this is looking very embarrassing.
The CFIA are not transparent.
They have no spokespeople, not for the family, not for the public, and not for the media.
And then the RCMP are here kind of doing their bidding, but they're the front face.
So they're getting, you know, they're getting a lot of the heat when, I mean, just following orders, but they're, I mean, they're here under the warrant, and that's what they're here for.
But it's CFIA show.
And I think that's frustration on their part.
Yeah, you know, I mean, the government, I think, has a moral duty to let the public know some basic things.
I accept, even though I disagree with what the CFIA are doing, I accept that they may have some confidential processes or operations.
I get it.
But to never say anything, not say a word, to be completely opaque.
And by the way, it comes from the minister herself.
Chris, I don't know if you saw that blank look on her face when I, like, my question was so softball, like from the top down.
And these cops are the ones that are taking the abuse for it.
And as you say, you know, you know, they're following orders, but that's not a great excuse.
I don't know.
I find the whole thing frustrating.
Let me pick on something you said.
You said the police had offered to use a drone to do a headcount of the birds because how many have passed away?
Have any been killed so far?
Have there been any accidents?
Has any ostrich died?
And the CFIA tried to keep that confidential or secret.
Now, you were saying that the police offered to do a drone sweep, but they got in trouble for it.
Or maybe I misunderstood you.
Tell me about the drone and the head count.
Yeah, so that the drone was flown.
Actually, it's a while ago now.
So for quite some time, people have been asking for a headcount, which isn't unreasonable, I don't think.
And not having the headcount is causing a lot of stress.
It's causing a lot of wild speculation.
And so the RCMP decided to try to fly a drone quite high this time.
So there wouldn't be another incident where the birds got spooked.
I think they learned from that.
But they put their drone up and they were reprimanded pretty almost immediately after.
Now, how were they reprimanded?
How did you hear about it?
Did you see it?
Did they tell you?
How do you know they were reprimanded?
I didn't see it personally, but that's the message that was relayed to me from the family.
Isn't that interesting?
I mean, I've seen, like, of course, every police officer has their own personality.
Now, they're all under the same marching orders.
But even when I was there for my brief time, I could see some who were more friendly, who were trying to, you know, build some sort of rapport with people.
And I remember this one particular guy who had a mask on.
And whenever the people, like, there's sort of a police line of yellow ribbons, which is sort of like a DMZ or something.
And the farmers come up to that line and the police come up to that line and they sort of meet.
It would be like the Berlin Wall or something.
And when the farmers come up and talk, the police are there and they're trying to keep the energy level down.
They're trying to, you know, be friendly.
I mean, I respect that's hard work.
But there was this one cop I saw who had his face mask on, who was filming any farmer who came close.
And I thought, I'm going to swear here, that guy's a bit of an asshole.
He's enjoying the antagonism.
He's spying on people.
Why is he doing that?
Does he think the people are the enemy?
So there's different personalities of different police.
And I don't know, in their own way, they're cooped up too.
Yeah, and I've definitely noticed some police officers are a little different than others.
And honestly, I've gone into it a little bit with a couple of them who I thought were being pretty rude.
That area you're talking about is actually called the arrest gate by the RCMP, not me.
That's what they called it for their operations.
And that's the gate that this teased property on the corner.
There's a family on the corner that aren't the farm, but just happened to be near the farm and they needed their property.
So they line up against that at the arrest gate.
And there's some tension there sometimes, especially at night when that family wants to get in and out of their property.
Supreme Concerns in Winter00:07:07
They have to come in, ask for permission, and a few things can go wrong.
And there's been, you know, a few incidents there and that kind of bothered me a bit.
I had lights shined in my eyeballs, like high-powered flashlights.
That didn't make me too thrilled.
And directly into my camera while I was trying to film.
So, you know, things like that don't go over too well with me.
And I have a bit of history with the police.
I'm emotional at times.
And there was once or twice.
I got a little bit heated, but nothing crazy.
Isn't that funny?
You made me think of something from a few years ago during the lockdowns.
There's a church south of Edmonton called the Gracelife Church, and the police came and they put a fence around the whole church and sort of commandeered it and turned it into like a police base.
It was really crazy.
But there was a neighbor who shared part of the entrance road, and the police blocked his road and the fury with which he came out at those cops who blocked him instead of just the church.
It was outrageous that they blocked the church.
But you made me just think of the police sort of being ham-fisted, not planning well, not taking into account neighbors.
It's quite something.
Now, I think everyone's waiting on the Supreme Court of Canada to issue an advisory on whether or not they will hear an appeal.
You have a right to appeal anything to the Court of Appeal in your province, but not everyone has the right to appeal it to the Supreme Court of Canada.
In fact, you have to sort of make a little application called, we have to, it's called for leave to appeal.
The Supreme Court has to say, yes, your case is important enough or controversial enough that we think it should be one of the small number of cases we can hear.
There's only one Supreme Court.
They don't have time to hear a thousand cases a year.
So right now, everyone's waiting to hear whether or not the Supreme Court of Canada will grant leave to appear in the Supreme Court.
So until the Supreme Court says yes or no to whether they'll take the case, everything's frozen.
So that's how we sort of know that these ostriches aren't in jeopardy right now because the Supreme Court still hasn't let us know when they're going to make that ruling.
This could drag on for months, Chris.
I mean, the Supreme Court is not known for being fast.
What would happen if this thing goes, I mean, I don't know what the weather's like out there, but what happens if this thing goes to Christmas or to the new year?
What happens if it's snow on the ground?
I mean, how are they even going to handle things then?
Yeah, I mean, there's already snow now.
If I look out in the tops of the mountains and it's definitely getting cold here at night, I do know that people around here and the supporters, they're already starting to prepare, hunker down for winter.
So it sounds like people are going to keep riding this out.
As far as winter coming, actually, that brings up an interesting concern as well.
Normally there's preparations for winter that are done on this farm.
Normally there's a lot of stuff that is done on this farm.
And a lot of that work doesn't seem to be being done.
The birds are going to need protection during the winter and some sort of shelter and bedding.
And it seems like a lot of the regular farm work that should be done on a farm is not getting done right now.
Wow.
How do you think it's going to end?
I mean, I suppose that's a tough question.
You don't have any secret knowledge, neither do I.
But just based on your gut and how the CFIA has handled itself, how the RCMP has handled itself, how the counter-protesters, if I'd call them, do you think this is, I mean, what's going to happen?
Yeah, I mean, it's hard to say, really.
And I'm not going to guess what the court may do or anything like that.
But I mean, this is such a big story already.
So much attention still.
And it's continuing to keep that, you know, the attention of the media and the people, which I've never seen anything really like that.
If they go ahead with this, like, I can imagine, honestly, I don't know.
Everything about this is so bizarre.
I just think that if they do go ahead, people are already quite upset with what they're seeing.
They're upset with the behavior of the CFIA with unelected bureaucrats and, you know, the armed wing of the government protecting them.
So there's a lot of upset people.
If they start killing birds, that ups, you know, that will seriously up the energy and the emotion for people.
So I'm kind of wondering if they're holding it out or they're waiting till winter, hoping things will die down.
I'm not really sure, but I don't see how this plays out well.
The government's not one to normally back down.
Yeah.
Let me ask you one last question before we let you go.
You have managed to zoom in.
I think you've got a great Zoom lens or something.
Tell me a little bit about that.
I tried to put my phone on the other end of a telescope and that did not work.
But you've found a solution.
Tell me a little bit about this.
I don't know if it's a lens or a telescope.
Tell me how you managed to zoom in because you had some unique footage, really close up of the CFIA interacting with the ostriches.
How did you, I mean, if it's a trade secret, then don't tell me.
But if it's something you feel comfortable sharing, because I think you really cracked the code on that.
Yeah, I mean, the camera itself is an Icon P1000, and it has 125 times optical zoom.
Wow.
Wow.
Well, there's your answer right there.
I mean, you can see the craters on the moon with 125 times zoom.
I did actually while I was here, too.
There was a full moon or a super moon, and I got some great pictures of that.
And those photos and videos are coming from, I mean, Barry, I won't say exactly where, Crown Land, but some of them are well over a mile away, two miles.
We were, I think, five kilometers away one time filming.
So it's one heck of a lens.
Wow.
Well, that really showed the lengths that the government is going to hide what they're doing.
It really is quite shocking.
Well, Chris, we're so grateful that you're there.
Thank you for being there.
Different rebels have done shifts.
I don't know if we have a rebel on the ground right now.
I'll have to check if Drea's there.
She's gone a few times, but she always has to go back to Vancouver sort of to refuel and things like that.
But I'm glad you're there.
What's the best way for people to follow your work, Chris?
Yeah, all my work is going up to X at Chris Dacey on X.
And while I'm here, I'm also sharing stuff to Facebook.
I've been banned from Facebook, but we're using Mike Roode, Sergeant Mike Roode retired, the Rude Awakening Tour Facebook page.
So for people on Facebook, check that out.
He does a lot of work helping the veteran community.
So it's nice to be collaborating with him.
Great.
Well, you know, I really am grateful for your work.
Like I say, you've got some new stuff that no one saw before until you got that 125 times lens.
And I think you bring you're sort of a seasoned veteran from the streets of Ottawa.
And I think there's a little bit of the trucker convoy spirit out there amongst the ostrich supporters.
I mean, it's obviously a lot of differences, but that same feeling of standing up to the government against long odds.
So, Chris, I'm really glad you're out there and thanks for sharing your info with us today.
Yeah, thanks for having me, Ezra.
Lincoln Jay's Flight00:01:47
All right.
Our pleasure.
There you have it, Chris Dacey, and you can follow him as I do on X. Stay with us.
Your letters to me next.
Hey, it's Monday night.
It's great to be back in the studio.
So much is going on.
You know, I zipped out to Calgary for that half-question to Marjorie Michelle, and I came back.
but you know what, I'm hopping on a plane tonight because something absolutely terrifying and heartbreaking just happened in Dublin.
And the government just turned the largest hotel in Ireland into a migrant center for military-aged single men.
Gee, what could possibly go wrong?
People who destroy their ID, illegally come into the country and are put up at taxpayer expense in a luxury hotel, three square meals a day, cell phones, spending money, but we have no idea who they are.
Well, a horrific, horrific thing happened tonight.
A 10-year-old girl was raped, and one of the migrant men from this City West hotel was accused.
And already a huge crowd is gathering outside the hotel.
This is what we've been reporting about and warning about for more than a year in Ireland, and we've seen it in the United Kingdom too.
So Lincoln Jay and I are immediately getting on a plane to cover what I think is going to be a massive protest outside City West.
And what some politicians are saying is a breaking point in Irish politics.
We'll go and see what we find.
You'll be able to follow all our reportage from Dublin at migrantreports.com.
So I got to get out of here.
I got to get on that plane.
Until next time, on behalf of all of us here at Rubble World Headquarters, see you at home.