Ezra Levant exposes internal CBC documents revealing less than 5% of Canadians watch its content, citing a 4.2% television viewership figure in 2023 despite record budgets. He argues the broadcaster distorts the media landscape by spending 21% of total programming funds while its streaming service, GEM, refuses traffic data and underperforms against Netflix. Levant further critiques the CBC's influence on private journalists and highlights disturbing rhetoric from an Al-Quds Day rally in Toronto, concluding that this dominance stifles genuine journalistic curiosity and shapes national discourse. [Automatically generated summary]
We've got our hands on an access to information document about the CBC giving a presentation to Stephen Gilbo.
We got the notes.
Imagine being a fly on the wall in that meeting.
Well, we'll take you through it.
Very interesting stuff.
But first, I want to invite you to become a subscriber to what we call Rebel News Plus because I want you to see.
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I mean, I'm going to describe them to you with my voice, but you want to see them for yourself.
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Now let's get into it.
We've got internal documents from the CBC showing they admit less than 5% of Canadians even watch them.
It's March 19th, and this is the Esch Levant show.
Shame on you, you sensorism bug.
Oh, hi, everybody.
I have in my hand a sheaf of paper that's from an access to information production.
We didn't file the question, but sometimes the government publishes sort of a list of other people's inquiries that are very interesting.
There's so many people with so many good questions for this government.
The government tries to hide it, but this was a good one.
This was the CBC in what I understand is a presentation made to the then minister in charge, who I think at the time was Stephen Gilbo.
So this was an internal briefing from the CBC to Gilbo designed to sort of show off.
So what's fun about this is it's like being a fly on the wall in that meeting, but also understanding that the CBC cares so much about itself and about flattering the liberals.
I really got a kick out of this.
I want to walk you through it.
I don't have something to say about every page, but I'd like to show you a few.
I think I mentioned that first stat that less than 5% of Canadians watch them.
I think it's 4.2%.
You'll see a chart in here that it's actually declining.
How is that possible?
And I'm not just talking about TV on the big box TV.
I'm talking about streaming and internet and web.
Like all that stuff is booming.
It's growing.
Every media outlet is having a heyday, except the CBC is managing to shrink, even though its budget has never been higher.
Even though the Canadian population has even been higher, I don't know how they managed to do it.
There is one little anecdote that I'll tell you also will come across.
The CBC, one of the reasons they love the COVID lockdowns is that during the COVID lockdowns, their viewership actually grew by 25% because what else was there to do besides sit in your house and watch TV?
Maybe that was a reason they loved it so much.
But let's start.
You can see that the purpose of this document is to present key information on CBC and what they call Radio Canada.
That's the French or Quebec version of the CBC.
So they start off just sort of showing what is the CBC.
And it's outlined in something called the Broadcasting Act.
And if you read the Broadcasting Act, you can see what they were trying to do, at least when they passed the law, it was to be a voice for Canadians about Canada, to show different parts of Canada.
And that might have had a rationale almost 100 years ago when it was started, when there were very few other media outlets, when it took a lot of equipment to have radio stations across the country.
And I suppose the idea of building the nation was still, you know, in some question 100 years ago.
What's so incredible now is that if you look at the CBC, a lot of it is American broadcasting repurposed.
If you look at their government comedy channel, this hour is 22 minutes is their show.
It's 50% about Donald Trump.
They're obsessed with it.
I don't think they're following the Broadcasting Act.
They talk about the contribution to the media ecosystem.
And again, put yourself in the shoes of either the CBC who is pitching themselves or Stephen Gilbo, who was listening.
They're bragging about how much they're spending and how much they hire.
They're not bragging about what effect they're having or how many people are watching.
They think that more spending is better and that that's exactly what Stephen Gilbo would want to hear.
So you can see they say in 2021, 2022, 21% of total Canadian programming expenditures was for the CBC.
And they say that they accounted for 26% of all spending on news and information and 54% spending on Canadian drama and comedy.
So you can see that it's not quality they're after or even viewer feedback.
It's how much can we spend?
And the higher the number is, the prouder they are of themselves.
What's sort of incredible about that is they say they spend more on news than all other media combined, 54%.
I've mentioned that before.
The CBC so distorts the media environment.
They are larger by spend than all other media combined.
So are you surprised that anti-Americanism is so prevalent?
Are you surprised that anti-Christian sentiment, pro-Palestine sentiment, like it's really insane.
And they, I mean, I presume that if it was 75% or 80% or 90%, they'd even be prouder.
What I'm going to show you is actually, although they spend more and hire more, they're actually very poorly viewed.
Yeah, and like I say, they brag based on how much money they spend.
On the next slide, page five of the slides, you can see just how many different CBC channels there are.
Like, just stop and think about it.
There's CBC and then the French version, Radio Canada.
And then there's the news network and a whole bunch of documentary networks.
There's four different radio networks with 88 stations, regional networks.
And, you know, obviously the version's in French.
They have some internet-based system called GEM that I understand is doing very poorly and CBC fights not to give its viewer stats.
And it's funny, they have something I had never heard of before in Quebec called odeo.
I don't know a lot of Latin, but I know that the word odeo means hatred.
I'm sure it's just a coincidence.
And again, remember, they're boasting.
They're boasting about how big they are.
To them, that matters more than quality or balance or fairness or accuracy or breaking scoops or holding the government to account.
It's just how big are we?
That's what they love, and that's what Stephen Gilbo would have loved.
So you can see on page six, as of March 31st, 2024, CBC Radio Canada employed over 7,000 employees.
I'm not sure why the figure is so dated.
And you can see those little dots show where they are.
And they have offices in London, Paris, Washington, New York, Mumbai, and Taipei, which are pretty sweet gigs.
Can you name, can you tell me the last time an important story was broken out of those foreign offices by the CBC, or for that matter, in Ottawa?
I mean, the thing about the CBC is they're vicious when it comes to holding conservative politicians to account, but when it's Mark Carney or the Liberals or the NDP, they turn into little puppy dogs.
They talk a little bit about the CRTC.
I'm going to skip over that.
They talk about license renewal.
That's not interesting to me.
But on page nine, they talk about their funding model.
It's a little bit hard to see because it's black and white and gray.
But you can see that the CBC total revenue is just under $2 billion, of which $1.43 billion came from the taxpayers and 493 came from ads.
Now, it's a mess no matter which way you look at it.
Those $493 million of ads were sopped up by the government broadcaster, so they weren't going to private broadcasters.
They weren't going to CTV or Global or Rebel News.
You have a government competitor with a massive $1.4 billion advantage that is still sucking in, hoovering up ad money from private advertisers.
Now, I'm not saying I wanted all government funding.
That would be terrible also because you're extracting it from the pockets of taxpayers.
But I think the CBC was sort of proud that they sold half a billion dollars worth of ads, but that's half a billion dollars worth of ads that didn't go to real independent journalists.
You can see a little bit of the breakdown of where that ad money comes from.
They have another chart they call funding pressures.
Could you imagine the Chutzpah?
They just bragged that they spend more than any other network.
They spend more than all other news channels combined.
And they have $2 billion a year, but they have funding pressures, you guys.
Adjusted for inflation, it's fallen by $98 million over the last decade.
Adjusted for inflation.
Wow, we better help the poor deers.
You can see that ad revenues fluctuates, you know, whether that's the Olympics, which is a big money maker for them.
But look at page 12.
You can see subscription fees.
There are some services for the CBC that you have to pay a subscription fee.
And it's falling.
Like, look at this.
You can see this chart covers a 10-year period.
Canada's population has skyrocketed over the last 10 years, largely through mass immigration.
But the number of viewers of the CBC's products is going down.
In Quebec, it's pretty much stayed the same.
But look at the dark black numbers there.
It went down from $75 million in subscription fees 10 years ago to just 60 million now.
Like, no one wants to pay for this stuff.
No one wants to buy it.
I'm going to skip ahead a little bit more, but on page 13, I'll just note that although Quebec makes up less than a quarter of the population, it gets 42% of the CBC's money.
That's sort of interesting, isn't it?
They have, again, it's about spending.
And you can imagine that a cabinet minister from Quebec like Stephen Gilbo was would love to hear that.
I'm going to skip over their capital funding, but again, they just have, they have hundreds of millions of dollars.
On page 15, you can see them complaining that whatever money they have, it's not enough.
They want more per capita funding.
And they cite various European countries as the baseline.
They say that the average of the countries they choose gets $79 per citizen per year from the government.
And in Canada, it's only half that.
So we should be like those other over-tax jurisdictions and give more money to the CBC.
I'm going to skip ahead a few charts because they talk about the corporate structure, which is not that interesting.
I just want to take one second.
On page 18, they have a slide called independence.
Independence is a core value and defining characteristic of public service broadcasting that is essential to maintaining public trust.
Do you think that the CBC is independent?
Do you think that they're non-partisan?
Do you think they give both sides a shot?
When was the last time you saw someone on the CBC who was a skeptic of the theory of man-made global warming or who was a supporter of lawful firearms ownership or who was a skeptic of LGBT2Q plus L extremism or MAID medical assistance and dying?
When was the last time on all these key issues you saw someone with that contrary point of view?
Because they're not independent.
They're lying and there must have been a lot of winking going on.
Turn to page 20 and you'll see that they talk about public trust.
They say Radio Canada is consistently rated the number one most trusted news outlet in Canada's French market.
Now, I don't have a lot to say about that other than it's an astounding amount of money.
I showed you that almost half of the CBC's resources are spent in Quebec.
So it just floods the zone.
I'm surprised that any other media can poke their head out.
But if you look in English, in the English market, CBC News is the number four most trusted news outlet in Canada's English market.
It's behind CTV, behind regional newspapers, behind global news.
You have the CBC where 63% of people allegedly trust it.
Now, we have to trust the CBC to tell us about trust.
But I find it interesting that that number is shrinking.
And I think it's in part because of how abusive the CBC is towards conservatives.
And I think it's also in part the result of independent news like Rebel News and others pointing out that the CBC are basically regime journalists.
I want to show you something interesting on page 21.
It's a list of the top 10 news websites in Canada.
Now, this is two years old, but they say that CBC is number one in terms of traffic, ahead of Microsoft and Palmarax's The Weather Network and others.
I don't know if that's quite true.
I know that, for example, during the Trucker Convoy, Rebel News actually exceeded the number of clicks that the CBC did.
So I'm not quite convinced.
And I don't know if you remember, I showed you, I don't know, a month or two ago, the Reuters Foundation in association with Oxford University did a study showing that Rebel News is, we're not ahead of CBC or CTV, but we're ahead of global news.
Rebel News is a more mentioned, more trusted news site than many of these large regime media.
I don't think they would have included Rebel News on this list because they wouldn't want to explain to Stephen Gilbo why they're even talking about us.
Remember, we sued him and won when he blocked us on Twitter.
But look at page 22, which is an interesting slide.
Again, what is this?
This is the CBC trying to show how important and impressive it is to Stephen Gilbo in a private meeting.
You can see the different companies.
Secretive Streaming Site Stats00:04:39
So CBC, BCE stands for Bell Canada Enterprises.
That means CTV, City News, and other brands, Chorus and Rogers.
So these are different media companies.
Bell Canada, which is CTV, is ahead of the CBC in English Canada by almost triple in terms of conventional television.
So if you are on TV clicking around global, CTV, or other channels, you are three times as likely in English Canada to watch something like CTV than you are CBC.
And if you'll notice, the CBC stats are declining year after year.
So from 2021 to 2023, it fell from 5.3% to 4.8% to just 4.2%.
This is what I mentioned earlier.
The CBC admits that at least in 2022, 2023, that only 4.2% of TV watchers tune into the CBC, and that falls every year.
Now, that stat is a couple of years old.
I'd love to see it now.
I bet it's fallen even further.
On the French side, you can see that Quebecor is much better watched than Radio Canada.
But also, why is it that Radio Canada keeps falling?
That's the French CBC year after year.
I find that very interesting.
It's even more so for what they call discretionary television.
I think those are sort of the add-ons to your basic cable.
Like if you sign up for specialty channels, you can see on the left there in English, only 2.6% of Canadians sign up for those specialty channels.
I honestly don't even know what a CBC specialty channel is.
So I'm not part of the 2.6%.
Compare that to CTV specialty channels.
I just think it's absolutely stunning that the CBC would mention this to Stephen Gilbo.
Radio, of course, radio is declining in general.
And there's not really a lot to show in that.
I want to show you page 25.
And not every single page here is riveting.
But I talked to you about GEM.
That's the CBC's attempt to have a streaming site.
They're so secretive about how it's going.
They refuse to allow any information about their traffic or their audience size.
They compare themselves incredibly to Amazon Prime and Netflix and YouTube.
And needless to say, they are smaller than all of them in Canada.
It's a bit of audacity to think that you're going to compete with Netflix or YouTube, but they don't even make a dent.
It's sort of embarrassing.
I guess my point is this.
The CBC, nowhere here did they measure consumer satisfaction.
Nowhere here did they mention feedback from ordinary Canadians or the 90 plus percent who simply don't watch it.
These are terrible numbers to report.
If this were a real company, a private sector company that didn't have government bailouts, they would be out of business in two weeks when they couldn't make payroll.
I showed you the stats.
Only a quarter of their money is earned from ads.
The rest is a gift.
And so it's no surprise that they boast about how wasteful they are, how much money they spend, that they're bigger and more bloated than all other private news companies combined.
I think that's not something to brag about.
I think that's actually terrifying when literally the majority of news reporters in Canada work for the government.
And it has a deleterious effect on the private journalists too.
I mean, put yourself in the shoes of a reporter at CTV or Global News, not that they're right wing or anything.
If those companies have layoffs, because they're in the real world, and they do get massive subsidies too, but if Chorus or some of these other channels lay off a news reporter, that news reporter, well, who is the biggest employer in Canada that really never has layoffs?
Well, the CBC.
So even while they're working at CTV or City News or whatever, they're tailoring their work, thinking in the back of their mind, well, if I'm ever laid off, I want to be able to apply to work in the velvet coffin of the CBC.
So I want my work to look right on the money on transgenderism, on made medical assistance and dying.
I want to be so super anti-Trump.
I want to be super duper anti-Danielle Smith.
I want to just love Mark Carney and his speech at Davos, most amazing speech at Davos, because even when you're working at a private competitor, the CBC, in the back of your mind, you're thinking, one day I might have to work for them.
Anti-Zionism and Epstein00:14:58
And it might happen.
I mean, Stephen Harper had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unplug the CBC, shut it down, privatize it, sell it, whatever, literally hand it to its own staff and just stop the bailout.
He missed that opportunity.
I think one of the largest opportunities missed in his entire administration.
But I just keep coming back to that one statistic, 4.2%.
That's how many people watch CBC on television.
It's declining every year, but they're just so, so proud of themselves.
Stay with us.
More ahead.
The CBC and CTV either don't cover the pro-liberty side, or if they do, they downplay its size and strength.
Friends, it's nice to be recognized.
And you can see that although the vast majority of Iranians are Muslim and the freedom-oriented Iranians in Canada are Muslim, they're not a radical Islamist, theocratic Islam like we see in Iran.
And there's a comfort with Jews and with Israel.
And even the gratitude that Israel's Air Force is helping to rough up the regime.
You look a little out of place.
What's up with you?
Well, I'm here to interview people who are for the al-Quds march.
Why are you here?
Why?
Because we have an occupation lasting 67?
67 years.
And who's occupying whom?
You don't know that.
I'm just trying to understand what you mean.
You're asking me that question.
You don't know that.
If you don't know that, then you can.
Well, explain yourself to us.
Are you here for Iran or for Gaza?
What's that?
Why are you here?
For humanity.
And are you worried about the fact that Iran is not a democracy?
It's a theocracy that's killed many of its own people.
You love theocracies?
I'm joking.
I'm joking.
Where are you from originally?
Italy.
Italy.
So, I mean, do you feel out of place here?
I'm just trying to understand how you came to.
Are you a radical?
Are you a communist?
I don't know.
You tell me.
I don't know.
Well, I radical...
In the media, you don't know what you can explain a radical.
I radical someone who's...
No, you're not qualified to do this.
I'm trying to ask you to...
You don't know what a radical means.
I know what a radical is.
I'm asking you if you're...
If you're an Italian from southern Italy, then you cannot do this.
How did you come to support Iran?
Get another job.
Okay, I'll get another job.
I don't think he wanted to talk to me.
I didn't want to typecast him.
I wanted him to use his own words to explain himself.
I think he's just sort of anti-American, anti-Canadian.
I think he may be a communist ally of the Ayatollahs.
Doug Ford says this is a disgusting gathering.
What would you say to Doug Ford?
He doesn't want to talk.
No war, but class war.
What does that mean?
You don't know what it means.
Did you make your own sign?
Are you holding someone else's sign?
How are you?
He doesn't want to talk.
Are you here for the rally?
Pardon?
Are you supporting the rally?
Yes, I am.
Doug Ford says he has a lot of hard words for the rally.
He calls it anti-Semitic.
He says it's disgusting.
And no one has a free license to hate.
We won't stand for it.
Instead of focusing on what divides us, let's come together and focus on what unites us.
What do you say to Doug Ford?
I would say that he's misinformed and that he represents the Epstein class rather than democratic forces throughout North America.
I think that what we have to look at here is this is an excellent example of whether you're on the Israeli or anti-Israeli side.
It's a very good example that in Canada, we're still allowed to protest things on either side of the fence.
I'm happy to see that there was gatherings actually on both sides.
And I think that anti-Semitism is deriving out of the fact of Israeli war crimes.
At the same time, I don't think being a Jew, Israel does not represent all Jews.
And that's my position on that, right?
That's such a confusing bundle of things you said.
So you say you're for democracy.
I presume that means that's why you support this rally, but Iran itself is very undemocratic.
Well, actually, Iran was a brutal dictatorship till 1979.
I was a Marine then.
I was there.
Somehow they successfully overthrew the American Epstein class that had supported and installed the brutal dictator.
Do you think they're more democratic now?
Oh, definitely far more democratic.
They don't have free elections.
All the candidates are chosen by the Supreme Leader.
That sounds like the U.S. With the Democrats and Republicans.
The only two things those parties have in common is they undermine the 99% all the time.
I think what we need to do is get that powerful investor group out of politics and have a functioning democracy where we make decisions based on the benefit for the majority of the people.
Who do you think attacked the consulate last week with gunfire?
Well, I don't want to speculate.
I got no idea.
Who's attacking all the synagogues?
Pardon?
Who's attacking all the synagogues?
Well, I think it could have been one person that attacked all of them, or it could be a numerous amount of incidents.
Are you worried about anti-Semitism in Canada?
I don't think that was an act of anti-Semitism.
How about attacking the synagogues?
I think it was an act of anti-Zionism.
I don't think that's a problem.
Well, then what's the difference?
Because the synagogue is not an Israeli political institution.
It's a place where Jews go to pray.
Well, you could say the same thing.
Why is Israel bombing mosques in Iran?
They're a place that religious people go to pray, yet they've been wiped out.
Are you saying that it's legitimate to shoot up?
Are you saying it's legitimate to have a synagogue as a target?
I don't agree with any violence, whether you attack a synagogue, a mosque, or a church.
You explained it by saying it's because of what Israel did that they're being attacked.
I think all these people are angry about the fact that Israel has started war with nine different countries in the last year.
How many countries has Iran started a war with in the last two weeks?
Well, Iran actually hasn't started war with anybody.
Well, it shot rockets at Qatar, United Arab Emirates, so many countries.
All of those bases are supported by the Epstein class, and they've targeted U.S. bases.
I keep saying the Epstein class.
What do you mean by that?
The Epstein class represents a very small group of investors who basically the military-industrial complex, big agra, big oil, the media, and the banks.
They have conspired together for over 200 years to take over the U.S. government and project things that will support their particular investor group, but undermines the 99%.
When I say 99%, I mean everybody who's not part of the investor group.
Well, listen, thanks for talking with me today.
No problem.
Thank you.
What do you think about Doug Ford?
He says this is an anti-Semitic gathering.
Do you disagree with him?
The people united will never be defeated.
Do you have anything to say?
i don't blame them i i think uh i think silence is about the best thing they could say hey boss you're selling flags That's a great idea.
Have you sold any Canadian flags on this side?
You have?
Because I don't see any Canadian flags on this side.
I see them on that side.
People have bought some on both sides.
I don't see any on this side.
They're bought on this side as well.
You know what?
I think you're doing a great business.
You've got the Iranian regime.
You've got the Palestine.
You got Canada.
Do you have the Free Iran one with the lion on it?
That's a good one.
Oh, you have that one, eh?
It's United States.
Well, we're on the side now of the pro-Hamas, pro-Ayatollah side.
This is the Al-Qud side.
This is the Sammy Dune terrorist side.
Now I'm glad we've got our security with us.
I'm having a tough time getting people to talk to me.
It's not surprising many people have their faces covered by a mask.
There's an exception, though, to Westerners.
Like I spoke to one Italian fella, I spoke to one American fella, and they seem more voluble, more chatty than the foreign nationals.
What's your name?
Nick.
And why are you here?
You've got a lot of stickers and badges.
I'm here because Israel is committing a genocide.
And I think Israel is the new Nazi Germany.
About justice.
And I think that country that's committing genocide shouldn't be allowed to, you know, whatever the hell they're doing.
And they have one right in Israel.
Pick up their shit and get the hell out of Palestine.
So do you think every Jew should leave Israel?
I'm talking about Israelis.
The Nazis that live there should pick up their shit and get the hell out of Palestine.
Since 1948, they've been occupying Palestinian land.
So you believe in that phrase from the river to the sea?
Netanyahu says it.
When he says it, he shows the map of Greener Israel.
So if he says it, I guess it's okay.
I'm trying to understand your position.
So do you think Israel, all the Jews should leave Israel?
I think they're there illegally.
They've stolen the Palestinian land.
Is that a yes?
And they should pick up their shit and get it.
I know you've said that three times.
So what if they don't go?
Should they be kicked out through force?
Well, what are they doing to people in Gaza?
They're committing a job.
Won't you answer me?
I'm trying to see what you want to do.
And you keep shifting the subject.
Do you think the Israelis or the Jews should be pushed out of the area that you are calling Palestine?
Yeah, the Nazi Zionist Jews that live in Israel should pick up their shit and get the hell out of the street.
I know you've said that same line five times.
I'm starting to think you just repeat that line.
What do you mean I'm not answering at all?
What is the Zen?
So if any Jew remains, are they a fair target for terrorism?
I'm not talking about terrorism.
I'm talking to pick up their stuff and get the hell out of here.
I know you've said that six times now.
It's getting sort of boring.
Yeah, but who's the terrorist?
Israel's a terrorist.
Do you think Hamas committed any terrorism on October 7th?
But who's been killing Palestinians since 1948?
The Nazis.
So do you think that October 7th was a terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel?
Look, October 7th, you have all these rumors that Netanyahu...
So it's a rumor?
What do you think?
You're not...
You're not answering any of my questions.
Let me say this to you.
What happened October 7th, what Hamas did, compared to what Israel's doing?
So was it wrong?
Was October 7th wrong?
Yes or no?
Israel's a thousand times worse.
And they don't deserve to be there.
They should pick up their stuff.
I find it frustrating to talk to you.
I'm trying to get your point of view on things, but you just keep repeating some message tracks.
Do you think that what Hamas did on October 7th was acceptable?
Do you think it was terrorism?
If so, do you think it was, sounds like you think it was justified.
I'm trying to get your moral judgment on that day.
Sure, terror is terrible.
Killing anybody is terrible.
So what Hamas did is terrible?
What they did, yeah, killing people is terrible.
Okay, well, thank you for telling me finally.
That what Israel's doing is a thousand times worse.
They're worse than Nazi Germany and the Israelis.
Israel's worse than Nazi Germany.
Yes, absolutely.
Nazi Germany killed not only 6 million Jews, but 50 million Europeans, conquered nations, concentration camps.
And you're saying Israel's worse than that.
Well, see, the thing in Germany, not everybody knew what was happening, and not everybody was gleeful.
But in Israel, everybody knows what's happening, and in Israel, they're gleeful.
How did you come by these beliefs?
You sound like you're born in Canada.
I'm watching rebel news.
How did you come to be here?
You seem like somebody's grandpa.
And how did somebody's grandpa start hanging out with terrorist supporters?
I'm Ukrainian, and Stalin committed a genocide on Ukrainians, and I know what a genocide is.
It's easy to see.
It's all over the internet.
The population in Gaza is actually higher now than on October 7th.
It's like a false argument.
I'm just telling you that's...
How many have they killed?
People say 70,000.
Lancet says 400,000, 500,000, you can't just, those people, they're kids.
They're kids there.
I appreciate you talking to me.
I find you confusing.
I'm somewhat mystified by your existence, but I appreciate you talking to me.
Free balance.
Thank you.
Like I say, the Muslim activists, the extremists themselves won't talk to me, but their Western allies will.
It's an interesting thing, don't you think?
How come you're here?
Because I don't like Israeli war crimes.
Yeah.
I don't love the Ayatollah, of course, but I think killing children and bombing countries is wrong, fundamentally.
You said an interesting thing, though, because this is organized in part by the Ayatollah's side of things, the Al-Qaeda.
I don't know.
The Al-Quds.
You said you don't support the Ayatollahs, but you're wearing the flag.
This is a Palestinian flag, my friend.
Sorry, I thought it was the Iranian flag.
I thought it was an Iranian flag.
Iranian Flag Controversy00:04:28
So what do you think?
Who do you think should run Iran?
Well, that's not a question for me to answer.
It's a question for the people of Iran to answer.
How should they answer it?
Should there be an election?
Of course, I believe in secular liberal democracy, but that doesn't mean that I have to stand here and say, yeah, I think America and Israel bombing children, putting poisonous gas up in the air.
I don't have to think that's right, to think that somebody else should be running Iran.
I think that's a tennis position.
And how long have you been involved with this movement?
I mean I've been backing a Free Palestine since I was very very young.
Well, yeah, yeah, don't bother with them.
Oh, oh, yeah, good point.
I just wanted to say that I'm Jewish and my Jewish family has been backing a Free Palestine since before I temper politics.
Take down the streets.
Stop talking to them.
They are biased people.
Stop talking to them.
Go to your side and speak with your people.
Who are my people?
Who's your people?
The baby killers.
It will be such a day when a person will run away from his brother, mother, father, wife, and sons.
And on that day, everyone will be completely engrossed in his own concerns.
Doug Ford says it.
Doug Ford says you're disgusting.
We talk with you and you several times, but you are biased people.
Are you with the Al-Quds group?
Doug Ford says that this should be banned.
What do you say to Doug Ford?
Are you here to ask people genuine questions?
Yes, I am.
I'm here to listen to what people say.
We don't want to genuine opinion.
You got Shatana.
How much are you?
For what's crime would they write here, such as for what's crime would they write here.
No, they're all.
I'm Canadian.
Let's go there.
Yeah, no, this is not your private property.
I'll give him some space to do his thing.
How are you?
Can I see your sign?
Now, Doug Ford wanted to ban this.
What do you say to Doug Ford?
Do you need his permission to talk?
What's your name?
To take a moment to recognize and acknowledge the land on which we are here today.
They're doing a land acknowledgement.
I'm sorry.
There's just something deeply funny about that.
That we are standing on Purple Island and the traditional territories of the Mississaugas, of New Eleg and other peoples before them, the Ashgabe and Hotschano.
It's quite a collection of communists and radicals.
Some people who I think feel like anti-Plumps.
None of the foreign nationals will talk with us.
Some of the Canadian-born two.
If you were anti-Western in the 70s and 80s, you would be on the side of the Soviet Union trying to undermine America.
Because the greatest counterweight to America through the Cold War was the Soviet Union.
If you are anti-American in 2026, you're in league with radical Islam because that's the greatest counterweight to America in the world.
Maybe China is, but in terms of genetic, violent undermining of the West, if you hate America, if you hate Canada, if you hate freedom, if you hate capitalism, this is your place.
Reactionaries Against America00:08:39
And that's the only way I can make sense of the three or four people I've spoken to here today, including two people who called themselves Jewish.
And I actually believe it.
But I think they're a husk of a Jew.
I don't think they're actually truly Jewish.
They're just using that as a dramatic card to play.
I don't know.
It's a very strange gathering.
These are the people who, if they could, would destroy the freedom of Canada and the West.
And they're in the hearts of our cities.
Like, what's that lady doing here?
What's that?
Is that somebody's grandmother?
That's somebody's grandma here at a terrorist-sponsored event.
I think he played a game.
I think so too.
Yeah, he waited to the last minute.
Probably influence and dampen the numbers here.
And to also give the allusion to his side, let's call it, that he was doing something.
I think you're exactly right.
He was playing games in these places.
I think you're right.
Very calculating man.
Can't trust him at all.
You can't trust him at all.
I think we agree on that.
What else?
Now, I bet we disagree on a lot.
I would imagine.
Why are you here?
I still have some humanity left.
I think you're sort of funny.
Another reduction.
Judaism.
Yes.
Judaism.
Zionism.
No!
Judaism!
Do you remember when you were at Laura?
I do remember.
What's your name?
Fuck you!
I believe it.
That's what your mother named you when she saw you.
What's your middle name?
What's your middle name?
What's your name?
Look at these jokers, yo.
I know you've said that three times now.
Do you have anything else to say?
Look at these reactionaries, yo.
Reactionaries.
I like your coat.
He is a spokesperson product.
Pretty fancy coat.
Well, we started off on the side of the U.S. consulate.
Then we talked to the pro-freedom side.
And now we're fairly deep in the pro-Ayatollah, pro-Hamas side.
And it's very unusual because at Bathurst and Shepherd, that's that neighborhood corner in Toronto, the Jewish neighborhood, where you used to have dueling protests.
The police would exit us from the Palestinian side of the street all the time.
In fact, once I was arrested for not leaving.
That was on a public sidewalk in my own neighborhood.
So here at this big Al Kudste rally, this terror march, we're right in the thick of it.
Like we're literally in the heart of it.
There are some pro-Hamas minders trying to stop people from talking with us, and they've been fairly successful.
But it's quite unusual to be right in the middle of it.
And the spokesman, the MC for the event, has made a few statements about staying calm and not reacting and reporting things that are strange.
And I think they're very, very alive to the fact that they're under scrutiny.
And if they commit any scuffle, any assault, any violence, they probably will be arrested today, whereas they haven't been in the past.
So it's really unusual to be in the thick of it.
There's one thing that's also unusual compared to our normal reports from Bathurst and Shepard, which is the number of ethnic Canadians.
And by that I mean white folks.
At that Bathurst and Shepard weekly hate march, it's almost exclusively foreign nationals.
But here, I'm a little surprised.
There's so many Canadian born and bred communists, dissidents, anti-Americans.
And frankly, they're the only ones talking to me.
But I know it's a little bit unusual to be in the heart of it.
I see a few symbols I don't understand.
What's that?
What do you want?
How are you, boss?
What brings you here today?
I'm good.
You're good?
Doug Ford says that this is a disgusting rally.
What do you say to Doug Ford?
I'm good.
Are you Muslim yourself?
Are you just supportive of them?
Are you supportive of Iran or Gaza?
Hi, sir.
I'm Jazz.
How are you today?
He's less chatty than some of the other folks I've seen.
Zionist movement.
Yeah.
What's your name?
Sorry, before I ask anything, I just...
I'm okay.
How are you?
Sorry?
I'm aware.
I'm aware.
I'm just moving.
I'm not giving an interruption.
I know.
I just want to ask, what do you hope to gain out of coming here on this side?
No hate, just curious.
Yeah, I appreciate the question.
I'm Ezra, by the way.
If anyone wants to say anything to me, I'm open to hear it because very few people on this side will talk to me.
And there's minders, like those two guys, telling people not to talk to me.
My first question to people was, what do you make of Doug Ford's statement that this is a terrible meeting?
What's the question?
Sorry?
One second.
I actually need to unoccupy Palestine.
I suppose that's what it's like to live in a place like Iran or Gaza.
You're not allowed freedom of speech.
There's always a minder.
What's your name?
What's your name, boss?
If this were any other day, they would be assaulting us.
But because there's so many police here and there's such a heightened political interest, they're actually the best behaved I've ever seen.
And so I'm requesting all of you to raise your hand and say, We made the Almighty for the speedy and peaceful end of the Zionist day.
Are you allowed to talk to me?
It's not about the allowed.
It's more just they inform me the true life of your position and I have no interest in talking to you.
But you guys are a Zionist?
I'm a Jew.
Doesn't matter if you be an anti-Zionist Jew.
Of course I'm a Zionist.
That's enough here time then.
Thank you.
It's a brainwashing.
It's a mind virus, anti-Semitism.
The Muslim world is largely anti-Semitic.
And with mass immigration, that comes to Canada.
But there are also old-stock Canadians who are discovering an age-old anti-Semitism again, too.
It's too bad.
Well, it's after four o'clock.
What an interesting afternoon it's been.
Scarlett, tell me a little bit about your day.
I mean, it was fairly uneventful on my side.
I was with the pro-Freedom Iranians, the Jews and Canadians standing against El Quds Day.
So it was the usual kind of celebratory mood.
Everybody's dancing to the YMCA waving Canadian American Israeli line on sunflakes.
So it was a good time.
Are you surprised by how few Al-Quds people are here today?
I thought it was going to be bigger.
Yeah, I am.
Especially because I thought maybe they would be emboldened after the string of shootings that are clearly connected.
I thought maybe that would encourage them to come out more, but maybe Doug Ford's words actually had some influence.
I don't know.
Well, there's an enormous number of police here.
Now, David, you did something I've never seen you do before because you haven't been able to do it before, and that is to go right into the hearts of hundreds.
I'd say there's probably 200 Al-Quds people there.
You walked right in.
You had security.
Security Six in Alberta00:04:57
I'm really glad we got some heavy-duty security because you went right into the heart of darkness.
Some cops went really close to you, too, but they didn't stop you.
And the pro-Hamas types, they didn't assault you.
This is very new.
I think they wanted to, Ezra.
And yes, I went into the belly of the beast, and it reminds me of that old line about a Yoko Ono concert.
It started out bad and then proceeded to get horrid.
And by that, Ezra, you can't get these people to articulate their position.
Well, folks, I've really enjoyed the day.
We had a very large crew here today on camera.
Myself, Scarlett, and David.
On holding the camera, our dear friends Efron, Lincoln, and Pacholo, who's new to our team as well.
So that's six of us.
But then we had six security, and then with six security, they brought a security boss.
So we actually had seven security, six journalists.
We had a 13-person team today.
And at first, I thought maybe the security were superfluous.
But when we went in the heart of darkness, I was really glad we had them.
We're the only journalists in Canada who have to hire security because whether it's antifa or Islamists, they would do us in if they could.
If you can help us cover the cost, please do by going to journalistdefensefund.com.
On behalf of Rebel News and my colleagues and my behind-the-scenes colleagues, from us to you, thanks for watching, and keep fighting for freedom.
Your letters to me.
It's great to be back, by the way.
I'm sorry, I was traveling and I got stranded.
If you can believe it, there was so much air travel because of spring break in different places that I was stranded and my flight and mechanically in an airport for 24 hours, which sounds like something that would happen to you in some exotic place, but it was in Canada.
Anyway, I'm really happy to be back.
Jeff Hedrich writes on Alberta, he says, United Conservative Party gaining against NDP in Alberta, but somehow we're supposed to believe the libs are gaining ground over conservatives.
Color me skeptical.
Yeah, I don't understand what's going on with the federal liberals and conservatives.
I just don't get it.
I see Pierre Polyev just recorded a show on the Joe Rogan podcast.
That's the most popular podcast in America, or maybe Candace Owens has more viewers now.
But Rogan is a serious interviewer who loves very long conversations, two hours or more.
It'll be interesting to see if Pierre Polyev's new PR effort pays off.
Pat B says, I saw the polls.
It's NDP support going to liberals.
Keep in mind, there are lots of Easterners moving here, unfortunately.
Yeah, I don't understand the polls.
And maybe we should have a pollster on to talk a little bit about it.
I just have trouble believing that the federal liberals are ahead of the federal conservatives.
But who knows?
Maybe it goes back to the monologue of today's show that the CBC is larger than all other news media combined and they just sort of have a brainwashing effect.
Gordon Rutledge says, as an Albertan, I'm sickened by liberals suddenly interested in producing oil and gas and patting themselves on the back with Alberta's effort.
I can't leave this broken country soon enough.
Well, that's the thing.
There was a weird statement by the prime minister and the energy minister the other day about Canada going to release millions of barrels of reserves of oil.
That's not how it works.
We don't have, like, the United States has something called the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
China has one too.
It's basically buying oil and pumping it into a vast underground cavern, like just to store it.
And then if it's needed, they can pump it pretty quickly.
We don't do that in Canada.
We have so much oil, we're a net oil exporter.
We don't need to do that.
We have billions of barrels we can just go and produce if we want it.
So there's nothing to be released.
Like there's just, it makes no sense.
And I don't know if Mark Carney knew that and he just didn't care about being accurate.
I saw so many media reporting that, and none of them said, what oil?
Who none of them even checked with an oil company?
Is that really going to happen?
I think that the media is so domesticated, so tamed and trained, they'll publish complete BS like that without even a drop of curiosity.
I mean, do you not have any curiosity?
You're a reporter.
You've been working the beat for 20 or 30 years.
You've never heard of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Canada because we don't have one.
You've probably heard of the American.
You've never heard of that, but suddenly you are a stenographer when Mark Carney says he's going to release millions of barrels from him.
It's an embarrassing state of the media, but you knew that.
That's our show for today.
Until tomorrow, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, see you at home.