Ezra Levant announces Rebel News' registration as a third-party group for Alberta's October 19th independence referendum, citing over 177,000 petition signatures and fears of prosecution under Elections Alberta. He contrasts this with Quebec's status, accusing the federal government of treating Albertans as second-class citizens through pipeline blockades, carbon taxes, and bilingualism mandates that exclude 98% from federal roles. Levant condemns the Trudeau administration's pro-China policies and "woke" ideology while identifying himself as a Federalist planning to use TV ads to counter the "anti-Alberta regime," ultimately framing sovereignty as an escape from perceived systemic oppression. [Automatically generated summary]
Transcriber: CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026, sat-12l-sm, and large-v3-turbo
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Making The Case For Independence00:05:45
Hello, my friends.
Today, we make the case for Alberta independence.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
Listen to me make the case in about 10 or 15 minutes and tell me what you think.
That's all on the show today.
But first, let me invite you to become a subscriber to Rebel News Plus.
Go to rebelnewsplus.com.
It's eight bucks a month.
Not only do you get great content, but you get the satisfaction of helping Rebel News stay strong and independent.
Tonight, the case for Alberta independence.
It's April 7th, and this is the Ezra Levant Show.
Shame on you, you censorious bug!
Dribble News is setting up what's called a third party campaign group in Alberta in support of the independence referendum.
You can find out more and help us out at actforalberta.com.
The phrase third party doesn't mean we're setting up a political party.
It's just the term for what they would call a super PAC in the United States.
It's a way for us to legally participate in the referendum campaign.
Otherwise, we'd be prosecuted by Elections Alberta.
Now, we've done this before.
For example, right now we have a third party super PAC for the federal by elections going on in Ontario.
And during the last federal election, we had a super PAC too.
Now we're doing one for the Alberta referendum campaign.
We're doing this for a few reasons.
The first reason, as I mentioned, is that if we don't register, we'd be prosecuted.
A few years ago, when the NDP were the government in Alberta, Rebel News put up a beautiful billboard calling for the firing of the absolutely awful cabinet minister named Dave Egan.
But Elections Alberta claimed that was illegal for us to do, and they prosecuted us.
How?
Why?
How is that any different from writing a newspaper editorial calling for a politician to be fired?
As you know, that happened to us federally, too.
When I published my book about Justin Trudeau called The Libranos, I was prosecuted for that, too.
So the first reason is that if we don't register, we'll be prosecuted for things like billboards and public meetings and book launches.
Elections bureaucrats hate rebel news because they're usually left wing control freaks and they realize we campaign with a bit of flair and irreverence that even political parties don't usually do.
They would love to prosecute us.
That's what happens in a country without the First Amendment guaranteeing our freedom of speech.
But the second reason is we absolutely believe in this referendum.
For those who haven't been following along, Alberta allows what's called a citizens' initiative.
That is, if enough people sign a petition, a law can be introduced in the legislature, or in this case, a constitutional referendum can be called.
Now, last week, a petition with more than 177,000 names was submitted to the government calling.
For a referendum on Alberta independence.
And the date is set October 19th, barely six months from now.
Now, I love the idea of a referendum.
Let the people speak.
There are some issues that politicians refuse to talk about because they're too scared or politically correct.
Ending mass immigration is an obvious one.
A referendum on independence is exactly the kind of thing that ordinary people talk about, but official people are terrified to mention.
Now, all the usual suspects in the regime are against an Alberta referendum.
I mean, it's sort of weird, though, isn't it?
Quebec.
Has had two referendums on independence, and the last one came within half a percent of passing.
The Supreme Court of Canada has said referendums on independence are perfectly legal, and in a 1998 court case, they actually laid out the procedure to do it.
Parliament agrees.
They passed the Clarity Act, which says a clear majority on a clear question is the first step to independence.
This has been the law for decades.
It is normal.
For Quebec, the separatist Bloc Québécois party is treated as legitimate and respected in Parliament, even It once formed the official opposition.
The provincial Parti Quebecois is leading the polls in Quebec right now, provincially, and has won four by elections in a row.
Now, that is all considered normal and healthy, but when Albertans want the same remedies, they're denounced as treasonous by the regime media.
I'd like to just take and pause a moment.
I read an article last night in the Financial Times about a group of people from Alberta, I won't describe them as Albertans, who went to the White House seeking the assistance of the United States.
To break up our country.
Now, I understand the desire to hold a referendum to talk about the issues you want to talk about in Canada.
We've got free speech, that's important.
But to go to a foreign country and to ask for assistance in breaking up Canada, there's an old fashioned word for that.
And that word is treason.
How come Quebec is allowed to talk about its destiny, but Alberta is not?
Why is a Democratic vote in Alberta denounced as unacceptable by the official people, but Mark Carney announcing that we're joining Canada as a partner and just deciding that we all have to be part of a Chinese New World Order?
How come that's great, even though he never mentioned such a shocking and dangerous policy?
During the last election.
But why is that democratic?
The progress that we have made in the partnership sets us up well for the new world order.
But an independence referendum isn't.
Canada is stronger when we work together.
As an Albertan, I firmly believe that.
You can always ask a question, but I know what I would respond clearly.
Why Alberta Oil Stalls In Ottawa00:11:18
Why are Alberta pipelines and Alberta oil sands blocked and cancelled by Ottawa?
Costing hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Why did Justin Trudeau and his economic advisor at the time, Mark Carney, say there was no business case for LNG natural gas, even though countries like Germany and Japan practically begged us for it?
Mr. Prime Minister, you didn't say yes or no to the question if you're ready to export to Germany.
You said you were checking if that's a business case, if it makes sense to export.
Can you please elaborate a little bit what would be or what would define a business case to export gas to Germany?
Canada.
Already exports a lot of natural gas and oil into global markets.
So we are certainly aware that even as the world needs to decarbonize and get off fossil fuels, there is a need right now to counter the energy crisis created by Russia, even as we accelerate moving forward.
Why are real businesses with real projects?
In Alberta, that don't need any government subsidies, why are those projects being killed off?
But fake businesses and fake projects, like a $90 billion fast train between Toronto and Montreal, considered nation building?
Why does Alberta have to send $20 billion a year to the rest of Canada every year, only to have provinces like BC or Quebec veto pipelines going to the coast, even though that's not their constitutional power to do that?
Eastern Canada actually imports oil from.
OPEC dictatorships coming in on tanker ships?
Why does conflict oil get to come into Canada, but ethical oil from Alberta is not allowed to flow out?
Why does Alberta oil have to pay an industrial carbon tax and now do some fake carbon capture process that conflict oil imports don't have to do?
Why are oil tankers exporting Alberta oil banned, but oil tankers importing OPEC oil allowed?
Why are Albertans treated like second class citizens?
We just saw a few weeks ago the CEO of Air Canada.
He was fired because he didn't speak perfect French in some video announcement, by the way, that had translation right on the screen.
We live, as I just said, in a bilingual country.
We proudly live in a bilingual country.
And companies like Air Canada, particularly, have a responsibility to always communicate in both official languages, regardless of the situation.
I'm very disappointed, as others are.
Rightly so, in this unilingual message of the CEO of Air Canada.
It doesn't matter the circumstance, but particularly in these circumstances, lack of judgment and lack of compassion.
Lack of compassion.
Same thing applies to most federal jobs.
You cannot rise above a junior level in the federal civil service and the RCMP and the military if you're not bilingual, which rules out 98% of Albertans.
You need to be bilingual to be on the Supreme Court.
And by the way, Quebec is guaranteed.
Three out of nine seats there, anyways, far more than their population.
I don't think Albertans are greedy or angry.
I don't think they're stingy.
I think it's a combination of not being allowed just to work for a living in oil and gas and at the same time being demonized and being mocked when Albertans try in good faith to fix things.
Like the entire 15 year, 20 year Reform Party experiment, Preston Manning said to the separatists of his day in Alberta, he said, No, let's try and fix Canada.
The West wants in.
The liberals and the media and the whole establishment just laughed at them and called them racist, which is exactly what they think of all Albertans.
This isn't a one off, it's always been this way.
Alberta was born unequal as a province back in 1905.
It literally didn't join Canada with the same property rights to national resources that the other provinces had.
Alberta's attempts to weather the Depression were rebuked by Ottawa.
Who let the province go bankrupt in the 1980s?
Pierre Trudeau nationalized much of the Alberta oil industry and taxed the rest into submission.
Justin Trudeau did the same again over and over.
It's like Groundhog Day, nothing changes because the system itself is broken.
I mean, once in a generation, a conservative becomes prime minister.
So the viciousness recedes for a few years, like it did under Stephen Harper, but nothing was actually reformed.
The system wasn't fixed.
How could it be?
You don't see federal politicians demonizing any other industry in any other province.
You don't see laws being specifically drafted to harm and phase out any other industry.
It's not just the money.
That's the least of it, actually.
It's the sneering condescension, the disrespect.
Because everyone in Ottawa knows what's Alberta going to do about it, anyways?
You don't have the votes in Parliament.
Well, how about doing it in Quebec and voting for independence?
The United States recently said they would continue to buy Alberta oil if Alberta was independent.
Of course they would.
I think we should let them come down into the U.S. and Alberta is a natural partner for the U.S.
They have great resources.
The Albertans are very independent people.
Rumors that they may have a referendum on whether they want to stay in Canada or not.
Sounds like you may know something up there.
Look, people are saying, people are talking.
People are talking.
People want sovereignty.
They want what the U.S. has got.
Isn't that amazing?
A foreign country is more open to Alberta pipelines than some fellow provinces.
I mean, what would Alberta lose if it were independent?
Schools and hospitals are already provincially run.
Most services are from the cities.
What do the feds actually do for Alberta?
A rusting, shrinking military that's been neglected.
A pro China, pro Palestine foreign policy.
An out of control immigration system.
An RCMP more interested in.
Seizing law abiding gun owners' firearms and actually cracking down on crime.
The $20 billion a year that Alberta would save would be more than enough to cover the few things Ottawa actually provides for Alberta.
And it would end the chaos and the teasing and the faking, like Mark Carney's MOU, where he kind of sort of said he might let Alberta build a pipeline sometime in the future if certain conditions were met.
That's chaos.
To Alberta, just like Justin Trudeau before him.
No wonder no pipeline companies have taken Kearney up on his MOU.
They would rather invest in Venezuela than in Alberta.
Venezuela is less chaotic, it's less risky.
Hey, here's a thought experiment.
If Alberta were its own country right now, do you think it would vote to join Canada?
Do you think it would vote to be dominated by a distant and partisan Laurentian elite who would take $20 billion a year to fund their own corrupt schemes?
Block Alberta's ambitions at every turn, inject bizarre and woke ideas into Alberta life through Keanu court rulings?
I don't think so.
Do you know what I think about all the time, actually?
I think about how Sir John A. Macdonald was removed from our $10 bill, how statues of Macdonald and Queen Victoria have been toppled, how it's the official policy of the Canadian government that we are a genocidal country.
Do you know that?
How Canada's history and culture are being erased and rewritten.
Military veteran, every cop, everyone I know who has served in that way in Alberta that I know, the most patriotic people, they're for independence.
The most patriotic people are for Alberta independence.
It sounds like a paradox, but it's not because the choice in 2026 is not between an independent Alberta and the Canada of Vimy Ridge or the Canada of Terry Fox, even.
It's between an independent Alberta and the Canada of Mark Carney and Justin Trudeau.
And the New World Order and out of control courts and a woke ideology and a new repulsive national identity that they're forcing on us without ever asking what the referendum's going to ask.
That's the case for Alberta independence in a nutshell.
It's our editorial position at Rebel News.
And because we'd be prosecuted for saying that if we didn't register as a third party campaign group, we're registering.
To join us, go to actforalberta.com to learn more and to help us out.
We're going to make the case for independence.
Other voices are too.
There are many people of goodwill in Alberta making the case earnestly, but we're going to do it a bit different.
We're going to use professional communications methods, including real TV ads, digital ads.
Our big, beautiful billboard truck and other professional campaign tools, just like we did when we had a federal super PAC in the last national election.
Because every awful group in Canada is about to join the no side in the Alberta referendum.
Every public sector union that's worried about losing those federal positions in Alberta, every greedy left wing group that lives off of Alberta's bounty, every establishment that sees Alberta as a cow to be milked, they don't want to lose their free stuff.
You could already see the worst people in the country ganging up against Alberta.
And remember, the Conservative Party of Canada has already said they oppose the referendum, too.
Well, there's talk about Alberta separating.
That won't happen.
What was that about?
It won't happen.
Some people are frustrated, but they, you know, there's some legitimate frustrations.
But at the end of the day, Canada's going to be united.
And Albertans, I'm born and raised in Alberta, and Albertans are seriously patriotic.
Very patriotic.
Yeah, they're great people, hardworking.
If any of your MPs were in favor of Alberta separatism, would they be allowed to remain in your caucus?
We are entirely a Federalist caucus.
I have not had a single MP express that view.
And as for myself, I'm a very proud Federalist, born and bred Albertan, and we will be fighting for a united Canada.
If you support the idea of Rebel News registering as a third party campaign group and believe that we should be allowed to make the case for Alberta and to fight back against the Alberta haters, the anti Alberta regime, from Mark Carney to Nahid Nanshi to the Globe and Mail, The CBC.
If you think Albertans need to hear the other side of the story and the rest of the country to hear Alberta's case, please go to actforalberta.com to learn more and to help us.
Reviving Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling00:08:40
Thanks.
Hey, welcome back.
Our friend David Menzies has been busy making amazing videos.
Here, let me show you one of the latest.
Canadiana is cool again, and that would include the return of Maple Leaf Wrestling.
Tough guy.
Grayson's feeling it right now.
Look at her finish this.
Wait a minute.
Qualification.
What a cheap way to end this match.
Can you tell us about the resurrection of this iconic wrestling brand?
Yeah, absolutely.
Thanks, David.
I mean, just like you, I grew up watching Maple Leaf Wrestling like so many people around this country did.
And it really, when you look at it, 1989 was the last time there was a national broadcast of Canadian wrestling.
That was Stampede Wrestling on TSN.
So when I had my departure from TNA Wrestling and I got back here, I thought, you know, I've always wanted to have a Platform to really showcase Canadians because there's so many amazing Canadian talents in this business and they don't get the opportunities.
Because if you're not American in wrestling, really any entertainment business, it's harder to get those opportunities.
Because without a work visa, you know, most of the work is in the US.
So it's one of those things, you know, getting that threshold of being able to get the visa to have that notoriety, you need to have like worldwide acclaim or international acclaim.
And how do you do that when you don't have a platform for that?
So our mission has been to provide a platform to showcase.
The very best Canadian wrestling talent out there, which is unbelievably fantastic.
There's so much great talent.
And how do we showcase how the talent is world class?
It's by putting them on a stage alongside the very best in the world from all over the world.
So that's what Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling is.
It's a place to showcase Canadians along with the best from around the world on a platform large enough that people are going to see it and that our talent here will be able to show that they're world class.
We announced that we'll be starting on TSN in July.
So it's, uh, It's outstanding.
It's super exciting.
It's humbling to be a part of.
Growing up as somebody who not only watched Maple Leaf Wrestling, but also watched a lot of Stampede Wrestling on TSN, that was another thing for me to be on the leader in the industry.
You know, TSN, it just means so much.
And I think that the value of what it's going to bring and the opportunity it's going to bring to Canadian wrestlers and the wrestling industry is huge and very grateful to have this opportunity.
And, you know, Scott, correct me if I'm wrong, but I see.
The rise of independent wrestling circuits.
It's almost a back to the future story.
And by that I mean when Vince McMahon took over the WWF from his late father, he began to do something that was unthinkable in the 80s, encroach into territories by independent circuits.
He created this global juggernaut.
And I would argue right now, the WWE as it's known as, it is not accessible to the common fan anymore.
The idea of WWE house shows in cities and small towns, that's gone by the wayside.
And if you can get tickets, it's extremely expensive.
Is this your niche?
It is to fill this vacuum that I guess the WWE and its global success has created.
Well, I think it's part of what our goal is.
I think there are lots of great organizations out there in Canada and around the world that are providing affordable energy.
So, look, AEW is right out there.
I'm arguably providing the best wrestling in the world, and it's providing affordable tickets.
But we want to bring that to the Canadians.
Like, AEW will come to Canada once or twice a year and hit the big towns.
But we think with the exposure and as we grow and as we build initially, it's being a national television wrestling product.
You know, it'd be more regionalized and where we capture the content, but it'll be seen nationally.
But eventually, the goal you know, WWE used to tour Canada almost full time, absolutely, and that's gone the wayside.
Where is the St. John's and the Halifaxes and the Cornwalls and the Brandon Manitobas?
Where's the wrestling opportunity for them on a grander scale?
So, I think there's a great grassroots movement with independent wrestling in Canada.
I think the scene's as good as it's ever been, and I think we fill that middle space between WWE, where you have to mortgage your house to get a ticket, or AEW that comes.
You know, every so often, but to the major markets, and then your grassroots, your local independent scene.
So, I think we provide that opportunity there.
We also provide the exposure for the talent, the wrestlers themselves, they're seen on TSN, and when they're not with us, they're going to go and have more value at those other Canadian events.
And we're hoping to help grow the independent scene across the nation.
Fantastic.
And, Scott, can you give us an idea of some of the people that are behind Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling?
Yeah, I mean, look, I mean, obviously, you know, myself as the president.
But we've got Jimmy Jacobs, who is a writer at WWE and AEW and TNA.
We've got so many amazing people.
We have Jeffrey Kavanaugh, who's affectionately known in the business as Drum Boy.
We've got a crew.
We had an infrastructure built here as Border City Wrestling here in this region.
And a lot of that has built the platform for us to be on because we like to find the mix between Canadians and Americans and international people.
And we kind of look at the CFL model in the sense that we want to keep it truly Canadian.
We want to, but roughly half the Product and the people behind the scenes and on camera to be Canadian, we want to mix in the best.
So we've done that.
When you look at it, our production team is world class.
I think when I looked at it, there were like 29 Emmys on our production team.
I think if you invest your time into Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling, whether it's buying a ticket, whether it's buying a pay per view, buying a piece of merchandise, or simply taking your time, which time is a very, very valuable thing to us.
It's so limited.
And if you invest your time by watching the product, we are going to give you a return on that investment with the joy and excitement and entertainment value that we give you.
That's a guarantee I've made for years.
If you come, if you watch it, if you give us an opportunity and you don't like it, reach out to us.
I'll refund your money.
And not that you have to worry about selling tickets.
I understand the card yesterday sold right out, standing room only.
Yeah, look, we're very blessed.
Last night's crowd was sold out.
Tonight's crowd, I think, is even maybe a little more sold out if that's possible.
Yeah, so when your biggest problem is where can you put everybody, that's a good problem to have.
And that's why I know that as we continue to grow and get the opportunity to expand into other regions in Canada, we know we're going to find great support.
From Canadians because it's such an important time in our history.
You know, historically, Canadians are a little meek and shy about pounding our chest and saying how proud we are to be Canadian.
But in this interesting time we live in, it's really great to see that Canadians from coast to coast are standing up and saying, We're Canadian, we're proud of it, we're among the very best in the world, and we're going to stand here proudly like that.
So I think it's the perfect time for a national Canadian wrestling brand.
And you know what, folks?
Before we started this interview, Scott and I were talking off camera, and this is the second time I met Scott.
The first time was 27 years ago in Toronto at Medieval Times Theatre.
It was an independent card.
Scott, what I'm getting at is that you told me an anecdote where you kind of got in trouble with the promo you were doing at that venue.
And I'm curious if you can tell us about the blowback you received.
And has the virus of political correctness and wokeness even affected professional wrestling?
I mean, look, I'll say back many years ago, it was a little bit of a different scene.
I was wrestling in medieval times.
I was wrestling a very famous wrestler by the name of Tatanka.
Who is of native heritage.
And he had given me some lines to use in my speech, in my promo, to incite the crowd and build up for him to come in and be the conquering hero.
I think that some of those things were maybe, they could be construed as being a little insensitive to some of the concerns of the indigenous community.
Such as?
Honoring Indigenous Community Concerns00:01:57
I'll leave those for people to look up.
But, you know, it came out, there was concern from some leaders at the time in the indigenous community.
I gave my apologies, thankfully, to Tonka, a class act.
He stepped forward and said, no, no, no, I told him to say those.
So, I mean, if somebody was wrong, it was me.
And, I mean, look, we have a wonderful indigenous community here that's part of the tapestry of our makeup of this country.
And I think, you know, as we say, wrestling's for everybody.
So, we don't care where you come from, what you do, come here, have fun, cheer, boo, and let's be proudly Canadian.
Hey folks, I know you love it when Rebel News brings you the other side of the story.
The fact is, we need your help.
Unlike the trained stenographers that the Kearney Liberals fund, we do not receive a single nickel of the Liberals Journalism Slush Fund, nor would we accept it if it was ever offered.
Here's where you come in.
Can you go to RebelFieldReports.com?
That's RebelFieldReports.com.
And if you're able to, kindly make a donation.
Well, that's our show for today.
What do you think of the idea of Rebel News signing up as a third party group?
It's actually the third time we've done that.
The first was fighting against Kearney in the national election.
The second was we're busy campaigning against those two by elections in Ontario.
I believe that Alberta should set its own destiny.
I believe that it's mistreated.
And I believe that Quebec separatism is treated reverentially, but all the Alberta haters are going to be out in force.
Rebel News needs to be there to equalize the battlefield, don't you think?
To learn more, go to Act for Alberta.
That's our show for the day.
Until tomorrow, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, to you at home, good night and keep fighting for freedom.