October 2012 Archives

Producer Brett Tarver has never felt so delicious as he brings our attention to the Nanny State stepping on our tasty Halloween traditions.

This report aired on The Source October 31 2006.

Ezra highlights some spooky university censorship cases in the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms' 2012 Campus Freedom Index.

This report aired on The Source October 31 2006.

Why was Dr. Karen Dockrill's clinic shut down, despite patients loving the service? Sounds like the work of the Nanny State

This report aired on The Source October 31 2006.

Ezra and our local Nanny Stater Sith lord have a spooky showdown in studio.

This report aired on The Source October 31 2012.

Brian Lilley joins Ezra to discuss his new book exposing the CBC. Can you believe some mainstream media folks criticized it before reading?

This report aired on The Source October 29 2012.

Buck Sexton joins Ezra to talk about Obama's inaction on the Benghazi, Libya attacks and how it's playing out in the US election.

This report aired on The Source October 29 2012.

Why won't Alison Redford live up to her promises to ensure freedom of speech for Albertans?

This report aired on The Source October 29 2012.

Terry Jones, the fringe pastor from Florida best known for his handlebar moustache and his ability to enthrall the media by threatening to burn the Muslim Qur’an, was denied entry to Canada on Thursday.

Jones was attempting to drive across the border, en route to a Toronto rally. But he was stopped by the Canadian Border Services Agency and subjected to a four-hour search typically reserved for suspected drug smugglers or terrorists. His luggage was opened, his car was torn apart and sniffer dogs were called in.

Jones was refused entry on a trumped-up pretext: 19 years ago in Germany he had been fined for calling himself a “doctor” (he claims he has an honorary doctorate in theology) and last year at a rally in Detroit, he was charged with breaching the peace. The Detroit charges were thrown out on appeal and Jones claims the German fine was overturned too.

But the CBSA had their fig leaf to cover up what they were obviously doing: making a political decision, not a security decision. The CBSA seized a placard from Jones’ car, reading “Islam is the new Nazism.” That’s got nothing to do with whether or not Jones is a “doctor,” but everything to do with his beliefs.

Some might argue that Jones is offensive, and that his one trick — threatening to burn Qur’ans — isn’t a particularly valuable addition to the public debate about matters like Islam and the separation of mosque and state. The media certainly thinks he is worth listening to: hundreds of journalists rush to record his every utterance.

But it’s not just journalists. In recent years, both the U.S. Secretary of Defence and the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff personally phoned Jones to ask him not to burn a Qur’an.

The media is motivated by entertainment and conflict, and Jones provides both — and his Hulk Hogan-inspired fashion sense only fits right in with the media’s caricature of what Christian pastors are like.

But what is the Pentagon’s excuse? Their job is to defend the United States constitution, the first amendment of which protects freedom of religion, including the right to mock or blaspheme against any belief system, from Christianity to Scientology to Islam.

It is inconceivable that an army general would telephone a private citizen to warn them against insulting any faith other than Islam. And it is even more inconceivable that self-described civil libertarians — whether the American Civil Liberties Union in the U.S., or the Canadian Civil Liberties Association up here — would have been silent had it been a militant atheist pestered by American generals or blacklisted by Canadian border guards.

Jones says border guards asked him about whether his rally would constitute “hate speech.” Jones surely hates Islam. But no more than many atheists do; no more than many Muslims hate Christianity. That’s the thing about most religions: they draw distinctions between what their adherents ought to love or hate. Twice the Qur’an says that the Jews should be “as apes — despised and hated.”

That’s the problem with laws against hate speech, or even against hate itself. Hate is a natural human emotion, as much as love or sorrow, and it often accompanies those other two. Hate can come from a feeling of grievance, and there are many who have legitimate grievances against the more aggressive forms of Islam. Many of those with grievances are Muslim themselves. Silencing a man does not end his hate — it likely causes it to grow.

Many people find Jones’ views offensive. But many people find gay pride parades offensive too. Martin Luther King Jr. deeply offended many people, and so did the Famous Five suffragettes.

We allow offensive people because we believe in freedom — and today’s hated idea may be tomorrow’s wisdom.

But it’s more than that. Because a border guard given subjective discretion to decide which hatreds are allowed and which aren’t, and which politics are acceptable and which are banned, is a dangerous power that no Canadian who believes in the rule of law should accept.

This column appeared in Sun News October 14 2012.

Retired Sergeant Layne Morris recalls the day he was attacked by Omar Khadr in Afghanistan resulting in blindness in one eye, and the death of Christopher Speer.

This reprt aired on The Source October 12 2012.

Retired Special Forces Sergeant and Khadr victim, Layne Morris reacts to Canadian mainstream media that portrays the convicted terrorist as a "poor child soldier".

This report aired on The Source October 12 2012.

On the show he interviews a real victim of Omar Khadr, Ezra takes on the Media Party’s deceptive portrayal of the convicted terrorist.

This report aired on The Source October 12 2012.

In response to the Broadbent Institute’s latest report, Niels Veldhuis of the Fraser Institute debunks myths about income inequality in Canada.

This report aired on The Source October 10 2012.

Former Pentagon spokesman, JD Gordon, talks about his personal encounters with Omar Khadr in Gitmo.

This report aired on The Source October 10 2012.

We’ll finally know what women are thinking now that Nobel laureate women will tour the oilsands.

This report aired on The Source October 18 2012.

Ezra Levant: My First Job

Quebec is sending a delegation to a summit for French-speaking countries, likely to bash Stephen Harper to the rest of the French-speaking world.

This report aired on The Source October 9 2012.

Dr. Bjorn Lomborg joins to discuss his new movie, how hated he is by global warmists, and why they need to cool it.

This report aired on The Source October 9 2012.

Dr. Ronald Hall on his findings of the environmental impact of the oilsands on the surrounding lakes and rivers.

This report aired on The Source October 9 2012.

Now we know why Barack Obama uses a teleprompter everywhere, even taking it once to a photo-op in an elementary school.

Now we know why he hasn’t had a press conference in months, preferring to go on entertainment shows like The View (he told his fawning interviewers he is “eye candy”) and David Letterman’s show (first question: How much do you weigh?).

We know because of the shock of last week’s presidential debate with Mitt Romney. The 60 million Americans who watched that debate had been told a hundred times that Obama was the smartest president since Jefferson, the greatest orator since Churchill. And they had been told that Mitt Romney was a heartless gazillionaire.

What they saw was the opposite, for 90 excruciating minutes. When Obama didn’t have a cue card or a teleprompter, when he couldn’t simply skip questions he didn’t like, or talk out the clock, he was a disaster.

The 90 minutes was summed up in a plaintive appeal, a whine, really, from Obama, mid-debate, to the moderator, Jim Lehrer.

“You may want to move on to the next topic,” he pleaded. But this was one time the media could not save him.

The topic Obama wanted to move on from was the economy. It hasn’t been a strength of his presidency. Forty-seven million Americans are on food stamps, unemployment has been around 8% for more than three years (much higher, when you include unemployed workers who have simply giving up looking for jobs). Banks continue to fail, debt has reached

$16 trillion, including more than $1 trillion held by China. Obama might have wanted to move on to the next topic, but Americans were riveted.

It wasn’t just his lack of command of the facts, or of a plan to deal with it. It was the revelation — through his tone, his body language, his stammering — that he actually didn’t even care too much about it. It didn’t interest him. “I think there’s a laziness in me,” Obama once told Barbara Walters.

That’s not true actually. Obama isn’t lazy. He’s just lazy about presidential duties. He’s an avid golfer, having done so 104 times since taking office. He has set a record for fundraising dinners. And as a fawning biography last month in The New York Times — headlined “The Competitor in Chief” shows — he spends hours training for amateur sports. According to the Times, he’s diligent at playing pool, cooking chili, playing cards, bowling, basketball and even doodling.

The Times wrote this as praise — that Obama wants to be the best at so many things. But for anyone not in Obama’s thrall, it was a terrifying look at how unfocused Obama is on the serious work of being president.

It’s simply too boring for him. He’s never been an executive before — never run a business, a town, anything really, other than running his mouth. But being president is hard.

It’s not just economics that Obama ignores. Foreign policy is a disaster, too. But Obama has skipped more than 50% of his daily national security briefings. Including the morning after the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was ransacked and the U.S. ambassador there was murdered. Perhaps he had been staying up too late the night before — the afternoon of the attack, instead of heading to the White House situation room, he flew to Las Vegas for a fundraiser.

The debates revealed Obama as a lightweight. But they also revealed that for four years, the mainstream media has covered up that fact.

This column was written for Sun News October 9 2012.

Hugo Chavez has rigged another term as President of Venezuela, and Barack Obama once again doesn’t put the United States first

This report aired on The Source October 8 2012.

Syndicated columnist Pablo Kleinman weighs in on Hugo Chavez’s “win” in Venezuela’s presidential election.

This report aired on The Source October 8 2012.

Shobie Kapoor explains what she’s doing to continue the fight against Omar Khadr, and what Canadians can do to help.

This report aired on The Source October 8 2012.

It is painful to read a Justin Trudeau speech on paper, instead of watching him deliver it in person.

Because on paper, you don’t get lost in his dreamy eyes, or wonder what it would be like to run your fingers through his hair (which I have done).

It’s like reading a speech from Kim Kardashian — it misses the point of her celebrity. That’s what Trudeau is: a celebrity, famous for being famous.

Except he’s actually not that famous, or, at 40, even that young anymore.

It’s true, Trudeau’s vaunted 150,000 Twitter followers are more than any other MP, but that’s like saying he’s the tallest short guy.

Real celebrities like Kardashian have 16 million fans. Say the name “Justin” to the nerds at the Parliamentary Press Gallery and they’ll think Trudeau. Normal people probably think of Justin Bieber, a Canadian pop star with more than 28 million Twitter fans.

Fans, that’s what Trudeau’s followers are. Not so much supporters. A fan has an emotional affection, a connection to a myth.

Stephen Harper has no fans. The 5.8 million votes he received last year were a cold-blooded expression of support for his policies and his executive style. And more importantly, for his achievements to date.

What are Trudeau’s policies? What is his decision-making style? What are his achievements? By age 40, Pierre Trudeau had been a man of ideas, an editor and a magazine publisher and had worked as an economic policy analyst in the Privy Council. In his 40s, he was a professor of law and served as justice minister for three years before finally running for Liberal party leader.

Justin? He’s been a substitute drama teacher, and then a backbench MP for four years. No position papers or private member’s bills of note. Not even a memorable speech, other than his maudlin eulogy at his father’s funeral, overacted in Trudeau’s patented William Shatner style. His fans love it, especially the bored press gallery.

But what does a written Trudeau speech look like? It’s heavy on the Hallmark Card banalities, like this one: “We want a foreign policy that will give us hope in the future and that will offer solutions to the world.”

Sometimes he almost says something, like this ambiguous accusation: “The Conservatives ... privilege one sector over others and promise that wealth will trickle down.” Just what industry is Trudeau demonizing, by saying it is being improperly privileged? I’d guess the oil industry. But I don’t even think he knows.

Claiming he is a man of substance wouldn’t work, so Trudeau has renamed that weakness a strength: “I do not present myself as a man with all the answers. In fact, I think we’ve had quite enough of that kind of politics.”

Really? Canada has had some good answers on the key issue of the age — our economy. We have avoided the deep recession, staggering debts, high unemployment and bank failures of other G8 countries.

“I believe I can bring new forces to bear on old problems. I can convince a new generation of Canadians that their country needs them.”

What forces might 150,000 Twitter fans bring to old problems? Is there a special insight that teenyboppers have into the old challenge of diversifying our export markets, to make us less dependent on the U.S. economy?

Do high school students know how to improve the productivity of our manufacturing sector? Trudeau himself doesn’t. But maybe he’s hoping a flashmob will come up with an answer.

“When was the last time you had a leader you actually trusted … the way you trust a friend to pick up your kids from school, or a neighbour to keep your extra front-door key?”

Most Canadians would answer: Never have and never will. No one trusts Kim Kardashian to pick up their kids from school — they are just entertained by her. If Kardashian ran for president, it would be an entertaining spectacle.

But a media spectacle and a prime minister-in-waiting are different things, as the Liberal party is about to learn.

This column was written for Sun News October 7 2012.

Ezra Levant and Brian Lilley discuss a CBC "star" endorsement of Liberal leadership candidate Justin Trudeau.

This report aired on The Source October 5 2012.

The David Suzuki Foundation has used their charitable status to publish a propaganda book that argues that our use of oil and gas is comparable to slave ownership.

This report aired on The Source October 5 2012.

Ezra Levant has something to say about the absurdity of Justin Trudeau's anti-pipeline comments on the campaign trail.

This report aired on The Source October 4 2012.

Ezra talks to Russell Browne, the lawyer in the case of Mary Wagner, a peaceful pro-life protester who heard something disturbing from the judge.

This report aired on The Source October 4 2012.

David Martosko from The Daily Caller gives an American reaction to President Obama's astoundingly poor debate performance.

This report aired on The Source October 4 2012.

Ezra Levant recaps the first US presidential debate, which Mitt Romney dominated, leaving Obama seeming weak.

This report aired on The Source October 4 2012.

Ken Denicke joins Ezra to discuss the BC teachers union's latest curriculum push against the Northern Gateway Pipeline.

This report aired on The Source October 3 2012.

Ezra Levant and Vince Coglianese have the scoop on the newly-revealed Obama video which deals a little too much with race.

This report aired on The Source October 3 2012.

What's in a name..? Is Justin Trudeau an empty suit or a serious contender?

This report aired on the The Source October 3 2012.

Maureen Basnicki, a Canadian that was widowed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, reacts to Omar Khadr's return to Canada.

This report aired on The Source October 2 2012.

Ezra Levant exposes Moazzam Begg, an al Qaeda progagandist, and what the implications are for Canada.

This report aired on The Source October 2 2012.

Dr. Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace, sheds light on the starving children deprived of rice that Greenpeace is blocking.

This report aired on The Source October 2 2012.

There are five myths about Omar Khadr.

The first is that we had to take him into Canada. That’s not true. A U.S. jury sentenced him to 40 years in prison for the cold-blooded murder of a special forces medic name Christopher Speer.

It was only due to Canada’s participation in a plea bargain that it was cut down to eight years, and then cut down further with a transfer to Canada’s ultra-liberal parole laws.

Forty years down to perhaps two. So much for truth in sentencing.

But even if Khadr had not been convicted of murder, he had no right to simply leave Guantanamo Bay, any more than a German soldier interned at a Canadian prisoner of war camp in the Second World War had the right to simply head home in 1942.

Today’s wars are against transnational terrorist groups. So the U.S. Congress and Supreme Court have approved a modified POW system. Anyone who is a member of al-Qaida or the Taliban can be detained until the war against them is over. No trial or charges needed. We didn’t have trials for every German soldier. They were just kept until the war was over. That’s U.S. law.

Canadian law could have kept Khadr out, too. The International Transfer of Offenders Act gives Public Safety Minister Vic Toews the discretion to keep out Canadian citizens, who are prisoners in other countries, if they’d pose a danger here at home. No prison transfer in Canadian history has been as dangerous as Khadr.

The second myth is that Khadr was a child soldier. Khadr wasn’t a soldier — the Geneva Convention says that soldiers must be part of a chain of command, wear uniforms, carry their weapons openly and generally follow the laws of war. Murdering a medic in cold blood isn’t war — it’s terrorism.

But was Khadr a child? He was a few weeks shy of his 16th birthday when he murdered Speer.

We prosecute 15-year-old murderers in Canada. There is no jurisdiction in the world that doesn’t. Even the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child says a child soldier is someone 14 or under.

The third myth is that Khadr is peaceful. In Guantanamo, he taunted guards by bragging about killing Speer. He said laying landmines was the proudest thing he’d ever done in his life. One of his guards was an African-American woman — three things he hates. So he called her a “bitch,” a “slave,” and a “whore.”

Even his lawyer, Dennis Edney, publicly called for Khadr to be deradicalized.

The fourth myth is proven by the last three. We don’t have a lot of reporters in Canada; what we have are a lot of anti-war, anti-Stephen Harper, anti-American editorial writers pretending to be reporters, but serving up soft-on-Khadr PR propaganda.

But the fifth myth is a hopeful one. The myth that we can do nothing.

Take your rage — at U.S. President Barack Obama for emptying out his prison in our streets, at Toews for letting him — and your sorrow for the murdered medic and do something positive.

Go to www.SpeerKidsFund.com and chip in a few bucks.

The money will go to Tabitha Speer, Christopher’s widow, to help raise her two fatherless kids, Taryn and Tanner.

All the money will be sent to her care of her U.S. lawyers. I’ve chipped in the first donation. Will you put in $10 or even $100 to show that you stand for freedom and against terror?

This column appeared in the Sun Chain October 2 2012.

Misperceptions are swirling about Omar Khadr's return to Canada. Ezra Levant runs through the five major myths - and they will surprise you.

This report aired on The Source October 1 2012.

Criminal lawyer Dane Bullerwell discusses the laws surrounding Khadr's case and when he's eligible for parole.

This report aired on The Source October 1 2012.

Daniel Richards joins Ezra to discuss a new anti-fracking Hollywood film that was partly funded by the United Arab Emirates.

This report aired on The Source October 1 2012.

Amongst the back-and-forth in the Omar Khadr debate, it is often forgotten by media and commentators that he left a family fatherless.

This report aired on The Source October 1 2012.