January 2013 Archives
Ezra takes on John Abbott College’s statement accusing him of engaging in falsification and misinterpretation of information.
This report aired on The Source January 31 2013.
Eric Trager on how all the experts got it wrong on Egypt's Arab Spring.
This report aired on The Source January 31 2013.
Tom Harris on leaked reports that show the IPCC overestimated the "science" of global warming.
This report aired on The Source January 31 2013.
Preston Manning on the state of politics in Canada, the process of legislation and the impatience of the Idle No More movement to change democracy now.
This report aired on The Source January 29 2013.
Republican strategist Lenny McAllister on whether or not black Americans are worse or better off under Obama
This report aired on The Source January 29 2013.
The federal government is working with the Northwest Territories’ government to devolve decision making to local government.
This report aired on The Source January 29 2013.
We all know David Suzuki is a saint. Especially now that he’s 76, and refers to himself in the third person, as “an elder.” Recently, Suzuki told his fellow CBC employee George Stromboulopoulos, “ I feel though, at my age, no one can accuse me of wanting more fame or power or money.”
That’s what he says. But what does he do? Suzuki’s visit to a small junior college in Montreal last October paints a different picture.
To give a one-hour talk, Suzuki billed them $30,000 plus expenses. Add in his airline ticket, his $841 hotel bill, a photographer and other costs, and the total hit for his visit was $41,640. From a small, publicly funded school.
Suzuki also told Stromboulopoulos, “As I get older, my testosterone levels drop, and you know, I’m getting smarter because I’m not thinking about sex all the time.”
That’s a bit too much information, and there was some uneasy laughter when Suzuki said it. But again, his visit to John Abbott College was instructive. Suzuki had what rock stars call a “rider” — other conditions for having the great man visit.
Here is an exact quote from John Abbott College’s Mary Milburn, in an e-mail obtained through access to information: “We have learned, via Dr. Suzuki’s assistant, that although the Dr. does not like to have bodyguards per se, he does not mind having a couple of ladies (females) that would act as body guards in order that he may travel from one venue to another without being accosted too many times along the way.
“Why females you ask? Well, he is a male. No seriously, I believe it is his way of being discrete and less intimidating.”
At least four other college staff received that e-mail. And none of them said, “that’s wrong” or “that’s sexist” or even “sorry, our students aren’t props.” They complied.
They selected ladies — female ladies, as the memo made clear. But Suzuki didn’t just want to choose their gender. He wanted to make sure they were pretty.
Here is another memo, from the college’s Jim Anderson: “Please be certain that the women are nicely dressed, we don’t want them in evening gowns, but definitely NOT Police Tech uniforms.”
Milburn wanted Anderson to get personally involved in the procurement of the female ladies, to visually inspect them first.
“Jim, have you selected the female students to escort Dr. Suzuki? Do you think I could set up a very brief meeting or see them at one of their classes?” But how would Suzuki’s VIP day end? Another memo from Erich Schmedt to Milburn says students might just get a chance to bask in Suzuki’s greatness up at his hotel room. Here’s the exact wording:
“In terms of acknowledging their contribution after the tours are completed, we will need to gather them together at the end to either give them some brief time with Suzuki (which I will try to make happen, either by having him step out of the penthouse or enabling them to join the group in the sanctified air).”
Yeah. Come up to the hotel room and get some gratitude.
Why did John Abbott College agree to such a creepy request?
Why did they put so much time and effort into selecting girls, and having them dressed just right, and even insisting that the girls be seen by university administrators in advance?
What the hell were they thinking?
Do you think this is the first time Suzuki has made such requests — or just the first time they’ve been revealed?
This column was written for Sun News January 29 2013.
John Robson discusses the NDP private member's bill that would look to give First Nations veto power over Parliament.
This report aired on The Source January 29 2013.
Robert Zubrin, author of 'Merchants of Despair', on why environmentalist leaders like David Suzuki are working against humanity's best interests
This report aired on The Source January 29 2013.
Ezra reveals some details about Suzuki's speaking demands at schools, found in an access to information request, that's sure to make some parents concerned.
This report aired on The Source January 27 2013.
Marc Morano debunks the assertion that China is the world's green energy superpower.
This report aired on The Source January 27 2013.
Alan Herscovici of the Fur Council of Canada on one of Canada's oldest, and sometimes demonized industries-the fur trade
This report aired on The Source January 27 2013.
The Sun News Network believes in free enterprise, just like Sun Media newspapers do. But unlike the newspaper business, the TV business isn’t based on free enterprise.
In fact, it’s one of the Canadian industries most regulated by the government.
Everything from what channels are allowed on TV, to how much they charge cable companies each month, to the channel placement on the TV dial, is regulated by a government agency called the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, or CRTC.
And the dominant TV station in the country, the CBC, is owned by the government. They receive an annual grant of $1.1 billion.
And that’s in addition to the billions of dollars in real estate and equipment that they have acquired over time.
Stop to think what the newspaper business would look like under that system: A massive government newspaper, with dozens of offices across the country, with subsidized printing and home delivery.
And if you wanted to start up a competitor, you’d have to ask the government for permission, and even to be seen on newsstands.
That’s why no Canadian entrepreneurs have ever started up a free-market all-news TV station.
In 1997, CTV launched an all-news channel. But of course it would have been economically suicidal to compete with the CBC’s channels.
So the CRTC granted CTV’s news channel “mandatory carriage” — it was ordered onto every cable package in the country, and a hidden fee was tacked on to your monthly bill, too.
That’s the thing with a massive government presence in the news media: Unless you root it out, the only way to get competition is with more government presence, in the form of CRTC orders.
Two years ago, the Sun News Network debuted without those government favours. We did not get a CRTC order putting us on your TV set, nor did we get a monthly fee.
We were the one free- market Canadian all-news channel in a heavily regulated industry, where some of our customers — the cable companies — were also our competitors.
How did it work out? To this day, the Sun News Network is only available in 40% of homes, and viewers often must go through an onerous process of specially calling in for it.
Placement on the dial? We’re on channel one million. Actually that would be nice — we’re on a half dozen different channel numbers, even on the same cable company. Try marketing that.
The principled solution here, of course, is the free market — to end the $1.1 billion annual bailout to the CBC, and all the other favours the CRTC grants to channels, like mandatory carriage and mandatory fees.
But that’s not happening, even under this Conservative government.
The Sun wants TV freedom. That’s an editorial belief, but it’s not a business reality.
So, do we pack it in? Or do we play by the same rules as the industry — and apply for the same licence that the other all-news channels got when they launched, and that 21 other companies are currently applying for now?
The answer is obvious, if we believe that more voices are needed in Canadian media, a diversity of voices.
I suppose, there will always be other TV choices in Canada — like Al Jazeera English, which is easier to get on Canadian cable than we are.
And then there’s RT — Russia Today. The first is owned by the dictator of the OPEC country, Qatar.
The second is controlled by the Kremlin. Those governments can compete with the CBC’s subsidy. But real Canadian companies can’t, without a CRTC licence.
Do you think there should be more choice on Canadian TV?
That the Sun should have a level playing field with the other channels with mandatory carriage?
Do you think the same rules should apply to all Canadian news channels?
If so, let the CRTC know. Visit CanadianTvFirst.ca and add your name to the list of Sun supporters.
This column was written for Sun News January 27 2013.
Ezra finds it unbelievable that Alberta Premier Alison Redford can’t balance the province’s budget.
This report aired on The Source January 25 2013.
Chief Clarence Louie discusses the story of how he took his reserve from rags to riches and his advice for other reserves trying to pull out of poverty.
This report aired on The Source January 25 2013.
Laura Jones, executive vice-president of CFIB, on the ridiculous red tape holding small businesses back from success
This report aired on The Source January 25 2013.
Keith Beasley, one of the hosts of the documentary series, Canada In The Rough, talks about Canada's number 1 hunting and adventure show now being featured on the weekends on Sun News Network.
This report aired on The Source January 23 2013.
Ezra Levant takes on the Media Party for giving Chief Spence a free pass on her “hunger strike.”
This report aired on The Source January 23 2013.
Barry Cooper, political science professor at the University of Calgary, busts myths on the nation to nation rhetoric heard from Idle No More leaders.
This report aired on The Source January 23 2013
Ezra takes a look at some of the familiar faces at Saturday's Idle No More protest, including that of one convicted sex offender.
This report aired on The Source January 23 2013.
Ezra Levant & Brian Lilley discuss Sun TV's CRTC application and the resistance it has encountered from the Media Party.
This report aired on The Source January 23 2013.
Ben Shapiro discusses Obama's left wing inauguration speech and how the media covered it.
This report aired on The Source January 23 2013.
Ezra debates free speech hater and 7th year Carleton human rights major Arun Smith.
This report aired on The Source January 23 2013.
Marc Morano and Ezra discuss why President Obama made climate change a major focus of his inauguration speech.
This report aired on The Source January 22 2013.
Aboriginal Senator Patrick Brazeau joins Ezra to discuss the internal fights within Idle No More and the Assembly of First Nations.
This report aired on The Source January 22 2013.
Ezra Levant reflects on how the Sun News Network has reported on the tough issues that the Media Party hasn’t.
This report aired on Sun News January 22 2013.
One hundred Idle No More protesters came to my office at the Toronto Sun on Saturday.
It was the usual rent-a-mob of professional protesters. Most were non-aboriginals, and I recognized several from the Occupy Toronto camp in 2011. And then there was the woman who shouted down our veterans last Remembrance Day.
I went down to talk with them with a couple of cameramen from the Sun News Network. Fifteen minutes in, a protester was telling me the sad story of his father passing away in Edmonton, when suddenly the police closed ranks around me, and whisked me down the sidewalk.
For a moment I thought maybe something dangerous happened outside of my field of vision that only the police saw. But I quickly realized that wasn’t the case. They had just decided I was done.
What follows is a transcript of my conversation with the police, as recorded by our TV cameras, which continued rolling:
Me: “I don’t want to leave the area.”
Cop 1: “What we’re trying to do here is create a little more safer environment.”
Me: “But why would you take me away? My hands are in my pockets. I’m not shouting at anyone. How come I’m being taken away?”
Cop 1: “You’re agitating a lot of people. There are a lot of people upset with you.”
Me: “So if I got more upset would you take them away?”
Cop 1: “Well, you are one and that makes …”
Me: “That makes it easier for you?”
Cop 1: “Well, it’s easier for society.”
Me: “It’s not easier for my freedom of speech.”
Cop 1: “No it isn’t, but when you’re going to aggravate a group of people like that, we’re going to ask you politely to just move on, have your ways of speaking, but not aggravate 100 people.”
Me: “Will you arrest me if I don’t?”
Cop 1: “Is that what you’re choosing? You’re choosing to stay here and aggravate these people? The test is, when you aggravate a lot of people and then if it does become unlawful … ”
Me: “Is aggravating against the law? What section of the Criminal Code? Arrest me.”
Cop 2: “We’re not here to arrest anybody today.”
Me: “Even if someone breaks the law?”
Cop 2: “We’re not here to arrest anyone here today because we have spoken with the group of protesters, they have assured us they are here to be lawful and they have been working with us …”
Me: “So you’ve been working with them?”
Cop 2: “We are here to facilitate everyone’s peaceful protest.”
Me: “Then how come you’re asking me to leave and not them?”
Cop 2: “There are some situations where because what people may say or do agitates other people … all we’re asking you to do is exercise some good judgment.”
And on it went.
But why should I be special? Last fall a Jew was detained by police for walking his dog by an anti-Semitic Iranian-backed rally at Queen’s Park. Last month, at an illegal blockade, a Sarnia policeman, in uniform, actually joined the blockaders in a drumming circle. And for years, police have bullied people in Caledonia who dared to complain about trespassing Mohawk Warriors, while leaving the trespassers alone.
Maybe cops think this is the way to make friends of their enemies. But in doing so, they’re making enemies out of their friends.
This column was written for Sun News January 22 2013.
It was the usual rent-a-mob of professional protesters. Most were non-aboriginals, and I recognized several from the Occupy Toronto camp in 2011. And then there was the woman who shouted down our veterans last Remembrance Day.
I went down to talk with them with a couple of cameramen from the Sun News Network. Fifteen minutes in, a protester was telling me the sad story of his father passing away in Edmonton, when suddenly the police closed ranks around me, and whisked me down the sidewalk.
For a moment I thought maybe something dangerous happened outside of my field of vision that only the police saw. But I quickly realized that wasn’t the case. They had just decided I was done.
What follows is a transcript of my conversation with the police, as recorded by our TV cameras, which continued rolling:
Me: “I don’t want to leave the area.”
Cop 1: “What we’re trying to do here is create a little more safer environment.”
Me: “But why would you take me away? My hands are in my pockets. I’m not shouting at anyone. How come I’m being taken away?”
Cop 1: “You’re agitating a lot of people. There are a lot of people upset with you.”
Me: “So if I got more upset would you take them away?”
Cop 1: “Well, you are one and that makes …”
Me: “That makes it easier for you?”
Cop 1: “Well, it’s easier for society.”
Me: “It’s not easier for my freedom of speech.”
Cop 1: “No it isn’t, but when you’re going to aggravate a group of people like that, we’re going to ask you politely to just move on, have your ways of speaking, but not aggravate 100 people.”
Me: “Will you arrest me if I don’t?”
Cop 1: “Is that what you’re choosing? You’re choosing to stay here and aggravate these people? The test is, when you aggravate a lot of people and then if it does become unlawful … ”
Me: “Is aggravating against the law? What section of the Criminal Code? Arrest me.”
Cop 2: “We’re not here to arrest anybody today.”
Me: “Even if someone breaks the law?”
Cop 2: “We’re not here to arrest anyone here today because we have spoken with the group of protesters, they have assured us they are here to be lawful and they have been working with us …”
Me: “So you’ve been working with them?”
Cop 2: “We are here to facilitate everyone’s peaceful protest.”
Me: “Then how come you’re asking me to leave and not them?”
Cop 2: “There are some situations where because what people may say or do agitates other people … all we’re asking you to do is exercise some good judgment.”
And on it went.
But why should I be special? Last fall a Jew was detained by police for walking his dog by an anti-Semitic Iranian-backed rally at Queen’s Park. Last month, at an illegal blockade, a Sarnia policeman, in uniform, actually joined the blockaders in a drumming circle. And for years, police have bullied people in Caledonia who dared to complain about trespassing Mohawk Warriors, while leaving the trespassers alone.
Maybe cops think this is the way to make friends of their enemies. But in doing so, they’re making enemies out of their friends.
This column was written for Sun News January 22 2013.
Ezra Levant shares his experience from this weekend’s protest of Sun Media by Idle No More and Occupy protestors.
This report aired on The Source January 21 2013.
Ezra is joined by constitutional expert Chris Schafer on the politics of policing.
This report aired on The Source January 21 2013.
Terrorism can be violent, but it doesn’t have to be. Canadian law defines terrorism as not only the carrying out of terrorist acts, but also conspiring to commit them, or threatening to, or encouraging others to do so.
And this includes non-violent terrorism, like “serious interference with or serious disruption of an essential service, facility or system.”
Did the Idle No More blockades of highways, city intersections, railway tracks and bridges last week reach the legal test of terrorism, as defined under our Anti-Terrorism Act?
The actual results of the widespread law-breaking probably don’t live up to a “serious disruption of an essential system.”
But the law doesn’t require the successful commission of a terrorist act — just the threat or encouragement of the same.
We’ll never know whether the crime wave we saw on Wednesday meets the test of terrorism, because that would require the police to lay such charges.
They didn’t. They were too busy providing convoy-style escorts to protesters shutting down the Ambassador Bridge to the U.S., or joining in the drumming circles of various blockades, as a Sarnia police officer did late last month.
If the Idle No More protests don’t rise to the level of terrorism, they certainly meet the threshold of other crimes, from trespass to mischief.
But instead of charging the protesters, the cops made excuses for them. There are too many disgraceful examples to list here, but the most pitiful one is the Regina Police Department, which took to Twitter to criticize law-abiding citizens who were upset at the illegal blockades.
“You don’t have an alternate route?” whined the police department when asked if they’d open up the roads to traffic. That is actually what they said.
“We are here to ensure the safety of all motorists and pedestrians,” Regina’s police HQ tweeted.
But that’s not actually true, is it? The duty of the police is to uphold the law — not to refuse to uphold the law, because it’s more convenient or “safe” that way.
It’s clever to redefine an illegal blockade on a city street as “pedestrians,” but it’s tougher to do so when the crime is on private property, as some of the blockades on CN Rail lines were. CN went to court to get a judge to order an Ontario blockade removed, but the police refused to act for days.
Steve Tanner, chief of the Halton regional police, wrote a letter to Ontario’s minister in charge of policing referring to that injunction as a “so-called court order.” He actually used the disrespectful, insubordinate language of criminals himself.
But what can you expect? The official approach of the Ontario Provincial Police in the face of armed invasions in Caledonia has been to do what the Regina twitterer said: Keep everybody safe. Especially the police. It’s dangerous enforcing the law, especially against the “Mohawk Warriors,” who dress in camouflage, carry assault rifles, some of whom have served in the Canadian or U.S. military.
It’s tough being a cop. But that’s why they get our tax money, our respect, and the lawful monopoly of violence.
It’s actually not tough going after a bunch of jokers banging drums in the middle of the road — not tough compared to going after biker gangs or the Mafia or violent terrorists.
This isn’t a policing decision. It’s a political decision.
But it is the wrong one. Canada is based on the rule of law and the equality of all races.
Last year’s Occupy crime wave was a small-scale test run — same left-wing politics, same union organizers. We saw that police chiefs will choose to turn a blind eye to low-level crime rather than risk bad PR. That was in city parks. But now this is countrywide.
Rank-and-file police surely must despise this betrayal of their code.
A new Ipsos Reid poll shows Canadians are overwhelmingly unsympathetic to the threats and bullying of radical Indian chiefs.
That disgust will surely spill over to the police, too, if they don’t start enforcing the law.
This column was written for Sun News January 19 2013.
Ezra Levant points out that the Idle No More protesters are violating the Anti-Terrorism act of Canada; it’s no surprise that our national enemies, like the dictatorship of Iran, support the movement.
This report aired on The Source January 15 2013
Colin Craig of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation discusses their policy recommendations to help end Aboriginal poverty with Ezra Levant.
This report aired on The Source January 15 2013.
Bob Blakely, Director of Canadian Affairs for Building Trades Union, supports the Northern Gateway project and says organized labour and big oil can co-exist.
This report aired on The Source January 15 2013.
Last week was the busiest of Theresa Spence's life. She's the chief of the Attawapiskat Indian reserve who has been on a "hunger strike."
Her week started with the release of a damning financial audit by Deloitte, which found that millions of dollars spent from her band finances had no paper trail. That kind of bombshell keeps you busy.
And then there was the big meeting of all the Indian chiefs in town, where she was a big topic of discussion.
And of course the week ended on a high note. Although she refused to meet with the prime minister, she did permit the governor general to meet with her.
All in all, a pretty exciting week for a woman who usually putters around a remote town of 1,500 people.
Which makes a press release that she sent out in the middle of last week amazing.
In the middle of all that, the chief sent out a press release about ... the Alberta oilsands?
In the middle of the most intense week of her life, which was about the prime minister, the governor general, her Indian band, the audit, her hunger strike and her, her, her, she put out a detailed press release condemning the oilsands? Attawapiskat is in northern Ontario. It's 1,900 km from the oilsands. It's the same distance from Attawapiskat to Nashville, Tenn.
Spence has never said anything about the oilsands in public. Her only possible connection is that her Indian band's stock portfolio contains a million dollars of oilsands shares.
She surely didn't write the release. So who did?
Who hates the oilsands, and has a strategy to make Indians the frontmen for their environmentalist attacks?
Well, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund does. They're liberal, white, New York billionaires. Five years ago they came up with a 48-page plan to attack Canada's oilsands. Their annual budget is $7 million and their campaign plan calls for using First Nations frontmen.
This isn't a conspiracy theory. Because it's not a theory, it's a fact. And other extremist groups admit to it, too.
The Canadian subsidiary of San Francisco's Tides Foundation gave a grant of $27.3 million to a trust fund to bankroll environmental campaigns on two B.C. Indian bands. Tides funds 36 anti-development groups. Tides, the Rockefellers, the Moore Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the Bullitt Foundation and more have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Canada over the past decade to radicalize environmental groups.
They choose Indian bands for obvious reasons. Reporters don't question Indians - it would make them feel racist. Police are afraid to take on Indians blocking roads - whereas they actually like arresting dirty hippies.
And the accounting on Indian reserves is weak. You can pour millions of dollars into a band and no one will notice. Spence is collecting donations for her "hunger strike." Her boyfriend, who happens to be the town's co-manager, has set up a private bank account for it.
Do you think the tycoon chief of an Indian band - who drives a luxury vehicle, who can't account for 81% of band transactions, who has an anonymous bank account - would decline money from the Rockefellers or Tides? Sun Media put the question to her. She hasn't replied.
Is that what spurred Spence's press release? Are our Indians being colonized again - this time by unscrupulous white men from New York and San Francisco?
This column was written for Sun News January 15 2013.
Are environmental activists the new colonizers of Indians? Ezra Levant takes a look at Attawapiskat's new interest in oil.
This report aired on The Source January 14 2013.
Ernie Crey, advisor to the Sto:lo Tribal Council in B.C., calls for calm in the Idle No More protests and remains optimistic about solving issues that plague First Nations.
This report aired on The Source January 14 2013.
Don’t look to the chiefs. They have no clue. They demanded a meeting with the prime minister — as if there has been a lack of meetings over the past century. To their surprise, he agreed. So the chiefs promptly came up with a new demand. They wanted to meet with the governor general, too.
And he agreed to meet with them after their session with the PM. Which threw the chiefs into a panic and a rage.
It’s tough to take yes for an answer, when you’re looking for a fight.
A fight is precisely what the chiefs wanted, or at least the noisiest ones. Derek Nepinak, the Grand Chief of all Manitoba Indians, called for a massive shutdown of the Canadian economy if he doesn’t get what he wants.
He’s not sure exactly what it is that he wants. But he’ll shut down the economy if he doesn’t get it. “We’ve got the geography covered,” he yelled at reporters.
It wasn’t just rich chiefs from poor bands. “If we have to shut down this economy then we will,” said Wallace Fox, chief of the Onion Lake band. His band is oil rich, with its own oil company. But he was trying out his Occupy Wall Street script, and the chiefs cheered him on.
Fox and Nepinak and a hundred others had been cooped up in the Delta Hotel in Ottawa, ostensibly to hammer out a negotiating position to take with Harper. But they invited the media into the room. One does not prepare for a political negotiation in public. The meeting became theatre. And the free-for-all descended into a contest of who could out-crazy the others — with Theresa Spence, the snacking hunger-striker from Attawapiskat, as the baseline.
The climax came when the Ontario chiefs announced that if the PM and GG didn’t meet the chiefs, at the same time — this was the cleverest demand they could make on behalf of their people — then they would shut down the province’s roads and railways on Jan. 16.
What kind of leaders demand a meeting with the prime minister, but then refuse to attend over a trifle? Unserious leaders, malicious, spoiled and coddled. The lack of media scrutiny, the lack of financial responsibility, the lack of police response to lawbreaking, have shaped their political culture.
There is no quick answer. Bill C-27, requiring chiefs and band councillors to publish their incomes is a baby step towards fiscal responsibility. Bill C-45, allowing ordinary band members to vote in referendums over real estate decisions, opens the door to democracy on reserves, just a crack. Both are pitifully small increments. The real problem is the Indian Industry — the mass of chiefs, lawyers and consultants that profit off Indians’ misery. Only an Indian Affairs minister with patience, toughness, credibility and the prime minister’s trust could drain that swamp and bring freedom and prosperity to ordinary Indians.
There is such a man, though he will surely rue the suggestion: Jason Kenney, the minister who took five years to fix the second-most corrupt, red-taped, broken, wasteful department in Canada: Immigration.
Kenney didn’t listen to the Immigration Industry — the cousin of the Indian Industry that preyed instead on vulnerable immigrants and profited off a confusing and complex and slow system. He ignored them, and changed the law to fix it.
He found those bureaucrats in Ottawa who wanted to actually solve problems, not to live off those problems.
Kenney’s work in immigration is done. Indian Affairs needs a man who will stare down the entrenched interests. Someone who can respect the cultural authority and traditions of Indian bands, but can fuse them into Canada — to make them Canadian first.
And Indian bands need a champion of their own — from one of their own. Someone on the ground, going band to band, who will seek to reform the corrupted, dependent, extremist political culture that has calcified once-proud and independent bands.
Alas, for that quest, I know of no name.
This column was written for Sun News January 13 2013.
Ezra takes a look at the ongoing demands of First Nations chiefs and proposes solutions for the way forward.
This report aired on The Source January 11 2013.
Frances Widdowson, co-author of "Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry: The Deception Behind Indigenous Cultural Preservation," speaks with Ezra about Canada's bloated and broken Indian Industry.
This report aired on The Source January 11 2013.
Former chief of Elsipogtog First Nation expresses her frustrations with the indian industry .
This report aired on The Source January 11 2013.
Professor Ian Lee gives an education on the tragedy of the commons, how they apply to reserves like Attawapiskat, and what we can do to help unlock wealth for Canada's First Nations
This report aired on The Source January 10 2013.
John Robson responds to the Manitoba Grand Chief's threats.
This report aired on The Source January 10 2013.
Chief Spence has run out of credibility and her demands are increasingly vague.
This report aired on The Source January 10 2013.
Ezra Levant and Peter Jaworski discuss Alex Jones’ heated argument with Piers Morgan on gun rights.
This report aired on The Source January 9 2013.
Why are people in Attawapiskat so poor? Why are some kids living in leaky shacks? It’s because Chief Spence and her boyfriend are living high off the hog, unfortunately this has been ignored by the Media Party.
This report aired on The Source January 9 2013.
A native girl speaks out on twitter about native nepotism, when Ezra retweeted her post she had to delete it because she “didn’t want anyone mad at her.”
This report aired on The Source January 9 2013.
The public knows down to the penny how much the Prime Minister earns, how much the Premier earns and how much the Mayor earns but the salaries of Native Chiefs are a secret.
This report aired on The Source January 9 2013.
Ezra takes on the liberals and media who don't want natives on reserve to have their public money protected the same way the rest of us do.
This report aired on The Source January 13 2013.
A court ruled that metis and non-status aboriginals are now 'indian.' Joseph Quesnel joins Ezra to help him make some sense of this decision.
This report aired on The Source January 8 2013.
A new audit of the Attawapiskat Indian reserve was released Monday. It was shocking.
The accounting firm of Deloitte randomly chose 505 financial transactions, between April 1, 2005 and Nov. 30, 2011, to review. They found "81% of files did not have adequate supporting documents and over 60% had no documentation of the reason for payment."
A lot of that money was supposed to go to housing. Attawapiskat is the reserve where some houses have leaky roofs, poor insulation, broken plumbing and are generally unfit for habitation. But Deloitte wrote, "There is no evidence of due diligence in the use of public funds, including the use of funds for housing."
Deloitte can't find where the money went. But maybe the long list of people on the band's rich payroll might know, starting with Theresa Spence, the chief, or her boyfriend, Clayton Kennedy, who just happens to be the town's financial manager. He bills the band $850 a day to manage their finances.
In fact, there are 21 politicians on the band payroll. Plus plenty of full-time staff. But Deloitte didn't find that reassuring: "Attawapiskat First Nation did not provide us with any job descriptions for individuals who are involved in the financial management of funding agreements."
The band doesn't even produce annual budgets. High school football teams have budgets. The band council doesn't keep regular minutes of their meetings, either. Ordinary band members can't find out what their politicians are doing. (Spence, in a news release Monday, dismissed the audit's release as "no more than a distraction from the true issue" and said it was an attempt to "discredit" her.)
So what does this all look like, if you pour $100 million through such a system, as the federal government has done since 2005? Well, here are a few of the findings in Deloitte's sample of 505 transactions.
In September, 2011, at the height of the housing crisis, they spent $4,333 on breakfast supplies. No documentation. No contract, no invoice.
In April of 2011, a "consultant" got paid $303,256. The identity of the consultant is not known. The documentation is incomplete.
What kind of consultant did Attawapiskat need for $303,256 last year? In the middle of a housing crisis? Was it a roofing consultant? Someone to develop a roofing strategy? Is that why they didn't have money to actually hire a roofer?
There are many of these employment contracts - often six figures, always anonymous.
Another common one is "other purchases." One was for $87,150. Auditor's note: "Occurrence questionable." Was anything even bought? Who knows?
Countless money was spent on legal fees. One payment was for $68,910 - lawyer unknown, no supporting documentation. Was it band business? Or maybe someone's divorce?
What about a real estate deal three years ago for
$1.1 million? But it's an Indian reserve. The band already owns all the land. And the vendor is anonymous. There was zero supporting documentation. Was this $1.1 million property deal even in Attawapiskat? Or was it in Florida?
There are a flurry of these property purchases - all secret, no street address or even a general geographic location given.Eighty-one percent of the files the auditor checked are this way. Not 1% or 2%. This isn't an error. It's a way of life.
If the people involved had Italian names and were from the Montreal construction industry, or French-Canadian names from Montreal ad agencies, instead of Indian "consultants" from Attawapiskat, there would be resignations and criminal charges flying.
But it would be racist to ask tough questions of Chief Spence and her boyfriend. And, she's so close to starving herself, it would be mean, too.
Is Stephen Harper really going to meet with her on Friday? Shouldn't the RCMP do so first?
This report appeared in Sun News January 8 2013.
Audit exposes what Ezra has already told you about Chief Spence: no budget and no paper trail.
This report aired on The Source January 13 2013.
The Media Party is finally starting to pay attention to the financial mismanagement Attawapiskat, Ezra has been at it for over a year.
This report aired on The Source January 7 2013.
Ezra goes through the part of the Attawapiskat Audit that the Media Party can't be bothered to look at.
This report aired on The Source January 7 2013.
Journalists are skeptical of politicians, unless those politicians are called Indian chiefs. Then reporters turn into stenographers, or even cheerleaders.
Take a politician named Theresa Spence. She’s been the toast of the Media Party for the past 26 days, the length of time she’s been on a hunger strike. Which is amazing, because even Gandhi never lasted more than 21 days on his hunger strikes. The IRA hunger strikers looked like skeletons by 26 days, and started dying weeks later. Not Spence — she’s still Rubenesque, walking around, doing interviews, all with her trademark double chin.
That’s not a comment on her attractiveness. It’s a comment on the Media Party’s love affair with the Idle No More protests. Reporters have simply stopped asking critical questions of politicians because they’re Indian.Last year, when Toronto’s conservative mayor, Rob Ford, announced he was going on a diet, the media mocked him, demanded to know his weight every day, and the Toronto Star proudly uploaded a video, taken on a cellphone, catching Ford going into a KFC.
Spence has admitted she’s snacking, even detailing her menu (fish soup and moose soup) but that hasn’t stopped the Media Party from reporting her hunger strike as not only true, but putting the saint precariously close to death. The CBC actually quoted a medical doctor — who had never examined her — saying she was in grave danger. That’s not just journalistic malpractice, it’s questionable medical ethics, too.
Idle No More is just an Aboriginal reboot of Occupy Wall Street. It has the same vague demands, summarized as “give us more free stuff.” It has the same low-level criminality — Occupy illegally squatted in parks and was heavy into drug use and public sex, while Idle No More prefers blockades of railroads. And they have the same supporters and organizers: Canada’s left-wing labour unions. And, of course, the Media Party.
Spence is a master media manipulator; she knew better than to do her dieting stunt up in Attawapiskat, where it hit -33 C this week, and was accessible only by airplane. She flew to Ottawa and pitched a teepee for the benefit of the bored Parliamentary Press Gallery. She also stayed in a hotel, but that was never shown on camera — it contradicted the narrative of a chief willing to make every sacrifice for her people.
That’s what a hunger strike is: A public declaration that you are willing to commit suicide in slow motion to achieve a higher purpose. What was Spence’s purpose? She demanded a meeting — a week long — with the prime minister and governor general. And, to Stephen Harper’s discredit, he caved in on Friday and will meet with First Nations leaders, including Spence, on Jan. 11.
There are more than600 Indian chiefs in Canada, the average reserve having about 1,000 people. Will everyone be able to command the PM’s appearance? Can others do that, too? But, again, for what? Why would Spence die for a meeting? What’s on her agenda?It couldn’t possibly be for more money — her Attawapiskat Indian band has received $90 million from Harper so far, and has just 1,500 people there. It’s just 300 homes.
Do the math: The Attawapiskat band received $34 million in 2011. And the local diamond mine spent $51 million in town. That’s $85 million, for 300 families. That’s $280,000 per family. Tax free.So how come so many in Attawapiskat live in leaky, cold shacks? Not the chief of course; she has a sturdy, well-heated house and drives an Escalade. Her boyfriend is the band manager — his contract is for $850 a day, plus expenses. Why does the band have $8.9 million in the stock market, in shares like Google and Pepsi and Exxon, but not enough money to fix some leaks? Why are there 21 politicans on the payroll of a tiny town? Why did Spence once bill the town $8,000 a month to manage the daycare?
Those are questions reporters might ask white politicians. But lucky for Spence, she’s Indian, so they don’t.
This report appeared in Sun News January 6 2013.
Tonny Louie of Chinatown Business Improvement Association speaks out in defense of shark fin soup and says he hopes he hopes Toronto councillors respect Justice Spence’s shark fin ruling.
This report aired on The Source January 4 2013.
Author John Lott joins Ezra on the mainstream media's assault on him for reporting the facts about firearms
This report aired on The Source January 4 2013.
Ezra Levant on the narrative of the political elites in the ‘Idle No More’ movement, the lack of skepticism from the Media Party, and the omission of financial facts on Attawapiskat.
This report aired on The Source January 4 2013.
Joseph Quesnel of the Frontier Centre tells Ezra that the Idle No More movement is led by the elites: lawyers and chiefs
This report aired on The Source Jan 3 2013.
Ezra speaks with Dr. Roy Eappen about the physical effects of a hunger strike. Is Chief Spence the real deal or a faker?
This report aired on The Source Jan 3 2013.
Ezra addresses how the Media Party has decided that asking questions about the Idle No More movement and Chief Spence is racist.
This report aired on The Source Jan 3 2013.
Ezra Levant weighs in on Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence's so-called hunger strike, and shares some facts the media party has chosen to omit.
This report aired on The Source Jan 2 2013.
Ezra talks about the economic future of the Northwest Territories with Inuvik Mayor Denny Rodgers, while playing golf at 10:30PM.
This report aired on The Source Jan 2 2013.
Ezra speaks with the director of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, Fred Carmichael, about his efforts to bring Inuits $1B in jobs.
This report aired on The Source Jan 2 2013.
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