Rebel News Podcast: Ezra Levant Interviews Bruce Pardy on Civil Liberties and Property Rights in Canada

Date: December 30, 2025
Host: Ezra Levant
Guest: Dr. Bruce Pardy, Law Professor at Queen's University, Leader of Rights Probe

Episode Overview

This episode features an extended conversation between Ezra Levant and Dr. Bruce Pardy on the current state of civil liberties and property rights in Canada. The discussion focuses on the decline of classic civil libertarianism, the rise of new rights organizations, threats to free speech, and recent legal developments affecting property rights—particularly Indigenous land claims and the implications of government policy. The episode also covers looming legislative changes, such as Bills C8 and C9, and explores broader themes of governance, democracy, and societal cohesion in Canada.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Decline of Classic Civil Libertarianism (00:00 – 05:00)

• Ezra Levant laments the transformation of organizations like the Canadian Civil Liberties Association from champions of free speech into selective advocates based on partisan values.
• Levant contrasts the historic defense of despicable speech (e.g., ACLU defending Nazis in Skokie) to current trends of silencing views some groups dislike.
• New organizations have emerged to fill the void, including Rights Probe, led by Dr. Bruce Pardy.

2. Rights Probe: Origins and Mission (03:50 – 05:01)

• Dr. Pardy describes Rights Probe as a “law and liberty think tank,” a project of Energy Probe Research Foundation, focused on free markets and good policy initiatives.
• He warns that the biggest threats to liberty are internal: “It's not evil dictators trying to do us harm. It's parochial bureaucrats claiming to do good, people who have too much power inside our own governing system that is the greatest threat.” (04:37)

3. On Civil Liberties: Selectivity and Strategic Interests (05:01 – 09:14)

• Discussion about how all sides of the political spectrum may advocate free speech when convenient but often restrict it for their own interests once in power.
• Pardy: “If you offer up a model that is actually free, ... some people recoil from it... It's free speech until you become ascendant. And then your kind of speech is going to be enforced.” (06:10)
• Both agree that freedom of speech forms the cornerstone of other freedoms.

Notable Quote:

“I've put it this way in the past. In a way, free speech is for losers. And by that I mean losers of the culture war.” — Bruce Pardy (06:24)

4. Free Speech as a Linchpin Right (09:14 – 12:40)

• Ezra shares a memorable Alan Borovoy quote: “Freedom of speech is a strategic freedom upon which the other freedoms depend.” (09:19)
• They discuss euphemistic language at the World Economic Forum around censorship—“misinformation, disinformation, fake news”—and the obsession with controlling narratives, particularly in the age of social media.

5. Constitutional Architecture: Power and Exception (10:53 – 12:40)

• Pardy critiques how constitutions grant the state near-unlimited power, with ‘exceptions’ for specific rights, rather than restricting the state by default:

“The state has unlimited power except. And the exceptions are the Bill of Rights or the Charter of Rights... Freedom of speech should be part of the state of being free.” — Bruce Pardy (11:43)

• Both reflect on how Western societies differ from authoritarian regimes—where generally, unless something is permitted, it is banned (12:40).

6. Multiculturalism, Democracy, and the Risks of Illiberal Majorities (12:40 – 18:35)

• Ezra references Lee Kuan Yew’s model in Singapore to question whether importing illiberal populations could undermine democracy.
• Pardy acknowledges two dangers: rule by elites or rule by mob, noting the risk in referenda if the majority can enforce coercion (16:25).
• Underlines that government power should be minimal, and the foundational principle should be a ban on coercion.

Notable Quote:

“You cannot use force or the threats of force against other people, period. It cannot be done.” — Bruce Pardy (17:34)

7. The BC Property Crisis: Aboriginal Title vs. Fee Simple Rights (18:58 – 23:56)

• Ezra introduces Pardy’s recent essay, highlighting the BC Supreme Court’s verdict granting Aboriginal title on Richmond land—frightening homeowners who believed they held robust property rights.
• Pardy warns these outcomes stem from “bad ideas”:
  • Different laws for different races/lineages.
  • Government and courts’ ability to override property rights.
• He explains that property has always been insecure in Canada (“always been held subject to the Crown”) and that recognizing Indigenous claims—especially in BC where most land is “unceded”—is now mainstream, threatening the security of all property owners.

Notable Quote:

“Our property in Canada has never been secure. It's more insecure now than it's ever been.” — Bruce Pardy (21:49)

8. The Role and Danger of UNDRIP and International Agreements (23:56 – 30:10)

• Ezra draws comparisons to the UK’s struggle to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, and highlights Canada’s adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP/DRIPA).
• Pardy clarifies that UNDRIP is non-binding, but BC legislation (DRIPA) incorporated it into provincial law, setting the stage for ongoing claims and agreements.
• Courts are accepting these political/accommodation agreements as constitutional, making future reversal difficult.

Notable Quote:

“It's a self-made problem. It's part of the ... cultural suicide of the West.” — Bruce Pardy (28:40)

9. The Power of “Speaked” Ideas: Land Acknowledgments and Social Psychosis (32:25 – 35:30)

• Ezra and Pardy dissect land acknowledgments as performative hypocrisy, noting how repetition of such pieties can “speak” new realities into being.
• Link to similar performative language in climate politics—eventually, public concessions to radical ideas lead to real policy and personal consequences.

Notable Quote:

“It's a kind of social psychosis. ... There is something strange going on that way. And it is, of course, these land acknowledgments are the height of hypocrisy.” — Bruce Pardy (34:35)

10. C9 and C8: New Legal Threats to Free Speech (38:33 – 43:52)

• Discussion of two major bills:
  • Bill C9: Criminalizes certain types of hate as a standalone offense and removes religious belief as a defense—risking the creation of “thought crime” laws.
  • Bill C8: Empowers the government to force Internet service providers to sever access at the discretion of a minister, often without transparency—potentially more insidious due to its bureaucratic discretion.
• Pardy objects to criminalizing emotions like hate, arguing the line for intervention should always be violence, not feelings.

Notable Quote:

“If you're in a free country, you're allowed to feel whatever you feel. And if you have free speech, you're allowed to express what you feel. That doesn't mean you're allowed to use violence. That's the line in the sand.” — Bruce Pardy (42:31)

11. Selective Enforcement and the Perils of Overcriminalization (43:52 – 48:23)

• Ezra notes that current laws against harassment and disturbance are not being enforced against anti-Jewish protests in Toronto, suggesting future “hate” laws will be selectively wielded.
• Pardy warns against allowing governments discretion to enforce laws at will, enabling “anarcho-tyranny”: the arbitrary application of petty laws while ignoring major crimes and abuses.

Notable Quotes:

“If the powers that be have so many laws ... that means you do not have the rule of law. That means you have the rule of discretion.” — Bruce Pardy (46:29)
“Anarcho tyranny...the tyranny of the petty bureaucrat alongside the anarchy of the non policing of serious matters.” — Bruce Pardy (47:34)

12. Implications for Governance: Vested Power, Not Just Bad Rulers (30:10 – 32:25, 46:04 – 51:09)

• Pardy argues that swapping out bad politicians for good ones won’t solve systemic overreach:

“Because the problem is the power... That power shouldn’t exist and that requires a serious rethink of the way we are governed.” — Bruce Pardy (29:44)

• Levant underscores the danger of laws being designed for friends, but used by future enemies.

Closing Segment: Looking Ahead to 2026 (51:09 – End)

• Bruce Pardy cites two key issues on the 2026 horizon:
  • The ongoing battle over Indigenous land claims and property rights, especially in BC.
  • Alberta independence, with the Alberta Prosperity Project now cleared to pursue a referendum.

Notable Quote:

“There's going to be a lot of bumps in that road, a lot of risks, a lot of dangers, but who knows? Let's cross our fingers and see what happens.” — Bruce Pardy (51:36)

Memorable Moments and Quotes with Timestamps

• On internal threats to liberty:
  “The greatest threat to our liberties is not from without, but from within.” — Bruce Pardy (04:37)

• On performative political language:
  “If you repeat it often enough, if you say it often enough, you speak it into existence...” — Ezra Levant (33:44)

• On anarcho-tyranny:
  “Anarchy alongside tyranny. The tyranny of the petty bureaucrat alongside the anarchy of the non policing of serious matters.” — Bruce Pardy (47:34)

Structured Segment Timeline

| Time | Segment | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–05:00 | Introduction, decline of classic civil liberties orgs, founding of new groups | | 05:01–09:14 | Selective civil libertarianism and the strategic use of free speech | | 09:14–12:40 | The primacy of free speech and constitutional structure | | 12:40–18:35 | Dangers of mob rule vs. elite rule, demographic shifts and liberal democracy | | 18:58–23:56 | BC property rights crisis, court rulings on Aboriginal title | | 23:56–30:10 | UNDRIP/DRIPA: How international agreements reshape Canadian law | | 30:10–35:30 | The incremental (and irreversible) entrenchment of radical legal ideas | | 35:30–38:33 | Land acknowledgments, performative wokeness, and cultural change | | 38:33–43:52 | Bills C8 and C9: New speech controls and bureaucratic overreach | | 43:52–48:23 | Selective enforcement, rule of discretion, 'anarcho-tyranny' | | 48:23–51:09 | Authoritarian precedents, power vs. people in legal systems | | 51:09–End | Key issues for 2026: Property rights and Alberta independence; closing remarks |

Summary Tone and Takeaways

The conversation is direct, skeptical of government rhetoric, and deeply concerned about creeping authoritarianism—whether from government overreach, "whack-a-mole" legal changes, or the selective application of rights. Both Levant and Pardy argue that freedom is a precondition of a just society, and warn that decorous language and multilayered laws risk eroding core liberties for all.

For further reading and Dr. Pardy's essays, visit rightsprobe.org.