EZRA LEVANT | CBC sets up undercover sting to humiliate conservative women

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Rebel News Podcast – Ezra Levant | CBC Sets Up Undercover Sting to Humiliate Conservative Women

Date: May 14, 2026
Host: Ezra Levant

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Ezra Levant fiercely critiques a recent CBC undercover sting operation allegedly designed to humiliate conservative women, notably Frances Widdowson and Lindsay Shepherd. He draws parallels between these actions and previous incidents of what he terms “entrapment” and “hoaxes” by legacy media, especially when targeting conservatives. The episode also discusses media partisanship, the ethics of undercover journalism, and concludes with an update on an investigation into church arsons in Canada.

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Main Discussion Points

1. CBC Undercover Sting Operation Against Conservative Women

[01:01–10:06]

• Levant’s Claim: CBC orchestrated an undercover sting, posing as supporters to ingratiate themselves with Francis Widdowson and Lindsay Shepherd before filming and provoking them for later public embarrassment.

• Background: Widdowson (professor fired for views on Indigenous relations) and Shepherd (Wilfrid Laurier grad student persecuted for showing a Jordan Peterson video) are characterized as underdogs, not establishment figures.

• Ethics & Comparison: Levant compares CBC’s tactics to James O’Keefe (Project Veritas), saying O’Keefe “punches up,” targeting powerful insiders, whereas CBC targets vulnerable individuals.

• Hoax Example: References a past CBC Marketplace episode where actors played racists to manufacture evidence for a segment.

  “It was an entrapment… They committed a hoax themselves and they were proud.”
  —Ezra Levant [01:37]

Memorable Segment: Frances Widdowson confronts a CBC provocateur

• Widdowson realizes she is being set up, confronts “Mike Smith” (CBC agent), and records the interaction.

• The provocateur admits it’s a social experiment but dodges direct answers about targeting.

  “This seems to be a setup… that wants to paint me, I guess, as some kind of racist…”
  —Francis Widdowson [10:30]

  “You’ve defined it precise— well, I wouldn’t say exactly right. It’s… a social experiment.”
  —Mike Smith (CBC provocateur) [11:24]

2. Ethics of Undercover Journalism and Political Targeting

[03:33–16:36]

• Past Media Hoaxes: Levant discusses other incidents—like the hijab-cutting hoax, and SPLC paying people to pose as racists.

• Performance Art vs. Journalism: Levant claims deception in reporting is unethical, especially when targeting individuals with less power.

• Satirical Comparisons: References Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Ali G” and “Borat” stings on celebrities like Donald Trump, arguing that at least these stunts “punch up” rather than target regular people.

• CBC’s Target Choice Critique: Levant frames the CBC as using taxpayer funds not to hold power accountable but to attack government critics and opposition figures.

  “Usually humor isn’t punching down. It’s not saying, ‘Can I interact with your children?’ which is sort of gross.”
  —Ezra Levant [16:03]

• Government/Media Symbiosis: Claims CBC is increasingly partisan, targeting opposition while favoring establishment liberals (Mark Carney, etc.).

  “The government broadcaster is the single largest purveyor of disinformation and fake news in Canada.”
  —Ezra Levant [20:24]

3. Church Arsons in Canada – Investigation Launched

[23:58–32:53]

• Background: Over 100 churches have been vandalized or burned in Canada; Levant expresses frustration at the lack of media and police attention.

• Democracy Fund’s Initiative: Mark Joseph, litigation director at the Democracy Fund, explains their independent fire investigation:

  • Retained a seasoned Alberta fire marshal to review arson cases.
  • Will source official reports and conduct a forensic review for patterns or investigative failures.
  • Findings may inform legal action and push for government accountability.

• Commentary on Media Silence: Levant suggests if other religious buildings were targeted at the same rate, there would be more attention and resources.

  “If there was a, you know, 100 mosques or 100 gurdwaras or temples burned to the ground, I think that would get a lot of attention. I don’t know why churches and synagogues don’t get the same amount of attention…”
  —Mark Joseph [28:03]

  “The expert will… see if there’s any patterns, whether Canadian authorities responded according to international standards…”
  —Ezra Levant [30:47]

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Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• CBC Marketplace Hoax Example:

  “White pride, $10 shirts. White Pride Worldwide.”
  —Actor in CBC hoax [02:36]

• Levant on Project Veritas:

  “[O’Keefe] goes after powerful people in powerful organizations… These are not powerful people who need to be held to account…”
  —Ezra Levant [06:21]

• Francis Widdowson’s Recorded Pushback:

  “What am I participating in? …You wanted to get me… to talk about my views in a… candid way, which I… told everything truthful.”
  —Francis Widdowson [12:01]

• CBC’s Alleged Obsession with Conservative Children:

  “The CBC undercover team really wanted to film [Shepherd] at home and had their plans for the young children. So gross.”
  —Ezra Levant [13:44]

• Comedy vs. Entrapment:

  “Good for Trump… But what happens if you’re not going after a wealthy, famous… billionaire? You’re going after a professor who was fired and is physically threatened, and you’re going after a young mom. It’s just not as funny anymore.”
  —Ezra Levant [18:40]

• Mark Joseph on Investigation Motivation:

  “There’s been a certain amount of incuriosity on the part of authorities. There’s been no RCMP task force, no parliamentary committee struck. It just seems like it’s been left to the media…”
  —Mark Joseph [28:03]

• Final Rallying Cry:

  “Until tomorrow, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World headquarters, to you at home, good night. And keep fighting for freedom.”
  —Ezra Levant [33:40]

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Key Timestamps

• 01:01 – Introduction to CBC sting allegations
• 02:36–03:13 – Example of past CBC hoaxes using actors
• 10:30–12:46 – Francis Widdowson’s confrontation with “Mike Smith”
• 13:44–16:03 – CBC's interest in Lindsay Shepherd’s children; critique of “stunt” journalism
• 16:59–18:40 – Satirical stings vs. targeting regular people; Sacha Baron Cohen and Trump
• 23:58–32:53 – Church arson investigation and lack of mainstream/media attention

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Tone and Style

• Language: Direct, combative, and sardonic; unapologetic criticism of CBC and government-funded media.
• Perspective: Clear conservative, anti-establishment tone.
• Style: Mix of indignation, humor, and storytelling.

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Conclusion

The episode denounces CBC's sting operation as an unethical and taxpayer-funded attempt to "humiliate" marginalized conservative women, contrasting it unfavorably to satirical or investigative stings that target those in power. Levant uses this incident to reinforce ongoing concerns about media bias, alleged double standards, and government-media collusion against the right. The latter part updates listeners on an independent investigation into a wave of church arsons across Canada, highlighting perceived neglect by authorities and the need for private action.

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For further details and to support the church arson investigation, visit: arsoninvestigation.ca

Transcript

[Ezra Levant]

Hello, my friends. I want to talk to you about this crazy hoax that the CBC has been trying to perpetrate against conservative activists like Francis Widdowson and Lindsay Shepard. Just so gross. It's not undercover journalism. It's not comedy. It is a hoax designed to humiliate conservatives. You're not going to believe what we show you, but first, let me invite you to become a subscriber to Rebel News Plus. That's the video version of this podcast I really want you to see. See what we're going to show you. There's a clip that Frances Widdowson recorded of them trying to hoax her. I want you to see that. Not just here. Go to rebelnewsplus.com click subscribe. We have one more thing.

[Rebel News Announcer]

Being a rebel today is simply being normal. So why not support normal news and look cool while doing it by buying yourself some rebel merch and [e-mail] and you could save by using coupon code DREA10 when you do.

[Francis Widdowson]

You're listening.

[Ezra Levant]

Tonight, the CBC sets up an undercover sting operation, not to catch criminals, but to humiliate conservatives. It's May 13th and this is the Ezra Levant Show. Shame on you, you censorious fuck. I remember almost 10 years ago, something that the CBC did called the Trump Effect. And the Trump effect is, if you don't remember, was them claiming that it turned the whole world racist, including Canada, too. So Trump had just been inaugurated and the CBC's thesis was there was racism everywhere, on the streets in Toronto and Montreal. But the problem is they couldn't actually find any racists, and they looked. So they hired actors to pretend to be racist and to. Well, actually to be racist. To go out and to say and do racist things and actually to sell racist stuff and to engage people in conversations to whip them up. It was an entrapment. Take a look for yourself at the cbc bragging about this on a show they call CBC Marketplace, which is supposed to be about debunking hoaxes. They committed a hoax themselves and they were proud. Take a look.

[White Kyle / Actor in CBC hoax]

$10 shirts. White Pride Worldwide. White Pride, $10. White Pride Worldwide.

[Ezra Levant]

White Kyle, Are you kidding me?

[White Kyle / Actor in CBC hoax]

You wanna know why you decided to buy that T shirt?

[Francis Widdowson]

Because I agree with him.

[Ezra Levant]

It's disgusting.

[Mark Joseph]

It's frightening a little as well.

[Lindsay Shepard]

I am anti immigration. I can honestly say that I'm anti immigration.

[Interviewer or Commentator]

How are you able to justify saying, saying getting rid of immigrants when our own people are immigrants here? I believe that Trump has tapped into something that was already there.

[White Kyle / Actor in CBC hoax]

You wanted to buy a T shirt?

[Lindsay Shepard (young mom)]

Yeah.

[Lindsay Shepard]

Why?

[Mark Joseph]

Because I thought it was funny.

[Lindsay Shepard (young mom)]

I live in a neighborhood where everybody is from a different country. My kids go to a school where in 22 kids out of the class, there's 17 languages spoken. That's the country I live in. Not that.

[Ezra Levant]

That was so gross, but that happens a lot these days. It's a cousin to racist hoaxes. Like I remember when the BBC other racist hoaxes. Like I remember when there was a young woman in the Greater Toronto area who claimed that she was attacked by. By a man who used scissors to cut her hijab. I know that's such a weird thing to say. And it fell apart so quickly on scrutiny, but the whole Muslim PR community was behind this girl. Justin Trudeau retweeted the claim. It was very quickly proven to be a hoax. And as you can see by this international story in the BBC, the family finally apologized for lying. That's because there's so little supply of racism in the west, but such a huge demand from the left. You may recall a few weeks ago, the Southern Poverty Law center, the splc, was charged in the States. They were indicted for fraud. They literally took money from their donors to pay people to be racist in the Ku Klux Klan and other places. And then they fundraised from their donors off the shock of these racists who were secretly on their payroll. And, you know, it's the same sort of thing the CBC is doing, isn't it? Now, I should tell you, I am not totally averse to performance art, even if there's some politics involved. But generally, if you are a reporter, if you're a journalist and you find yourself lying about who you are and paying other people to lie and paying other people to be racist and using tricks to provoke a reaction that wouldn't naturally occur. I think you're doing journalism wrong. That may be something else you're doing, but I don't think it's news. Which brings me to an absolutely insane story today about Lindsay Shepard, the former teacher's assistant, or grad student rather, at Wilfrid Laurier University. You might recall she recommended watching a video of Jordan Peterson to her class. And she was subject to a terrible persecution. Francis Widdowson, a professor at Mount Royal University, fired for having a conservative view on indigenous relations. Both of these women were targeted by the CBC because they supported the Canadian history that says Sir John A. Macdonald was a hero, not a genocider. So the CBC set up a massive sting operation, setting up fake companies and giving their people Fake names to get close to Lindsay shepherd and Francis Widdowson by telling them flattering lies. Oh, we love you. We're supporting you. What you're doing is very brave. And then to trick them by filming, and not just filming them, but provoking them and doing things to get a reaction. It's just sort of incredible. Don't you find it interesting that both women I just mentioned were. Were fired for their views? So these are not strong people crushing weak people. These were people who themselves were crushed, fired for their views. And yet the mighty CBC thinks they're the ones to do this. I mean, it would be something if they went after a cabinet minister or exposed some sort of grift or graft. That's what James o' Keefe does at Project Veritas. You could say that his people are deceptive in that they claim to be strangers found on a dating app, but they don't trick people into saying things. In fact, it's sort of the opposite. It's getting people to let their guard down. And the people that James o' Keefe always goes after are powerful people in powerful organizations. And he uses the trick of sending someone out, usually on a date with them, is to let them speak candidly with their guard down. That's not the case of what happened here. These are not powerful people who need to be held to account, especially in Lindsay Shepherd's case. I mean, she's a fairly quiet mom. I mean, she is a journalist too, but she's not a powerful cabinet minister. It's almost unthinkable that a Canadian journalist would engage in a trap like this for someone in high public office. And it's certainly unthinkable that the CBC would do so. I suppose they might do so if they were going after a conservative like Pierre Polya. I mean, that's sort of the CBC specialty these days is going after the underdog, going after the opposition. Here's a recent video just to remind you of Frances Widdowson being physically attacked when she was at a university recently talking about her point of view on Indigenous relations. Imagine looking at this elderly woman being attacked and thinking she needs to be taken down a peg. Take a look.

[Lindsay Shepard]

There's. It. Academic mission. It allows for policies to be perpetuated on the campus. Specifically that as a result, there's all sorts of propaganda and indoctrination that's going on. And it's not to have an academic institution is a place reading. That's one ideas you can have free speech. So university. This is what you've done. This is what you've done. University. You have failed as an academic institution. Do not fund the university.

[Ezra Levant]

So, like I say, a CBC funded project conceived and executed in secret, was designed to trick these conservatives about being on their side. But the whole thing was a hoax, a stunt to embarrass them, humiliate them, trick them. Frances Widdowson sort of realized something was awry and she recorded some of it on her cell phone with the main provocateur. It's terribly embarrassing. For the provocateur, that is. Take a listen.

[Francis Widdowson]

What's this about? Tell me what this is about. Who are you? This is a pile of shoes that I believe two Aboriginal people came and dumped on the table. This seems to be a setup of some outfit that's doing a reality television show that wants to paint me, I guess, as some kind of racist or something that they're going to post on social media. What's your name, sir?

[Mike Smith (CBC provocateur)]

Mike Smith.

[Francis Widdowson]

Mike Smith.

[Mike Smith (CBC provocateur)]

Yeah. I. And. And I think. Yeah. That you got it exactly right. You. You've defined it precise. Well, I wouldn't say exactly right. It's.

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person]

This is.

[Mike Smith (CBC provocateur)]

This is social experiment.

[Francis Widdowson]

Okay.

[Mike Smith (CBC provocateur)]

And it's on video. And I'm on video, too. So. We're on video together.

[Francis Widdowson]

Yeah, we're on video together.

[Mike Smith (CBC provocateur)]

Yep. So I think that you figured it

[Francis Widdowson]

out and now we can wrap it up. Okay, but am I the target or you got other people or are you just focusing on me?

[Mike Smith (CBC provocateur)]

No, you're not a target. No, you're participating.

[Francis Widdowson]

Okay. What am I participating in this social experiment. Okay. What is the social experiment?

[Mike Smith (CBC provocateur)]

You just experienced it. You could tell me.

[Francis Widdowson]

You wanted to get me Francis Widdowson, who is a known controversial figure. You wanted to get me to talk about my views in a. I guess, a candid way, which I. I told everything truthful. You. You. You brought two. Who are these Aboriginal. Were they Aboriginal people? First of all, we don't know. I. I've met people who. Who are Japanese and I thought they were Aboriginal. So these are two Aboriginal people that you brought in?

[Mike Smith (CBC provocateur)]

Oh, I didn't bring. I didn't bring Aboriginal people in. Now I'm. I work for them.

[Francis Widdowson]

You work for the Aboriginal? Who do you.

[Lindsay Shepard (young mom)]

Sorry.

[Francis Widdowson]

Who do you work for?

[Mike Smith (CBC provocateur)]

For them.

[Francis Widdowson]

Who is them?

[Mike Smith (CBC provocateur)]

The Aboriginal people. Indigenous people that you're talking about. So, yeah. So you get. That's.

[Interviewer or Commentator]

That's the whole.

[Mike Smith (CBC provocateur)]

That's the deal.

[Ezra Levant]

Other details have emerged that are super gross. I mentioned before that Lindsay shepherd is a young mum. Well, the CBC undercover team really wanted to film her at home and had their plans for the young children. The CBC wanted to set up plans and interact with and deal with the kids. I mean, the message was slightly vague. What are you even doing going to her home? And why are you obsessed with her children? So gross. And I'm not sure. I think they sort of claim this as being humorous or funny. It's not. They. They came up with this trick of Sir John A. MacDonald figurines, which is sort of interesting. And they promised Lindsay shepherd cash and travel. You know, they must have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on this. I counted, there was a picture and there was 25 of them working on this. You have 25 people working on an elaborate stunt like this. You're probably over a million dollars. And again, one of my criticisms is if this is supposed to be comedy, it's just deeply unfunny. I don't know if these people claim to be journalists. I don't even know if they could claim to be actors or comedians. I think they're just thugs who managed to get funding for something to humiliate some women. One of them, by the way, is a name I recognize because it's a name you don't forget. Gitz Crazy Boy was one of the. He's been doing stunts like this for decades and he was one of the ones aimed at Francis Widdowson. He's always been for hire though. He's a marginal person. I met him in Vancouver almost 15 years ago when I was part of a debate on the oil sands and he tried to crash the events. And I don't know, what do you think of it? He gets Crazy Boy. In this case, he was working for foreign funded anti oil activists. Today he's working for CBC funded anti conservative activists. This is what your tax dollars are

[Indigenous Speaker (Athen Baskin)]

going to the population here. It's not going to come from native people. This isn't going to happen. The tar sands do set the environmental standard for the rest of Canada. My people are dying indiscriminately right now. It's up to each and every one of you members here to do something about it and get more educated on it. Learn both sides of the story. Not just mine, but his aspect. What band are you from? Athen Baskin. Chip on First Nation.

[Ezra Levant]

Who's your chief?

[Indigenous Speaker (Athen Baskin)]

Chief Alan. Adam, would you like to see my English status?

[Ezra Levant]

I'm just screwed.

[Interviewer or Commentator]

I didn't.

[Ezra Levant]

Because I didn't catch that.

[Indigenous Speaker (Athen Baskin)]

I don't think I said I was necessarily,

[Ezra Levant]

you know, I Didn't play the race card, which is what we're seeing right here.

[Mark Joseph]

But I will now.

[Ezra Levant]

But I will now. You know, there is no industry in Canada that employs more aboriginal people than the oil sands. Yeah, it's sort of gross. Huge CBC effort having a U. S. Based Asian provocateur. Let me tell you, I'm open to humor, but usually humor isn't punching down. It's not saying can I interact with your children? Which is sort of gross. Sacha Baron Cohen is sort of famous for this. He has different characters. Borat is one of them, you might recall. And he dresses up and he tries to trick people. Donald Trump is famous for being someone who very quickly detected that it was a hoax. I don't know if you've ever seen that. One of the characters was Ali G where Sacha Baron Cohen would pretend to be a British rapper. Trump figured that out in just a few seconds. Here's that.

[Lindsay Shepard]

Okay.

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person's Partner]

And now does I call you like

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person]

you call me Donald?

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person's Partner]

For real? It's Trump in it.

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person]

Right.

[Ezra Levant]

Remember at the beginning.

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person's Partner]

TR so how long has there been businesses?

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person]

Well, business started from the day one, from early in the in the world.

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person's Partner]

And what was they doing business in back in the day?

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person]

Many, many, many years ago, Hundreds of millions of years ago, people were doing business and they were trading in rocks and stones and other things.

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person's Partner]

Who would want to buy rocks?

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person]

I don't know, man. You got to ask them that.

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person's Partner]

I've got some business idea that I just want to tell you about and I'll be a fool if very quickly. What is the most popular thing in the world?

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person]

Music.

[Ezra Levant]

No, tell me.

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person's Partner]

Ice cream.

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person]

Okay.

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person's Partner]

Everyone has it. And what is the problem with ice cream?

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person]

I have no idea.

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person's Partner]

It drips. Okay, so me idea is what to

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person]

make a drip proof ice cream?

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person's Partner]

No. Oh, that's the fucking put in our deadness. All right, whatever. You ain't gonna come out with that though.

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person]

No, I promise you I won't.

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person's Partner]

Well, my idea is to come out with just like these ice cream gloves that make the ice cream not go on your hands and make it all, well sticky and also keep your hands warm.

[Mike Smith (CBC provocateur)]

Okay.

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person's Partner]

When, when you is eating the ice cream.

[Mike Smith (CBC provocateur)]

Okay.

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person's Partner]

Is you win or is you in?

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person]

Okay, well it sounds like a good idea and I hope you make a lot of money. Good luck folks. It's been nice seeing you. You take care of yourself. Okay?

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person's Partner]

You're going to be in on that?

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person]

Well, it sounds like an interesting.

[Ice Cream Business Idea Person's Partner]

He's got like P. Diddy is going to be in it Good.

[Ezra Levant]

Good for Trump. It's surprising how many people fell for it, but it was sometimes funny. And I guess Donald Trump, that was punching up so good for Sacha Baron Cohen for trying. But what happens if you're not going after a wealthy, famous, powerful billionaire? You're going after a professor who was fired and is physically threatened, and you're going after a young mom. It's just not as funny anymore. And then when you learn that this is paid for by the government, it's not funny at all. When you learn that they targeted Aaron Gunn, a Conservative MP2, so they deliberately went in to mess with the opposition. They went after other media, too. Anyone who disagrees with them, probably multi million dollar project. So the government broadcaster is trying to mess with the government's opponents. Just like the government media panels obsess over Pierre Polya, but give a red carpet to Mark Carney. The government media is being subsidized and those subsidies are being increased. Government media doesn't touch Mark Carney. Government critics, though, are being silenced. There was a story in Blacklocks just the other day about a secret meeting of a blacklist of journalists that are supposed to be kept out of various places. I wonder if Rebel News is on it. I mean, there's even a government comedy show called this hour's 22 minutes. They really don't go after Mark Carney, but, boy, the number one target is Donald Trump. And their number two target is Pierre Polya. So much for speaking truth to power. I remember once at Sun News Network. So we're talking about 15 years ago now. I went to the CBC headquarters to, not to trick anyone, but to do a little video standup. I'll see if I can find the clip of it. But after I went there, I did an access to information account request to see what the CBC had to say about my visit. I was just curious. And the executives at the CBC were very alarmed by my visit. And one of their proposals, though, was to send their comedy team. This hour has 22 minutes after me. I don't know, maybe that would have been funny. But do you see what they've admitted? That they use their comedians, they use their staff as a weapon to settle scores and grudges. Could have been funny. But never think for a second that the CBC are nonpartisan or neutral. Their own executives refer to their comedians as weapons that can be used. The CBC has a lot of rules about this kind of trickery and undercover conduct, by the way. I know, because I remember once they jumped out of the bushes In a gotcha, the same CBC marketplace, they were trying to get a doctor on behalf of a lying patient. It was actually terrifying, the smears they were going to say they went undercover, they pretended to be his patients, but they broke their own rules so many times. In the end, and this is when I was a practicing lawyer, we managed to convince the CBC to kill the story because it was just based on lies. The reason we were able to convince the CBC is we showed how they violated their own rules. I'm certain they violated many of their own rules here, but it's the usual. I mean, the government broadcaster is the single largest purveyor of disinformation and fake news in Canada. This whole project I've just been discovering, just discussing, is fake news from beginning to end. Hey, by the way, do you think they'll use this kind of trickery? Oh, say, if the Alberta referendum goes ahead or the next election? Oh, you can bet on it. Stay with us. More ahead. Well, as you may know, whenever I hear of a fire at a church, I do my best to learn as much about it as I can. I've been doing this for quite some time. I remember the horrific day when the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, was torched. And before the investigation, they announced it wasn't terrorism. I don't buy that. We sent our reporters at the time and it was just a heartbreaking thing to cover. Thankfully, that enormous cathedral has been rebuilt. It really was striking. At the heart of France, here in Canada, more than 100 churches have been vandalized, torched, or even burnt to the ground. And, and I hear about them just obliquely, like I see something on some obscure social media posts. I find it very hard to get the facts about them because it's almost as if I'm not going to say there's a publication ban, but it sort of almost feels like that, like it's, you have to go and get the news yourself. And indeed I do. Just very recently, I was out in Quebec where an enormous church, I'm not going to say enormous, a large church in the heart of the city burnt to the ground. And what was so curious about that is it was so close to the fire station, you could literally see the fire department. I don't know how that happened. I went to one in New Brunswick. In that case, I have a theory, personal theory, that maybe it was just because the church hadn't been used for a while, then looked like an abandoned building, it was attacked, I don't know. And that's the Thing. What's behind this? Who's behind this?

[Indigenous Speaker (Athen Baskin)]

This?

[Ezra Levant]

There is no task force of CIS and the RCMP and local police. We don't have a, a the same sort. Give me an example. The Missing and murdered Indigenous Women task Force. There's enormous police cooperation. It's obviously a clear priority. You see, politicians refer to it all the time because there's a phenomenon they wanted to understand, which is missing and murdered indigenous women. And I think the police actually came up with a pretty good explanation of what's happening. I won't get into that now. But there's not the same interest in churches being burned. And our small acts of journalism are just that. They're not an important professional scientific investigation as to what happened. But I am so happy today to report to you that our favorite charity, the Democracy Fund, has started a project that you can learn about. And I'm just going to get this website correct, so I don't give it to you wrong. The website is Arson Investigation ca. The Democracy Fund is going to have a formal and professional investigation of these fires. Joining me now to talk about it is Mark Joseph, the boss of litigation at the Deluxe Fund. Mark, great to see you again.

[Mark Joseph]

Thanks for having me.

[Ezra Levant]

Now, I had a rather long ramble there, but the real news of the day is that you and the Democracy Fund are retaining a professional fire inspector. Is that the job title that he holds to review all of the church fires he can in Canada, is that right?

[Mark Joseph]

Yeah, basically we've retained a fire investigator. He's a fire marshal in Alberta. He's has decades of experience. He's got over, I think, 250 fire investigations under his belt for arson and explosions. And he's going to take a comprehensive forensic review of the documents produced after the investigation of about 100 of the church fire. So not all of those churches burned to the ground, but, but obviously all of them were damaged by fire in some respect.

[Ezra Levant]

I think that's very interesting. Are these documents available to him? Are they available to the public? I've never thought about getting a report from a fire investigator after a fire. Now that I think about it, that would be an obvious thing to do. Do you know anything about the process he'll follow?

[Mark Joseph]

Well, that's interesting. We sort of learned of this process, I think from a recent Quebec fire that we're following. And Quebec allows you to put in a request for information. So we retained an NATIP specialist, Access to Information, private online request specialist who's going to go and pull these documents, some of which will be redacted, obviously for privacy reasons. But we're hoping to get incident reports or arson investigation reports, police logs, all of those sorts of documents. And he's going to do a forensic review to see if there's any methodological errors or evidentiary errors to see what exactly the authorities looked at before coming to the conclusions they did.

[Ezra Levant]

When I was in New Brunswick, the door of a church had been torched and the fire had been put out before it consumed the whole church. The church was somewhat run down. It was no longer being used as a church. So I can see someone saying, oh, that was just some random abandoned building that some kids thought they'd be burned. That's plausible. But I don't know. And I want to know if the police have a theory, if they have any witnesses, if they saw some kids and detained them and released them. That could be a church attack, because it's a church. I don't know. And the thing is, we would have the resources to know if it were politically important. It is politically important that this story be covered up. That's how it seems. No one in authority wants to talk about it. So I feel like the Democracy Fund is filling the gap here.

[Mark Joseph]

Well, right. I mean, there's. There's been a certain amount of incuriosity on the part of the authorities. There's, as you said, there's been no RCMP task force, there's no parliamentary committee struck. It just seems like it's been left to the media and, and some outside researchers take a look at it. And that's strange. If there was a, you know, 100 mosques or 100 gurdwaras or temples burned to the ground, I think that would get a lot of attention. I don't know why churches and synagogues don't get the same amount of attention, but it is strange. So we're going to take a look. We enter this with no preconceived notions. We're going to take a look and see if there's any patterns here and what's involved.

[Ezra Levant]

I attended the wreckage of a major cathedral in Toronto. I almost forgot about it. I mean, it was a very large church. Church. And it, I understand, was deemed an arson. Yet the. And it's such a. It's such a landmark in Toronto. So you have a large church in the largest city and yes, it was arson and no one's talking about it, no one's looking into it. It's just. It feels as odd as the assassination of that billionaire couple that, you know, it's a Mystery who was behind it. It feels like the same sort of mystery. When that billionaire husband and wife team were murdered, there was a thousand news articles. Because it was perhaps salacious or shocking. I think this church being torched got one story. I mean, I suppose it's not the same as a double murder, but it's just neither the media nor the politicians have taken an interest. I think we need to know. And if it's just 100 churches by coincidence, okay, but let's test that. Let's send a real fire investigator to find out.

[Mark Joseph]

Right. The McDonald Laurier Institute, I think, did a statistical study. So we don't believe, nor do they. I believe that this was just in the normal course. You'd have 100 churches burned down in several years. That doesn't seem plausible. So as you say, there's got to be something else going on. I think 24 churches have been burned to the ground and there's nine charges have been laid. Something like that. So that's a policy decision. The judicial resources are scarce. The Crown has to decide what to pursue, and there's only nine charges for arson laid. That seems strange to us. Again, my colleague Adam and I are in the trenches dealing with low level charges for street preachers who've been charged for things. And as you Democracy defendant, Pastor Pawlowski, and the Crown spends a lot of time and effort going after certain types of people. And there doesn't seem to be the same sort of resources devoted to this issue, which is strange to us.

[Ezra Levant]

Yeah, well, let me read a couple of paragraphs from your press release the other day. The expert, and you're referring to the fire investigator, will then examine, among other things, whether fires were investigated properly according to professional standards, whether the pattern of destruction indicates an organized or ideologically motivated campaign, and whether Canadian authorities responded according to international standards. Findings from the investigation will be compiled into a public report which may inform future legal action, public advocacy efforts, and formal demands for government accountability. And you mentioned not just churches, but synagogues too, which have been hit in recent attacks. I know there was some fire bombings in Montreal, in Toronto. They seem to prefer gunfire these days. Dark days. But I'm glad the Democracy Fund is on it. I'm a fan of the Democracy Fund. I sometimes call myself a cheap volunteer there. If you want to help with this project, the Democracy Fund is hiring this fire investigator. He's a real professional. So this is not something that can be done for free. There are the expenses of the access to information requests. If you believe that we should have A independent professional fire investigator review all the records of these church fires. And I think it's a really good idea then go to the website which we've set up. TDF is set up arson investigation. CA Last word to you, Mark.

[Mark Joseph]

Yeah, we're hoping to get a report out. It could take some months to go through it but we'll keep our donors and our viewers apprised of the situation. And if you want to help out, you can go to that website.

[Ezra Levant]

You know, I think it's a good idea. I mean it's really, I can't think of anything else practical to do. On the rebel news side, we like to cover these things journalistically just so there's some sort of public record. Some of the churches we've attended, no one cares. Like just zero. But once you have that public record, what are you going to do about it? And this in fire investigation seems like an answer. That's arson investigation. CA stay with us. More ahead.

[Lindsay Shepard]

Foreign.

[Ezra Levant]

Wayne Canolo says I beg to differ on the Trudeau Carney cult. They ultimately want to stamp down the energy industry so they can steal the wealth as communists are want to do. Yeah, I, I think you could be right. It's just I think of the old Soviet propaganda posters you would see working. I mean think of the symbol, the hammer and the sickle and so many propaganda posters are smoke belching factories. They praised factories and trades. They, I think they believed in production, coal, steel, electricity, bulldozers, whatever. They just wanted the means of production owned by the proletariat or by the Communist Party. I don't think the Russians actually wanted to shut down production. They just wanted it owned by the Communist Party. I could be wrong. Clive Lewis says Carney wants destabilization of the Canadian economy. Then he can bring in whatever legislation he needs to fix it. Carney won't live in Canada for two weeks after he's done being pm. You know, you're so right on that. I mean Michael Ignatief after he ran for Canadian Liberal leader and then ran in the election and got crushed, wasn't long before he left Canada for Europe again. Eugene Price says Keith Wilson for premier. Keith Wilson is doing a great job providing sober minded thoughts, especially on legal matters in Alberta. And I'm a little bit worried because we don't see a real leader of the project. I mean if I had to choose someone it would be Brad Wall, the former premier of Saskatchewan who's very pro western. He doesn't care about offending Toronto. He was very successful bringing Saskatchewan back for them, Brink. But now he watches how Trudeau and Carney are throwing it all away. I wish that. That he, Brad Wall, would consider leading the movement because it needs a leader like him. Well, that's our show for the. For today. Until tomorrow, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World headquarters, to you at home, good night. And keep fighting for freedom.