
At their record-breaking Saskatoon convention, the Saskatchewan Party overwhelmingly backed Premier Scott Moe, who earned "north of 80%" leadership approval. The event, attended by about 900 delegates, also resulted in "substantial and important policy change."
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A
The Saskatchewan Party convention just wrapped up and Scott Moe got 80% or above in his leadership review. We're talking about it today with the Saskatchewan Panel. I'm Sheila Gunn Reed and you're watching the gun show. You know what, I'm just going to cut right to it. The Saskatchewan Party had their convention. They made, I think, substantial and important policy change. And Scott Moe passed his leadership review with flying colors. And I'm bringing in the Saskatchewan Soapbox panel to talk about it. So take a listen. So joining me now are two people who make up the three of us on a panel that we're calling the Saskatchewan Soapbox. I'm not from Saskatchewan, but I'm from Fort Saskatchewan, so I think that's close enough. Joining me today are a familiar face to Rebel News viewers. Elise Merle, my very best, real life best friend, and Michael Koros. He is a Saskatchewan based political commentator. And we have to talk about the Saskatchewan Party convention. I've been calling it the agm, but I think it was a convention is how they've described it over the weekend in Saskatoon. First, let's talk about how this was the biggest convention ever, roughly three times larger than previous ones. And there was a very obvious reason for that. I'll go to Michael first.
B
Yeah, there's about 900 delegates. And just to be fair with the audience, I was a delegate. You two were there as accredited media, but I was there as a delegate because I am a member of The Saskatchewan Party. 900 delegates in attendance. The night before were a number of hospitality rooms. And the actual convention took place on Saturday. And it was big. It was, it was a gathering of people that had not seen each other for a while. And the mood was surprisingly optimistic after being in power the day before. Actually, the day of the receptions was the anniversary, the 18th anniversary of the first Saskatchewan Party election. Back all the way back to November 7th of 2007 when Brad Wall became the first house party premier. So the SAS party has been in power for 18 years now. So I thought it might have been a little tired, a little worn out, but the delegates were surprisingly a big beat in this, in this convention.
A
That's what I saw, too. They were also real happy to see us. Halys.
C
Okay, so just selfishly, selfishly, we were, you know, we weren't there to pump our own tires, but my goodness, did we have a time with the delegates who were effusive about seeing us at Rebel News. So just to set, just to set a visual for you guys, we were corralled in Like a media gulag at the back of the room in this media wreck.
A
No, we didn't have to be there. I should point out we didn't have to be there. We chose to be there. Usually I sort of mingle with the people at these sorts of things because I don't like to sit with the media. I think they prefer, I think, feel like the feeling's mutual. But we chose to sit there just to flex our muscles a little bit. Anyways, I'll let you continue.
C
Yes. So there was two tables of media, a humongous long table with all of the lame stream, you know, the ctv, the cgme, the cbc, the Canadian Press and Sask Today, all with federal funding. And then there was a media, a media table just behind them with all of us rebels, all of us independent media people. And we were stationed right beside the staircase, the glass staircase, coming into the venue. So if you were walking in or out of the venue, you were going to see our faces and the number of people, I would say, I would say it was probably in the hundreds that greeted us so warmly, unabashedly loving Rebel News for being there. Rebel News, thanks so much for being. Oh, we love you girls. Thanks so much, much for being here. We love your work. Keep it up. It was the best tire pumping I've received personally in my entire life. And the best part about it was the mainstream media had to listen to all of that love that we were getting from the table in front of us. So we just took it. We love you guys back. Thanks so much for, for being such warm, hospitable hosts to us, for being open to us. And, and like Michael said, the. The mood of the delegates was effusive. People were excited to be there, excited to see their friends, excited to talk about the direction of the Saskatchewan party and the way that they're going to go. And there were. There were some notable changes in the party, which I'm sure we're going to talk about later. But all in all, it was an absolutely fantastic weekend and I'm so happy to have seen everybody there.
A
Yeah, that was kind of fun to have the people walk past, say, oh, my goodness, hi, girls, thanks so much for coming. And then say, you know, it's great to have the real media here into the ear.
C
Media all day long.
A
It was like that. And that's how it's like everywhere. So don't.
B
If we ever question the impact that Rebel Media is actually having in the political realm in Canada, I got a chance to have a Little bit of a one on one with Premier Mo and one of the first remarks he made to me was, so you do a little bit of work with Rebel Media, eh? Like that was one of the first remarks like he had seen. And I have been on this program a couple of times. I've been on your program a couple times. So it hasn't been, I, I don't have a lengthy body of work with Rebel Media, but, but the premier. So at the highest level of the government of Saskatchewan, they're very well aware of what Rebel Media is doing in the province and in the country. So this is not just some sort of, you know. Yeah, small sort of startup. This is something that's having a major impact, I believe, on the political players in this country, you know, despite the fact that there's many that don't want it to be having an impact. But that's one of the first things that Premier Mo said to me. Like I've known, I've known Scott since before he was a premier, but, but it was an interesting comment. I found that really interesting. It means that they're watching.
A
Yeah, yeah, for sure. And you know, when we do criticize them and we do, they know that it is coming from a place of fairness. You know, it's not like the CBC where they just absolutely hate conservatives. Look, I'm conservative and so when I criticize conservative governments, it's an honest criticism. I'm not just coming at it because I love Mark Carney so much. I can't, I can't contain myself. And I think conservative politicians know that. Now I wanted to talk about the size of the convention because Scott Mo was facing a leadership review.
B
Right.
A
And he, and he was facing a leadership review. I think I. People have been critical of Scott Mo because they did lose 14 seats to the NDP. There was damn near a wipeout in the urban parts of the province for the Saskatchewan Party. And so he was up against that. And I think the Saskatchewan Party really worked hard, at least the Scott Moe faction of the Conservative Party really worked hard to get the vote out for him. I'll go to Michael.
B
Yeah, they did. Actually. I received a call of someone who knew that was going to be there and he asked me a question, would I be supporting Scott? And so basically the friends and the associates were basically out working the phones. The reason being is basically they thought that if, if Scott would have gotten lower than 80%, it would have given some momentum to the NDP. Now in my opinion, quite frankly, when you're three years away from from an election momentum to the NDP at this particular point is, is a, is a non starter. It doesn't really matter. Right. By the way, the NDP just had a convention probably about two weeks ago and they only had 600 delegates, whereas his last party had 900. So basically we're, you know, a third better than them. There is some talk basically about whether or not Scott Moe can pull it off, basically because a lot of people blame him for the reduction in seats. You're right, Sheila. You know, he doesn't have the stylings that we're used to, like with Brad Wall. Unfortunately, in politics, basically, either you define your brand or somebody else defines your brand. And if Scott could talk to every person in Saskatchewan, which of course is physically impossible, they would realize how nice of a. And decent of a guy this guy is.
A
Oh, he's, he's lovely.
C
He's extraordinarily personable when you get him one on one. I wish the people of Saskatchewan would see the Scott mode that we get to see. He's, he's got the charisma in person. I think that he's been overly handled and overly policed and overly limited and what he could say. But in his defense, he did say that he takes responsibility. He takes responsibility for the results of the last election. And he also said a little humility goes a long way. And I appreciated that a lot.
B
Yeah. And he seems, when he does his speeches, he, he, he does rattle off number. Lots of, lots of numbers and phrases. He's very technical when he actually speaks to a crowd. Right. That's not who he really is because he's a lot more personable than what he is. But people basically are used to him speaking in a way that I wouldn't call stilted. But it's very stiff and they're not used to because everybody compares him naturally to the first premier of the Saskatchewan Party, Brad Wall, who basically was very warm and could really do it. But these are two totally different men when it comes to speaking styles. Maybe not in terms of opinions, but when it comes to speaking styles and the way they handle themselves.
C
So I'm just going to go back to next year. Excuse me. Last year, before the election, and it was my advice that Scott Moe took an opportunity to really humanize himself for the Saskatchewan electorate. I think it would have gone a real long way ahead of the last election. But if we could continue, like if the people of Saskatchewan got to know the Scott mode that we, we get to know, they would have a completely different opinion of him. He's he, he's extraordinarily charismatic in person. He's funny in person. And this is a Scott mode that the people of Saskatchewan deserve to know.
B
Yeah, he's, he's, he's lovely. He's also very kind. Like, he's, he's a, he's a good guy. Like seriously, he's a, he's a really, really good guy. So, you know, there, there are a faction of SAS party supporters. What I found interesting was the fact that when the results of the leadership review came by, they announced them at north of 80%, but they didn't give the actual number. So we don't know if that was 79.5%, 89% or 89.4.
C
Yes, exactly.
B
I'm expecting it probably was on the lower end of 80%. Right. Because you both heard sort of the rumblings of what I would refer to as very strong conservatives in the party that don't believe that Saskatchewan Party is conservative enough.
A
Heard it all day.
C
All day.
B
Right?
C
All day. And there is a concern, there is a concern that social and fiscal conservatives in Saskatchewan don't really have a place to put their vote as it pertains to the Saskatchewan Party, which is a problem that the Saskatchewan Party is going to have to deal with. I mean, they want to take back the cities and that was a big, big campaign that they had sort of launched at convention was earn back Regina and earn back Saskatoon. But they must not do that at the expense of their conservative rural base. As a matter of fact, I think that it would be a good idea if the Saskatchewan Party attempted import the good sense of rural Saskis into the urban areas. Rural Saski's are full of amazing great conservative ideas and that's who Sask Party should prioritize in their way forward. I don't see them doing that right now. And I'd like to see more of it now.
A
Just as an outsider looking in, I noticed a, a very prominent absence of members of the Federal Conservative Party at the convention. And for me that's odd because you know, I cover UCP conventions here in Alberta and the Federal Party at least makes their presence known as sort of a united front against the NDP or the Liberals or whatever, against the left. And I only heard a rumor that Federal Conservative Brad Red Cop had been at one of the hospitality seats. But I never laid eyes on a Federal Conservative the whole time. And I thought, where's Andrew Scheer? Where, you know, like where's Kelly Block? Like, where are the federal members of the party? To show support for the provincial conservatives. I just didn't see it. I thought it was weird.
B
Actually, I did run into Brad Redder, cop. He was there. But as far as I saw, he may have been the only Conservative MP there at the time. So he was the only one I saw. I didn't see Kelly, I didn't see Kevin. Why? I didn't see Curry Tucker. I didn't see any of that.
A
I just wanted to see Kevin Waugh. Yeah, I did.
B
Yeah. No, so, yeah, yeah, so it's a very good point. I, I'm not sure if this is the Conservatives not wanting to beat the Sass Party convention or the Sass Party organizers not wanting to have the Conservative MPs at the convention. I don't know which one it is or it was just a matter of bad planning. I don't know which one.
C
Well, and that could very well be because we can say truthfully and honestly on this program that getting media accreditation for Rebel News to attend that event was a weeks long process that was much more complicated than it should have been.
A
It's disorganized. I'm not even, I'm not saying they were trying to keep us out. I just thought the organization kind.
C
It was.
A
And I think. Yes, well, and I think maybe it was scaling up from 300 people. I mean, we have Rebel News events that hit 300 people easy to a nearly thousand per person event. I think just scaling up, you know, a couple hundred percent could be challenging for party organizers. I'm given the benefit of the.
C
Yeah, so, so, but it could also, it could also, it could also be, I mean, it could also be explained by just having a chilly relationship between the Sask. Again, Sask party is 18 years old. Conservative Party of Canada has their way of doing things. Sask Party has their way of doing things. And they may have just lost touch with each other. But to say that it's important for the SAC Party to link arms with the Conservatives at this time is a gross understatement. They should absolutely be sort of brothers in arms in all of this.
B
Yeah. And so one of the things that changed recently in the Saskatchewan Party is the longtime executive director, Patrick Bundrock, who'd been there for 15 years, just recently stepped down and I think he's working in exec counsel now. So his acting the interim executive director, fairly new with the job, basically may not have had as much knowledge about the media accreditation because it would have been his first convention. So the new guy, I won't mention his name because I don't want to. I don't want people to think that he did this deliberately. It was hard to get the information from him. But the thing is, when he found out, and I was. I was the one who finally got him to get you guys to call. To get him to call you guys when he finally found out that basically he kind of, I think, inadvertently didn't send the email that needed to go out to you or you were missed on the list or whatever. But the moment I got off the phone with him, you got the email within five minutes.
A
Yeah.
C
But another event happened within. Within the convention itself that really sort of perked up my ears. And it was when the comms person from the Sask Party approached the media booth to tell the media what was going to happen, where we were supposed to be, where the premier would be standing, what the process was going to be. The Sask Party person talked to one member of the mainstream media. Okay. Walked up, whispered something to one member of the mainstream media and left. And we, we were like, what. What just happened here? Were they, like, what. The communication was lacking? I will say that they can do better in that regard and especially where they have friends in the media, in the room, they can do a much, much better job. So just all of this constructive criticism. Listen, we're here. We do not want to. An ndp. Yes. We do not want an NDP government for. For Saskatchewan. We want the Sask Party and Conservatives to be. To be successful. But we're here to help.
A
Okay?
C
We're here to help have a better next convention.
B
That's a very interesting story. Actually, I wasn't. I wasn't aware of that.
A
Yeah, yeah, it was obvious that we're snoopy. We're Snoopy and paying attention to everything. Did she just say where the press conference was going to be? With the preview afterwards, we actually had to get up. I'm going to the front.
B
Okay.
C
We had to get up and chase her through the room to be like, what did you.
A
Well, I said, Chris Oldcorn from Western Standard was sitting beside us, and I just stood up and started packing up my stuff. And he's like, where are you going? I said, this is how we got all the questions at the debate watch. I was just like, we're just going. We're. We're not waiting for instructions.
B
As my good friend Kate McMillan from Small Dead Animals does. She has a. She has a series of blog posts that says mischief is important. And you two, when you two are put together in a room, you're absolutely Hilarious at some of the things that you do. Would you like to talk about the poppies?
A
Oh, I would love to talk about.
B
The poppy because this is absolutely hilarious. Go ahead.
A
Civic duty. Civic duty comes in many forms, as you'll soon find out with this story. So we are. It's hard to hang on to your poppy. It just disappears off your jacket. So we were stuffing twenties in the poppy bin at our hotel all weekend. And then we were coming down because we were headed across the street to the convention. Lease stops, stuffs a 20 and grabs between 13 and 15 poppies, which would get us through the day. But then she sits down, puts a spread of them across the table, and then Auntie Lease grabs them, walks up to our colleagues, I suppose, in the media booth in the mainstream media and starts giving them poppies, starts offering them poppies. I didn't even ask how you were received, but you came in so hot and so anti lease that I don't think they had a choice than to take it and stick it on. You just knew that they wouldn't have poppies.
B
None of them had poppies. Like, none of them.
A
No. She knew.
C
Well, I mean, I walked by that table, I didn't see anybody with poppies on. And I thought to myself, how embarrassing. Even though these are our competitors, they are much younger than us. I don't want them showing up on the news without a poppy. Okay? That would be the worst look imaginable. So I just bounced up. As I do, I go into every social situation like a golden retriever, just bound in every room, start licking people's faces and saying, hey, guys, I'm Lisa Rowe from Rebel News. Brought you guys some poppies. Have a great day. And then, and then. So they all put their poppies on. They were actually very, very nice kids. I don't. Listen, we don't have anything against the kids working at CBC and we hate their parent companies. And fair enough, right?
A
I don't like their bosses, but that's exactly. But.
C
But they were. They were. They were. They were sweet and appreciative of. But what I didn't know, what I didn't know was as I was offering the media their puppies that I had thought ahead and brought for them, Sheila Gunn Reed was getting it all on video. Like, I didn't know that this was happening so that I got to watch it later. And it's such a classic. It was a classic Lease move is just to bounce up. We're going to be so we're going to kill him with Kindness. We're going to make all the friends. We're going to have a great day together. And we did because those, those PO media, those poor lamestream media kids, they had to listen to compliments being absolutely shouted at us for the entirety of the entire. It was a great day. I will say that. It was a great day.
B
I'm glad you, I'm glad you recognize that these were basically, you know, when you're in SAS Tuna Regina, outside of the major media markets like Calgary or Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, that sort of thing, you are just cutting your teeth here. You're, you're, you're probably rookie, you're not probably somebody who has had a lot of experience sort of. So you just kind of take the company line as to what they should be doing or, or they, they, they think what they should be doing. So the thing is, you know, you're right, they're. I, I think when they come out of J school they have, they have this idea that they're going to change the world. Unfortunately that's something we should be coming under J skill. You should be coming to find out how to be a reporter. But the reality is they're coming out there and, and I really appreciate the fact that you recognize the fact that these, these young people are just young people and maybe have them experienced sort of the inner goings of the political world with a small people with a small, small p. Yeah, yeah.
C
And I wanted, I wanted, if, if this was going to be their first experience interacting with rebel news. I wanted it to be a good one. I want, you know.
A
Right.
C
Because in the back of my mind all of a sudden like, oh, these are baby rebels waiting to be born.
A
Right.
C
One day I'm gonna drag you over to the light side and you'll see what actual, you know, fulfilling, amazing journalism can feel like. But it was, it was a great, it was just experience. I'm so happy we went.
A
I try to avoid being a self fulfilling prophecy. You know, these kids are probably hearing in their newsrooms what a bunch of lunatics we are and how disruptive we are at events and whatever. And again, their first experience with us is that we were super nice and trying to save them from embarrassment of appearing on camera without a poppy just days before Remembrance Day. Now before we go, because we've been at this for 22 minutes already before we go. I know, flew right by. I want to talk about what I would describe as the hand dong adjustment to the Saskatchewan Party's constitution. So they have changed their constitution so that the Only people who can vote in nomination races are Canadian citizens. And I think this is a wonderful thing which aligns with election Saskatchewan rules. But it prevents people from stacking the nominations to get, you know, who get themselves nominated but then turning around and failing on election day because all the people who nominated you can't vote for you and the people who would have voted in the nomination would not have voted for you. So I think it's a great thing and it's exactly how Hand Don got nominated in Don Valley north was busing in a bunch of foreign nationals from a local Chinese language school where expats send their kids. And they were like 14 year old Chinese nationals voting for Han Dong in the nomination. So that's how he got to be CCP's man in Don Valley north. And they closed this loophole. I'm sure the NDP are going to call it racist. Oh they have, it's appropriate. Yeah.
C
It was a necessary, it was an absolutely necessary change. And yes, the NDP has already like straight out the gate. Oh this last party race for party full of racists and party full of bigots and they don't want the votes. That's actually not what they said. Actually one of the comments that was made was if we limit our nominations it to Canadian citizens, it's going to compel people that aren't Canadian citizens who want to be involved to become Canadian citizens. And it was, it was just awesome to see. I mean a tiny, tiny handful of people voted against but it was overwhelmingly carried by the crowd. It was, it was great to see.
B
Yeah, some of the known, some of the comments on, on this policy, I would say it would be 80 to 90% positive for the move. And anecdotally there have been situations at nominations meetings where people voted for an individual and I'm not sure of their citizenship status but they were completely unclear as to why they were voting for this individual. They thought they were voting in an election. They thought they were voting to get him, him to basically him or her to, to a position in the party when all it was was a nomination meeting. So there have been issues that are not publicized by the party. But the thing is they just said okay, well we can't really have that because think of, think of this. Basically the vast majority of the people that this disqualifies are, are not, are not the Irish. Right. Let's put it that way. Right. Okay, that's, that might have been, that might have been 220 years ago, but it's not this now. So Basically, when the SAS Party has to make a point saying, we want you to know what you're actually voting for, right. Then. Then ultimately you have the. The blue birds coming out there and basically saying, well, you know, you're racist. And of course you're just proving it. You're racist. But I don't think there's anything racist about asking people to be Canadian citizens to vote or to be involved in the nomination.
C
There's nothing. There is nothing controversial about this whatsoever. And actually they addressed one of that that resulted in the NDP taking 14 seats from them. SASK Party supporters in the urban centers stayed home instead of voting for some guy that they didn't know the end. That's what happened.
A
Right.
C
So, so they, they made that correction as a party. They identified that as an issue. They made the correction. And good for them. That's. That's taken us in a real good direction.
A
Yeah. And it closes the disconnect. Right. If you have, and I'll just say it, an ethnic voting bloc choosing the nominee, but then that ethnic bloc can't vote for that nominee. The people who do want to vote for the SASK Party MLA in that riding see that guy and then they dig down and they're like, I actually don't like that guy. Right. You don't turn up to vote.
C
That's exactly.
A
He's not the guy you would have chosen. And that's the problem. It drives a wedge in between your regular voters and the potential mla.
C
And you know what? Let the NDP carry this to their grave, okay? Let the NDP throw their nominations open to any Tom, Dick and Harry from whatever country they want and let them. Let them suffer the consequences of their bad decisions.
A
Imagine. Imagine letting non citizens choose the mla.
B
Yeah, that's terrible.
A
Imagine because like, that's terrible. This is what the NDP said. Brittany Sanger, the Saskatchewan NDP critic for democracy and ethics, said the proposed changes are discriminatory. She said, it's deeply troubling, it's disheartening to see that they're discouraging permanent residents and young people from being engaged in the democratic process, frankly. My question is to Scott Mo, what's driving this motion forward? I don't know. Election security.
C
We don't want foreigners running our government.
A
Foreign interference concerns also, it was.
B
It was really quite interesting because Brittany Sanger did a little video outside of the SAS Party, outside of TCU Place recently saying. And she's like, we want diversity. We want this. And then she goes and lays out all these things at the SAS party or The NDP caucus are. We've got the first openly LGBTQ caucus member. I'm like, no you don't. There was a finance minister in the 1990s in the NDP caucus that was openly gay. And this guy still appears on CBC to this day. So it's like you don't even know the history of your own party.
A
I'm proud to be a member of a caucus that's made up of nearly 50 women, that has a woman leader, that has diversity, that has the first openly gay MLA in Saskatchewan's history.
B
And besides, what does that have to do with, with permanent citizenship?
A
Right, right, right.
B
They just want to do take any opportunity to. You know, the NDP have, have followers just like everybody else. But the hardcore left wing radicals are such simple minded people that ultimately they just jump on this. You know, if they saw Scott Moe buying vanilla ice cream at the co op. Right. Why won't you get chocolate? Tiger, Tiger. Don't you, don't you like the Tamils? Right? It's like, right, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's like let's just find something to criticize this last party for. But the good news is it's falling on such deaf ears that nobody cares anymore. Right?
C
Well because, because the world is rapidly divesting from identity politics. Yes, we are, we are divesting from DEI as something that we embrace. So by all means ndp, please dig in on these issues like double down, triple down even. Can't wait to see you loose.
B
Yeah, everybody's misogynist and everybody's a racist. Blah blah, blah, blah, blah.
A
Yeah, this the edges off that knife, that's for sure. You know, and it disregards what the Canadian public have lived through since at least 2019. Probably before we had a national commission about foreign interference sparked from foreign interference in nomination processes. In 2019, in 2021 they were found to have been meddling in nomination processes. That's how Kenny Chu lost his seat. That's how Han Dong won. His. It, it happened. And if we can tighten up this loophole, it's not discrimination to not have foreign nationals choose your MLAs. Like what planet are they on?
B
I think the NDP, the Tommy Douglas planet. You know, the party of eugenics. The party of eugenics.
C
Right, right.
B
It's like yeah, yeah. Now they just the party of the fact that they don't like capitalism and they want to eradicate capitalism from Saskatchewan. That's the party they're in. Right?
A
Yeah. So which you're just contrary into a Fault.
C
Well, and this is. And exactly the reason why they can never be allowed to form government anymore, ever. The end. Right.
B
Yeah. Yeah. They just can't because of their background. The sort of the. Their pedigree is one that basically wants to. You know, one of the jokes at the convention was that Ken Chevalier was reading off the proposed motions and one of them was to nationalize all the oil and gas in Saskatchewan. That was a proposal at the NDP convention to nationalize.
C
And that got like. That got absolutely like the crowd wild.
A
Yes.
C
Yeah, yeah.
B
One thing, one important thing before we leave here, we have to understand this.
A
Yes.
B
The SAS party has been in power now for 18 years. Okay? In the next election, there will be voters that have never, ever experienced the NDP in their lifetime. Right. So when you think about that, they don't understand sort of the cost of having the government sort of take over everything. Right. They don't understand what that does to the population, what that does to the mood of the.
C
The economy, what that does to the economy, what that does to culture, what that does to our society, what that does. Republicans be a warning.
A
Let Alberta be a warning. Because we had 44 years of PC government, and then people were like, you know what? Let's give the NDP a little bit of a try. And a lot of it had to do is that the PC government had become so corrupt and entrenched and everything that there wasn't enough daylight between them and the ndp. They had a lot of this same ideas. And that's why we go back to the very beginning of our conversation where people are complaining that the SASK Party isn't conservative enough. They must be conservative. They have to be a clear alternative.
C
Yes.
A
To the Venezuela future that you would have at the hands of the ndp.
B
I believe it was Alan Blakeney who basically mentioned the governing was like wearing a backpack and every single year somebody drops a brick in your backpack. Right. I think it was the ndp, Alan Blakeney, who mentioned that. And to this, to his credit, he was absolutely right. So the thing is, the SAS party needs to have renewal within their party, not sort of slowly drift towards the left because, well, there are strategists, I'm sure, within the SAS party that thinks the way we get those voters that we lost back is to become more left, which is a huge mistake. And then once again, to your point about the daylight between the two parties, once there's limited daylight, it's like, okay, well, am I voting for the SAS party or the ndp? Because I can't tell the difference.
A
What's the difference? Right? Right.
C
Beware, SAS party. Beware. Do not listen to that advice. Do not listen to.
A
As a matter of fact, just ask Aaron o'.
C
Tool how does that vanilla pudding vegetable lasagna. It doesn't. It doesn't work politically. And. And.
A
And even.
C
Even for the. For the people that. Excuse me. That would say that the SAS Party needs renewal. I would just be happy if the SASS party got back to their founding principles, small and responsive government, commitment to the people of Saskatchewan, a good return on our investment, a strong economy. I'd be happy if we just got back to basics and back to our truths.
A
Yeah, same.
C
Yeah.
A
Guys, let's wrap it up. Let's check back in four weeks. Shelby. Yes. Yeah. Okay. We'll check back in four weeks. Thanks, guys. We'll talk very soon. I'm sure there'll be lots to talk about in between now and then. And we'll see how the UN Climate change conference will be imposing its will on the good people of Saskatchewan.
C
Can't wait to learn how to the Amazon.
A
I'm off to the Amazon to find out how. Thanks, guys. We'll talk again. Again, very soon.
C
Okay, bye, guys.
A
All right, as always, last portion of the show goes to you. Because without you, there's not just no gun show, there's really no Rebel News. We'll never take a penny from the government to do the work that we do around here. So, of course, we rely on you, your generous donations, and your subscriptions. And with that comes my obligation to listen to you, you, and take to heart what you have to say about the work that we do around here, for better or for worse. And regular viewers of the show know that I welcome the mean tweets and the less than kind emails, even the rude comments. I want to hear what you have to say. And it's important to test the spirit, as they say in the Gospels. You know, if I think that I have a correctly formulated opinion, I should be open to people challenging it, right? So if you disagree with anything that I said here today, sending me an email. I want to hear from you. Now. Today's viewer feedback actually doesn't come from the email inbox, by the way. If you want to send me an email at Sheila rebel news.com put gun show letters in the subject line. So I know why you're emailing me, because, good grief, I get so many emails a day. So many. And it makes it a lot easier for me to find why you're writing to me. If you put that in the subject line. Now that's not the only way that you can get a hold of me. I do go looking at the viewer feedback on all of our work, not just mine. So if, you know, if you're commenting on YouTube on a free clip of the show, I'll probably see it. If you're commenting on, you know, the live stream that I do daily at Rebel News, I'll see it. And sometimes I go looking to see what you think about, of course, my friends and colleagues that I get to work with the rest of the Rebel News team. And so today's viewer feedback comes to us by way of the YouTube comments on Ezra's lengthy sit down interview with the ostrich farm family. And it took place in their kitchen. It was after 330 of their birds were depopulated, to use the language of the CFIA, after a lengthy court battle, a 10 month long battle to keep the birds alive after the birds were exposed to avian flu 10 months ago and recovered, exhibited natural immunity. And regardless, the CFIA depopulated all the birds earlier last week without testing a single one of them. And that's insane. The government should have to prove why they're destroying your livelihood. They just should not get to act like that. And these weren't birds meant for human consumption. Of course, they were research birds. Not that it actually even matters because if these birds were just birds in a field, they belonged to somebody and the state should not be able to come along and kill them without a darn good reason and providing evidence of that reason. Anyway, from the YouTube comments on Ezra's interview, you I honor who I am, 88 writes. My heart is aching with so much sorrow for this family and for the devastation caused by this massacre. I love all kinds of animals and especially I have an affinity for wild and exotic animals such as the ostrich. I feel very, very terrible that our government has failed and so have the authorities. I can't find the right words for the feelings of sorrow that I am feeling at this moment. I am an extremely empathy. I think she means empathetic person. And I can sense the horror and terror that those beautiful animals went through from the deepest of my heart. I'm so sorry, brave lady. I'll make no aspersions about actually.
B
How.
A
Do I put this mildly? Birds are not my favorite animals, but that doesn't mean that they should die because the state doesn't like them. And like I said, these animals belonged to somebody. And we are in a post proof society right now and it has to stop. And I hope these birds are the reason that it stops. You know, let's go back to covet. They told us that if we followed the lines on the grocery store the sniffling down death wouldn't get us counterclockwise if we reached into the aisle to get that can of pie filling. And they made us do that without any proof whatsoever. And bizarrely a lot of people didn't ask for proof. And if you did ask for proof, you were some sort of anti science heretic when you were the actual scientific one. Where you wanted to test the theory and get some evidence before you followed blindly a stupid rule. Right?
C
And.
A
That takes us to the ostriches. Right? We just wanted proof before you did the stupid thing. And they just are a government that feels completely entitled to never show you any evidence for their so called evidence based policy. Crazy. It's atrocious. And this family is absolutely crushed by it. They're crushed because they can't understand that their own government would do this to them. They can't understand why the so called scientists didn't show some scientific proof about why they're doing the things that they're doing. It. It's insane. And they're crushed that the court couldn't see the logic in what they were trying to do. It's like every fail safe actually failed. Of course she's devastated. Everything she thought about this country isn't true. Not anymore at all. Redbird9658 writes. This is so astonishingly evil. We'll keep keep following this story. Such good people did not deserve the treatment that they got. Even if they were bad people. That doesn't matter. You, you're supposed to expect fair treatment by the government that they just don't walk onto your property. And basically they confiscated the lives of these birds without any proof, without showing a justification for it. Again, we're in a post evidence society. Let's talk about the residential schools. A national day of mourning. A discovery at a residential school without a shovel going in the ground. And if you question it again, you're the heretic. You're the denier. They're trying to criminalize even your skepticism about the official narrative. You can even buy most of the official narrative and have some skepticism about what happened on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential school. And you'll still be some sort of heretic. And then the ostriches. How dare you ask for proof. It's your civic duty to go along with the government blindly. I actually remember when that was the extreme position, that being a gullible rube and believing everything the government says and does, that was the extreme position. Now you're the good citizen. If that's how you operate in the world, it's crazy. DK Goodman, 6233 says. This is just so sick. I wish the people could see what's happening. What kind of person could cause such fear and harm to innocence? We've seen it done to humans in the not too distant past. Terrifying. I am by as again, regular viewers of the show will know I'm by no means an animal rights activist, but these animals belong to somebody. You know, like I don't have a problem with hunting. I don't have a problem with a bullet going into an animal if there's a purpose for it, you know, if it's, if you're going to eat the animal, if the animal is sick and needs to be euthanized, you know, I, as I said I don't have a problem with hunting. Hunting is a sport. It's also fun. Sitting in a tree stand in nature is fun. I don't care what the anti hunters say, it's fun. Some people gamble, some people smoke. I do neither one of those things. Some people play video games. I don't really do that either. Sitting in a tree stand in nature, in God's creation, waiting for an animal to come along so you can fill your freezer full of organic affordable food in a time of inflation. That's fun. But there's purpose to it, there's meaning to it. There's a reason to it. This was just so unreasonable. Senseless. Like it's truly the definition of senseless. Nothing made sense. Nobody had sense in any of this. The courts, the CFIA, the government, nothing. And lastly, Sabine 3769 writes cruel and horrifying. Especially cruel to the farmers because their agony is just starting. Well everybody, that's the show for today. Thank you so much for tuning in. I'll see everybody back here in the same time. Definitely not in the same place. I am going to the Amazon for the United Nations Climate Change Conference if you'd like to support my trip there. And boy is it expensive. You got like 50,000 plus delegates. More activists flying into a city at the mouth of the Amazon River. I am on the milk run to get there. Crazy flights. Takes me like a day and a half. Almost two days to get there and over two days to get back in an attempt to keep costs low. If you'd like to support my journalism there. I'm headed there with a videographer to expose the hypocrisy of the United Nations. Please, please help me. Consider making a donation@rebelinvestigates.com this is an insanely expensive trip, but I just think it's important to show you what the world's global elites are doing in the name of climate change and to show you firsthand from on the ground the hypocrisy, including their little highway that they built through the rainforest for their climate change conference. Rebelun.com to help us out to cover our costs. We don't take any money from the government to do the work that we do. We rely on you at home. So, rebelun.com all right, that's the show. Thanks so much. And remember, don't let the government tell you that you've had too much to think. Think.
Episode: SHEILA GUNN REID | Scott Moe Survives Leadership Review at Sask Party Convention
Date: November 13, 2025
Host: Sheila Gunn Reid
Guests: Elise Merle (Rebel News), Michael Koros (Saskatchewan political commentator)
This episode of the Rebel News podcast, hosted by Sheila Gunn Reid, focuses on the recently concluded Saskatchewan Party convention, where Premier Scott Moe passed his leadership review with an approval over 80%. Sheila is joined on the "Saskatchewan Soapbox" panel by her close friend Elise Merle and political commentator Michael Koros to discuss the gathering’s atmosphere, Moe’s leadership outcome, changes to party policy, and broader political dynamics in Saskatchewan. The show also explores interactions with mainstream media, notable anecdotes, and feedback from listeners.
Record Attendance and Optimism
“It was a gathering of people that had not seen each other for a while. And the mood was surprisingly optimistic… delegates were surprisingly upbeat…”
Media Presence and Rebel News Reception
The Rebel News team, though seated separately from mainstream outlets ("media gulag"), received enthusiastic greetings and appreciation from attendees.
[03:43] Elise Merle:
“The number of people… in the hundreds… greeted us so warmly, unabashedly loving Rebel News for being there… The best tire pumping I’ve received personally in my entire life.”
Sheila noted, “It was kind of fun to have the people walk past, say, oh my goodness, hi, girls, thanks so much for coming… it’s great to have the real media here.” [05:21]
Context and Results
“…Scott Moe was facing a leadership review. People have been critical… they did lose 14 seats to the NDP... He was up against that.”
[11:50] Michael:
> “When the results of the leadership review came by, they announced them at north of 80%, but they didn’t give the actual number. So we don’t know if that was 79.5% or 89%...”
Perceptions of Moe and the Party’s Direction
“…extraordinarily personable… I wish the people of Saskatchewan would see the Scott Moe that we get to see...”
[13:14] Elise:
> “...social and fiscal conservatives in Saskatchewan don’t really have a place to put their vote as it pertains to the Saskatchewan Party...They must not do that at the expense of their conservative rural base.”
Noteworthy absence of federal Conservative MPs (aside from Brad Redekopp) and discussion surrounding possible disconnect or organizational issues between federal and provincial conservatives.
[13:14] Sheila:
> “I noticed a, a very prominent absence of members of the Federal Conservative Party at the convention…”
Accreditation challenges for Rebel News attributed to possible inexperience and the large scale of the event.
[15:04] Sheila:
> "It's disorganized... I just thought the organization kind.”
The “Poppy Story”
“I go into every social situation like a golden retriever… I’m Lisa Rowe from Rebel News. Brought you guys some poppies. Have a great day.”
Rebel News’ Interactions with Mainstream Media Staff
“If this was going to be their first experience interacting with Rebel News, I wanted it to be a good one…”
The party changed its constitution: Only Canadian citizens (not permanent residents or foreign nationals) can vote in internal nomination races.
Move is praised as closing loopholes exploited in other political parties (example given of Han Dong’s nomination in Don Valley North).
[23:13] Sheila:
“They have changed their constitution so that the Only people who can vote in nomination races are Canadian citizens… it prevents people from stacking the nominations to get ...themselves nominated but then failing on election day because all the people who nominated you can't vote for you.”
Panel recognizes NDP’s immediate accusations of racism, but defends the change as common sense and vital for election security.
[25:06] Elise:
“It was a necessary, it was an absolutely necessary change. And yes, the NDP has already like straight out the gate...said the party’s full of racists... That’s actually not what they said. ...it’s going to compel people that aren’t Canadian citizens who want to be involved to become Canadian citizens. And it was just awesome to see… overwhelmingly carried by the crowd.”
Discussion also addresses broader concerns over foreign influence and the need for greater integrity in both party nominations and national elections.
Sask Party’s Need for Renewal and Conservative Identity
[33:35] Sheila:
“Let Alberta be a warning. Because we had 44 years of PC government, and then people were like, you know what? Let's give the NDP a little bit of a try. ...people are complaining that the SASK Party isn't conservative enough. They must be conservative. They have to be a clear alternative.”
[34:58] Michael:
> “...the SAS party needs to have renewal within their party, not sort of slowly drift towards the left because...once there's limited daylight, it's like, okay, well, am I voting for the SAS party or the NDP? Because I can't tell the difference.”
On Convention Mood and Rebel News Reception:
“The number of people...in the hundreds...greeted us so warmly, unabashedly loving Rebel News for being there... The best tire pumping I’ve received personally in my entire life.” — Elise Merle [03:43]
On Media Interactions:
“They all put their poppies on. They were actually very, very nice kids. ... We don’t have anything against the kids working at CBC and we hate their parent companies. And fair enough.” — Elise Merle [21:07]
On Scott Moe’s Personality:
“I wish the people of Saskatchewan would see the Scott Moe that we get to see. ... He’s got the charisma in person. I think that he’s been overly handled and overly policed and overly limited...” — Elise Merle [09:20]
On Conservative Identity:
“...social and fiscal conservatives in Saskatchewan don’t really have a place to put their vote as it pertains to the Saskatchewan Party...” — Elise Merle [13:14]
On Nomination Rules Change:
“They have changed their constitution so that the Only people who can vote in nomination races are Canadian citizens. And I think this is a wonderful thing which aligns with election Saskatchewan rules.” — Sheila Gunn Reid [23:13]
On NDP Opposition to Change:
“If we limit our nominations...to Canadian citizens, it’s going to compel people that aren’t Canadian citizens...to become Canadian citizens.” — Anonymous convention attendee, cited by Elise [25:06]
On Identity Politics:
“...the world is rapidly divesting from identity politics. Yes, we are... So by all means NDP, please dig in on these issues—double down, triple down even. Can’t wait to see you lose.” — Elise Merle [30:51]
Ostrich Farm Tragedy Feedback
[41:41] Sheila:
> “These animals belonged to somebody... We are in a post-proof society right now and it has to stop. And I hope these birds are the reason that it stops.”
The episode provided an insider’s look at the energy and challenges within the Saskatchewan Party, the personality and politics surrounding Premier Scott Moe, and broader debates about party renewal and conservative identity. Through personal anecdotes and pointed analysis, the panel underscored the political significance of procedural integrity and the perils of losing touch with the conservative base—both in Saskatchewan and across Canada.
Next Episode Preview:
The panel plans to reconvene in four weeks to discuss further developments, including the impact of the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference.