Shaun Newman Podcast - #311 - Ryan Olson

Episode Date: September 5, 2022

He's the General Manager of Bougault Tillage Tools & the Vice President of Canadians for Truth. He was in Ottawa for the duration of the Freedom Convoy with access to the boardroom, he served as Joseph Bourgault's campaign manager when he put his named forward for Federal Conservative Leadership & now as VP of Canadians for Truth explains the idea behind turning the non profit into a media company with Theo Fleury & Jamie Sale. November 5th SNP Presents: QDM & 2's. Get your tickets here: https://snp.ticketleap.com/snp-presents-qdm--222-minutes Let me know what you think Text me 587-217-8500

What's up, guys, it's Kid Carson. This is Alexandra Kitty. This is Danielle Smith. Hey, everybody. This is Paul Brandt. Jeremy McKenzie, Ragingdissident.com. Welcome to the Sean Newman podcast. Welcome to the podcast, folks.

Happy Monday of a long weekend. Hopefully you got some much needed time off. You're hanging up with family friends. I don't know. I hope you're enjoying yourself. Regardless, wherever you're at, thanks for tuning in today on a long weekend. If you haven't heard, I got twos and QDM coming for another SMP presents November 5th tickets.

You can get in the show notes of today's episode. There's a link you can buy tickets there. It's going to be happening at the Gold Horse Casino here in Lloyd Minster. Hope you're able to travel and come on down for that. I think it'll be a fun evening. I certainly know the two of them should be good for at least a couple chuckles, if nothing else. Before we get to today's episode, we got a few sponsors to get to. first off, well, Ryan Olson is the vice president for Canadians for Truth,

and they're a non-profit organization consisting of Canadians who believe in honest integrity and principal leadership and government as well as the Canadian Bill of Rights, charter of rights, and freedoms, and rule of just laws. So a cool thing here today is we're going to get to know a little bit about what they're building. Obviously, Canadians for Truth is taking on a venture of building a media company. They got Theo Fleury, Jamie Saleh, and then of course Joseph Borgo, are going to be on the team heading this up. I'm going to be on stage with them September 24th in Calgary at a sold-out show.

So that should be an interesting night where, like I say to Ryan in this interview, I'm looking forward to getting to know exactly what does this look like and, you know, is this going to be something everybody just falls in love with or who knows? I have no idea. It certainly isn't going to lack star power with Theo and Jamie, you know, a couple of gold medalists, Olympic gold medalists and some pretty recognizable faces. And then, of course, Joseph Borgo has been on the show multiple times now. And it should be an interesting night.

Interesting all around. We're going to get to hear about that a little bit more. That's Canadians for Truth. To stay up to date with everything, them, go to their Facebook page or canadansfortruth.ca. I've been saying. Dot net, and that's been changed. So, whoopsie. Clay's smiling and Robert River, I got to give him a shout out. Friday's guest on episode 310 was Terry Bryant, the Alberta Chiefs Firearms Officer.

Clay helped me hook up that episode. So if you haven't listened to Terry Bryant, talk about everything guns. Go back and give 310 a listen. Of course, Prophet River specializes importing firearms from the United States of America and pride themselves in making the process as easy for all their customers as humanly possible. The team over at Prophet River does all the appropriate paperwork on both sides of the border in order to get a gun or legally get the firearm into your hands wherever you're at. Just go to Profitriver.com.

They are the major retailers of firearms, optics, and accessories, and no matter where you are, they serve all of Canada. Tyson and Tracy Mitchell with Michico Environmental, a family-owned business that has been providing professional vegetation management services for both Alberta and Saskatchew and the oil field and industrial sector since 1998. and they are, I would assume, winding down here. You know, the busy season of what they do is in the summer months. And it starts to slow down right now.

I bet you Tyson's smiling a little bit, but he's got to be enjoying a little bit of a slowdown. I know through the summer months, it's go, go, go. One of the things I got marked in here is Mitchco is always looking for good people. I think they're like any company. They're always looking for the right talent because we all know that's how companies thrive. and move ahead in the world. So if you're, you know, maybe you're down and out, you've had some poor luck,

or maybe you've been infected by some of the mandates over the last couple of years. Give Michko a call 780-214-4,0004, or stop in a day at their, or stop in a day. Check out their website, Mitchco corp.com. C.A. Carly Clause and the team over at Windsor Plywood,

builders of the podcast studio table. Hey, I just had, well, today's guest, Ryan was in and looking at the table. You know, I never, the first time anyone sees this thing, they all do the same thing. It's almost like clockwork. They just kind of give it like this little rub, like, ooh, this is a nice looking little unit. Well, this table now has been with me since year one. It was one of the first things we did in the old studio now, and moved it, of course, into the new studio.

It's only one of the few things that actually made the journey from the old studio to now, including mics and everything. And that comes from Carling the team over at Windsor Plywood. So, you know, whether we're talking mantles, decks, windows, doors, sheds, or a river table, stop in to Windsor plywood or check them out on Instagram, Facebook, do a little creeping, creeping, and see what they're working with because they got some really cool slabs of wood. I'm not kidding you. Gardner Management, they're Lloyd Minster-based company specialized in all types of rental properties to help meet your needs. Whether you're looking for a small office like this guy or you got multiple employees, this building I'm in, is filling up quite fast. but there are a few vacant slots, so to speak. So if you're looking to move and need a change of scenery,

give away Gartner a call at 880808, 5025. Now, onto that tail of the tape brought to you by Hancock Petroleum. For the past 80 years, they've been an industry leader in bulk fuels, lubricants, methanol, and chemicals delivering to your farm commercial or oilfield locations. For more information, visit them at Hancockpetroleum.com.ca. He's a general manager for Burgotilge Tools. and the vice president of Canadians for Truth. I'm talking about Ryan Olson.

So buckle up. Here we go. This is Ryan Olson, and you're listening to the Sean Newman podcast. Welcome to the Sean Newman podcast. Today, I'm joined by Ryan Olson. So first off, Ryan, thanks for making the drive and coming all the way here. Oh, thanks for having me on the show here today. Now, I'm going to be honest.

This has been, we certainly didn't know each other from a hole in the wall until, Well, actually, I suppose in the last year, I mean, December for sure, probably was our first meeting. But there's going to be a lot of people that maybe know who you are, but certainly a lot who have no idea who you are. So how about we just start with a little background on yourself, whether you want to go in to slinging chemical stories or just a little bit of your background to give the audience a little bit of an idea of who I got sitting in here today. Sounds good. So I'm actually originally from BeanFade, Saskatchewan, fifth generation farmer out there. there. Say that name again? Bean fate. Bean fate. It should be beyond Faye, but we call it bean fate. So, but we have a farm out there, fifth generation. My dad and my sister still

farm out there. My story is I went to University of Saskatchewan and then spent 14 years in the oil and gas industry. So I started out in Drayton Valley, Alberta for a company called Nalco, which you're pretty familiar with who that is because we competed pretty much head-to-head our whole career. And then after a year there, I ended up working offshore off the coast of Africa. So I was on rotation there. Spent nine years. Eventually ended up being the country manager for Angola.

We managed some of our customers there like Chevron and Exxon and BP and managed the joint venture, based out of Houston, Texas, and then moved back to Calgary and I became the regional manager over our business development and corporate accounts teams. And then ultimately managed, eventually managed our oil sands team near the end. And my family also hails from St. Bruce, Saskatchewan. So my wife, she's from that. area. And so after we spent the 14 years in oil and gas, we have two young children and we decided to move closer to home so we could be part of the company there. So now I'm the general manager of Borgo Tillage Tools in St. Bruce, Saskatchewan. So a lot of experience in oil and gas and agriculture and now agricultural manufacturing. And then what we're talking about probably a lot

today is the addition to that, which is what we've been doing with Canadians for Truth as well. So I'm the vice president of Canadians for Truth and have been really, you know, trying to balance that with everything else that is going on in our world. So what did you think of, you know, just going back to your career a bit, going over to Africa and being over in that world, I mean, culture shock comes to mind, but certainly just in general. seeing how a different form of the planet operates. Well, like it was probably the most amazing experience that I had just because of the cultural difference.

I think the first time I landed in Africa was kind of eyes wide open. A lot of poverty there, but also there was a lot of development right in the oil and gas industry. And so, you know, I think at first you kind of you kind of go along with the culture that you're in. So we stayed in a camp at Chevron. But because I stayed there for nine years, I ended up developing some really great relationships with our team out there. And we, you know, started off with, you know, 60% nationalization. And by the time we were done, we had 92% of the people working for us were from Angola and got to know their families and also just the culture there. but I also got to see what it was like, you know, within their government as well because I worked within a joint venture and got to see what a, they call it a democratic society, but it was very much a communist dictatorship really is how it was operated.

So I'm seeing a little bit too familiar vibes here in Canada in comparison with what was happening there in Angola. So you're just, I would say it was an incredible experience getting to go offshore and spend time, you know, developing relationships with people all over the world. And something that you don't really get being, you know, a farmer from Saskatchewan. It was kind of a lucky opportunity. And it really helped shape, you know, my management experience going into what we're doing now. So when you talk about, you know, pretty much your entire company being locals from Angola and getting to know their culture and that type of thing, when you think back on that time, what sticks out to you about their culture? What was, I don't know, something that you held on to? I would say very family oriented.

And they just, you know, they could live off of very little. And so like when you talk about the people that work for us, you know, within the first couple of years, you know, you know that they're getting paid well. And so you're, you know, you're doing what what you can to ensure everyone's fairly compensated. But then when you really start getting to know them, you see how giving they are. And their one salary would really feed five or six different families. And so what I took away is that, you know, we're very fortunate here. to have the opportunities that we have to be employed and to do what we do on a daily basis. Over there, you know, 85% of the people that were there were unemployed.

And so to get a good paying job was very difficult. And I think also, you know, they're very Christian-based society as well. And I think they had 20, 30 years of war. and so a lot of them were very, you know, friendly people and wanted to to build a relationship if you put the time in, right? If you didn't, and I knew a lot of expats that had been over there that they wouldn't get out of the camp or they didn't really spend the time to really get to know people and they won't let you in if you're not going to be able to put that effort in. And I always thought it was important, you know, managing people that you want to spend that

time getting to know people and that includes getting to know you know their culture and what makes them tick and and also their families as well so it was a rewarding in the way the the relationships that you build and I still have a lot of them that are on Facebook and you know want to talk on a regular basis and and I'd love to get back there someday but you know time will tell and the opportunity has to be there for that to happen. Well, and sticking with Angol, and the other thing I wanted to know is you mentioned their government. They call it a democracy,

but then you kind of alluded to it's not really what we have. What about living there for nine years? Geez, you would have saw some things and started to understand how different world views, governments, et cetera, can really be formed and see that kind of play out in front of nine years, a long time. You would see some things happen. happen. When you look back at that, when you talk about it creeping in maybe on this side,

I don't know, just I'm, I guess I'm just curious about, you know, what did you see from there? Well, I guess it all kind of starts in the airport, right? Like to get into Angola, you needed a work visa. And there was very rare that anyone would go there for any other reason than for work. But actually, it was a, it was a location that, you know, you can Google it. John F. Kenner. actually had his honeymoon in Angola before the war. So, you know, it used to be a place that people would go and do tourism. They have vaccine passports actually to get into Angola. So that was a similarity.

But what I could see, you know, there was a couple times, you know, I'm driving along the coast there in Angola and you'd see a bunch of yachts that are all parked up on the coast. And I remember asking our general manager who's Angola. Golan at the time, you know, who owns all those boats? And you would say, oh, those are all the ministers. So, you know, there's a lot of wealth that was going into the government. And they were using a lot of that wealth for their own sake. And the people were very poor. And, you know, to an extent they didn't have, you know, running water or power or any services. And so, you know, you see just a tremendous amount of wealth that was coming in through the resources.

that they had there, but it wasn't really, you know, getting to the people. Penetrating the poverty line. Yeah, exactly. And, you know, there was, there was no, like, obviously after the war, no one could possess firearms except for the military, right? And that created a sense of fear, I think, among the people and the state. There was, whenever there was protests, if there was anti-government protests, they would last about five minutes.

and the military would be in there like a dirty shirt. Traffic jams everywhere, poor infrastructure, you know, a lot of famine and, you know, there was orphanages and various things all over the place that we would try to support. But ultimately, you could see the corruption there. There was times where, you know, I went to get a work visa and I was stuck in country for nine weeks at a time.

and, you know, you'd find out later that people are starting to take money, you know, in order to try to process documents and stuff sooner. So it seemed like every year they're having to terminate everybody within those government agencies and put new people in and then they would get corrupted again. So there was just a lot of government corruption happening in that country. The president was in place for, you know, many years, right? So when you when you see something like that, um, you think there's a way out for Angolan, like, where they can like, I don't know, have revolution and oust the government and build something.

Or you're like, man, they're in kind of a, you know, a rat on a wheel, so to speak, where they're just kind of a round, round they go. It's, it's hard to say. Like, I think it's, um, I think if you were to ask, like, I'm, I think if you were to ask, like, I'm, a Canadian going there, so I don't get to see, you know, everything that's led up to that point. But I think if I was a resident of Angola and you're looking at the current state, what they're doing is they're comparing it to what it was like 15 years ago when they're in a war, right? So a lot of people are kind of oblivious that there's anything different. So if you're coming in from an outsider, you're like, geez, I wouldn't want to live like this, right?

I'm living in Texas, one of the freest places in the world. They're living under some type of authoritative rule, but they don't seem to know that there's anything that is that much better, right? It's just over time it's kind of evolved into that state, right? And in a way, you can kind of see it in Canada. It slowly has happened to a point where, you know, the government gets a little bit more and more involved in day-to-day and kind of taking more and more control and ownership of things that are going on.

So, you know, I think it's different from an outsider's perspective than someone that's living there. But, you know, definitely would not be a place that I would ever recommend going to live unless you were wanting some type of different experience and to absorb a different type of culture. But it was definitely, you know, an eye-opening experience. and it made me really appreciate where we come from, and I still appreciate where I come from in Canada here. It's just you don't want to see similar things happen in our country, right? Yeah, we're influenced so much by the Americans, right? And they have, you know, when you talk about guns, you know, in the last little bit,

obviously I just literally had Terry Bryant, Alberta Chief Fire, officer on here talking about you know responsible ownership and that type of thing and I hear you talking about you know Angola and they they had to give up all their firearms you know well you know we are so far removed from that you know everybody kind of jokes you know you don't give up all your firearms because then the government can dictate whatever they want to you right in hearing that story that's exactly why you don't give up all your firearms because then they literally can dictate whatever they want to you because you know you come to a a gunfight with a penknife, you're going down pretty darn quick. And it doesn't take too much

to realize you're not going to move the needle very far that way. Right. Well, and there's, there's also abuse of power, right? I remember having one of our reps came to me and he, he had said that someone in his family had been shot because they were trying to, they were in an area that they weren't supposed to be in and they were taking some pallets or something like that and and one of the military actually opened fire on them for stealing pallets. So, you know, like when there's when only people who have the ammunition are in the military, there's just, you know, there's more chance for there to be that kind of power struggle, I guess, or the authoritative rule. And so it drove a lot of fear into the people that were there. And, you know,

maybe that's how they kept control of the large population. that they had was was by enforcing you know even on little things that here we would be like you know how could the police ever do that right well here here were the complete opposite way right you have uh very um i've i've watched dan bullford talk about it right very violent human beings um getting at a prison or you know getting a i don't know warning right you get the point like it's it's complete opposite here right like you can do some pretty horrendous things and go on boat living your life, right? Right.

We don't have the repercussions of you get shot in the back. And I'm not saying we want that. No. I'm just saying in our neighborhood, our world, it's almost a complete opposite. It is the complete opposite, right? Exactly. It just is. And I guess that's the amazing contrast, you know, between living in, you know, a third

world country like Angola was and then living in Canada, right? It's you get to, you get to see things, you know, from completely different perspectives. And, you know, ultimately, you also see when things start going in a direction, maybe that you, you're kind of concerned about, you know, why. You know, you're kind of like, I don't know if really the government should be involved in these types of decisions, right? They're just, you know, what's the benefit? So then let's talk about the last two years, the lead up to all. Ottawa. What was your Rudd flag moment or your concern or whatever moment you want to talk that

you look back on and you were like, I saw this happen or I was a part of this or whatever. You know, we all have that moment where we're like, this doesn't seem right. Yeah, like I guess I'm probably different than than most. Like I'm the general manager of a company. And so throughout my whole career, you know, I always wanted to. to manage based on not, you know, on core values and principles. And the thing that triggered me the most was now we're separating people into two different classes of vaccinated versus unvaccinated. And I felt that there was ultimately discrimination that could happen within our

workforces for. And so when I saw these mandates come into place, it kind of went against like 50, years of training on, you know, inclusive, you know, making sure everyone is treated fairly in the same in the workforce. And that's really how we operated, you know, our company. We ensured that any decision that anyone made was their decision. Of course, I had to do everything that we could at the beginning and throughout the, you know, the whole COVID-19 pandemic with all the mandates and all those kind of things. I had an obligation to our employees to keep COVID out of the building.

But I ultimately didn't feel it was right for the government to basically start mandating, you know, if you don't do this, you don't have a job. And that's kind of what triggered me because I felt that was very unfair for, you know, nurses and doctors and, you know, people that are working within government that they had to make that decision. it's not right to me that someone would lose their livelihood if they didn't get, you know, that vaccine. So, and then I also saw that there's things in the community, you know, like volunteering that you required to have it. And, you know, it just, it created a lot of separation within families.

And then the rhetoric from our governments, you know, trying to really put pressure on people who didn't get vaccinated. And I could see families getting torn apart and it's still happening. You know, like you have a lot of people who may believe one thing and, you know, that's great. But at the dinner table, it then became, you know, who's vaccinated versus who's unvaccinated. Can they come for Christmas or, you know, and those are discussions that I think that it went a little bit overboard in my mind. And I wanted to make sure that everyone coming to our place of work felt like they were welcome there because I don't value people based on that decision. I value the 30 years of work that they've done for our company, right? That's kind of how we've always operated.

And so I felt really bad for people who are going through those experiences. And, you know, as we had Canadians for Truth, we had more and more of those people that were reaching out. And they really just wanted a place where they could, you know, talk about those issues. And, and, you know, they were losing their jobs and their livelihoods and those types of things. And it was really difficult to see that damage. And I don't know if that was being relayed back to, you know, the MPs or people. But, you know, there's a lot of trauma that still exists from this. And it's, you know, it's not over.

There's going to be still damage. it has to be kind of taking care of within families for years to come because it's it's been really difficult so yeah the turning point for me was probably when mandates started getting really pushed right not you know i wasn't crazy about the masks but it didn't bother me as much as you know the uh the vaccines that you know i was very hesitant at the beginning because it was something that was new right and And I think it shouldn't be, you know, it shouldn't be a bad thing for people to be somewhat skeptical of something that's brand new to be putting in your body. So like I didn't want to make anyone feel like it was bad for them not to make that decision. And we managed our business.

And, you know, we kept it relatively, you know, there's obviously the people who got COVID. And but they stayed home, right? Just like any other sickness. We didn't want people coming in there with the cold even and then contaminating our entire production floor. So we've always had that policy if you're sick, stay home. So it didn't really change much for us. It's been, you know, I don't need to reiterate this to everyone listening,

but the last few years it's just been strange, you know. And when you talk about families and everything else, I think that's maybe the most harmful thing that's happened in the last, I mean, lots of other things. But when I look at society, like, I think the core building block is family, followed by, you know, and then families make up the community. And, you know, you get the point. And I don't know of a family that went unscathed through this, because it forced on everyone, whether you were both on the same page or not, it forced everyone into this divisive argument that has not slowed down. and it's only sped up, right?

Like, I mean, it is, and that didn't get stopped it by, you know, government or even local communities. It filtered in everything. You're playing volleyball? COVID. You're playing hockey? COVID. You're on the chess team? COVID.

You're going to school? COVID. You stay at home to work for the government? COVID. Right? Like, it didn't matter where you were. It didn't matter what you did. It didn't matter any precautions you did it or didn't take.

It penetrated everything. It did. And. you know, I think it was after, you know, six months or so in that I could really see the mental health effects it was having on people at our work, right? And, and it's still happening to this day, but, you know, I feel as an employer, we have the responsibility, not just to look at, at the health of health and safety of our employees, but also their mental state and their mental health. And so, you know, we started at the beginning communicating on a daily basis what was happening with COVID

because everyone was afraid. But, you know, ultimately over time, what I could see was that there was enough communication happening around everybody around COVID that it was almost better that we didn't. We didn't talk about COVID within the walls of our business. You know, obviously at the coffee table, you'd have those debates. And I was completely happy with, people having that debate as long as it stayed respectful. There's nothing wrong with people talking about it. But when it gets disrespectful, that's when it becomes an issue, right? How about when your politicians, elected officials become disrespectful?

You know, like that, to me, what you're talking about makes complete sense to me. Actually, I've thought I go back to Terry Bryant, you know, and she was talking about just getting people to sit down and have it. discussion. We just need to be able to sit at a table, have different views and have a discussion. We haven't modeled that with our leaders in how long. I mean, like my entire lifetime, all politicians have done is yell at each other. And on the last two years, it's been on steroids, to the point they're talking about pretty much us versus them. You know, and certainly things have maybe gotten a little better. I don't know. Have they gotten a little better? Maybe they haven't.

You know, I say that and then I start thinking about all the things going on right now. I'm like, maybe not. Maybe it's kind of stuck in the school. same quagmire, so to speak. I think the reality is up until two years ago, I never once had to think about what the premier Saskatchewan was doing. Like it just all of a sudden became much more political for everybody in their home when COVID came and they were getting much more involved in the day-to-day of every regular, you know, Saskatchewan or Alberta or Canadian, right?

and is that conversation getting better? You know, I have to say that I think the conversation changes with what the polls are. And the polls are very much directed by the mainstream media that is being kind of guided in certain ways by the federal government. So I think that the conversation is happening in households more. I don't know if it's happening between, you know, people like ourselves and, you know, our government. You know, I guess par for the course on that one is the amount of time that the Freedom Convoy was in Ottawa and no one was talking to them from the government. So, you know, it doesn't make sense to me that there would be something that that is that divisive of a policy that wouldn't at least warrant some type of dialogue. with a group that spent three weeks in the minus 30 weather.

And that's really what they were looking for is that conversation and acknowledgement that there was some major issues that needed to be ironed out. So it definitely seems more normal now, but I think all of us are kind of just teeter tottering on, is this just a lull because it's summer? And is there something that's going to come back in the fall? you know, and you're kind of, I think a lot of people have lost faith or lost trust in both government and media, right? So I'm not going to hold my breath.

We'll see how it goes. But I do say that I have had conversations with our, you know, our member of parliament and MLAs. And, you know, they're definitely open-minded and they're having discussions. I can't say that I've talked with. Well, I just look at, obviously I've been very focused on Alberta. You know, with Premier Skenny stepping down and this race going on from interviewing five of the seven candidates to sitting on a stage with five of the seven candidates, to them all saying the same thing.

The front runners are all saying the same thing. Right. No more lockdowns. We're not going to mandate COVID vaccines. We're blah, blah, blah, blah. You get where this is kind of going. It gives me a lot of hope. because they're saying the right things,

and now the next step is action and actually doing the right things and seeing where that goes. You know, for the listener, I wrote a word, insight, because I think of bringing you on. I just think of the interesting perspective you have. You know, we talked early in the conversation

about your career over in Africa and just, you know, seeing things from that light, whatever, what have you. And then you fast forward it, though. And I mean, when I think about this, for the listener, Ryan came to Ottawa, was there every single day, was in and around all the meetings.

I'll let you explain all that. You helped Joseph Borgow and try and run for conservative federal leadership, raised all the money for it, found a way to make everything, and at the last minute, I mean, it was a last minute, make the line, they said, oh, by the way, we're not going to do that.

there's that and now you guys are starting the Canadiens for Truth media company so I look at it and I go you know you talk about all the business selling chemicals slinging this and that to to agricultural and doing everything uh uh Borgor tillage tools and you're like oh yeah that's that's that's that's great and I go that isn't anything to do with why I brought you on because I look at you the insight you have over the last what has that even been February mm-hmm you know like what is that six months? Am I doing my math correct here? Yeah.

Six months, you've had a, I don't even know, whirlwind's the right word. Like it has been life on steroids because doing your job, having a family, and then trying to navigate everything you've been through

has been interesting. I think to say the least. So let's start with Ottawa because that's where all this really picks up steam. Mm-hmm. Wherever you want to go with it, you feel free to talk about as much or as little or whatever you want at Ottawa as you want. Sure.

And we'll do it and we'll go there because you have an interesting bird's eye view, I think, from being there. Well, yeah, and I think it's, I guess I can start as to when the convoy started to form. And, you know, Joseph Borgo, who also happens to be my father-in-law. So I, you know, I've got a very supportive wife to allow me to go out to Ottawa for three weeks. But ultimately, when the Freedom Convoy started, we could both see that this was, you know, something that we wanted to get behind because it was very much, you know, an end the mandate type scenario. From my perspective, you know, I felt that, you know, it was time to get back to treating everyone the same. and, you know, there was still a lot happening in all the provinces. So I encouraged Joe to go out there with the convoy while I stayed back and managed our businesses.

And also I, you know, just was helping kind of get hotels and do those types of things while they were on the road. And I kind of thought I could live vicariously through Joseph as he was going up. out there they were sending lots of videos and pictures of what was happening. Um, but ultimately as the, the convoy started to grow, um, there was more and more concern about how it was going to get managed, uh,

when, when we got to Ottawa and, uh, very quickly I could see, uh, there was, um, you know, different groups that were in the convoy and groups that were outside of the

convoy that were trying to wrap their head around. How are they getting? to keep this from going off the rails once it got to Ottawa. And so I got pulled into a meeting, you know, with some of the groups that were there. And they were, Joe was on the road. And so it was very kind of sketchy. So, you know, they were in some terrain where the phone was cutting in and out. So I ended up kind of being there representing Canadians for Truth at the time. And by the end of the call it was, you know, I think for the safety of the people that are coming there and for the city, the best thing we could possibly do would be to put a common place where everyone can meet

and gather and communicate effectively so that when we get there, the team would be much more organized so that they can talk with emergency services and all this type of things. So ultimately they wanted it to remain, you know, peaceful and to be able to get the truckers message across when they got there. So all of a sudden, I think, you know, I had those conversations with Joe. I've got, you know, managerial experience from my time over in West Africa with, you know, helping set teams up and working on, you know, trying to get, you know, strategies and stuff together. So I found myself on my way to Ottawa and I ended up landing there the same day that the convoy landed. And I had set up a hotel for, you know, 30 or so people to all get there and to be able to sit down and kind of talk about what are they going to do here in order to make sure that they're not going to, you know, block up the roads. And I think over the course of the three week period,

the roles that we played was essentially to help support the truckers and, you know, the people that were there as much as we possibly could. We had people that had nothing when they were there. They had no credit cards or places to stay. You know, a lot of, they call them four-wheelers, but trucks were there. And so instead of staying in their trucks, sometimes they needed a place to go have a shower or a room or whatever. So we try to provide support as much as we could.

in that way. And at the same time, you know, I was kind of consulting with the trucker board, you know, to try to help them navigate some of these situations to ensure that, you know, they were doing what they could to interface and correspond with emergency services and, you know, with the government if they were wanting to meet. and so I ended up being in a lot of those meetings and understanding really what they were there for and you know I got to know them personally very well and you know I I truly understand what the intent of the freedom convoy was because I was in what was the intent of the freedom convoy their intent was to have a conversation with the federal government to express their

concerns over the mandates and to drop them that was the only thing that they were they wanted to do. And, you know, there was presentations and things put together to present to, you know, to the government. We invited every party to the table, NDP, liberal, conservative party in order to get that message across. And unfortunately, it fell on deaf ears. They seemed to much prefer to... No politician took you up on that? No. Not one. Not one. So, you know, I know that there was some conservatives that they would go out and, you know, they would interface with the crowd. And I want to give them some credit because I could see that, you know, they were doing things, you know, in the parliament.

But the level of engagement between the freedom leaders and or the freedom convoy and the politicians was very minimal. there was some interface with the city. I think probably the largest interface is with the police and emergency services, and that happened right out of the gate because, you know, initially, and, you know, it's kind of, you know, he's got thousands of trucks piling into downtown. And our biggest concern right out of the gate and the biggest concern of emergency services was that there's some critical roads that were being blocked. that needed to get ambulances and other things in.

And so for the first three days of the convoy being there, 100% of it was trying to move those trucks out of those critical areas to allow emergency vehicles to be able to go to the hospitals and other locations. And so there was always cooperation between the board and emergency services, and that didn't change whatsoever throughout the entire time. and, you know, I was in the last meeting before the Emergency Act was invoked. And we had pizza with the chief of, I want to say, chief of police and the city manager.

And basically what they had done is made a deal that if we could move some of the stuff, some of the trucks from the residential areas into Wellington, which is in front of the parliament building, they were going to have a meeting with the mayor and then there was going to be more discussion with the politicians so it was almost like he had to get through certain gates in order to get to you know to the political leaders um but after that meeting you know i know chris he did everything he could he went and moved about 90 trucks into the wellington area um and was you know he was cooperating and then two days later uh emerged

Act was invoked. So it was like, all right, I don't really understand why this was done when there was so much cooperation that was happening with the city. But I know that they were feeling the pressure. So obviously they felt like they had to make that decision. So how was being there when that act gets dropped? Hearing that news go through the population, the group. I guess a good term would be scary. You know, like you have to look at the people that were there. The biggest fine I've ever had is a speeding ticket. I've never been to a protest in my entire life.

Never ever felt the need to be in one. And most of the truckers that were out there, if not all of them, kind of had the same experience, right? They were not, you know, they were not there for any other reason. but a peaceful protest. And so when that came down,

I think it shook a lot of people up. But they were resolved to still get their message out, right? And it was really split between ones that wanted to stay and ones that decided to leave. And I think it was every individual's decision. There's this, I think there's this idea that there is like this command. center that and there was groups of people that were obviously helping to facilitate, you know, the logistics and all those kind of things to help support. But there wasn't anyone that,

you know, everyone was there on their own behalf. Before the, the Freedom Convoy, none of those people knew each other. Like everyone showed up at the same time. So, you know, everyone was there for their own purpose. And so, you know, when the emergency, Zach, was invoked. It's not, you know, there was, Tamara or Chris wasn't saying, we got to go or we got to get out of there. They were actually doing what they could to try to influence the best they can, but everyone was there on their own, you know, so I think that the Emergencies Act definitely heightened, you know, the tension, right? And, but still, I was very proud of how all of them responded, you know, because they still, to the last day, didn't get violent, right?

And that was my biggest concern is that, you know, if there was more pressure put on, that it was going to turn into something more violent. But I think, you know, the trucker convoy and the leaders that were there, they did such a good job of going around to all the different trucks and making sure to say this is peaceful, you know, and they kept bringing that up all the time. This is legal and peaceful because they, wanted to ensure that their voice was heard, right? They didn't want to do anything that was illegal.

So what, everybody's had their different experience. I've kind of relayed to a few different people's experience from being in Ottawa and that type of thing. Aside from the like operational day to day, what did you see in Ottawa? Like what did you, you know, see, feel, I don't know, you take it where you're, you? you want. You know, I talk about how much food was on the streets. Like, it was insane, like, absolutely insane in such a great way. And I've heard different people talk about the humanity they saw. And, you know, one of the things you said about everybody being on there on their own accord, the other thing the part of my head is you forgot to mention also the two languages, because you

had Quebec show up. And, I mean, we're supposed to hate Quebecers. They're the arch enemy. And, geez, they turned out to be pretty darn friendly. But now you got, you know, people sitting at the table that are speaking in different language and have to, you know, I mean, geez, you had a lot of problems there and a lot of beauty there too. I think the best way to describe it is anyone who is in Ottawa will never be the same again because it was the most amazing experience, you know, of humanity that I've ever been through. There was people constantly crying, you know, they were hugging each other. They were, you know, high-fiving.

They had their Canadian flags. They were proud to be Canadian. I'd be on an elevator and, you know, people would come in on the weekends, you know, from Quebec and, you know, Ontario and Newfoundland and, you know, all across Canada. And people would ask where I was from. And I'd say I'm from Saskatchewan and I'd get everyone would give me a hug and be like, thanks for being here, right? And I didn't feel like, you know, I didn't, I felt like they were just.

part of the team like everyone was there for the same reason right i think also and this is you know this is something that it's really hard to describe but the spiritual side of the freedom convoy it's not something that gets talked about too much but uh you know before you know i'd never go into like a boardroom and be like hey everyone let's have a prayer before we start the day here you know um but you'd see, you know, 15 grown men and women would all get into the room and someone would be like, you know, I know this sounds strange, but I think we should all do a prayer together before we, you know, talk about the day. And it seems so normal when we were there for that to happen. And it happened almost, you know, every meeting. Because I think people felt like there was,

you know, something spiritual that was going on bigger than them, right? And And if you ask people why they're there, you know, a lot of them would say, I was called to be here. I don't know why I'm here. I'm just, I happen to fit a roll. And, you know, you'd see all kinds of things happening on the fly. I know there's many times I'd be like, geez, you know, someone's got a ticket. It'd be really nice to have like a lawyer around. And then I'd get a phone call from someone.

And they'd be like, hey, I've got six lawyers here. What do you want me to do with them? Like, send them in. Like, I don't know. And so there was, there is a lot of amazing things happening there. And, and so I think it was, it was a community. And it felt, you know, the most Canadian thing I've ever done in my life. And that to me, I know there's a lot of people that don't understand that

because it's unfortunate that, you know, I'd watch CBC at night and they would, they would totally twist it. And they'd say, oh, well, someone was desperate. of creating the Terry Fox statue instead of, you know, thousands of people showed up to Ottawa today, waving their Canadian flags, hugging each other and crying. And some guy was playing road hockey with his buddy.

You know, like that story wasn't being told. It was more of the, you know, here's the bad parts of the Freedom Convoy. So it's unfortunate that that's the perspective that a lot of people got to see on the outside looking in. but that's why, you know, your show and other shows and media is so important because it's important that people understand what actually went on with the Freedom Convoy. And I think it got out enough on social media through streams that people could see,

all right, it's not adding up what CBC is saying with what's happening, you know, on my Facebook feed. I'm believing what I'm seeing on there. And then it really snowballed into, you know, an international thing. And I think a lot of the people that were there, they not only felt like they were, you know, trying to do what they could for Canada and their kids and grandkids. They felt like they wanted to represent, you know, the world in trying to say, hey, wake up. You know, you've got some serious issues here.

And I think really that's what the truckers did. They woke people up. And more people were questioning things like, okay, what is going on here? Why is there a trucker convoy that's 100 kilometers long driving to Ottawa, right? And as much as Justin wanted to stop it, there was no stopping it. It just, you know, he could try, but then it would just snowball into something else that he tried to put out. And, you know, I think he ended up looking very. bad throughout this whole situation.

And he should because it would have been easy for him just to have acknowledged the people that were there and acknowledged some of the things that he said prior to them arriving. You know, like it was a bunch of racist, misogynist people. You know, two of the best friends that I made through that were clan mothers. So I'm kind of like, what planet are you on, buddy? Because, you know, this was not, you know, anything to do with that. I know he was trying to get that across in the media, but ultimately it was Canadians of all different, you know,

shapes, sizes, colors, coming together for the sole purpose of speaking their truth and saying, you know what, I think people should be able to make their own decisions. now. I don't know if I, and there was a bunch in there that I wanted to, I'm typing away here, but clan mothers, two of the best friends you made out of the entire thing in Ottawa were the clan mothers, two of them. Yeah, so, you know, I ended up meeting them because they needed a place to stay. and so we worked on getting the place to stay.

But, you know, I'd walk out of the hotel and they'd be there and they'd say, Ryan, do you want to come for breakfast with us? And so I'd be like, I think I must have to do this. So I'd go for breakfast and they would tell me stories. And, you know, I'd almost be embarrassed because, you know, a lot of what they were telling me were things that I just had no idea about their people. and I think it was a learning experience, right, for us. And they really wanted, you know, they were just as inclined to be there for the, you know,

to represent the truckers because they saw it as an opportunity for all of us to kind of do something, you know, very important together as one people. And I gained a lot of respect for them. They kept the peace within their groups. and, you know, they still to this day, they're very much advocates of the freedom movement. And, you know, I appreciate what they've done to, you know, try to get their voice heard. And, you know, they feel like it's, I'm sure they feel like it's been suppressed as well, right? When you look back on conversations with them, I assume they'd be a wealth of knowledge.

Yeah. Anything you stick out to you there? I think probably what sticks out to me the most is that, you know, they have said now you guys kind of know how it feels a little bit, right, of having, you know, a little bit of that oppression, right? Of feeling. The government turning on you. Yeah, feeling like you're not, you know, fitting in, you know, to society or, you know,

So I think a lot of those conversations and then their experiences when they were kids, you know, and some of the things that the schools and governments were doing with them, you know, it kind of, it's things that you don't think are even possible, like medical experimentation and different things like that, that I'm just like, how does this even, you know, how is this possible? but I know I know that it's true and I could feel it in their hearts like they were just super kind, nice people wanting to do the right thing. And, you know, whenever I needed a kind of a breath of fresh air, they were always there to

kind of say, okay, Ryan, you need to go and eat something, right? So it's one of the things that I feel like we hit it off. with when we met and started talking more and whatever is two chemical salesmen end up in Ottawa and just greened everything you mentioned spirituality you mentioned people crying you mentioned praying you just mentioned all these different things and and I think when I saw your eyes you know as big as they were and I'm sure I was looking at you the same eyes going like what is going on here like what is this and here and here's this and here's There's two chemical reps or, you know, obviously Ryan went on to have a, you went on to have quite

the career in chemicals. But our backgrounds really aligned. And I found a lot of people that had similar naivety, maybe, of what was actually going to take place in Ottawa. You know, certainly there was trucks parked everywhere. Yeah. I think that's what I understood was going to happen. The rest of it is just like, it's a whirlwind.

It was an absolute whirlwind that, you know. try and think back on and try and like nail down some concrete things that happened. Well, we did this and we did that. But in the middle of all that was a lot of, I don't know, was chaos the right word? Is that a good word, bad word? I don't know. I think it was organized chaos, really like at the end of the day, you know, everyone was kind of wanting the same thing, right?

But I couldn't tell you, you know, I would get up at four in a morning and I'd be, bed at one. And throughout the whole day, I was completely busy doing different things, either, you know, trying to get hotel rooms or booking conference rooms for, uh, press conferences or, you know, uh, helping someone, um, you know, that doesn't have, uh, any means or, you know, talking to a homeless person. Like, it was just like such a variety of things going on there. Um, And it's really hard to explain, but, you know, I think when you look at all the backgrounds that were there, it wasn't just truckers that were there. There was doctors and, like you said, chemical salespeople. There were business people.

You know, there was freedom people and just regular Canadians that, you know, they said, I want to see this for myself. And, you know, I heard numbers of one to two million people that would come in on the weekends. which doesn't surprise me because, you know, I was managing a lot of the hotel bookings and things like that. And every weekend it was completely booked and filled right up. So, you know, it was challenging trying to manage all those things. And every day it was just constant change, right? Speaking of the hotel bookings, in the beginning you were at the arc, correct?

Correct. Was after the first, I don't know what it is. however many days. Was booking hotel rooms difficult or was that something that you could navigate? It was very challenging. You know, we booked the first ones, you know, I think, you know, there's probably, you know, 50 hotel rooms or something like that. But, you know, I've got empathy, you know, for the hotels that were there because I was

interfacing with the salespeople. and, you know, after the first 10 days, so originally they were booked for a 10 day period. And after the 10 days, it was like, sorry guys, but, you know, you guys got to get out. And it was, okay, so what are we going to do here? So I, you know, I had to, that's when I put on, I guess maybe the chemical sales position and went met with the general managers of these different, you know, hotels. and really worked with them to find out what their challenges were, what were the issues.

A lot of it was manpower or, you know, there was people, there was just crowds of people coming in, you know, at the Hark Hotel as an example. It was just complete chaos there. You know, so it was really saying, okay, will you allow us to continue to stay here if we change these things, if it's more secure, if we move into different areas of the hotel and then we also you know tried to reduce the the stressor workload on them and we started you know working over at other hotels and Sheraton you know they were very accommodating and nice as well they were doing their job they were very neutral and I would say I appreciate that they

you know what they did but yeah it was a challenge to stay in the rooms because obviously they're getting all kinds of pressure and phone calls and, you know, they were put in a really tough position. And, you know, we had to manage, like I was in sales manager meetings with them on a daily basis talking through those challenges. And, you know, whenever you mix thousands of people in, you're going to have problems, right? And it's, it's like that if, even if I had, you know, our company associates go to a hotel, there's going to be one or two incidents that you're going to have to deal with. But it's how you deal with those.

And I think, you know, I built that relationship with the general managers and their sales teams. And when they had challenges, we try to deal with them, right? So did you ever get to tell them, you know, one of the, one of the stories I remember seeing was, and I remember the Tim Hortons, that Tim Horton's on the corner. And I remember seeing an interview of either the staff or the owner. You'd have to remember for me, I guess. but basically that the place had never been cleaner

because everybody going in there knew that people were writing stories about anything wrong that people did. So they just took it upon themselves to pretty much bus every table, you know? If there was a mess made, they cleaned it up. And they were pretty much to the point where they were mopping the floors and probably would have got behind the counter and started serving coffee if they would have let them. In the hotel, I certainly remember doing some of that myself, you know,

cleaning, you know, there was, at one point, is I recall the staff that was working there, the front desk, I think there was maybe one of them that had been there longer than a year. The rest would have been like, you know, three months or six months. So you can imagine the pressure they're under having this amount of people. But on top of that, I mean, like, we're talking betting, we're talking garbage, everything, just starting to stack up everywhere. And you started to see people pick it up.

All right, well, take it down. Where do you need to go? We'll get it out of your way. And I don't know. I heard it was in like day two of the protest on the hill. We were talking to a cop, 20 years ago of Ottawa. And we were talking back and forth. And, you know, he was saying something about the protests.

And I was like, I don't know about that. And we kind of go back and forth. And he said, you know, one thing I will give this protest over any protests I've ever seen is there people coming out at night. And I know who that is. That's Andrew Pelosi and his group. We're going out at like one in the morning and cleaning up all the garbage. Yeah. And I remember talking to Andrew by like day four, they didn't need to do it anymore or they were still trying, but it wasn't nearly a problem because everybody went, oh, and started policing themselves and cleaning up after themselves.

And honestly, like people were like picking up everything off the street. Like I don't know if the town had been that clean ever. Well, it was, I remember being with Andrew on the first day. And that, you know, he was like, we're going to go pick up garbage. And, you know, I literally had gone from. you know getting into the hotel i hadn't been out to see the convoy yet so i said well can i tag along with you and i'll you know i'll help you guys out and i want to see what's going on out there so i think it was about one in the morning and we went out to go and pick up garbage and stuff and you know

even in the first day or two you know the garbage wasn't really an issue people were trying to stack it around the existing garbages that were there it's just you know the city couldn't really keep up because there's just so many people, but they'd be putting all their garbage near the, you know, the places that, you know, normally you'd get the garbage. But we went out there with a bunch of garbage bags and then we passed them out to people. And it was kind of like, you know, over time, there was also people that were, you know, in these conference rooms. And I was part of their responsibility was to make sure that the streets were clean. And so they ended up getting snow shovels and you know cleaning up the streets so people wouldn't fall or you know there is

all these different services that they did because it was so important to the the trucker convoy that their their reputation stayed you know peaceful and that they weren't there to disrespect the city they were trying to get their message across and they weren't trying to to upset the citizens of Ottawa, it just so happened that Ottawa is where the parliament building is. So they tried to do everything they could. Obviously, the horns and stuff like that for the first week, I'm sure drove a lot of the citizens nuts. But even that after nine o'clock, the horns would go off after, I think it was day three that was negotiated. So I think for the most part, they tried to keep the city clean and uh you know the homeless shelters ended up i think they had too much food and

they actually had to truck it to other homeless shelters in other cities so it got to and and we were just like where's all this food coming from right like you'd go to the uh arc in the morning and there'd just be food everywhere uh there'd be people coming up to you and saying like hey do you want me to do your laundry uh okay you know like at first i'm like I don't think I'm going to give up my laundry here. But after the second week, you know, I was like, hey, I called her. I'm like, so do you guys still do laundry? And, you know, she came right up to the front door, picked up all the laundry and brought

it back like two hours later, completely clean. And I tried to give her a tip and she just would refuse. So the whole community and a lot of people around the Ottawa area, you know, they deserve a lot of credit for the humanitarian. support, I think, is the best way to put it. They try to keep people fed and warm and, you know, they appreciated what was being done. Obviously, there's people who didn't appreciate that the, that people were there, but, you know, I'd have to say they were respectful, too, by maybe just staying out of the downtown area if they didn't really agree with it. But overall, you know,

you didn't see any violence whatsoever. Like, I never saw one, single incident and you know i i was privy to everything that was going on so um i was pretty proud that you know to be part of that so you know um i've thought a lot of uh Ottawa kind of reminds me of you know like history and uh when a roman army would be on the move they talked about you know about almost like a small city on the move because you know you had to have food supply and you had to have, you know, I don't know, a blacksmith, and you kind of get the point, like all these different pieces that would normally be in a city, traveled with them to help fix or move or whatever.

And you watch what happened in Ottawa. When you get talking about the food and the vendors and everything that just sprung out of nowhere, and then that was one thing. But you raised a really good point. The laundry was interesting. The garbage system was interesting. You know, the fuel complication was wild to watch. And you just saw like problems arise and then people rise to the occasion come out of nowhere and start to solve them.

And it was almost like this little ecosystem was formed in those blocks around Parliament where everybody was like looking out for each other and solving little problems. I actually joke. I never stopped walking pretty much the entire time was there, but I gained weight because every corner there was a guy going, I got hot dogs. You got to have a hot dog. I literally just came from another hot dog vendor. Actually, it wasn't hot dogs. it was burgers on that corner. And the next corner was, you know, some stew in a giant pot.

And it just went on and on and on and on. And you're right about the homeless shelters as well. Like it's the first time I've ever fed the homeless. And I kind of feel sad saying that, right? Because Lloyd has people who've been on hard times and that type of thing. And, I mean, you can go down and volunteer, I'm sure, whenever you want. But it took going across the country to do that for the first time. Yeah, you know, it was a city within a city.

It had all the services. It had churches set up. It had pretty much anything that you'd want. I remember, you know, a couple weeks in, one of the friends I made there, he's like, hey, I know this great breakfast spot, right? You're kind of like thinking he's going to take you to a restaurant, but it was just a corner that, you know, they made really good sausage and hash browns, right? So, you know, over the period of time, you know, all of these little networks and communities

became established and and you know it was really interesting and amazing to see and honestly I think you look at the resilience of truck drivers and what they're able to do you know living in their trucks and and being able to live off of you know pretty much in the toughest conditions in Canada it was amazing you know to go and do those walk arounds and see that everyone was smiling and, you know, having a good time. Of course, they were looking for information because they were, you know, expecting that the government was going to, you know, reach out at least and have a conversation. So I think there was a lot of disappointment. But ultimately, I think people were there, you know, proud of what they were doing. So did you ever think in any of

those days you were getting closer to whether it was Justin Trudeau or someone from the government reached out and being like, hey, we need to talk? Um, you know, I think that there was, there was progress. And I, you know, it got to a certain point where I took more of a backseat role and a support role. And I think, you know, the, the trucker convoy started interfacing with, uh, you know, someone that was a mediator between the city and, and, uh, the trucker convoy. So I think near the end, it felt like, it felt like actually when the most progress was being made is when, the emergencies hack got invoked. So, you know, I think that there was,

there wasn't a lot of confidence that Justin was ever going to come, you know, meet with, with us. I think, you know, you could see right from the beginning, you know, he had his, his COVID episode and then every day he's in, you know, on, on CBC kind of giving updates and not talking in a very positive way about what things were going. and he had his, you know, his ministers doing the same thing, right? So you could actually see probably more, you know,

in talking to our military people that were there, there was actually more war tactics happening than there was trying to resolve anything peacefully. And that's the disappointing part is, I think they viewed us more as an enemy than as someone that was just trying to raise a concern. And, you know, it's disappointing. When you're talking military guys, you're talking Tom and guys such as himself?

Yeah, like, so there was, yeah, the Veterans for Freedom. There's a lot of people that were there, you know, guys who had experience within military and police forces. There was intelligence people there as well. And they, you know, they helped a lot with the truckers because, you know, no one knew what the heck was going on there. You know, if they saw a sniper as an example, you know, of course we're going to be really shocked that there'd be a sniper. But ultimately that would, you know, the police and military would say, well, this is a normal procedure. I remember Daniel Bulford talking directly to that, right? Yeah.

That's not something to be nervous of. That's standard operation. Yeah. Like it's, and it's for their safety. You know, it's for the safety of the city. So, you know, it was really interesting to be on the outside looking in. But, you know, I never ever felt that the federal government was interested in having that conversation, unfortunately. And, you know, I think after.

It's funny, sorry, it's funny to hear now them claim that they, you know, and I'm going to pick on the conservative party, right? As they're all trumping, you know, I was there and I supported it and I was the one speaking out in parliament and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. But you're saying nobody came to answer that call. You know, there was people, like some of the members of Parliament, that were within our writings. You know, they would talk to us and they would give us insight on, you know,

what we should do. And so, but, you know, I, we reached out to all of them, set up a conference room. I was actually going to give the presentation on behalf of the truckers. So we developed a presentation on what is it that they're here for, right? And we invited them three days in a row, all of them, you know, the Liberal Party, NDP, Block Quebec, Green Party. And there was not a single response.

And, you know, even, I don't want to. talk ill of all politicians, you know, because I think they're also really, you know, they really care about their public image. And I think they were all kind of not sure what, what they should get involved with. And so they're like Pierre is an example. We had his contact information. And I think he was, I'll let that one go to voicemail. You know, I'm not, I'm not really wanting to get too involved in this. So I kind of laugh a little bit when he gets up in front of all of the supporters that he has and says, you know, I was supporting the freedom convoy because I have a different view of what supporting the freedom convoy is. I'm glad that he was, you know, in the

public saying that he supported the freedom convoy and that's great. But we could have used their help a lot to try to get that engagement going. And I think if any of them, would have came and started having appropriate dialogue and not just like a photo op, right? A photo op is is a photo op. It's just a way to kind of look in front of the camera that, hey, I'm supporting, but, you know, there has to be some kind of dialogue that results in action. And that's what we're seeing. I think all of us are frustrated with is that it feels like there's a lot of hot air coming

out of our political system right now, and there's not the action that's necessary to get Canada back on the right track again. So we had a lot of concerns with how they didn't really want to respond to that presentation. I still have it today. It'd be great to let them know what we were there for. But, you know, I think they preferred not to know so that they could claim that it was like, oh, they're trying to overthrow the government or, you know, you know, whatever it is, but absolutely untrue.

So, you know, if ever anyone was to ask me what they were there for, it's pretty easy for me to send them the document. And ultimately, it was just respect the charter of rights and freedoms, you know, end those mandates and get back to living life, right? That's kind of what the ultimate goal was. And, you know, I don't think that was too much to ask. you got to see a lot of the provinces started dropping them as they were there. And it was funny because it was like, well, this is not related in any way to the freedom

convoy. It just so happens that the science now has changed here. But I would say there's a lot of political science. And the last two years, that's what we've seen is a lot of political science, unfortunately. But, you know, that's the situation that we're in today. Is that lead, you know, actually I want to ask about Tamara and Chris specifically because, you know, I sat back here at home, watched them both hand themselves over for rest, Daniel Bulford, and it was tough to watch. I don't think too many people around that group or who fall along with it, you know, certainly interviewed Chris at the APP event here just a week ago. roughly. I got to say hi to Tamara for the first time since Ottawa and just see how she was doing.

And then of course Daniel Bulford I've had on multiple times. So seeing him give him give up, or I've interviewed him multiple times, I should say, seeing himself give him up for a rest after I met his wife and everything in Ottawa. And how was it from your advantage point? Because I mean, you know, lots of things are real, real, this is going on, this is going on. this is going on. Then you start seeing that happen. Yeah. That cements how serious of a situation we're in when, you know,

like very good people are being taken away. Yeah, I think it just, you know, you could see throughout that whole scenario, it unveiled a lot of corruption within various groups, you know, banking systems and all these, You know, so it's almost, I would say I was extremely disappointed because I know Chris and I know his heart and, you know, what he was there for. And quite honestly, if it wasn't for Chris, I think that the Ottawa police would never have been able to to manage the Freedom Convoy. because Chris, you know, he was representing the trucks and he was out there doing his walks every day. And he was keeping people and, you know, in check. If there was things that were going off, he was going and say, hey, guys, stop this.

And, you know, he is a bit of a shit-disturber. There's no doubt. He reminded me of William Wallace. I told him that. The day I got to ride in the Freedom Convoy with Spencer Boats, who was a previous guest on here, pretty boy. Um, you got all these trucks lined up. And then before the group could move, here came Big Red, the Big Red Sammy, with, uh, Chris Barber and his son in it.

And it felt very much like the commander in chief of a army back in the day, right? Yeah. Braveheart walking up on his horse all painted up, not that Chris was painted up, but you get the point. And then as soon as he got there, it was time to go. And if you've ever met Chris Barber, He is a giant of a man, right? But like you say, soft, like just a kind heart, right? Very gentle giant almost.

And he has a commanding presence. So it doesn't, if you've never met him, it may be a little bit difficult to understand. But I just think of like, and William Wallace wasn't the giant and braveheart by any stretch the imagination. Mel Gibson does a, well, I mean, it was a fantastic performance. But he reminded, that's what he reminded me of, is he just had a presence about him.

And when he walked in, everybody stood up straighter. Yeah. And he remained, you know, for the situation, he remained very calm and cool and, you know, level-headed. And, you know, Tamara was the same way. Like I, I came to respect them more and more because when you look at the situation that they were in, having to deal with all the chaos there. And, you know, a lot of people were constantly calling them. And, you know, you know, trying to get information from them. And so really what we we try to do is try to take some of the burden off their shoulders. You know, Chris really didn't want to be in a lot of meetings and stuff

because he really wanted to be out there with everybody and being able to kind of keep them, you know, level-headed and cool and calm. You got to remember a lot of these guys, they spent three weeks sleeping in the back of their truck, right? So the morale of those guys was very important to Chris and making sure that they understood how much they were appreciated, you know, for being out there. And at the same time, he was interfacing with the police and trying to listen to what they had to say. And, you know, if they made sense and there was things that needed to happen, he would go in and try to make sure that, you know, that it was being done.

Like I remember one time there was brought to our attention. There was a little girl in the area that had some mental health challenges. And the doctor actually had come to us and said, is there any way that we can stop the truck honking for, you know, a couple hours from here to here while she has her appointment? And so, you know, Chris and Tom and them went out and told all the truckers what was going on and they basically shut the horns off for a couple hours while that person had their, you know, had their appointment.

Those are stories that people don't talk about, right? So, like, they weren't there to try to hurt anybody. They were there to try to get their point across and to be listened to. And really, I know Chris, and Tamara, they've taken a huge brunt, you know, of these legal battles and pressures and a lot of the people that are there. You know, it's tough to see that the government is putting, you know, laying the boots to them, so to speak, because they were just trying to do what was right. So, you know, I think they still have a lot of supporters.

And, you know, I really hope that this, This is just another step to unveil some of the corruption and lies that were spewed from the federal government around what happened there. You know, hopefully the, you know, the legal system works and it shows, you know, what they were actually doing when they were out there. So I think their public hearings and things that are going to be coming out is going to shed a lot of light on that. Yeah, people have to pay attention to that. Yeah, and it's important that the message gets out. you know, and that it's being communicated. So people can see, you know, just like this conversation today, like,

you think CBC News would ever want to interview me? There's no way. Because they know it doesn't fit their narrative. It's funny. I'm making a career off of interviewing people. CBC doesn't want to touch. Like, I mean, that's, this is where the story lies, not on, not on the narrative they're trying to feed, right? It just, it just isn't factual.

Well, I, I think the good thing, too, is that they know I would never say yes. You've, I come back to Insight, you've had an interesting six months. I want to hop into Canadians for Truth, but just nothing on a podcast happens quickly. I do want to talk, you know, I had Theo and Joseph on. They had just announced they made the goal. He's going to be running for federal conservative leadership. Like, holy dinam.

Like, this is pretty wild. Yeah. You know, and then, you know, he becomes one of several individuals that just didn't make the docket. And it just kind of, you know, nobody reports on it. And it just kind of fades away into the abyss. Right. But you got to talk. We got to talk about it for a few minutes here.

The month that was Joseph Porgo running for federal conservative leadership, you were there every step of the way. Yes. How high to a low and anything in the story you want to share to people who certainly, certainly, been following the podcast. I mean, Joseph was in at my, my wife always goes, was it the guy who did the prayer at your S&P presents, the first one? And I'm like, yes, that was the man. And so I've been kind of flying by you guys here and there and everywhere. But I haven't heard the story of exactly how things went behind the scenes. Yeah. And it's, it is extremely disappointing. But, you know, guess I was the campaign manager for Joe and you know just so you're aware I've never done anything

political in my entire life but you know you've never been to a protest you help organize maybe the most successful one ever you've never done a political career and you campaigned a guy from zero dollars pretty much in the bank to making the mark on signatures on financial obligations everything in like, what was that, a month? Yeah, it was a long shot. You're building yourself quite the resume. Anyways. Yeah, so it was, you know, and I would have to say that we had a lot of supporters that

we're part, you know, of the Freedom Convoy that we're helping us all along the way. And really, we utilized, you know, we called it Building Team Canada because we had Theo there. We had, you know, other people that were there from the Freedom Convoy. We went and campaigned all across Alberta and Saskatchewan. We had some of them that were driving convoys in front of us and, you know, not expecting anything. They were just happy to see somebody that wasn't a politician, you know, entering that leadership race. And that's really what it was.

It was, you know, our views and opinions and things were a lot different than the career politicians that were there. You know, we made it through a lot of the hurdles. We made it, you know, through the interview process and became an approved candidate. We ended up fundraising close to $400,000. And we submitted, you know, of that, you know, within the last five days, I want to say that we probably raised, you know, $200,000. So, you know, we were at the very end. you know, submitting as much money as we possibly could to get into the race. And ultimately, we were, they don't want to say we were disqualified,

but that's how I'll put it. There was some paperwork and things that they didn't like, that they ended up, you know, there was two different things. One was some paperwork with these various, we call them like loan documents. And so with every campaign, each individual has the ability to loan the campaign money. And so we had a small bucket of that that was totally legitimate within Elections, Canada and the Conservative Party. But they didn't like the wording in the legal document. And so they disqualified a large portion of those.

And then they also disqualified a portion of the funds that came in on the website. site because they said that they had multiple on the same card or whatever it was. So there's a certain percentage and that typically will happen that, you know, some of them won't make it through the hurdle. But what they said to us was, you know, with all these things considered, you're just short, you know, of meeting the threshold. And so you're not going to be able to move forward. And as much as we argued and said, you know, like I don't quite understand.

understand, you know, this legal, this document that we had in place was completely legitimate. In our view, they still felt that it wasn't time for us to carry on. And, you know, ulterior motives, you know, I can't say, but ultimately, I feel like we were robbed. You know, we raised the money. We put the signatures in. and I can't help but feel that they didn't want Joe on that stage with the other contestants. I don't think you have to feel anything.

I think it's pretty evident to throw Joe on the stage with the group of them. Yeah. Would have stirred up, it would have become a very, very watched, you know, I watched the debates. You bet. A couple of them I want to just put my head on the table and snore away because it was nothing going on. You stick Joe in there. And fireworks would have been going off 100%. They would have tried to, you know, I'll speculate.

Yeah. Because obviously it didn't happen. I would have assumed they'd try and direct their questions away from them so that he would have, you know, I've watched debates now lots. You know, part of the game is, you know, if you don't want somebody to talk, don't ask them direct questions. So now they get six minutes of the two hour debate instead of 25, you know. Well, and I, you know, I watched the first debate and the way that that was managed, you know, with the control measures that were put in place. Was horrendous?

It was horrendous and Joe would have never followed. He would have probably got his time taken away multiple times because he's going to get his message out. Right. And, you know, even to this day, you know, it was, you know, days after the conservative party and were we disappointed? Absolutely. Because our ultimate goal was to do everything we could to represent Canadian. and we were disappointed with the conservative party and how that was all done. But it's just another eye-opener for us.

And so it helped us shift focus to our next venture, which is the media side. Which is a media company. You know, if you go back, how many years have you been at Borgo-Tilligent tools? It's been about three years now. Okay, three years. Go back three years. man what a three years this has been you think about it uh obviously COVID one right as a guy managing people what a thing to have to steer you know guide the ship through so to speak to

Ottawa you know I don't think I'm wrong in saying your perspective is you know very high up there with a bunch of different names that are way more notable than than your name And I don't mean that as a disrespect, just in, you know. And I'm happy about that. Yeah, right. Well, I mean, it's just, you think about it. Then to managing a campaign that has a ton of push behind it gets thwarted, to now starting Canadians for Truth, the media company, I'm certainly, you know,

it's sold out now. And I've had different listeners reaching out hoping they could snag a ticket there and, you know. And obviously he sold out. you wonder if it'd be smarter to just move it to a bigger venue and really sell it out. But hey, I'll leave that in your guys' capable hands. Regardless, I keep telling people who keep asking me, what is this about? I keep going, I got no idea. I mean, like, obviously, I have a bit of a clue, but I'm like, I'm bringing Ryan on.

I kind of want to know. So here you sit, trying to fire up a media organization, which, I mean, parts of it, you have a little bit under your feet, you know, Theo's got certainly a following. Joseph and Canadiens for Truth certainly has a following. And then Jamie Saleh certainly has a following. Yeah. But to convert that into something meaningful should be an interesting little journey. And I'll let you hop in however you want it.

Sure. No, it's, it is an interesting journey. But, you know, I look at, you know, the business experience that I've had in, and, And also in the business experience that Joe's had, right? And he's got a very diverse background in the businesses that he's owned. He's owned health food stores and other things as well. And, you know, obviously I've worked in many organizations managing, you know, lots of people and products and processes, et cetera.

So the idea of, you know, venturing into a media. company. You know, it does seem, you know, on the outside looking in like it's, you know, quite the big step, right? But foundationally, it has the same aspects of any business that we'd want to run, which is putting the right people in the right places at the right time. And if I look at the opportunity here from a business perspective, I feel. like mainstream media in Canada is failing Canadians and you know I don't think I'm alone in feeling that way. No, you're definitely not. And so you know if this was any other market, if this was oil field chemicals, if this was, you know, an agricultural

manufacturer and they were dropping the ball that much a competitor would come in there and they would provide something that is more meaningful and better service and And, you know, they would ensure that the market got what it was looking for. And at this point in time, Canadians are looking for the truth because right now they feel like they've been lied to. And I'd hate to say it, but there's been a lot of truth twisting happening within our mainstream media. And so I think there's an opportunity here for a lot of independence. You know, people like Theo and Jamie and Joseph, you know, we're starting the studios, which, you know, is going to be basically, if you look at what Fox in the morning is in the U.S., that's what we're looking to do in Canada, is have really professional studio where they can bring on guests and people to talk to, real Canadians that have been through real challenges. and, you know, the ones that have typically been suppressed over the last two years, a lot of them you've interviewed, we want to try to give that voice.

So people have the ability to look at, you know, various perspectives before forming a decision, right? That on top of having a live show with Jamie and Theo, where, you know, we're going to do a studio show and then take that show on the road. So, you know, this next month, we've got Chris Barber. He's going to be the guest for the Jamie and Theo show or Theo and Jamie show in Calgary. And then we also intend on doing it in Swift Current. So if people didn't get a ticket for the first show, that's the type of thing that we want to do on a monthly basis. We're going to have a show that's going to be in Calgary and then one that's going to be on the road. So we want to go out and talk to Canadians.

and we want to go and hear them out. And, you know, we want to tackle topics that are taboo, but people are talking about behind closed doors, right? So it is a, it's a venture for sure. We have an office and studio. We're working with a media company in Calgary that is also filming Trucking for Freedom and they're very professional.

And they're going to be a big part of our team. And then we're going to grow our business. You know, you don't start something if you don't think you're going to grow it. And so we've got the studios and then we've also got what we're going to call Canadians for Truth stream. And that's going to be, you know, streaming folks that, you know, are true seekers, independent type journalists that we're going to add to the platform and give people a voice and try to continue to build our membership through old-fashioned, listening to our customers and listening to Canadians

and bringing something unique that CBC and CTV and global and others are not bringing currently. So, yes, it sounds like, okay, you know, Saskatchewan entrepreneurs are now starting a media company. Who cares? Jim Pat, you know, my listeners, I mean, if you've been listening since the very beginning, I got to go travel and meet Jim Patterson.

Yeah. And that name should resonate with Saskatchewan folk just fine because he pretty much controls advertising on the West Coast. Everywhere you go is a Patterson Billboard. Right. And he became a mogul, you know, one of the richest men in Canada, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I don't need to go down the gym pad.

And he started off from small towns, Saskatchew. Yeah. Right? So the idea is interesting. I keep saying that to you. It's interesting, right? Like, I'm excited for the 24th when I get to sit on stage and fire away some questions with the three of them and just, you know, see what comes of it.

Because I think that in itself will be a ton of fun just for myself, right, to hear firsthand, what is actually going to happen? Yeah. Getting the tour of the studio with Theo, I was like, this isn't, you know, I was joking when you walked in. I'm like, I got the poor man's version, you know, a little 12 by 12. room and we've done the best we can here with the budget that shawndy moot podcast has and i chuckle about that but i mean like what you guys are going to be working them with is going to be stare at the art um and so the the quality when it comes to visual sound lighting blah blah blah you get the point

yeah uh people are going to see that immediately right and the the thing i'm curious on and i keep saying this to you right as i think um that first month and maybe it maybe it's long as it's long as longer than that, maybe shorter that. I don't know, people can tell me, because I'm sure they'll chime in on the text line and please do. I think it'll be really interesting to see the content. Like, just from get, you know, like I'm a big, you know, everybody knows it's, I modeled my show after Joe Rogan. I love what he does. I love how he talks to people. I love the diversity he brings in on issues, on different things, and he's just got a natural way of conversing. But he also has the best guess in the world. Like his guest list is unbelievable.

And I'm really interested to see what Canadians for Truth tackles with that because you should have some ins with some very influential people, which should be fun to watch just from my standpoint. Yeah. Well, no, and we've had people like Tucker Carlson that said that they would come on the show. So, you know, there's, it's going to be interesting. And, you know, I think starting with someone like Chris Barber, who hasn't really been in anything. You know, we're going to respect the conditions that he has. He got me banned off YouTube, yeah.

But thanks, Chris, if you're listening. Well, and, you know, those are things that, that obviously we all have to work around. But, you know, there's such an attack to cancel people right now. And I don't think you can cancel truth. And that's what we're going to be trying to do is continue to bring that truth out. and continue to have some of those difficult conversations. Like I would say like when we were on the campaign trail,

you know, mostly politicians, they want to go and they want to come in with the warm and fuzzies and, you know, say the things that everyone wants to hear. Ours were a lot more real and, you know, it was, there was uncomfortable topics being discussed, right?

And I think, you know, we want to, be a light, you know, we want to be able to bring all kinds of different perspectives here. We're not targeting, you know, certain demographics. We want to have all kinds of different types of people on these programs and be able to talk openly with them on on different topics that are arising. We don't want it to all be just about COVID. We don't all want it to be just about sports. There's a wide variety of items happening. And for this to be sustainable, we've got a, you know, know, continue to go along with the trends that are occurring, just like Joe Roganwood or Dan

Bongino or whoever in the States. But one thing is for certain is that there's a huge void in Canada for this type of media that we hope to fill. And, you know, I think that there's a lot of interested, you know, media, other media news type people that are watching us. They're not seeing us as a threat by any means. I think they're kind of just like, what could this look like, right? And I think everyone's kind of like, oh, let's buckle up and kind of see what happens, especially with Theo, because he's such a grinder. It's going to be interesting to see how. What a thing to say about a 50 goal scorer of Stanley Cup, Olympic champion. He's kind of a grinder. Yeah, a little bit. But he's got the biggest heart, right? And he wears it on his sleeve. And Jamie also big heart. and what I think this team brings that I don't see really any other media team bringing is

they've got just massive courage right and they're going to step into the ring no matter what the cost and you know they're they're going to get their message out correct me if I'm wrong when you talk about other media companies stand around like kind of looking I wonder what this could be in they're not really friend or foe maybe a little more friend than foe is because like nobody's done what you're saying i think of like if you're talking newspaper and like field reporting i think of um rebel news western standard uh is two that come to mind because that's exactly what they're they're trying to do they're they're field reporting on the beat uh writing news columns that type of thing right what you're trying to do i think and correct me if i'm wrong here is

you look at what global news puts on yeah and you want to put on something very similar except in the eyes, and I think a lot of people can understand this, of kind of more of a show of what Tucker Carlson, Fox News, but I mean, it's the same thing. You're combating global CTV and CBC. You're trying to attack the mainstream way of putting out media compared to a newspaper or even myself, long-form interview, you know, like Joe Rogan, at least I don't know, like nobody puts him and Tucker Carlson.

They may be saying the same things, but they're not competing in the same realm. Does that make sense? Yeah, exactly. So that's the general idea, right? So therefore, why would a paper be upset about you? I think everybody should be applauding you along and see how this goes. Because if it works, it's only going to hopefully balance out some of the extreme imbalance we have in this country. Well, and hopefully it attracts more people to read those papers, right?

And, you know, you want to, like, I think we want to continue to support independent media. and, you know, true north and stuff like, you know, Rebel. Yes, true north is another one. A lot of people are going to those sources now for news because they want to see both sides, but, you know, still they don't have the same kind of presence as like the CBC and CTV and global. Well, there's a, but there's a history there.

Yeah. CBC, how, like, I mean, long, standing organization. Right. And then they got 600 million. I mean, you know, I'm being tongue in cheek here, folks, but you get the point. They got a lot of money to throw it, you know,

they're across, they're established, blah, blah, blah, blah. I grew up watching CBC, right? Like, I got a lot of fun times. I've interviewed Judy Reeves. I'll bring her name up for the thousands time on her. She survived the perfect storm in 91. And she talks a lot about the CBC guided her through probably one of the worst, you know,

post-traumatic, sorry not post-traumatic events, her life, right, bobbing up and down in 100 foot waves. Right. CBC has a name for itself established here. It's just been in the last whatever, and I don't know the answer to how many years, folks, but you get the point. That's what you're up against. You're up against a juggernaut.

Right. A dying juggernaut. Yeah. Because, you know, how many people are tuning in the CBC every night? There still are, quite a few. But it's changing all the time. Right. And people are hungry for the,

the truth and real news and you know we're going to you know I would say that I'm not you know I surround myself with with people who know what they're doing you know it's not Ryan and Joe you know we're managing a media company we've got media people we've got guys like Theo who have been interviewed a million times in the media he's got a presence And so we're going to bring the resources we need to be successful in this. And how many times have you heard, geez, I wish that there was something out there that is going to be more truthful that I can actually watch and be like, yeah, you know what? I agree with what they're saying here. So it will be more like a Tucker Carlson type setup.

But, you know, we have multiple types of shows, too, because the Theo and Jamie show, there's nothing really like that, especially in Calgary, where, you know, on a Saturday, you can go sit in a theater and watch a live stage show. It almost sounds like an SMP presents. Yeah, exactly, yeah. And that's good because there's been such a disconnect with humanity, you know, like, and that's what, you know, I guess the other thing the Freedom Convoy was, it was people who were, you know, face to face. And so we just don't want to be a media company. We want to have, you know, member relations and we want to be able to go out and talk to people and understand what their challenges are. And that's what makes this a unique business model is probably because we didn't come from established media.

You know, we're coming from a perspective of let's look at what the gaps are and let's fill those gaps. You know, and it's entrepreneurship 101. And we don't have, you know, the huge, one, we don't have the influence of the government's money trying to corrupt what our message is. But you do have private business looking at an industry. And, I mean, where is innovation spurred from? Yeah. Honestly, it comes from the private sector, right? I mean, you don't have to tell me that.

I mean, so that's what's interesting about what you're doing. You know, on a complete side note a little bit, because I just read this article, do you know who William Aberhard is? I don't. That's okay. He was the premier of Alberta from 1935 to 1943. Okay, that's why I don't know. I know. History lesson on this side.

I just read this article. Talking about, and I believe it's the Eminton Journal, geez, if I get that part of the story wrong, I apologize. I want to pull out surprise for their work back in. the 30s because William Aberhart the premier was jailing journalists for speaking against the government and I thought I read that and I'm like oh man not quite a hundred years later yeah and we're kind of you know history doesn't repeat it rhymes is what a professor of mine told me and when I read that story I'm like you know you can think that this is something brand new because it is yeah but you know you go back to the 30s. You got William Aberhart, Premier of Alberta saying you get out of line and,

you know, and in the jail, so you go. You have Roosevelt down in the state, starts doing fireside chats in the 1930s so he can speak directly to the American public because he thinks the papers are corrupted and they're not going to get his message. And where we're at now, you fast forward and I go, what you're talking about is innovation on something that has around for a long time and over time can it be corrupted yes absolutely it can and now you're going to try and spur on something that could be i don't know the next big thing for years to come i mean who knows well and you know we're going to steer our own ship but you know knowing and and you've know what competition does right that makes everybody pull up their bootstraps right so you know if

if we come in there and we're legitimate, you know, to, we'll say a legitimate threat to CBC in a way that, you know, they're seeing viewers move over to us, then, you know, they're going to be in a boardroom being like, what's going on here? You know, why, why is this happening? And, you know, maybe that'll change their strategies a little bit to be a little bit more inclusive of. Can you imagine the board meeting? Oh. You know, like... I think this is, it's the same board meeting that Trudeau had when they first heard about the truckers and he was like, ah, it's not going to be that big. This is nothing to worry about, you know? And then all of a sudden, they're on your doorstep and you're like, whew, what's going on here?

What comes to mind is Blockbuster. Blockbuster, what's the story? Blockbuster had the ability to buy Netflix for a second. I'm going to look it up. Blockbuster. Could have bought Netflix, yes. Okay, for $50 million. Now a blockbuster is done.

Yeah. And Netflix, you want to know how much Netflix has worked? How much? $98 billion. Geez, that was a bad move. Oh. You know, when you think about it, you're like, you're absolutely, oh, this ain't going to amount to nothing. And who knows if you'll be Netflix and you have 98 billion.

But in Canada, it is desperately. needed. Yeah. In media. It's a giant hole in media. Yeah. So we hope, yeah, we hope that anyone listening is going to, you know, at least have a look, you know, and become a member, right? Listen, the audience here is going to cross-contaminate for sure because I have no idea.

I tell my listeners all the time. You're smart people. You make up your own choice. your own minds, right? That's what's lovely about them. And thankfully, a lot of them have kept on listening, which I do truly appreciate. The thing is, is for a majority of us, well, we're going to check it out, you know, we're going to, we're going to poke her head in and see, well, what is this? Like, I'm kind of curious, right? I mean, geez, I'm excited to sit on stage. I'll say it again. Like, I think the 24th will come way faster than I give it credit, but I'm excited for it,

because it'll be like, okay, let's hear firsthand what this is going to be. And obviously, having, you know, Theo Joe and Jamie have all been on the podcast. Now you've been on the podcast. That's the entire team. I'm like, I mean, I don't have to say this to the audience. They hear it every Monday, but like Canadians for Truth, Borgotiligent Tools have sponsored the podcast for 2022. You put your money where your mouth is.

And I'm like, I owe it to go take a look at see what's going on and see what's going to happen here. I'm just as curious as everybody else. Yeah. Well, and we, like, I really appreciate that you're. you're coming and doing the MC for it. I think, you know, you've got a really good skill set for that. And obviously, you know, I've listened to your podcast and, you know, I appreciate the

truth that you've brought. I know it's a different direction than, you know, originally what this started out to be. But, you know, it's important that, you know, the truth and bringing, you know, great guests on and talking through some of the issues that you've talked through. the last couple years, you know, they're important things that, you know, and I, I'd like to say that there's a lot more people who are questioning things because of people like yourself that are bringing good guests on and saying, hey, you know, here's the other side of the story or here's the other perspective. Because it shouldn't just be one-sided, right? There's got to be,

you know, Joe says, an airplane needs two wings, right, to fly. So, you know, we're not going to be all on one side. We want to bring multiple perspectives in. And honestly, we're going to hold media and politicians, no matter what politician it is from whatever party. You know, if they're not aligned with the truth or they're doing things that are out of character for Canada

and our, you know, our core values and principles, principles. We don't care if you're a conservative, a liberal, or an NDP, you're probably going to get called out by Theo on it. So, you know, I think it's important that we continue to do whatever we can to bring, you know, truthful media to Canadians, including people like yourself. And I really look forward to that next step. It's going to require support from members. and from, you know, sponsors and, you know, just like your show, you know, us sponsoring you, you know, that was, you know, we didn't do it for any other reason but to support you to make sure that you're able to continue on with your show and get the message out. We appreciate that you say our name on your podcast, but ultimately we were, when you came and had that conversation with you with us,

It was, you know, this is a good person that we want to try to support. So we are going to have to have the same from sponsors within Canada. You know, if there's companies out there, which there should be, that are concerned with the direction of Canada, the direction that, you know, Justin is leading us. If you're within any industry, you know, it doesn't matter if it's oil and gas, agricultural manufacturing, or you're a farmer that is under constant attack by different policies that Justin's decided that he wants to implement. We are going to be that voice that is there to help support all those different industries

and companies. And I can tell you, well, I'm not going to tell you the figures on how much extra money we're spending a year and stuff like carbon tax and defending, you know, it's, it makes me laugh when politicians get up and say, you know, agriculture manufacturing is grown by this percentage and they give themselves a nice pet on the back. Well, we've grown in spite over the last two years of the roadblocks and things that people have put in place. And oil and gas is no different. I spent many years there. I got to see the decimation of the downtown core. of Calgary where, you know, people, office buildings are now empty because of, you know, the

policies and various things that have been put in place. And I think anyone listening to this, you know, we're more than happy to host you at our office to talk through these issues because it's not just about media. It's about, you know, connecting with different companies as well in saying, all right, you've seen where the direction of Canada is, and if you're not in alignment with it, you know, it's maybe time to step up, right? Like, we're a small company in the grand scheme of things, but we're putting, you know, a lot of time and money and investment into things like this because we care about the country and we care about our kids and our grandkids and other Canadians.

and we know that there's other Canadians out there that feel the same way. So we look forward to connecting with them and bringing this to something that can be successful because we can't do it on our own. Like the success of this is going to depend a lot on various companies and the members as well. So we see them as being part of our team. Let's say we got a business owner who loved everything you just said. How would you like them to reach out to you? If they want to find out more information or what have you.

Yeah. So, you know, our website is www. Canadiansfor-truth.ca. You can email me at info at canadiansfor-truth.ca. Now, is Canadians 4? Is that F-O-R or the number 4? F-O-R. Yes.

Yeah. Okay. So info at Canadians for-truth.ca. You can like simply go, like at this point in time, if you want to be a member we wanted to make it affordable for everyone so five bucks can get you a membership you can donate more if you like

but if you become a member then you're getting all the emails of events and things like that so you know the tickets going for the Chris Barber event in October there'll be a pre pre ticket for the members for you know three to four days

last time we did it for this event we sold about half the tickets, you know, in three to four days. So in theory, as you grow, you got to be a member to get a ticket pretty much is what you're saying. I would recommend it. Yeah, for five bucks. I mean, you get the point. Absolutely.

And, you know, we want to make it so that we know that people are stressed in terms of the, you know, the financial stresses right now. Like my wife was telling me she went to go get groceries the other day. It was over 500 bucks or 600 bucks for groceries. is like, holy smoke. So, you know, a lot of people are living, you know, day to day. So, but five bucks gets you an annual membership, right? If you can afford to do 100, then that's great.

But there are different sponsorship packages and things for companies and businesses and for individuals, you know, if you're able to afford to do more, you know, get in touch with us and we'll kind of take you through all those packages and go from there. Well, I've appreciated you making the trek. I've certainly enjoyed this. This has been on my docket now for months to get you this way or to come your way, whichever worked in. And this is the way we got it to work this time. But before I let you out of here, I got to give you the final question brought to you by Coordmaster.

Shout out to Heath and Tracy McDonald, supporters of the podcast since the very beginning. If you're going to stand behind a cause that you think is right and stand behind it absolutely. I chuckle as I read this. You know, I should almost read this at the start. She almost become the first question brought to you by Crudemaster because, you know, after everything we've talked about for the last close to two hours, I think we get a feel for what you stand behind. But I will ask it anyways. What's one thing Ryan stands behind? Oh, boy.

Doing what's right. I think, you know, at the end of the day, the whole reason I was out in Ottawa is because I saw. a bunch of courageous people doing what they thought was right. And I support them 100%. And, you know, I know a lot of people talk about Chris and Tamara because they were the face, but there are so many other people that were out there as well that were courageous and they stood for, you know, what was right or what they felt was right. And, you know, I think all of us need to strengthen our backbones a little bit more. And, you know, if there's things that are out there that we're not quite aligned with, it's okay to have a conversation. And, you know, I'll, I'll admit,

I was probably one of those people. This is the first time I've been on a podcast before. You know, I... And you're natural. Yeah. Well, I was one of those people that probably wouldn't get into too many controversial topics or conversations. But if you see that, you're not, you know, we're we're going in the wrong direction and it can impact your kids and your grandkids. You know, there's a lot of smart people out there, especially, you know, in the business community that haven't really been tapped on the shoulder to come into the fight yet. So, you know, I think if you feel like what we're doing is right, you know, I stand behind doing the right thing.

And that's why I feel right now I don't feel like our. media and our government is is doing the right things for Canadians. They're not aligned and it's going to take some realignment, but, you know, I'll do whatever I possibly can to take my skill sets and be able to apply it into trying to make Canada, you know, a great place to be. Well, I appreciate you making the drive and doing this. It didn't disappoint. That's for sure. No problem, Sean. Thanks for having me. Hey, folks, it's been a long time since I've done one of these right at the end. But with SMP Presents, now open up for ticket sales with QDM and 2s coming to Lloyd Minster.

A, if you want tickets for that, hop in the show notes, there's a link there. And honestly, I would love to see all you wonderful listeners make the track. I realize for a lot of you, that's not feasible. And that's where this kind of brings me to the last time I did an SMP Presents, which was March in Lloydminster again. at the Gold Horse Casino. A lot had asked if I was ever going to travel with this thing, and I kind of always like travel, boy, I don't know. And so I've been thinking about a lot,

I've been honestly thinking about that question for months now, obviously since March. And I just, I kind of wanted to throw it out to all of you fine folks. Hopefully you hear this. And in hopes that, you know, if you have ideas or suggestions, you know, you know the number. The number's sitting in the show notes, text me. And by now, if you're listening to this,

you know I'll text back. I got no problem. Well, no problem. I enjoy hearing from all of you. But I guess the thing I sit and ponder is like, I feel comfortable in Lloyd. I love bringing things to Lloyd. It's my home community. And I love bringing different ideas to this area.

You know, we don't get, at times, it feels like we don't have a whole lot coming here. And saying all that, you know, for somebody maybe in Calgary or I don't know, maybe it's even further than that and go the other way, maybe there's somebody in Regina or further than that. getting up here, I understand for a weekend is maybe a little difficult. So I'm like, okay, is there a place a guy could do the next SMP presents that would make sense? And where would that be? You know, I think back to Eric Rodvank. I hope I said your last name right.

I torture it every time I look at it. But Eric had invited me down to speak in Coronation, Brownfield, to be exact. It was a beautiful little community town hall. and they packed the house and it was a ton of fun and I was like, you know, like is that something that makes more sense? Anyways, I'm rambling here. The next SMP presents.

I have lots of ideas on different roundtables. I'd love to facilitate. And I go, who better to ask? You know, I'm sitting here thinking about this question. All you lovely folks have been along for this journey. Me, you probably got better ideas or maybe you know of a spot. And I go, I'm open to it. So if you were like, you got to bring it to Red Deer, Calgary, Eminton, Saskatoon, Regina, North Battleford,

kinderously, Moose Jaw. I don't care. You tell me, and we'll see if we can't make something work. I have no idea. I'm throwing it out to you, lovely folks, and I've taken up a couple extra minutes of your time. So thanks for being here on a holiday Monday of all things. I hope you're wherever you're at, life is moving along and you're finding some positivity out there. Regardless, SMP presents. I'm looking forward to November, and I want the next one that comes along to, you know,

to help move along and get out into different communities and that type of thing. So here's your chance to have your say. Hopefully you hear this. And if you do, shoot me a text and we'll go from there. All right. We'll catch up to you guys tomorrow for another. Tuesday's mashup.