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The Silvercore Podcast explores the mindset and skills that build capable people. Host Travis Bader speaks with hunters, adventurers, soldiers, athletes, craftsmen, and founders about competence, integrity, and the pursuit of mastery, in the wild and in daily life. Hit follow and step into conversations that sharpen your edge.
Today's guest signed a
contract with Canada.
He served 20 years.
He was in Afghanistan, Iraq.
He held up his end.
When he came home, he found
himself arrested at a war memorial
he was trying to guard, and he
was convicted by the courts.
Separately, he was fined nearly $29,000
for simply walking in the woods.
Most people would've given up.
He didn't.
Welcome to the Silvercore
Podcast, Jeff Evely.
Thanks for having me, Travis.
Great to be here.
Well, it's good to have you here.
What, uh, kinda brought you on
the radar, of course, was the, uh,
that part I mentioned there about
the $29,000 walking in the woods.
That was, uh, in Nova Scotia.
It was a bit of a, a ludicrous response
to a province in crisis because of
the fires that were happening, and
the solution was, I know- Let's not
contemplate industry in the woods, but
let's contemplate individuals perhaps
walking in the woods and setting the
woods on fire with their sneakers.
And when that came out, I was
immediately viscerally offended by it.
I put a video out.
I put it on YouTube and
put it on social media.
TikTok actually banned my account for
putting this video out, and all I did
was state exactly what was in the,
uh, government text in Nova Scotia.
So I, I, of course, I appealed that ban.
I s- got the account back, but the actual
response has never been, uh, addressed.
It's just sitting there as pending,
and it's been, I don't know,
what's it been, a year and a bit?
So.
Mm-hmm.
Um, you came on the radar then.
Tell me a little bit about yourself
and how you came to popular,
uh, culture in the way you did.
Uh, I think you covered it fairly well.
Um, well, like you said, I was, uh, I was,
uh, um, uh, in the military for 20 years.
I joined in 2001.
I was medically retired in 2021.
Last 10 years of my service I was
a single dad, um, and, uh, my kids
are grown now and on their own.
Um, I, uh, u- upon my retirement, I
retired back to my hometown of Sydney,
Nova Scotia, and the day I took possession
of my retirement home was the day the
vac- vaccine mandates came into effect.
So, um, I was, uh, effectively
barred from polite society.
And, uh, I can remember being at home
alone, drinking alone with my firearms.
And, uh, you know, I'm only crawling
distance away from the Legion,
um, which was part of the, uh, the
selling features, uh, the, associated
with the home that I'm in now.
Hmm.
And I said, "You know, this is wrong.
I should, uh, I should be out
at the Legion getting the social
support that I need right now.
Um, so I'm gonna give it a shot."
And I went up the road and went to,
uh, the Westside Legion in Westmount,
Nova Scotia, and, uh, of course,
you know, they refused me service.
I just showed them my veterans
ID, and I gave him my phone.
Like, he coulda looked at my phone.
It was just a website.
And said, "Oh, okay," you know, whatever.
Um, but instead he just sort of
contemptuously dismissed me and said,
"You know, get out of here. We're gonna
get a big fine," and stuff like that.
So I, I, I kind of let them have it in the
moment, um, and walked out of there under
my own power before anybody threw me out.
Um, and, uh, and then I, uh, I ordered
a Legion ball cap from their website.
It says, "Lest we forget," and I crossed
out the lest 'cause that's how I f- I
feel about it is, uh, yeah, we forget.
We forget that, uh, a lot of
people, uh, paid the ultimate
sacrifice for these freedoms that
our governments are now trouncing.
Um, and too many people seem
to be cheerleading for it.
So- I just started doing
my own individual protest.
I wasn't really aware of any, um, you
know, freedom movement, any, any pushback
forming 'cause I had been off social
media for quite a while at that time.
Um, and, uh, I went out, you know, just
shopping and going about my daily business
and refusing to wear a mask, and I got
arrested a couple of times for that.
Um, and I was refused service in
multiple locations, so I started
filing human rights complaints
for, uh, refusals of service.
And, uh, I, uh, wrote my own
charter defenses for the arrests.
Um, and while I was doing all of
that, then all of a sudden the
trucker convoy ramped up, so I
kinda knew where I had to be.
I wasn't even really aware that
others were, uh, interested
in doing anything about this.
So, um, I went to Ottawa for the trucker
convoy, and I was with the veterans when
we took the fence down, uh, from the
monument, which, uh, Mayor Jim Watson
had put up there to smear the convoy.
Said that, uh, patriots were
peeing on the monument, um, and
so it needed a fence around it.
And so we went down there with the
bolt cutters and took down the fence
and stacked it up nice and neatly, uh,
for the city to come and take it away.
And, uh, then we put a 24/7 sentry
on the, uh, on the monument.
And I ran the shift schedule
for that, so naturally I ended
up with the 4:00 AM shift.
And that's when I got arrested, was when
I was on my way in for the 4:00 AM shift.
Um, I was walking to the war monument
with my war medals on, and they said,
"You can't do that." And I said, "The
hell I can't." And so I just, uh, kept
going until they, um, took me down.
And I wanted to stand on my rights
in court, but as you said, they found
me guilty anyway because even though
by the time I got to court, um, the,
uh Emergency Measures Act invocation
was declared ultra vires by the fed-
federal court in the Mosley decision.
They said, well, police still have powers
to cordon off areas, um, under say, like
ancillary powers doctrine, common law.
Um, and, uh, so you know,
that's what they were doing.
And I'm just like, "No, that's not what
they were doing. They were there because
the Emergency Measures Act invocate-
was, was invoked." Uh, some of the guys
who took me down, like one was from
Vancouver, another one was from Toronto.
Um, you know, th- those guys were
in town because the Emergency
Measures Act was invoked.
Um, so, uh, anyway, uh, the, uh… And
the reasoning that they provided for,
um, the cordoning then was a bunch of
CBC headlines, um, according to the
judge, which I thought was worthy of
appeal, but the, um, court of appeals
did not, so they refused to hear it.
Um, and uh, you know, I've been involved
in some other things since then.
Like we did Rolling Thunder, uh, to,
we had a, a wreath laying ceremony
at the monument to give dignity back
to the monument and to the veterans
who were beaten and drug off it.
Um, and uh, I was arrested
again for, uh, for going there.
I was the sergeant major on parade, and
I, I gave a speech, but um, I actually
violated the conditions of my release
from the convoy by going back to, uh,
the downtown area two months later.
Um, so, uh, so I had to give them
some bail that time, which I don't
think I ever really got back, so
I should probably look into that.
Well, well if, if we just
pause on that for a moment.
Sure.
I mean, if we look at the… 'Cause
there's a lot to unpack, and I don't
know if you have always been a fighter
or if you were put into a position
where you're just like, "Forget this.
I, I can't sit down.
I'm gonna have to fight," and
you keep finding yourself in more
and more positions that, that
are, are presenting themselves.
But how did… Like you, you
joined the Canadian military.
You obviously had that
fighting spirit in you.
You had an idea as to what is right and
what is wrong, and then you come home and
you see what you clearly feel is wrong.
How did that make you feel to be
dedicating your life to a country,
to have a country turn around
and essentially treat you with a
complete and utter lack of respect?
Betrayed.
Um, it's a profound betrayal and, and
that's what I have been saying, uh,
publicly in every news appearance that
I can find, is that, um, all of this is
a profound betrayal of every Canadian
who ever paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Um, you know, and, uh, to, to behave
in such a way as to, um, you know, show
that that sacrifice didn't really mean
anything, those lives didn't really
mean anything, um, you know, it, i-
it's to say that my life means nothing.
So, um, you know, yeah, I
can't help but, uh, feel y-
personally betrayed because of it.
Well, w- when you're getting arrested,
you've got your war medals on,
they clearly know who you are or at
least have an idea of who you are.
Was there any professional
courtesy paid to you?
Was w- did you f- get any sense from
the arresting officers that they're
like, "You know, this is BS and maybe
there's a way we can figure this out,"
or was it just full-on jackboots?
Um, they mocked me and, and sneered at me.
Um, you know, there was, uh, initially
some lip service paid to the idea
that, um, they, uh, respect the
kinda thing that guys like me do.
Um, and I said, "You sure don't act like
it." Mm. Uh, "Wiping your ass with the
legacy of our fallen." Um, and, uh, from
there on out, you know, it was, it was
mostly mocking and sneering on their part.
And I, uh, I gave them a
pretty good dressing down.
I used to be a sergeant
major after all, so.
Um, yeah, the, the professionalism
was definitely lacking.
Um, uh, like it was abysmal the
way that those guys behaved.
And they said, "Oh, you know, y-
this, this is something for, uh,
the lawyers to figure out." And, um,
and, uh, anyway, that's, that's e-
essentially the Nuremberg defense, right?
Like, I'm just following orders.
Mm. I don't have to consider, um, you
know, whether they are legal or not.
Um, that's, that's for
the lawyers to figure out.
So they're basically, um, you know,
sort of offshoring, uh, uh, their,
uh, their, um, agency in that way.
Mm. Um, and, and tacitly admitting
that they are just jackbooted drones.
Um, so it was, yeah, it
was pretty dismaying.
W- what I'm curious about, and
we've… You know, and I know
we're not psychologists here or
anything, but I'm, I'm curious
about how it gets to that point.
How do we get to a point where people
look at things that otherwise would've
been thought of as common sense and
throw that completely out the window?
How do we get to a point where, uh,
those in a position of authority feel
that their authority and discretion
is unfettered and they can apply it
in whichever way they, they want?
Like, like, what's going on that's
causing this, in your opinion?
Um, well, it, it's kind of multifaceted.
I think that there's, um, a lot to be said
about human nature in, in that answer.
Um, and, uh, you know, Nietzsche
said that, um, you know, God is dead
and, and, uh, woe to us for, uh,
you know, we, we may still need to
vanquish him from some uh, corners now.
I can't remember the exact quote.
Mm-hmm.
But essentially in the, in the book,
God is Dead, what Nietzsche was saying
was that, um, as Europe turned away from
Christianity, they would find something
else to fill that God-shaped hole in
the human heart, and that something
else turned out to be communism.
Um, and, uh, you know, we had the
bloodbath of the 20th century as a result.
And it is, it seems history is repeating
itself, uh, right on schedule, by
the way, because it's been 81 years
since D-Day, and 81 years before
that was Gettysburg, and 82 years
before that was the colonial triumph
at Yorktown, which was the climactic
battle in the American Revolution.
Um, and we go into these crisis eras,
uh, called a fourth turning every- I've
heard that.
Yeah, every four generations,
once a human lifetime.
Um, so ours started… It was catalyzed
by the 2008 financial collapse,
uh, global financial collapse.
And, uh, the previous one was
catalyzed by the '29 stock collapse.
Um, and from there, the institutions
basically go into a state of collapse
like dominoes, one after another.
And we saw, you know, after 2008, we
had the 2010, uh, militarization of
the police forces at the, uh, the G8-
uh, sorry, the G20 in, um, in Toronto.
Um, we had the, um, you know, the
universities started going completely
haywire all throughout the 2010s.
The censorship regime started
coming in on, uh, YouTube.
You started to see it there
first, right around 2010.
Um, we, uh, we, we even had the post
office collapse, um, you know, when we,
uh, we started reopening from COVID.
Like, somebody set that post office
up, uh, you know, 150 years ago and
forgot about it because it's just
been running itself ever since.
Um, so e- even the post office,
uh, completely fell apart.
And we actually saw the first
institution that went into crisis
would've been the military back in
'93 with the, uh, Somalia affair- Hmm
um, where, yeah, they, they actually,
um, um, hunted kids for sport and
tortured- Hmm … and beat one of
them to death, uh, that we know of.
There were probably more than that.
But, uh, the entire chain of command
saw fit to cover the whole thing up.
Um, and, uh, they convened a board of
inquiry to look into themselves and said,
"Yeah, um, everything's above board here."
And at that time, the public said, "No,
that's not good enough." And we had a,
a full-on, um, inquiry into the matter.
But, um, that corruption,
like, it never went anywhere.
It's, it's still there, um, and, uh, still
in the Department of National Defense.
And it's the same people.
They, they haven't really changed.
Um, they just got older from the Somalia
affair to the serial killer colonel to
the grab ass and gaslightin' generals.
Um, it was, it was the baby boomers.
Um, they, they've been the ones
scandalizing Canada's military,
um, for my entire career.
And, um, you know, I, I, uh, I
was told to never pass a fault.
And every time I thought, I say…
Every time I heard it, I thought,
"What about you?" Um, so I- I
did fight the chain of command.
I filed 10 grievances
in my 20-year career.
I don't know anybody else who did that.
Um, and, uh, uh, my-- the lesson
I take from it is that true
reform cannot come from within.
Um, you know, uh, when you have
those, uh, corrupt leaders in place
and you're fighting against them, you
know, the entire time, it's, uh, it,
it, it's a wasted effort, I'm afraid.
So, uh, um, and, and now what happened
as of 2020 is that just through natural
attrition, the baby boomers run all of
our institutions, and I mean globally.
Like Xi Jinping would be included,
uh, would be a baby boomer, um,
Vladimir Putin, Yahya Sinwar, um,
you know, across the board, this
is, uh, this is what we're seeing.
Um, so, uh, that, that is the reason that
we go into one of these civilizational
threatening crises every four generations
or one human lifetime is because the
generation that's born in the wake of
the previous crisis We always, whether,
whether that crisis is the current
COVID crisis, World War II, the American
Civil War, the American Revolution,
um, we always raise children in the
wakes of these crises as indulged.
Um, so like the Leave It to Beaver, um-
Mm … Dr. Spock's permissive parenting
style- Sure … that was advocated for at
the time, um, where i- it's kinda like,
you know, we, we did it all for you and
you can do no wrong and you're gonna be
the greatest thing ever and take, uh,
take this whole thing to the next level.
But i- that's not what ends up happening.
Um, what ends up happening is
they, they become of age as, as
self-righteous narcissists prosecuting
a new spiritual revolution, um, in,
in what's called the second turning.
Um, and uh, that's where we saw like
everything from the Iranian Revolution to
1,000 bombs per week going off in the US.
In Canada, we had the FLQ crisis, the
Quebec legislature shooting, um, you know,
a wave of serial killers across North
America, um, and uh, and, and that's,
that's the thing, the AIDS pandemic.
Um, and so the, the people who did all
of those things when they're young,
um, they haven't fundamentally changed.
I don't think that people fundamentally
change, uh, beyond their formative years.
If any, at, at best, we may
grow, um, but uh, they're,
they're still the same people.
They just got older and, you know, it
was in 1967 that uh, um, a West German
socialist activist, student activist by
the name of Rudi, Rudi Dutschke said,
uh, "Now we must go on the long march
through the institutions." And that's
what happened is the people who, you
know, engaged in all that terrorism in
the '70s, they didn't really go anywhere.
Mm. They went back into the
institutions, our public institutions.
They became the white collar class.
They're now the deans and tenured
professors at the universities,
radicalizing, um, you know,
uh, the, the next generation.
And so, uh, that's why we
see all this campus unrest.
Um, and uh, and, you know, ditto for a lot
of these NGOs and uh, and the like, right?
Like, the NGOs are, are completely
corrupt, and they're really being
used for more activist causes and,
and socialist Marxist-type causes, so.
Um, and it also maps well
to Yuri Bezmenov's, um, you
know- … uh, explanation as well.
Sure.
Because he s- he said that the first stage
of, um, active measures or ideological
subversion was to demoralize the youth,
and that's what they did in the schools in
the post-World War II era, is they turned
a generation against their own society.
And he said, "You can't stop, um, this
process of ideological subversion because
those people, um, they're working now.
They're, they're in the institutions, and
they're working their way up, and they're
gradually going to co-opt the institutions
and turn them against us." And, and
so that's, uh, what happened in 2020.
Just like Neil Howe, the uh,
the author of, uh- Of The Fourth
Turning, co-author of The Fourth
Turning, and, uh, and Bill Strauss.
They, they predicted all this in, in 1991.
They predicted the 2008 financial collapse
and, um, and the 2020 COVID crisis.
They couldn't say exactly what the
nature of the crisis was gonna be, but
just that with- within the window of
2018 to 2022, that would be when the
boomer generation was, uh, fully in
charge of, um, of our institutions, and
they said that they would go into a s-
a state of collapse, and we would face
a civilizational crisis at that time.
So we're not due to come out of it
until about 2030, so, uh, I think the,
um, I think the strategy right now
is really more of harm mitigation.
Um, and you know, lessons learned,
hopefully, 'cause we're gonna
be coming out of this saying
#neveragain all over again, so
Of course.
You know, the best predictor of future
performance is past performance, and the
best way to know where we're gonna be
going as a society is just take a little,
little glance into the past to see what…
how we've reacted to certain things.
Uh, you know, you've, you talked
about a lot of different things,
and I'm madly taking notes out here.
And I'm hoping my ADHD doesn't splay
this off into too many different areas.
We have time here in this podcast.
What my hope is in sitting down
with you is to highlight, uh, you
as an individual as well as the
power of what one person can do.
Because I see so very often people
say, "Oh, that's easy for you, Jeff.
I mean, you're a trained soldier.
Oh, that's easy for you, Travis.
I mean, you, you got the ear of somebody
else here," or, "That's easy for…"
It's always easy for somebody else.
The reality is it's not easy, and it
takes courage, and it's always difficult,
and there's gonna be things on the line.
But there is a way forward where people
can address whatever grievance they're
looking at or injustice that they see in
society in a, in a way that they can win,
as opposed to throwing themselves as the
underdog at the bottom of the pile, where
they can actually go in and strategically
look at how they process this so that they
can come to a state which is better for
them, their family, and those around them.
Um, and I, and I think, I think
oftentimes the people who are at the
tip of the spear, like you've put
yourself so many times, will only
see the carnage, will only see the,
uh, the difficulties and the, uh, the
atrocities that, that are happening out
there, and you'll be responding to them.
Um, I'm wondering, you listed
off the fourth turning.
You listed off a number of
things that are going wrong.
Do you see anything
currently that's going right?
You know, I, I do see the
pendulum swinging back.
Um, we're seeing a massive
swing in the United States.
They're, uh, they're doing, um, a big
turnaround on, on multiple issues.
Uh, the one that, uh, is nearest and
dearest to my heart right now is, um,
you know, on the, um, the transitioning
kids, the medically transitioning kids- Mm
agenda there with the, the trans agenda.
Um, and, uh, they, they have taken, like,
massive steps to, uh, to reign that in.
Um, i- i- in Texas now they're, um,
they're even, you know … There was
a big lawsuit when, like, the attorney
general took on, and there's gonna
… There are millions of dollars that are
being paid out in, um, in settlements.
And, um, the, the next project on the
horizon that's already been announced
is they're going to be setting up care
centers for detransitioners, 'cause
that's something that, you know, there
is no care for, for detransitioners,
for people who have regret- Mm … um,
to deal, to deal with the health
issues that have been inflicted on
them by the trans-industrial complex.
Um, so that's a big one
in the United States.
And here in Canada, uh, I would say,
like, on the firearms debate, for example.
I mean, they're, they're still trying
to do this- … gun confiscation
agenda that's all predicated on, um,
the, uh, the Portapique massacre.
Portapique being in Nova Scotia, where
I live, which was highly suspect.
Um, we still don't know what motivated
Gabriel Wortman to do that, but we
do know that he was paid $475,000,
um, through a Brinks outlet the
day before he went on the rampage.
And the only people that we know that
transfer cash around like that are
the RCMP, and that's how they transfer
cash to their confidential informants.
Mm. So we, we still don't know that.
But what we do know is that Brenda Lucki,
the RCMP commissioner, was willing to
pressure her investigators to breach
their protocol and start telling the
public what kind of firearms were
used, um, so Bill Blair could stand
on the still-warm bodies of murdered
Nova Scotian children to advance
exactly this gun confiscation agenda.
But, um, the other thing that we're seeing
are, you know, kind of, uh, uh, red Tories
like, uh, Slug Ford out there saying,
like, "Yeah, people should be allowed to
shoot you. If you break into somebody's
house in the middle of the night, um,
then, uh, then you should be allowed to
shoot them." Um, and, uh, we should have
some kind of, like he calls it castle law.
Mm. I think it's castle doctrine
is the pros- the proper term.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and, uh, we, uh, we even
saw, um, Larry Brock at the
podium in the parliamentary
press gallery just the other day.
Um, say- saying the same thing.
Like, uh, even when reporters were
saying, "Well, just 'cause somebody
breaks into your house doesn't
mean that you should kill them."
And he said, "What, what if they c-
what if they're unarmed?" And he's,
and he got up there and he said, "Well,
the thing is they conceal weapons.
Like, people coming into your house are
going to conceal a weapon, and by the
time you know that they do in fact have
a weapon, it's, it's already too late."
So, so people are advocating for this.
This is a conversation that we
couldn't have, like, five minutes
ago, um, about, uh, about the,
um, about the, the firearms-
Mm-hmm
…
uh, debate for example.
And, um, you know, there, there
are others that, uh, are kind
of gradually swinging back.
I think the, the climate one seems
to be throttling back a little
bit even though we have Carney.
Like, I don't think people
are buying it anymore.
Um, we had the same problem here in Nova
Scotia in 2023, uh, with the wildfire
season completely out of control,
and it was all because of arson.
Um, but that didn't stop Sean Frazier from
getting up in the House of Commons and
saying, "Shame on us for not paying enough
taxes while we're driving our cars."
And, uh- … you know, if we,
if we pay this carbon tax then
we won't have these wildfires.
And then it came out after the fact
that it was all arson of course.
I mean, not that- Hmm … not that s- many
of us didn't see that right off the bat.
Um- So that,
that was proven, was it?
'Cause I know it was- Oh, yeah
… speculated at the time that it was arson.
Oh, the Bar- the Barrington fire,
actually, um, the guy from the Bar-
who set the Barrington fire, he got
charged with, uh, lighting a fire on
private property without permission,
failing to take steps to keep that fire
from spreading, and- Hmm … leaving
that fire unattended, but not arson.
So I'm thinking left-wing eco-terrorist.
He gets a slap- Hmm … on the wrist,
uh, because he's on the left, and
we live in a communist country.
So Herbert Marcuse's, uh,
liberating tolerance is in play.
Jack boot for the right and,
uh, carte blanche for the left.
Um, so, uh, yeah, I, I think
that's what we're dealing with.
But the good news is when the same
thing happened just last year in, uh,
August of 2025, and they banished from
the woods because there were active
wildfires, uh, nobody said carbon tax.
Nobody said climate change.
Um, there was, there was none of that.
In fact, uh, the, uh, the firefighters'
unions were screaming about, um, just,
uh, utter incompetence at the levels of
senior management- Hmm … failing to put
the proper resources in place and to lead
their people, especially the volunteer
firefighter departments, um, properly.
So, um, it seems like, you know, the,
the focus, the hysteria around climate
is, um, kind of abating right now.
Hmm.
And, and there are other issues too.
I think it kinda comes back,
like, one issue at a time.
The, the pendulum seems to be coming back.
But it doesn't come back
on, it's on its own.
Like, you know, we need people
out there to just drag it back
from the hairy armpit-ed edge
of the, uh, the radical left.
Um, so, uh- So yeah.
I, I,
I- You painted a picture there for me.
Um, so- There's something
that I've noticed, and you
talk about the firearms side.
I run a firearms business
here in British Columbia.
In fact, uh, set up back in the day,
the very first, uh, gun club under
the s- provincial CFO started saying,
"Well, if you want to get a restricted
firearms license or if you want to
get an authorization to transport,
you have to have some sort of proof.
You gotta prove to us why you need
this." And they're accepting belonging
to a gun club or a range as proof.
Hey, that's valid enough, that's proof.
Now, a person can belong to a range
and, and never, ever show up, but
hey, fair enough, that's proof.
And I looked through the Firearms
Act regulations, through the act,
and criminal code, and I said,
"You guys don't have the authority.
I, I can't find anywhere in here
where you got… You're creating
policy and you're acting it as if it's
regulation or legislation, and you're,
you're hoodwinking everyone here.
I'm gonna take you to court." So I
went and put some money aside, got
a lawyer. Firearms officer calls me
up, says, "Travis, off the record
here, we're the federal government.
We're gonna tie this up
in the courts for years.
You're never gonna win.
We got all the money in the world.
We got your money, right?" He says, uh,
"Why don't you just start a club?" I'm
like, "Well, I don't have the chunk of
land to set up the range." He says, "No,
no, I said club, not range." Oh, hold on.
So I talked to the lawyer, the,
"You know the money I gave you?
Can you set up this club?
Looks like it'll keep them happy."
It's a bit of a, it's not the perfect
solution, but it allows people to,
uh, once again, get their restricted
licenses, get their ATTs without having
to go through this unlawful rigamarole.
And so that's how the Silvercore Club was
originally started, and it's a federal
club because it's set up under the federal
Firearms Act, although it's provincially,
uh, designated under Section 29.
It's a federal thing.
Um, and every province and
territory would recognize it,
save at some point Nova Scotia.
At some point Nova Scotia k- stepped
up, and their ch- chief firearms
officer, a fellow by the name of
John Parkin, came, took it upon
himself and he says, "Hmm, nah.
Nah, you gotta be, you gotta be
a club in our, in our province.
You have to be set up under
ours." So we went back and forth.
I got the email exchanges.
I got the back and forth.
None of it made sense.
I got an ombudsman
involved from Nova Scotia.
He mentioned, "Oh, hi, yeah, I know
John. We're buddies," blah, blah, blah.
And then I got into the thing.
Whoops.
Okay, maybe a little
bit of a conflict here.
But long story short, what that caused
me to do is start applying for ATIP and
FOI and, and finding information that-
Internal documents would suggest that
Nova Scotia is a testing ground for
unfavorable policy to see how people
will react and how they can bring
that across the rest of the country.
And there was a, an example in New
Brunswick because a Nova Scotia CFO
was like, "Well, we're just gonna put
conditions on businesses and conditions
on ranges that are outside of what
we can do through the legislation
or regulation, through the act or
anything like this, but this is our
discretionary conditional power."
And they started clamping down in Nova
Scotia on businesses and ranges, and New
Brunswick stepped up and they're like,
"Ah, we're gonna do the same thing.
That sounds good." And a New Brunswick
range, I think it was Springfield Range,
took them to court, and the only defense
the New Brunswick CFO had was, "But, but
that's what Nova Scotia's doing", right
Right.
And it was overturned.
But I think, I think people need to
understand that they have the ability,
they have the agency to be able to
stand up and call these things into
question, and there's, there's happy
paths, there's really difficult paths.
Going to court's gonna be one of those
difficult paths because it, a lot of
times it doesn't matter if you're right
or wrong, it's who played the game better.
Uh, I, I, I know in, uh, Ontario,
Daniel Belofsky was the one, he was a
Silver Core Club member, and Ontario
was like, "Okay, we're gonna try doing
the same thing Nova Scotia's doing, and
we're not gonna accept it." And he took
them to court, and he won in court.
Judge says, "You have to issue Mr.
Belofsky his, uh, his ATT and restricted
license based on what he has."
Their CFO at the time, Mr. Chris
Wyatt, says, "Yeah, not a problem.
We'll do that." Gets out of court and
says, "Okay, Daniel, you just gotta give
us exactly what we were asking for before.
We're not gonna recognize these other
things." So Daniel took them back
to court, lost, but it didn't… Not
wanting it to be appealed further,
Ontario then took a different
position than they had before.
So effectively, a change was made
despite a, uh, a loss in court.
So I'm looking at you in Nova
Scotia from British Columbia, the
complete other side of the country.
Are you seeing the same sort of thing?
Are you seeing Nova Scotia
being used as a testing ground?
And if so, why do you think that is?
Um, maybe because we're a small
province, we're kinda easy to
push around and, um, kinda sleepy.
Like, um, you know, a- and I
mean, not with all due respect.
I think a lot of Nova Scotians are waking
up, but, um, you know, uh, people kinda
wanna live that quiet lifestyle around
here, so they tend, um, not to be,
like, hypervigilant, um, you know, uh,
about these kinds of things I'm afraid.
Um, and it, it's a bit of an anomalous
place where we always vote Liberal,
but we're a pretty rural place.
And most people… Like, a
very rural place, you know?
Mm-hmm.
Most people just wanna ride their
quads and shoot their guns like I do.
But, um- Sure … for some reason- Just
not on Sunday, right?
Ah, well, uh, we got, we, we can
go shopping on Sunday these days.
They- Oh, okay … we, we were the last
province to legalize Sunday shopping.
Okay.
Um, so set, set your watch back
20 years, I guess- … um, when
you get to, to Nova Scotia.
That's a pretty good rule of thumb.
Um, but yeah, it, it is kind
of anomalous in, in that way.
Um, we, we tend to be, uh, kinda private
people and kinda like just wanna be
left alone to live our lives and enjoy
nature and, and, and stuff like that.
But at the same time, um, kinda,
kinda compliant I'm afraid.
So it's, uh, it's a bit like Maine.
Uh, there's, uh, a lot of, um, you know,
the fisheries here depends- Mm … on
government programs, and a lot of seasonal
work depends on government programs.
And, you know, even tourism, um, you know,
that's, uh, that's a big thing out here.
Um, I think we would be a lot better
off, things would probably change
if they'd let us, um, industrialize,
let us develop our industry.
And there's even been some
movement on that recently with
the, the lift on, uh, mining.
Yeah.
The ban on mining out here in Nova Scotia.
'Cause we have uranium.
Like we- Mm-hmm
we, we have uranium, we have shale,
we have, um, all kinds of stuff that
we're just doing nothing with, and
everybody's screaming about this.
Uh, you know, right now there's
the LNG terminal out in, uh,
BC- Mm-hmm … that's shipping.
We're gonna supply Europe, I guess,
from, uh, from BC. That's insane.
Yeah.
'
Cause that makes a lot of sense.
We, I think, uh, BC has around,
uh, 600, uh, what is it?
600 teracubic feet.
Um, and, uh, in, in Nova Scotia we
have about 400 tera- Mm … not,
not, not, not Nova Scotia, but the
Atlantic provinces overall have
about- Mm … 400 teracubic feet here.
So, uh, trilli- trillions, as
in trillions of, of cubic feet-
Mm … so of, uh, of natural gas.
Um, so, uh, they're,
they're pretty comparable.
And our proximity to Europe
makes us a prime location-
Yes
…
to start supplying Europe with energy.
And I mean, they need uranium too.
They're buying it from the Russians
for crying- Mm … out loud,
just like they are their gas.
So, um, that's, that's not good for,
you know, the geostrategic outlook.
I think, um, you know, we should be
ramping up produc- All it would take
would be the National Projects Office
designating, um, you know, an oil
and gas project in Atlantic Canada as
a, uh, as in the national interest.
And we have LNG terminals in Saint John.
We have them in Newfoundland.
It's just that they're import only.
It would be a matter of-
Mm
…
um, adding the, um, adding the liquifa-
li- liqui- liquifac- liquification, um-
Capacity, uh, the capability to those
plants to make them export terminals.
There was another one that was,
uh, sche- that was slated for
Goldboro here in Nova Scotia.
And Goldboro actually has an
agreement with the Germans to
supply them with, with gas.
So I'm like, uh, you know, "What the
hell are we doing?" I think if they
would let us industrialize and kinda
get off the government- Hmm … teat
and off the equalization payments
that, um, you know, we'd be a lot more
independently minded because it seems
that it should come naturally to us.
Um, but because we're under the thumb
of government, you know, we have this
kinda weird culture that's kind of, um,
self, uh, contradictory in a lot of ways.
I, I think you're right.
I think you're right on that front.
I think it's, uh, a little bit tough
to hear from a BC boy saying that,
but from a No- Nova Scotia boy saying
it to other Nova Scotians it's,
uh, a little bit more palatable.
But I, I think, uh, I think you hit the
nail on the head there that they're on the
teat, and it's, it's a place where they
say, "Well, we're giving you the money,
so let's, let's try these things out,
and you guys just don't squawk too much.
We'll see what happens.
You, you be the first for us."
Mm-hmm.
So the, if, if we look at… 'Cause I,
I'm kinda interested in, um, in how we can
use, um, similarities between your efforts
and what you're doing in other ways.
Like, there's the, um,
uh, land access issues.
There's indigenous land grabs
here that are, that have been
going on across the country now.
We've seen it big here in BC.
There's the firearms side of things.
There's… Uh, you've mentioned
a number yourself already that,
uh, people could be looking.
Of course, everyone was directly
affected by, by COVID and the,
the protocol that happened there.
Um, you took an approach, let's say
singularly we'll take a look at one
issue here, the one that you were
recently the courts found in your
favor would be walking in the woods.
Mm-hmm.
Um, can you talk me through the
process why you did that, um, what
you tried before that didn't work,
and why you took that, and how
it eventually worked out for you?
Sure.
Um, so like I mentioned before,
we actually had the first
woods ban come in in 2023.
I think there was actually one
in 2016 too, but I must- Mm
have missed that somehow.
I was living in Ottawa at the time
while I was still in the military.
But- Mm … um, in 2023, there was a
massive fire, uh, about a 10-hour drive
from my house, and I wasn't allowed to
go into the park to walk my dog, um,
because of this fire that's, uh, you
know, a 10-hour drive from my house.
Uh, now- So- I, I don't mean-
Was that the Tantalus fire?
Uh, actually, I was thinking
about the Barrington fire.
Oh, Barrington.
Tantalus- Right … Tantalus
would've been-
Tantalus
…
2025.
Okay.
Um, but, um, the, uh, in, in 2023, um,
you know, they had these wildfires going
on the mainland, and I, I don't mean
to, you know, uh, downplay that at all.
Like, there were very serious fires.
It was the worst wildfire
season in Nova Scotia's history.
But they were all on the mainland,
and I live on Cape Breton Island.
So there's a piece of ocean called the
Canso Strait that separates us from the
mainland, and there has never been a
fire in Nova Scotia's history to jump
over that two-kilometer, uh, strait.
So- Sure … uh, um, so I thought it was
unreasonable at that time, and I submitted
an application for judicial review to the
s- Nova Scotia Supreme Court, um, to have
the measures reviewed in front of a judge.
And when I stood in front of him,
he said that I was not harmed by
the measures, uh, just the fact
that my rights were infringed.
Apparently, I could not
stand on my rights alone.
There had to be money involved.
But he said had I gotten fined,
then, um, I would've had standing.
So my case was ultimately dismissed on
standing in 2023, and when they brought in
the measures again in 2025, I said, "Okay,
well, I need, I know what I need to do."
And I called the, um- Department of
National Resources and spoke to the
supervisor and told him exactly what I was
gonna do and said, "I wanna make this as
easy as possible for you guys, so, um, how
about I come into the office? When would
be a good time for you?" And, uh, he told
me to come in around shift change at about
4:00 PM, and everybody would be there.
So that's what I did, and I explained
to the guys when I got there, like, uh,
exactly what I explained to you, that
I had tried to take the government to
court on that in 2023, and the judge
said that I needed to get the fine.
So, you know, I'm not trying
to give you guys a hard time.
I was really clear about that.
If anybody's seen the video, I, I tried
to take it, uh, you know, firm, fair,
friendly, as courteous as possible,
and, um, try to make it clear to
those guys that I wasn't, you know,
looking to give anybody a hard time.
I just needed some paperwork
to, uh, to have these measures
reviewed in front of a judge.
So, um, then we went out back.
I took a 90-second romp through a
dense patch of bush and came out, and
they issued me a fine for $28,872.50.
Geez.
So, and, uh, yeah.
So from there, um, I got
the JCCF in my corner.
They, um, submitted s- uh, an
application for judicial review
in my private interest, and the
Canadian Constitution Foundation also
submitted one in the public interest.
And we went to courts in March, and,
uh, you know, straight up, like I, I
thought it was a complete bloodbath.
I thought it was an open-and-shut
case, um, on the first day.
Mm. As soon as, uh, the CCF delivered,
like, their opening arguments, I'm like,
"It's, it's open and shut. It's done."
Um, and we went through quite a bit more.
We went through two more days.
Uh, so there was like a Wednesday,
Thursday where it was CCF, JCCF,
and then on the, on the last
day, we heard from the Crown.
And they, uh, they… Well, it's just
like, I think, what you're describing.
It's like they're just making
it up as they go along.
Um, they actually submitted in writing
in their own legal briefs that the
right to freedom of movement does
not mean that we have the right
to move freely in a free society.
What?
Yes.
They tried to argue that.
Um,
and- That'd be an interesting
one to try and argue.
Well, and, and, you know, they, uh,
they… And that's the thing is, um-
Well, i- in order to be Charter compliant,
they would have to show that at some
point before issuing the proclamation
banning us from the woods, that the
minister would have had to have turned
his mind to our rights and what the
impact would it be to our Charter rights.
Um, and, uh, even in the briefings that
were provided to the minister before
he made the decision, in the section
h- heading, with the heading Legal, the
only thing that they discussed was the
possibility that they might get sued by
industry, and so they decided- Ah … to
come out with that permit system.
There was no mention of our
Charter rights whatsoever.
Hmm.
So right, like, uh, the test
that they applied was called the
Doré test, and that's step one.
Hmm.
Did they actually consider our rights?
And if they didn't, if they can't show
that they did or that at least, you know,
the, the, the spirit and intent and the
values of the Charter were, were, um,
you know, it was, uh, it was apparent.
There was, there was no evidence
at all that they, um, that they
considered our rights even for a moment.
So, um, fails the, the
Doré test on its face.
And, um, the, uh, I, I think really
when the Crown got up to argue that,
um, you know, he, he, he was… Well,
he, he called it venting, I think.
He said he was venting- Hmm
that, uh, that, that we had rights
to, to move around, and tried saying,
"Well, you know, you could, you can't go
through a crosswalk when it says don't
walk. That would be jaywalking." So
just no understanding of this, this idea
of reasonableness and proportionality.
Like, there's a logical connection to
a goal of preventing traffic accidents,
especially involving pedestrians, um,
you know, to having crosswalk signs.
And it's, um, it's also, like,
uh, proportional, you know?
Hmm.
Like, uh, it's so-
Nobody can walk.
But- And then if nobody walks-
Yeah … they will not get hit by a car.
Exactly.
Or, you know, if nobody drives,
then we won't- Right … have
any traffic accidents.
Just ban driving.
Done.
Easy.
That'll, that'll save lives.
Just like
guns, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Right.
Just-
Just like drugs.
Yeah.
You ban drugs, and we'll never find
them- … in the prison systems,
right?
Let's, let's just ban murder, and-
Yeah … and then we'll, uh- They
should ban murder.
Why don't they
ban murder?
They should absolutely
ban m- I don't know.
It's still happening.
How can this still be happening?
Where is the government on that one?
Right.
Um, so you talk about a judicial review.
I remember, um, many years back, uh, so
I've been asked by, on both Defense and
Crown Council to opine on issues generally
in the firearms, use of force-type r-
realm and world, weapons-related stuff.
And there was one that was a,
um, a, a Defense Council came up
and they said, uh, "Look, we're
bringing this application forward.
It's on a Type 97A rifle.
It was legally imported by this
business, and government said
it's A-okay, it's all good.
And now they're saying, 'Hold on a second.
This thing's, um- too
easy to make go full auto.
So can you, can you take a look at
this and opine on ease of conversion?
And of course, as an expert,
you're an expert for the courts.
You get qualified as an expert in
whatever matter that you're working on,
and it'll only say you're an expert on
that one matter, and then they ascribe
weight to what your expert level is.
Like, maybe you're an expert for
the courts, but of very little
weight or of high weight based
on whatever the courts determine.
So anyways, I look at this rifle,
comes on in, and it only took me, I
guess, less than a minute to figure
out how to make the thing go full auto,
and it was really, really damn easy.
So that was my report.
I mean, I'm sure the gun community
would probably take a look and
say, "Well, why would you say
that? That kinda hurts the case."
Well, I'm there to tell the truth, and I'm
there to tell the truth for the courts.
Mm-hmm.
I go first.
I go in on this, what was
it, a reference hearing.
I think it was a reference
or judicial review.
Uh, and trying to, trying to
get my terminology right here.
Anyways, I go in first.
I give my statement.
There's a lot of things that were
being put forth by Crown on this
which were in- completely wrong,
com- and easily verifiably false.
And but the crux of it was, yeah,
this, this gun is pretty easy,
right, to, to make go full auto.
And, you know, it meets the hassle
wander and it meets the, the
different, uh, decisions prior to
this for, uh, for ease of conversion.
Mm-hmm.
Then since I went first, I get
to sit down, and I watched their
expert go up there, and that's
longtime expert Murray Smith.
And, um- In my opinion, it felt
like he was lying through his teeth.
And had he learned or been privy to
what I had to say previously, um,
he, he wouldn't have to say any of
the things that he was saying there.
But of course, he w- that's
not part of the process.
He can't get to see that.
And so he was… And I was like,
"Holy crow, they're gonna lose this
just based on the fact that," like
I said, in my opinion, see all these
qualifiers I'm putting around it, felt
like he was lying through his teeth.
Um, either that or he was just
highly, highly misinformed or had
a very, very different set of, uh,
facts than I was ever presented with.
Um, and so anyways, I was like, "Well,
what are the courts gonna make of
this? This is crazy. It's very clear
that, that what he's saying here is
wrong." And what I learned was it
really didn't matter what I said.
It really didn't matter what he
said, because the process that the
courts were looking at was only if
the steps were followed properly
in arriving at a conclusion.
If the conclusion they arrived at was
completely erroneous, but the steps that
they followed were, were reasonable,
then the erroneous decision will stand.
That was a bit of an eye-opener for me in
the, in the court system because somebody
saying, "Well, I'm gonna take this to
court 'cause I'm right." Well, those
right clients are often the most expensive
and difficult clients for a lawyer to
be able to, to handle, and often the
most disappointed by the final outcome,
because right doesn't mean that you win.
So I look at what you did, and it went
through the court system, probably
would've cost an arm and a leg, but
y- did it cost you out of your pocket
aside from your stress, your time,
your, your, uh, your neck on the line?
Financially it was covered by
Yeah, yeah.
It was, uh, the JCCF provided my lawyer,
Justice Center for Constitutional Freedom.
So they run- Sure … on donations,
and they're a wonderful organization.
They also provided my lawyer for
the convoy and, and Rolling Thunder.
His name is Chris Fleury, so I
got to wor- work with Chris again.
Um, but Chris didn't even really
engage much because he was gonna
defend me in court for the ticket.
But the, uh, charter application
was, uh, that was litigated by
Alison Palvik and, uh, Marty Moore.
So Alison is a constitutional lawyer
and Marty is administrative law, all
of which were in play in this case.
Mm. Um, so, uh, so they
litigated that portion of it.
And they run 100% on donations.
Like, they're- Mm
they're a wonderful organization.
And perish the thought of where Canada
would be right now were it not for civil
liberties organizations like the JCCF
and the Canadian Constitution Foundation.
Mm. So no, no out-of-pocket expense to me.
Well, I think, I think the courts serve
a very valuable role, but I think to
effect positive change in the way that,
uh, that we're looking at, the avenue
has to be outside the courts, personally.
I mean, uh- Well- Because
you're, you're rolling the dice.
You're dealing with it 12 years later.
You're, uh, by that time, maybe
it's, it's not even an issue anymore.
Like, there has to be a, a public
perception that's influenced.
In the same way that public percession-
perception was influenced in, let's say
COVID, that you were, were actively, uh,
against the mandates that were coming
in because any reasonable individual
can look at that and say, "Hold on.
Things aren't adding up the way
they say it should be adding up.
My- what I see, touch, feel with my
own senses and eyes doesn't really make
sense." I get that we're seeing it every
single day that X number of people are
dying and that we're, it's being crammed
down our throats, and all of a sudden
that stops, uh, at a, at a certain point.
I think there has to be a way for
people to wake up and just start asking
questions, and have a matrix that they
can, uh, apply to things that, that
come to and say, "Is this right or is
it wrong? Do I feel that I should be
standing up against this, or do I… Is
it not worth my time or energy?" It's just
I'm, I'm just tilting at windmills here.
Do you have a bit of a
matrix that you apply?
Um, I, I… Logic, yeah.
I, uh, ab- ab- absolutely.
Common sense and logic?
Okay.
Yeah.
Um, and I, I guess, like, I,
I've just been a loud and proud
skeptic since I was a teenager.
Like, I read a bunch of Carl Sagan books.
Um- Mm. Demon-Haunted World: Science
as a Candle in the Dark really
endorses a, a skeptical approach.
Um, so, you know, I need a
reason before I adopt a belief.
And what I mean by reason is just
sufficient evidence to support the
claim being advanced, analyzed through
a logical framework like just, you
know, basic logic, a syllogism, a major
premise, minor premise, conclusion,
this kind of thing, uh, without
committing any logical fallacies.
And, uh, a- and that's how,
uh, how I evaluate information.
Um, and, uh, you know, when it came
to the vaccine, we had the statistics
from overseas well before, um, we ever
declared a pandemic here in Canada.
And, uh, like, the data showed that
in my age bracket, I, as, as a man,
I had a, a lower chance of dying from
COVID than I did from the seasonal flu.
Mm. And I stopped taking seasonal
flu shots, like, decades ago.
I was like, "I'm, I'm better off-
Sure … with the, with the virus
than I am with the vaccine," um,
when it came to the flu shot.
And I was pretty sure that I already had
COVID in January of 2020- Mm … which
would mean that I would have, uh, natural
immunity, and I was right about that, too.
I haven't been sick since.
I have not been sick in
over six years now, so.
Mm. Or five years.
Over five years now.
So, um, yeah.
What year is this?
Um.
It's… Yeah.
That, that's six years.
It's 2026.
Yeah.
That was 2020, so.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and, uh, uh, so I was naturally
immune just watching everybody run around
with their hair on fire here in, uh, in
Canada and- In Nova Scotia in particular.
Um, and uh, you know, I, I would say this,
like it's a long-term intergenerational
project that we're all engaged in here,
civilization as we like to call it.
Mm. And we, we need like education reform.
When, when I was a kid, like I was being
taught by the GI generation, like when
I was little, you know, in, in primary
school and stuff like that, there were
these people who lived through the Second
World War who were always telling me, you
know, I don't know how good I have it and
how much people sacrificed to give me this
life that I have and all these advantages
that have been conferred upon me.
Um, and uh, but don't worry, like someday
it'll be your turn to rise up too, and you
have a duty to safeguard this inheritance
for, uh, for future generations to come.
So I, I kinda had that, um, sense
of civic duty instilled in me,
like just, just when I was a kid.
Mm. Like going through school and
learning about the Pilgrims and, and
all of these things, these hardships
that so many had to bear in order
to, uh, to build this country.
Um, so um, I already had that
in me, but I'll tell you what I
didn't get was the philosophy.
Like that came- Mm … later.
I had to discover that on my own, um, just
through like my own reading and whatnot.
And I think that, uh, we need
to teach philosophy in schools.
That's, that should be- Sure … what
school, what schools are for.
Um, you know, like history is a
branch of philosophy, as is economics.
It's all sort of the intellectual
water in which we swim and, and just
the, the critical thinking portion
of it is what ties it all together,
and there's nothing about a basic
critical thinking course, um, that you
couldn't teach to a middle schooler.
Right.
There's no reason to, to make
people wait until they go to
university and, and pay for it.
These are basic skills
that everybody needs.
Teach them how to think,
not what to think.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Say that all the time.
So it's a great way to put it.
Um, and on the, the COVID deaths
point, you mentioned that they stopped,
um, hyping that all of a sudden.
I think I- Oh, 'cause
the deaths obviously stopped.
Come on.
Well, that's the thing.
Like here in Nova Scotia, I was getting
arrested for not wearing a mask in
November of 2021 because that's when the
Omicron wave was hitting, and the vaccine
mandates came into effect in January
of 2020 when we had, um, 10 times the
number of COVID deaths recorded here in
Nova Scotia in January of 2020 as we…
Or sorry, 2022, as we
had in November of 2021.
So that's right about the time
they stopped reporting on deaths.
Mm-hmm.
I, I've always looked at COVID like fog.
So when it first came out, I have a,
uh, friend over in Valencia, Spain,
and they're kind of on the, the tip
of the spear over there in Europe.
They're, they're seeing things a little
sooner than we were seeing over here, or
at least they were reporting on it because
at that point, like you, I would feel…
I came back from SHOT Show with
COVID, as did many other people
before they were even announcing this.
Mm-hmm And he says, "Oh, Trav,
it's bad." "Okay." He's like,
"Yep." He's like, "You just watch.
We got police are patrolling up and down.
They're keeping people in their
houses and because COVID's really bad.
I'm okay, I'm on board
with this," he says.
Um, I said, "Well, so you're seeing
a lot of deaths in, in Valencia
there?" "Well, no, not, not in
Valencia, but, but over…" And
he's pointing over other places.
"Over here, and it, it's like fog. It's
not foggy where I'm standing, but you
look over there, man, it's foggy. But
if you walk over there and look back,
oh man, it's really foggy over there."
And that's what COVID was like to me.
It's always like, well,
it's not affecting me.
I don't see it.
It's not bad over here, but man, these
hospitals are, they're blowing up and
Where
the nurses are
doing the TikTok videos?
Regardless of the fact- What's that?
Where the nurses are doing
the TikTok videos- That's
right
that's where all the deaths are happening.
Regardless of the fact that there
is the same issues prior to COVID
and, and, and all the re- I, I mean,
it didn't, it didn't add up to me.
And I'm not… I do have a tinfoil
hat sitting here behind me that I've
haven't had a chance to wear yet.
I'm not the tinfoil hat type person,
but I will ask questions, and I
will take a look, and I'll say…
And for me, the big thing
was, like, like do I care?
Am I gonna go out there
and get a jab or not?
I mean, who cares?
I, they say it's supposed to help.
I bel- I trust in a certain
level of the government, but
do I wanna get my kids jabbed?
Well, no.
I mean, they're, they're really in a
low demographic for any adverse issue,
and for this untested, untried mRNA.
So if I'm not getting them done, why
would I wanna get me done, right?
And that was, that was
the thought process.
And this sort of conversation couldn't
even happen during COVID because it
would either be censored or people
would be looking over their shoulders
or ta- talking in hushed tones, and
that's really concerning for me.
When we reach a point where people
talk about this, you know, this us
against them sort of thing, and you
probably see it in the military, and
I see it in police officers as well.
You know, the lower ranks
are talking about the brass.
They don't know what's going
on, and there, there's this,
there's this disconnect.
And- Yeah … I'm, I'm, I'm gonna fight
them, and the brass are probably like,
"Oh, those stupid grunts down there.
They don't know what's going on.
They don't have to deal with…" Th-
but there is a human condition to all
of this, and I think if we're able to
try and understand, I don't necessarily
believe that the government is trying
to, uh, control every aspect of every
person for some nefarious reason.
But I think human nature will say that
if there's the ability to ride a wave
for whatever personal, political or
finan- sort of financial gain that
you can, there are gonna be people
out there that take advantage of that.
Like, I don't think-
Yeah … there's a cabal of people
out there that are kinda- Yeah
pull, pulling all the strings, but
I definitely think there are people
out there that'll take advantage of
whatever the zeitgeist is, zeitgeist
is in order to, um, to benefit
themselves, and I think that's kinda
what we found ourselves in in COVID.
I think that's what we're
finding ourselves in with
the lockdowns and fire bans.
They're, "Well, it'll look good.
People will think I'm doing the right
thing," or maybe there's a financial
gain, or maybe there's something here.
And same with the firearm stuff.
I, I, I don't think they're stupid.
I don't think the government's coming
at this and saying, "This is gonna solve
crime." They're, they're looking at it
and saying, "I think this is what the
people want, um, at least the voting
bloc, so let's, let's see what we can do."
Yeah.
Um, a- again, it's another one of
those things that's pretty complex.
It's, it's, it's multifaceted.
Sure.
I think that you're right.
Like, there's a lot of
opportunism i- in all of this.
And, uh, you know, it- there, there
are plenty of people, um, out there
of sufficiently low character to,
uh- Mm-hmm … absolutely, um, you
know, take advantage of the situation.
Um, but, you know, I also think
that, uh, we as humans, like we,
we eat our own all over the world.
Sure.
Like, uh, we, um, you know, we
exploit the hell out of one another.
We're natural exploiters
of, uh, of the vulnerable.
Um, a master-slave species.
And, uh, you know, there is that
totalitarian impulse that is in
every one of us that we must resist.
Um, I think, uh, there's a line in
Orwell's 1984 that I think probably best
encapsulates that totalitarian impulse,
and it's in the second last chapter when
O'Brien's got Winston on the torture
machine in Room 101, and he says, "We
shall squeeze you empty and fill you with
ourselves." Um, and that's, that's what
I see kind of across the board is, uh,
well, that's what totalitarians are like.
They will not tolerate even the slightest
little bit of daylight between your
worldview and- Hmm … and theirs.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and, and, you know, I think it's, it's
something like a spectrum maybe, where,
uh, you know, that impulse is in every one
of us, and some of us have, uh, have it
under control a little better than others.
Hmm.
Um, and, uh, some of us are wiser
than others, and some of us are
more self-disciplined than others.
Um, and so, uh, when you end up with,
like, you know, low character types
like Trudeau, um, in charge, or Carney,
or John Fraser, or any number of these
degenerates that have been running the
country into the ground for the last
decade or so, um- That's, uh, that is
their natural inclination is to simply
lash out and abuse, um, when, uh, whenever
there's, um, any kind of that daylight
between their worldview and yours.
And, like, on the firearms
question, they're just- they,
they know what they're doing.
They know that, um, you know, it's not
legal gun owners that are committing
these crimes, but they're happy to
scapegoat to, to abuse, um, that segment
of the population that they know is
never going to vote for them anyway.
Mm. Um, and, uh, and it's a great way to
continue the political theater to make
it look like they're doing something.
Um, but I also think that, uh, you know,
it's, it's, it's too congruent with, uh,
anarcho-tyranny, um, to, uh, to ignore.
I mean, they're importing… What was it?
Y- you took the Indian government
sounding the alarm about how our
own government had imported 18,000
convicted felons from India.
Mm. Um, so, uh, you know, and we
have the, the CCP interference
piece, which I've been, I've been
screaming about that for years.
Um, and, uh, it, it seems to
have reached such a level now.
It's so pervasive, I think.
Uh, you know, CBSA is, is compromised.
The Americans have told us that.
Um, and, uh, you know, so we're,
we're importing criminals to go out
and commit these crimes, and then
turning around and clamping down on the
people that didn't do anything wrong.
They're disarming the local population
so that we're left more vulnerable
to, uh, these destabilizing forces
like terrorism and organized crime.
Um, and yeah, I, I think that in, in
the broader picture, like, that's just
one example that I could give you of,
um, you know, o- one of these measures
that are being put in place that's
utterly destabilizing to a society.
Mm.
Um, and you know, as Sun Tzu said
in the 5th century BC, "The supreme
art of war is to subdue the enemy
without any fighting." Sure.
And that's, that's essentially what he
sketches out in, uh, in The Art of War,
is a strategy to destabilize the state.
Well, I'm, I'm wondering if there's a
way that, uh, public opinion can make
it politically untenable for governments
to want to go down certain paths.
I, I think they feel that there's certain
social license for them to do things.
They'll ride the wave of wokeism and
say, "Okay, you know, because it's
whatever, what- name the year, that's
why we're gonna do this." Um, I, I,
I get- I, I personally get taken back
a little bit when we, uh, demonize
opposition, and we take a look at
them and say, "Well, they're all bad
because," 'cause they voted this certain
way, because they're a certain, from a
certain place or whatever it might be.
And I, and I try my damnedest to
put myself in the shoes of the
side that I don't agree with.
And when I take a look at, let's
say, when we talk about some of the
liberal ideology out there, and my
background, I'm more conservative.
I'm probably, probably more like
grown-up libertarian of a, uh-
Mm-hmm
…
of a background.
But you know, let's just
take that one firearms issue.
Okay, you know, I, I, I get it.
Wouldn't it be great if we lived
in a place where I didn't have to
worry about firearms violence, people
getting shot or the adverse effects?
And, and w- you know, was it Shakespeare?
"The road to hell is paved
with good intentions."
Yeah.
And I see that.
I, I s- I see that there is a lot
of good intentions behind people
who feel they know better, and
arguably maybe they do know better.
You know, "I'm educated.
I've gone to university.
I've got an outlook on things.
What you're doing out there is wrong.
You shouldn't be doing it." But the
problem is when you start sticking
your finger in and trying to force
whatever it is t- as a eventual
outcome, totalini- totality…
You say it for me.
Totalitarianism- … is sort
of the, uh, the outcome.
Yes.
And, and they say, "Well, but what I'm
saying is good, and you have to listen to
what I'm saying. And, and if you don't,
then we're gonna lock you up." And that's
where everything starts to fall apart.
So I, I m- I am very cautious about
trying to, uh, see it from the other side.
I also try to look at it and say Okay.
If a motivating factor here is that
it isn't too hot for them to touch
and that they feel that they can make
political hay, and I'll, I'll say
they, that could be any side, feel they
could make political hay by making this
a, a wedge issue or divisive point,
how do we take that off the table?
How do we make it so that people are
concerned with logic, they're concerned
with, uh… How do we divorce…
Like, you- I don't think you can
completely divorce emotion from it.
I think that's an important aspect.
People should feel.
You should want to feel and have
certain things, but there should
be a reasonable path forward to
that feeling if it's altruistic.
Like, how, how do we, how do we affect
that change without falling into the trap
of just fighting, fighting the other side?
Um, yeah.
You're, you're, you're
asking a mouthful there.
Mm. 'Cause I, I do think that
we do need cultural change.
It all starts there.
The politics is downstream from culture.
Um, we, we need, uh, an
overhaul of our system.
Um, you know, clearly, uh, we're,
we're gonna be left vulnerable to
this kind of exploitation so long
as our politicians never face any,
uh, consequences for these abuses.
I mean, I just got that
win in court, you know.
Um, yes, the province of Nova
Scotia abused all of our rights,
our charter rights, and there
are absolutely no consequences
for any of the people who did it.
Mm.
Um, so, uh, I think jail time, uh, should
be imposed on any decision maker who, uh,
abuses our rights as, as they did here.
And- Mm-hmm … uh, and you know,
it, it was always… I was always
taught in the military that, um,
you know, the expectations are
higher the higher up in rank you go.
So- Agreed … um, so, so yeah,
you should face stiffer penalties,
not a slap on the wrist like a $500
fine from the ethics commissioner.
If you violate the law, if you,
if you have an ethics breach as a
parliamentarian, yeah, I think you
should spend at least 30 days in jail.
Mm.
Um, you know, put them in the stocks in
front of the parliament so everybody can
throw rotten fruit at them or something.
Um, they should be humiliated.
Um- Wasn't it Mike Tyson said that?
Everyone, uh, what, what is it?
Uh, people would be a lot less lippy
if they, uh- Got punched in the face
for their con- Yeah … something
along the lines of them having-
Yeah, yeah … consequence.
Like you got people yapping back and
forth- Yeah … online, and there's
abso- absolutely zero consequence
for their, their words or actions.
Something
about you all, you all got
used to getting, not getting
punched in the face for-
Right
…
something something.
Yeah, something like that.
And then he beat up that
guy on the airplane.
That was pretty funny.
Yeah, exactly.
Guy was yapping off to him, and he turned
around in his seat and just hammered him.
That's right.
Yeah, that was awesome.
Um, yeah, I mean, I'm not endorsing, uh,
violence- No … or anything like that.
But maybe bring back a
little bit of bullying.
Like, uh, we kind of need, we kind
of need people to keep each other
in check, um, 'cause, like, you
call the cops, and they're like,
"What are you bothering me for?"
and this kind of thing.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and you see, you see
these videos of people.
Like, i- it's issue specific.
There was a guy who just got arrested
in Quebec, um, where he was, you
know, yelling at the cops because they
were letting Hamas, uh, sympathizers
parade through the neighborhood, and
he's like, "You shouldn't be allowing
this in a residential neighborhood."
And then when he turned around
to walk away, the cops ran
after him and took him down.
Hmm.
Um, and I still don't even know what
they were trying to charge him with
there 'cause he just, like, ex- expressed
his, um, dissatisfaction with the
situation, and then he walked away.
So, um, it seems to be issue specific.
I think that, yeah, there should be really
harsh consequences for abuses of power.
And that's kind of the question that
we in the West are always trying to
answer and have been for centuries
is, how do we get our leadership
to stop abusing their power?
And it always seems to be the case
that the answer the leadership comes
up with is, in order to remedy these
historical abuses of power, we should
abuse our power in the here and now.
Hmm.
Um, you know, so- Hmm … um, you know,
I think, uh, yeah, I think that, uh,
like, we should shame these people.
These people should be ashamed of
themselves, and we should st- instill
in, um, in our kids, you know, in the, in
the school system these kinds of values.
Although, uh, I, I'm not counting on the
current school system to, uh, to do that.
Um, you know, it- that's
a real mess as well.
Um- You know, I've, I, I've talked
with, uh, some highly, highly
educated people, um, uh, judges,
lawyers, and people who deal with, uh-
With all, all different types of, uh,
of people and businesses and the rest,
and it's funny, they say the same thing.
There should be some level of
shaming that's brought into place.
And without that consequence, and, and
it sounds absurd, it sounds really…
Like, when I first heard it, like
when you said, "Oh, they should bring
back bullying to…" Maybe a little
bit of bullying ain't bad, right?
Or a little bit of shaming.
Uh, but they have, uh, sitting down
and talking with them, they're, they're
giving examples of, um, like for example,
the, um, the process of legalizing hard
drugs and, um, safe injection sites
and all the rest in order to try and,
um- and try and, try and help people.
D- let's not demonize people
who are addicts and addicted.
Fair enough, and we're following
a model from, from over in Europe.
We're following a model from wherever.
But our model excludes one element
that those other models back east
or back w- uh, in Europe have,
which is a public shaming process.
And there, there is an accountability
process, and people- Right
and that affects a change,
uh, more desirably.
Not just, "Here, have more free drugs.
Let's not affect root causes.
Let's not address…" And i- it's a
weird concept for, uh, for somebody
to think about, especially when we've
been raised in zero bullying, zero
shaming, zero… But the problem with
that whole zero, zero, zero is by
default you are hyper inclusivity.
Default is exclusivity, and w- we have
to find some sort of a balance to this.
Interesting thing that
you're bringing up there.
Yeah, and it's something, you know,
that Freud talks about too in, uh,
Civilization and Its Discontents,
um, where he talks about how, um,
it's, it's the shaming of toddlers.
Like, we're born savages.
That's what human beings are.
I think we're m- I think we're born
evil, and it takes effort to be good.
Um- Mm … you know, uh, things like
m- slavery and cannibalism come quite
naturally, naturally to us, um, in the
wild, in the ancestral environment.
Um, and, uh, in, in Civilization
and Its Discontents, like, you, you
have to teach a toddler not to bite.
Mm-hmm.
You have to teach them not to hoard, um,
all of the toys and, and bully other, uh,
other, uh, uh, toddlers and stuff like
this, and you do that by shaming them.
Mm.
And it's this, this process of shaming our
toddlers, of disciplining our toddlers,
um, that, uh, Freud said results in a
kind of necessary trauma in the mind.
And that installs the superego-
Mm … which is, like, the, uh,
kind of internal overseer that's
shaming us for our impure thoughts
and watching us while we masturbate.
Um, so, uh, so yeah, I mean, i- if you
were raised that way, then you, you
tend to sort of self-police, you know.
In- inside it's like, "I'm gonna be
ashamed of this," 'cause you've got
this, this internal overseer that's like,
"I see what you're doing right now."
I s- and, um, you know, and, and
that shame is what, what kinda
keeps us, um, on the rails.
And, and in, um, other places in
the world, like say in Afghanistan,
like, they don't really invest in
their toddlers because, uh, a woman
there, I mean, she might only live
until she's about 40 years old, and
she's gonna have about 10 kids, only
about three of whom are gonna survive.
And so they tend not to invest in their
toddlers because they're not sure that
they're gonna be around too long, and
they don't wanna get attached to them.
Um, so they don't really start
to invest in their kids until
they're adolescents basically.
Um, and, and by then
it's already too late.
So-
Really?
They- I
didn't know
that Yeah.
Yeah.
So, um, so yeah, they, they, they
remain… I think we're born sociopaths
and, um, you know, we, uh, we, we end
up with this, uh, superego installed.
Um, you know, that's,
that's what a savage is.
That's what a, um, a, uh, you know, the,
we, the, the value for human life doesn't
really come naturally to us for… It-
it's more of an in-group preference
coupled with an out-group hostility.
So you have morality that applies to
you, to your family, and to your tribe,
and then more broadly to your nation.
But, um, out- out- outsiders are naturally
seen as, as threats, as competitors
for resources, as carriers of disease.
Um, that all comes from the way we
evolved, um, you know, in, in the wild.
Mm. Um, and it's maladaptive.
It's, uh, it's utterly maladaptive
to a modern civilization.
So, um, I think that, um, you know,
that, uh… Well, w- we need to, uh, we
need to accept, you know, what we are
and, uh, and, you know, um, accept human
nature and go forward with a strategy
to raise kids and build societies,
um, in the full light of, of what we
understand about human nature right now.
Um, and that's not what we're doing.
Mm. Right now what we're doing is it's
basically everybody is special and perfect
exactly with the way they are, um, and
we should be accepting of all of it.
But y- really, like, your natural
impulses, um, you know, are
essentially the seven deadly sins.
Um, you know, pride- Sure
lust, gluttony, um, so on and so forth.
Mm-hmm.
Um, so, uh, so those natural instincts
need to be tamed, um, uh, so we,
uh, we don't turn out to be, uh,
civilization-destroying savages.
So what do you do to keep yourself
from, the savage self from coming out?
Um, I, uh, I practice
stoicism on the daily.
I, uh, you know, I read in the morning.
I read, um, the Meditations of Marcus
Aurelius, and I usually read from
another volume as well, like I have,
uh, the Discourses of Epictetus
and the Enchiridion on the go.
Um, and I journal and, and meditate,
um, and, uh, just try to be mindful.
Like, mindfulness is all
about just recognizing those
feelings when they arise.
Hmm.
And when you notice the feeling, what
you will also notice is that in the
noticing, the feeling tends to dissipate.
So, um, you can kinda keep yourself
in check with just some presentism,
um, you know, the, the power of now,
being here, i- in the here and now.
Um, I take a little pride, you
know, in my self-discipline.
And I also recognize, like, like you
said, I have a warrior's heart, so
I've practiced martial arts my, uh,
entire life, although I'm kinda all
washed up now and can't really do it
anymore, so that's a bit frustrating.
But I'm, I'm trying to find a way back
into it because it's a really good
outlet for, um, a lot of that kind of
natural aggression that you, you should
expect, you know, to, to, to find.
It comes naturally to men.
It's, it's our, you know, cross to
bear, um, to, to tame that aggression.
Um, and, uh, that's, uh,
that's a good outlet for it.
It's healthy.
So aren't you angry?
I mean, you're- Yeah … you're
f- you're fighting against some
nebulous threats out here that have
zero consequence even when you win.
What… How do you deal with that anger?
How do you deal with that emotion?
Well, act out of anger or act out of
fear and you will live to regret it.
Um, and what I try to do is, uh,
I think the whole game in life
basically is to take those negatives
and turn them into a positive.
So I, I try to take that negative energy
and put it into something positive.
Um, and, and that's what I did.
Like I, I just spite it.
Uh, I think spite is probably
the sweetest motivation.
And, uh, yeah.
And, and I spite it the hell out of,
uh, the Nova Scotia government, and I
shamed Tim Houston all over social media
and in all of the interviews I did.
Shame on these, uh, tyrants
and so on and so forth.
Um, and you know, I played the
veteran card all of the time.
Like this guy goes around saying,
"Lest we forget every time," um, it's-
Hmm … it's Remembrance Day again.
But, uh, you know, uh, lest we forget
doesn't mean we gotta get out there and
have a funeral for these guys every year.
Hmm.
It means lest we forget what they stood
for, and lest we forget that we all have
a sacred civic duty to, uh, safeguard
that inheritance for, uh, for future
generations, to honor that sacrifice.
And so I would say shame on him for,
um, for, uh, spitting into the graves
of our fallen the way that he has.
So, um, mind you, he still came out
and said that he would do it again.
Um, I, I don't know.
We'll see what happens,
but I'll do it again.
I'll go out and spite him again.
Um, and even like, um, you know,
my own daughter is a, is a victim
of gender ideology and hasn't,
uh, spoken to me since 2023.
So, um, I get active
in that space as well.
I, uh, I just did, uh… I'm
incredibly angry about what's
been, been done to her, um, by the
state that I served for 20 years.
And, uh, you know, now I, I just
came away on the 5th of May.
I organized, uh, me and my, my, my
very small team of incredibly dedicated
volunteers, uh, put together an event, um,
called May Day Kids in Crisis on the 5th
of May in, uh, in Ottawa, and we flew in
experts and those with lived experience
with the harms of gender ideology.
We did a parliamentary press gallery,
and a rally on the Hill, and a town
hall at the Bikers Church in Vanier, and
the whole day went off without a hitch.
We were on CPAC and all over
the independent media, so
um, definitely made a splash.
I got Pierre Poilievre on, uh, camera,
uh, you know, dodging my question
about Bill C-4 that he voted for,
um, that imposes a five-year jail
sentence on any parent who doesn't
want to give their child a sex change.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and you know, I have a, a personal
story with that too because he was the MP.
He was my MP when, uh- When all of
this was going down and I was in
Iraq, and the Children's Hospital of
Eastern Ontario started calling my
16-year-old daughter's phone directly
and telling her that, uh, that, that
she didn't need my permission anymore
'cause she's at the age of consent.
She can just come in for
her, uh, for her sex change.
Um, and I recorded multiple conversations
that I had with the, uh, clinicians
at the gender clinic at CHEO, um, and
offered to let Pierre l- listen to them
so, uh, he could oppose this conversion
therapy ban that, uh, throws parents
in jail for, for protecting their kids
from the trans-industrial complex.
Uh, and he went on to vote for
it a couple of more times anyway.
So now I, uh, I'm all over him on social
media, and I met him a couple of times.
Well, I, I met him several times
in person, and he was my MP, so.
Um, but I've confronted him in
public a few times and, uh, it seems
like, uh, this- like we're really
stuck here in Canada on this issue.
This, um, this pendulum should've
been swinging back, uh, well before.
I- it is starting to, like, uh, we've
seen, you know, this year I think a
lot more eyes were opened starting with
the conservative convention where they
voted down the motion to oppose Bill C4.
Um, and, uh, so they will not oppose it.
But, um, then there was the Tumblr
Ridge, uh, shooting and, uh, a couple
of other shootings that, uh, followed
on that, and a, a plot to shoot up a
couple of schools, one in Nova Scotia
and one in, um, in, uh, in Manitoba.
And Dr. Katchadorian, who is a, um,
who was one of the first doctors to
perform transitions on adolescents
in Canada, was in the National Post
saying the whole practice needs
to be revised and, um, you know.
So the pendulum- The doctor said that?
The doctor did, yeah.
So, uh-
You
know- It does seem to… It, it seems
like it wants to come back, but, uh,
you know, the politicians are standing
in the way, and it has everything
to do with that unanimous vote on
Bill C4 from, uh, from 2021, so,
uh.
I've never understood that process.
Like, I get we're all,
we're all made different.
We all come from different backgrounds.
We all… Maybe our minds
don't match our bodies.
So be it, right?
But the idea that we have to destroy
our body as a way to affirm our mind
as a first line of, of processing
and, and, and maybe s- people chime
in and say, "It's not the first line.
There's other lines." But- Why isn't
the same emphasis applied to trying
to get the mind to accept the body
for what it is and say, "Look it,
this is, this is…" I mean, like
I, I wish I, I wish I had more hair.
I wear a hat because the light
will reflect off my head, but
I'm come to terms with that.
That's my- Me too.
I, my… There you go.
My mind sees myself as a fully head
head of hair guy, but my body is, is
different from how… Like, I, I'm not
trying to make light of, of people who
are transgendered and going through these
things, but why is it being pushed so
hard that, okay, you feel a certain way,
let's go ahead and change your body?
It'd be like a kid saying, "I feel
like a pirate." Okay, let's take your
eye and one of your legs out and put
a pi- put a parrot on your shoulder.
And no, that's absurd, Travis.
You can't say that, but v-
it, it seems similar to me.
Isn't it?
Uh, yeah, I would say it's,
it's absolutely similar.
Um, and we don't give
liposuction to anorexics.
You know?
Hmm.
There's, uh, there are all kinds of
different forms of body dysmorphia,
not just gender dysphoria, which used
to be called gender identity disorder.
Um, and the reason that we don't
offer talk therapy to alleviate
gender dysphoria and help adolescents
feel comfortable in their natural
bodies is because Bill C-4 bans that.
That's considered conversion therapy
under, uh, under the definition of
conversion therapy in, uh, in the bill.
Seriously?
Yes, absolutely.
E- e- even though that's not
converting, that's just saying,
let's just be happy with what we have
and find a way to, to work with the
environment and, and what you have?
Interesting.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's, um, it's, it's kinda like they're
treating it like trans is the new gay.
Um, and the, so everybody thinks that
when we say conversion therapy we're
talking about praying the gay away.
Hmm.
Um, when in fact there are four
criteria under the definition of
conversion therapy in that bill.
Sorry, there are six criteria.
Four of them pertain to trans
identity, and only two of them
pertain to, uh, to being gay, so
the focus is on, on the trans.
Um, and, uh, and also, like, there's
all kinds of things wrong with this
because even an informed, consenting
adult who wants to seek out talk therapy
to, uh, alleviate their dysphoria,
or, or maybe they don't wanna be gay.
Maybe they wanna get
some counseling for that.
I'm not, I'm not saying,
like, you should do that.
It's entirely up to you, though.
You should be allowed to seek that
kind of therapy, but you're not.
Um, so therapists are not allowed
to, uh, to provide, um, talk therapy
to alleviate gender dysphoria, and
if you're a parent and you take your
child to the United States to get such
therapy, then you also face a five-year
jail sentence, um, for, for doing that.
Um, and this, this should be a no-brainer.
This should be a winning issue.
Um, but the thing is, in, uh, in
2020, they, uh, in, yeah, in 2021
they, um, they voted unanimously,
all 338 MPs in the House of Commons,
um, voted unanimously for that bill.
And so- Um, guys like Pierre
Poilievre, like he did it noti-
uh, knowingly, like Erin O'Toole.
Um, you know, uh, Michelle Rempel did
a dance on the floor of the House of
Commons while they all gave themselves
a standing ovation for passing it.
Um, and so all of the senior-most
members of the established political
parties, the, the party hegemony, um,
they voted for this stuff, and so none
of the rank and file can talk about
it without losing their party status.
Um, and that's the situation with it.
Everywhere else in the world, like
Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, the
UK, France, the Netherlands, the United
States, they're all bringing in tight
restrictions or all-out bans on these
sex change procedures for kids, and
we are still, uh, barreling forward.
We can't, we can't get them to
budge on this, um, because of
that unanimous vote, I'm afraid.
You know, there seems to be a, um th-
there's this air of victimhood that's
sold, and I, like I say, I don't
think there's a cabal out there that's
controlling everything and trying
to do things, but I, I, victimhood
is an easy way to control, right?
If, um, if you're a victim,
okay, we'll take care of you.
If you're a victim, you'll get some money.
Don't call the police.
Or, sorry, don't take care of it yourself.
Call the police.
We've got, we have systems set up.
We have social systems.
We've got policing systems, industrial
systems, and it feels like we have
required people in a warrior class
to create a system that we can live
in that h- is just and has rules,
and we've got, we've got different,
um, protocol that we all live by.
But over time, that warrior class starts
getting shoved to the side because
they say, "Well, hold on a second.
We don't, we don't want this anymore.
We don't need you fighting right now.
We'll take care of you.
We've got our own system that we can
do." And I think that victimhood, uh,
plays well into all of that, and we
watch our, our government bureaucracies
balloon based on this victimhood idea.
And I, I see it sold to children.
Like, my kids when they're
going through school, everyone's
got a learning disability, and
you're cool if you do, right?
Yeah.
Uh, when I went to school, I was
diagnosed with severe ADHD in grade
three, and I didn't want anybody to know.
I was put on the highest dose
of, uh, Ritalin for the, on an
experimental run for the province,
and, uh, a couple years later- Wow
the, uh, the class found out, and
everyone was like, "Oh, Travis is
taking his smart pills," right?
And it's-
Oh, yeah
…
but like, you don't want people to know.
Now it's, it seems like it's a
badge that people wear, and the
same thing with gender ideology.
Yes.
"Well, I'm just, I'm just cisgendered.
I'm just normal. Well, like,
what's, what can I do to be cool?"
And it, and it seems to me that that's
being, um, pushed, whether that's the-
Yeah … a- and, and I don't know why.
I don't, I, I don't know if it's
just a natural system and people ride
that wave, and they can see, "Oh,
if we push this forward, it makes
us look like we're the good people."
Like, governments can, "We'll all
vote for this 'cause look at this.
We're doing the right thing now." Um,
like, like, where does that come from?
Why, why does it feel that this
victimhood is being so heavily pushed?
I would say Marxism if, if
I have to bottom line it.
Um- Okay.
Yeah.
I mean, well, uh, cultural Marxism.
The, you know, the, uh, the Marxists
weren't always concerned with…
Mo- most people think of it
in terms of, like, economics.
You know, there's the, uh-
Sure … the, the bourgeois
oppressing the proletariat class.
Um, but it- it's actually a totalitarian
ideology that applies to all aspects
of life, and it's been refined and
tweaked and built upon over the decades.
It's festered and metastasized within
academia and the university in particular.
And from there, like, that permeates the
entire professional class and essentially
captures our, um, our institutions.
And so, like, the proletariat class,
um, well, I mean, it w- it was Kimberlé
Crenshaw who came up with this idea
of intersectionality, where, you know,
it's, it's not just that she's oppressed
because she's a woman, feminism being sort
of the OG of, uh, of the, um, the, the,
uh, cultural Marxist movement, you know?
Mm-hmm.
And to say, pe- people will say,
"As a woman, I believe this." Mm.
That's to say, "As a member of the
proletariat class, I believe this.
As one of the good people, I believe this.
So if you're a good person, then
you believe what I believe, because
I'm one of these special proletariat
types." Mm. Um, and then, uh, Kimberlé
Crenshaw came along and said, you
know- That, uh, you know, there's this
intersectional, um, wheel of oppression
where, you know, uh, people like her are
oppressed not just because they are…
not just because she's a woman,
but also because she's Black.
And I don't know, maybe she's a
lesbian, but that would be another one.
So now we've got, like, this entire
hierarchy that, that kind of flows
naturally from that where, you know,
if, uh, y- if, if you're in the presence
of a transgender Muslim lesbian with
a peg leg and allergies, then you must
check your privilege and, uh, defer
to her utterly on, on all matters.
Defer to they/them, I think I should say-
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm … on, on all matters.
Um, and uh, you know, there's this idea of
inclusivity out there, which is actually
exclusivity because- Right … in Or-
Orwell's p- paradigm, um, you know.
So, uh, in, in Orwell's paradigm,
like, it's, it's opposite land, right?
Everything is actually the- Mm
opposite of what they're saying.
So when they say inclusive, they
actually mean that it's quite exclusive.
So you, um… if you're a straight
white cis hetero patriarch, you don't
have any of these diversity cards that
you need to be in the club and to get
ahead, uh, to be accepted, then yeah,
the transgenderism is, is something
that makes you one of the, uh, the…
well, the, the, the transgender
children in particular are essentially
sacred beings in this, um, in, in,
in this neo-Marxist religion, um,
that, um, we're all facing right now.
Um, and uh, that's a great
way to get into the club.
Okay, like, I wasn't born, um, I wasn't
born Black or I wasn't born one of these
other intersectional proletariat classes,
but this is an identity that I can adopt,
and then I'll be in the exclusive club.
Um, so, uh, it, it w- it's, it's
basically the commodification
of, of victimhood, like you say.
Mm. Like, people will take on
these, these victim identities,
wear them as a badge of honor.
Um, and, and I think that it's, uh…
it, it just goes to show you just
how culturally Marxist we've become.
Mm. Um, and, and that's why we
gotta reform our culture as well.
Politics is downstream from culture,
and uh, and we have this ideological
poison that's basically, um, seeped
out of the universities over the
decades and compounded with every
graduating class, I'm afraid.
With all of these different causes and
all of these different places where you're
standing up for what you believe in,
what's the greatest price you've paid?
Uh, well, I mean, that,
that would be my daughter.
And, um, her, uh, she cut off
contact with me in 2023, um, 'cause I
wasn't supportive of the transition.
I never was.
I, uh, I kept her safe as long as she
was under my roof, but she, uh, she
lives with her mother now, and she
started on, uh, testosterone, and,
uh, just had her breasts removed last
September at the tender age of 22.
And so, uh, you know, that's
definitely the most painful
experience of my lifetime.
Um, and I just retired to my hometown
here where she is, so I could be
here to catch her when she falls.
But, uh, I got all that negative
energy that I gotta put into something
positive, so I might as well go after the
monsters who did it to her while I wait.
Um.
Do you think that's just
gonna demonize you further?
I mean, in her eyes-
Yeah … is that what you mean?
That's what
I mean.
Uh, it, uh, I, I think, y- you know,
it, it, there is that potential, but
I've kind of settled on the idea that,
um, y- you know, um, ultimately, like,
I, I got… Well, I gotta, I gotta
live by my own example, first of all.
And I always, um, took a pretty
rigid position on, uh, on the logic
and the reason and the discipline
and, and these kinds of things.
Even in the home, like, if the children
wanted to, uh, challenge me on a decision
or a rule that I set, then they may do
so, but they have to do so dispassionately
and logical, and I would- Mm-hmm
teach them critical thinking in this way.
And so that was always the hard boundary,
the only hard boundary that I really
set, and I guess the one that she,
uh, that she decided to rebel against.
Um, and, uh, I think in, in a lot
of this, like, I'm, I'm just setting
that example of trying to stick to my
principles, live a, a principled life.
And, um, what I think should come
through, what I hope comes through
is that, you know, like, I, I'm
just a dad here trying to do
everything I can to show that I care.
Um, you know, nobody, nobody's
done as much for her or continues
to, um, do so much as I have.
So, um, I think it's, it's
probably just gonna take time.
Uh, I have to let her come around on her
own at this point, but, um, um, when, when
she does, I think I'll have a, a pretty
good track record to stand on to say,
like, you know, "I never stopped caring."
Hmm.
You know, it sounds like we've
raised our kids in a similar way.
I would tell them, "Look
at, here, here's the rules.
Here's what we have, but I'm
open to reasonable persuasion.
If you can put together a l- a logical
case to the, to the opposite, fair enough.
And h- and here's a framework that you
can work with to try and bring that
out." I mean, my, my edict isn't law.
I'm always open to reasonable persuasion,
and I've found that's been a very helpful
way in raising my children to not really
get entrenched in our ideas, in our,
in our opinions, but rather, like, how
can we see this from the other side?
For your perspective, what
would it take you to change your
position with your daughter?
To accept that transgenderism is,
uh, is, like, a legitimate claim?
I- I- If that's her position.
I'm not sure.
Um- I- It sounds like that's her position,
that, uh, tran- What, what would it
take for you to see eye to eye with
her and, and agree with where she's at?
Um, I mean, I, I said this a lot
actually when I was dealing with those
maniacs at, uh, CHEO, um, 'cause I was
always asking them to provide me with
evidence to confirm their assessments.
Hmm.
And some of the things, 'cause I ended
up having to dive into all of the, uh,
the literature, literature at the time.
And there is, I suppose, such a thing
that, that's better described as
transsexualism, um, where, you know, due
to, say, insufficient testosterone flows
in utero, um, for, for males or, you
know, if, if females got a testosterone
flow when they were in utero that they
might have certain qualities about them
that are sort of in between, um- Sure
genders, you know?
Like, even, um, when it comes
to male and female bra- brain
anatomy, they're, they're different.
Hmm.
Um, there's a, there's a very,
there's a vastly different, um, white
matter to gray matter, um, ratio,
I can't remember which way it goes,
um, between, between the sexes.
Um, and, and sometimes people end
up in, in one of those because,
because of what happened in utero.
Hmm.
Um, that, uh, people end up with maybe
more, you know, feminine traits, a man
with more feminine traits or a woman with
more, um, with more masculine traits.
So but you can see that on a brain scan,
and you can see, like, if somebody has,
uh, Klinefelter syndrome, you know,
where they have, like, XXY chromosomes.
Hmm.
These are, these are testable claims, and
that, that is the fundamental difference
between the claim of being gay, which
is ultimately a statement of preference.
We don't expect people to logically
justify their preferences.
They just- Hmm … y- your
preferences are what they are.
Um, and but when it comes to the claim
that, you know, "I'm actually a boy
in, in a, in a girl's body," that
rises to the level of metaphysics.
Um, and so this, this is a claim about
reality, about the nature of reality,
which means that it, it is testable.
You have to be able to, uh, provide
supporting evidence for that claim.
And I just gave you a couple of
examples of, um, of, you know, something
that might be supporting evidence.
But really none of, none of
those are about transgenderism.
Transgenderism is a very cultist,
um- culturally Marxist, um, uh,
ideology, um, at the end of the day.
What I, what I was describing there
was more like, um, conditions that
probably fit better into cate-
the category of transsexualism.
Mm.
'
Cause they are, they are physical
traits, um, that, that sort of,
um, you know, people end up in a
kind of in between, um, uh state.
Um, with, with transgenderism, like
the psychiatrist, uh, the, the head of
adolescent, uh, the, the, the adolescent
gender clinic, Dr. Steven Fetter, told me
that he looked into my daughter's heart
and soul and determined that she was male.
And I said, "How did you determine
that a soul exists?" And he said, "I
don't have to answer that question."
So they are actually- Mm … making the
claim that not only that a soul exists,
but that it, that souls have genders, and
that they're able to tell which gender
your soul is, um, by, by talking to you.
So-
Mm.
Um, and, and that was over the
course- Well, I mean, he had already
made the decision on the first visit
to, to put her on puberty blockers,
which I didn't, I didn't go for.
He, you know, she didn't
do that under my roof.
But, um- Yeah … you know, it, it is a
cult, I'm afraid, at the end of the day.
Um, but, you know, I'm, I'm open
to being convinced otherwise
What's a question that nobody's
asked you but should have?
Holy smokes.
That's a, that's a pretty profound one.
Um
You know, I, I, I really don't know.
Um, what would, uh… I think
I've already, I think I've already
given you my, um, solutions
for the, uh, for the future.
I think, you know, if, if we're going to
avoid, um, going into another one of these
crises, the likes of which we're living
through right now, this crisis era, um,
the next one is due to hit us in 2108.
And, um, m- my insight is that, um,
you know, we, uh, we have to change
the way that we raise, raise children.
Um, we gotta talk to the millennials
about how they're- Mm … about
to raise children as we, we pull
out of the current crisis era.
Um, and, uh, you know, uh, the,
uh, the thing is, like, kids need
challenges, and spare the royal…
spare the rod, spoil the child.
I wasn't a spanker.
I never spanked my kids.
Mm-hmm.
But, um, you know, they, they
do need to be disciplined, and
they, they do need to be shamed.
And I think, um, maybe the
Greeks had it right when the, the
Leonidas upbringing, um, you know,
hard times create strong men.
And, uh, we need strong men to, uh,
to create and to sustain good times.
And, uh, that's what we see
across the board right now is,
is weak men bring hard times.
So if, uh, if we wanna stop the cycle,
then, um, I think we need to start
throttling those kids a little harder.
Jeff, thank you very much for
sharing your perspective and for
being on the Silvercore Podcast.
I enjoyed this conversation.
Yeah.
My pleasure, brother.
Uh, thanks for having me.
It was great.