The OLA attended the Rebel Live event on Saturday, June 17th at the Canadian Christian College in Toronto. We were one of a dozen or so organizations to have a booth there, staffed by Marlene Black, Editor of the Landowner Magazine, Donna Burns, President of the Renfrew-Nippissing-Pembroke Landowners Association, Shirley Dolan, President of the Ottawa-Carleton Landowners Association, and Elizabeth Marshall, OLA Director of Research. Would we do it again? Most definitely Yes, both for the exposure for the OLA and for the interesting and entertaining speakers.
This event was very well organized with plenty of opportunity for the more than 800 attendees to visit the exhibitors. For most of the visitors to our booth, it was their first introduction to the Ontario Landowners. We had many good conversations and made many good connections. We were presently surprised to see so many young people in attendance.
The exhibitors’ booths were inside the hall where the presentations took place so we did not miss any of the excellent speakers. Overwhelmingly, the speakers talked about the increasing loss of freedom and democracy not only in Canada but in all of what used to be the free world, e.g., North America, Europe, and Australia. There was talk of the so-called political correctness that stifles free speech, the indoctrination of our children in school, the needless pitting of one group against another, the silence of the mainstream media (MSM) on the increasing violence against Christians and, the disrespect of governments for the taxpayer.
Speakers included Ezra Levant, Jerry Agar, Doug Ford, Sheila Gunn Reid (from Alberta), Brian Lilley, Gavin McInnes, the Hon. Joe Oliver, Caolan Robertson (from the United Kingdom), Claire Lehmann (from Australia), Faith Goldy, and Dr. Jordan Peterson. Fans of the Rebel Live will readily recognize most of these names. It was clear that they were well known by the cheers and applause from the audience when their names were announced. Master of Ceremonies David Menzies did an excellent job of ensuring that the program moved along and kept on schedule.
For me, the highlights were speaker Doug Ford and Dr. Jordan Peterson. I always enjoy hearing how Doug and his brother Rob led Toronto City Council out of deficit spending and into a surplus. Sadly, this surplus is gone and the City is again spending more money than it takes in. Ford disclosed to thunderous applause that he would announce his political intentions, either municipally or provincially in September. He then gave out his personal phone number demonstrating his commitment to serve the people.
Dr. Jordon Peterson, you may recall, is the university professor whose name became a household word when the media widely publicized his refusal to use gender-neutral pronouns to address his students. He also spoke out against Bill C-16, the federal bill which passed recently and amended the Canadian Human Rights Code and the Criminal Code to include “gender identity” and “gender expression”.
His presentation on Saturday was about political correctness. He began by speaking about postmodernism and Marxism, and although, at times, I found his words difficult to follow, there were some passages that were very thought provoking, and to me, encapsulated a certain truth. For example, the notion that the radical left does not so much have compassion for the poor, but a genuine hate for those who have more than they do.
If you have a Premium Content subscription with the Rebel Media, you can watch the entire June 17th Rebel Live event. Visit www.therebel.media/watch_the_rebel_live_event_as_it_happens to watch or subscribe.
To read what the Hamilton Spectator has to say about the event, see www.thespec.com/news-story/7379878–frustrated-attendees-at-rebel-media-toronto-event-want-their-voices-heard/