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How do you solve a problem like regular COVID-19 superspreader rallies?
59 Plays4 years ago
Content creator king Abdul Malik joins us to talk about what is to be done about the lack of enforcement at COVID-19 superspreader rallies, Kenney's bizarre Xmas message, prominent Alberta columnists engaging in centrist fanfic and the little matter of the government of Alberta giving the NHL $4 million for a "unique partnership."
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Transcript
Introduction to The Progress Report
00:00:04
Speaker
You're listening to The Progress Report on the Harbinger Media Network. We're one of just many actually kinda halfway decent Lefty podcasts on the Harbinger Media Network, and one of those that we recommend is the excellent podcast 49th Parahel, hosted by Lefty content king Rob Russo. The latest episode explains my political and fossil fuel company rhetoric about net zero emissions is largely meaningless bullshit.
00:00:25
Speaker
At Harbinger, we're building something that's challenging right-wing corporate media dominance from coast to coast. Get access to exclusive shows and other supporter-only content at harbingermedianetwork.com. Now, onto the show. Friends and enemies, welcome to The Progress Report. I am your host, Duncan Kinney. We're recording today here in Amiskwichiwa, Skaigen, otherwise known as Edmonton, Alberta, here in Treaty 6 territory. And today we're joined by content creator, superstar, and returning champion,
Return of Abdul Malek and Recent Collaborations
00:00:52
Speaker
Abdul Malek. Abdul, welcome back to the pod.
00:00:55
Speaker
Thank you for having me, Duncan. This is my third podcast appearance in four days, so I am happy to be everywhere.
00:01:05
Speaker
content creator King, as I said. Um, so we recently collaborated on a dope little scoop about how, you know, the government Alberta quietly gave the NHL $4 million for, you know, reasons, but we're not going to lead with that story.
Anti-Mask and Anti-Vax Rallies in Alberta
00:01:20
Speaker
We're going to lead with the story that makes me embarrassed to live in this hellscape of a province. And that is the regular, uh, weekly, in fact, anti-mask, anti-vax COVID denier rallies that are happening in Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, Red Deer.
00:01:35
Speaker
Apparently anywhere, any decent sized city gets a COVID denier rally. So yeah, just general thoughts on these things that exist in this society for some reason. You genuinely love to see it, Duncan. Yeah, no, this is rough.
00:01:54
Speaker
It sucks. Like, I don't know, I've been, I've been thinking about this for a minute and stuff like that. And like, you know, understandably, I think the realm of, of COVID conspiracy and like this rush to get us back to work and shit like that is, you know, it very obviously leads to, you know, skepticism from people, but like at the same time it's a, I think you can't shirk the fact that like,
00:02:21
Speaker
It's also being enabled by, you know, capital power and the government specifically to serve a much larger interest. You know what I mean? But sort of additional to that, like.
00:02:34
Speaker
it's mostly white people at these rallies, right? Like there is an element of like, um, I don't know how to say it. There's an element of like, you know, personal safety, uh, not personal safety. I'm trying to think of the word. Sorry. I woke up at like 4 AM today, but there is no insulation here, right? Like that's really what it is where it's like, you know, nothing can harm me and nothing can
00:02:55
Speaker
can stop me so i'm able to like go out and flex this way with a thousand other people and you know create situations that get lots of other people sick and it's like you know that basic level it's hard to square those two things in my mind you know i mean where it's like on one hand i understand i actually do like i get
00:03:13
Speaker
the skepticism because like, you know, don't trust the government folks. Yeah. Yeah. Like, but I think Ted McCoy kind of said it very well. He's like, this is just like weaponized selfishness. You know what I mean? Absolutely. Yeah.
00:03:28
Speaker
This is people who are extremely comfortable, extremely insulated from the consequences of their actions, going out and giving the finger to society writ large. The same people who come out to these things are the same people who came out to yellow vest rallies. These are the same people calling for Justin Trudeau to be hung from a tree.
00:03:48
Speaker
Uh, and there are just a lot of like even seemingly leftover yellow vest rally signs at these things, but, but I reduced for use recycled. It's really the three hours. These folks are environmentally conscious. Um, uh, but like,
00:04:03
Speaker
But I mean beyond the question of these rallies existing and I and I do Want I think there's questions there about like why they're happening and who's going to these things but I think the like the news of your question is like what the fuck is happening with enforcement and Not I'm gonna put on my news cap with a little press thing tucked into the band, but I actually called up inspector Ken Guman of the Sheriff's Department here in
00:04:31
Speaker
Edmonton, they're the group that's responsible.
Right-Wing Media Coverage of Rallies
00:04:33
Speaker
The sheriffs are essentially responsible for all the security on the legislature grounds. This inspector, Ken Goodman, who's responsible for security on the legislature grounds, he confirmed that no enforcement took place at the anti-mask rally that happened this Saturday in Edmonton.
00:04:48
Speaker
I've also called up the Calgary police and tried to get a comment and confirmation from them about any enforcement that happened over the weekend at the Calgary rallies, which seem to be better attended by the way. And they did not get back to me before we pressed record on this podcast. We have seen- But there was nothing visible, right, about like not a lot in terms of like enforcement happening in Calgary either, as far as like what I saw in the videos and stuff like that.
00:05:15
Speaker
There was no reporting of any type of enforcement or fines or tickets being handed out either by media or self-reported by the folks who were at the rally. And that's the funny thing is that some of the best video and audio we've gotten of these rallies, specifically the rallies in Calgary, comes from a right-wing chud Twitter account named Quadzilla. Just an absolutely relentless poster.
00:05:39
Speaker
is, is terminally online posting about, uh, for the most part, posting about how Trump actually won the election and all this, all the minutia, all the right wing kind of conspiracy minutia around that. But this person goes to these rallies and they've been documenting them and posting a videos and photos. And some of the best sound, uh, from these things is coming from, from this dude. And I just put together a little package and I think it's just worthwhile to kind of listen to what these folks are saying at the rally, what the speakers are saying and what the rallies actually sound like. So I'm just going to play a little sequence of sound here.
00:06:09
Speaker
They're afraid. They don't have as big of a courage like you and I. But they're there. They are the silent majority. Let's give them courage. When they see you, they see bravery. They see courage. And I'm telling you, one day they will rise up.
00:06:53
Speaker
Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!
00:06:56
Speaker
Show me what democracy looks like.
00:07:26
Speaker
In nine months, the politicians are actually going to be required to answer some questions. I want to ask for your help for this. We're in the process right now as I speak. Our litigation manager is interviewing people. We need to hire more lawyers.
00:07:49
Speaker
And our lawyers are paid entirely by the voluntary donations that the Justice Center receives from Canadians. So if you're in the crowd today, and if you support these... From Tahrir Square to Celebration Square, Duncan, it's a global struggle worldwide to throw off the shackles of tyrannical government.
00:08:11
Speaker
A bit of context there. The first speaker in that sequence was Arthur Polowski, who's a well-known street preacher in Calgary, who's actually been fined I think a couple of times now for breaking and violating health orders quite brazenly, obviously, if you're going to actually go to the trouble of getting fined by a regime that's not very interested in finding people. And the final speaker there was John Carpe of the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms. And yeah, they were soliciting donations there at the end. And they're the
00:08:37
Speaker
the kind of God-bothering legal group that has ended up filing a lot of challenges in regards to this, as well as a lot of legal challenges around gay-straight alliances and various other sundry evangelical Christian kind of topics of interest. So yeah, those are what the rallies in Calgary sound like, Abdul.
Consumerism, Freedom, and Political Expression in Alberta
00:08:56
Speaker
Thoughts?
00:08:57
Speaker
Yeah, no, I'm not gonna lie, that first one, even I got a little inspired there. Like you really, you know, he really put his back into it. It did feel quite sincere, but yeah, like you mentioned enforcement and stuff like that. You know, if you posit that police exist to protect private property, of course, and like, you know, capitalism, like, of course they're not going to enforce basically a bunch of people who think that their freedom is attached to their ability to go to,
00:09:26
Speaker
you know, I don't know, um, sport check or something like that. Right. Like just purely that level, like even, you know, ignoring the racial implications for, for a second. Um, like it's, it's completely unexpected, right? I do like how they're, how they're pulling, you know, that classic thing of like pulling and appropriating left-wing chance. Like the one thing missing from your audio clip was, uh, was someone playing a recording of Martin Luther King.
00:09:56
Speaker
Which is like a not infrequent occurrence and shit like this. Yeah. I have a dream Abdul. And that dream is to spit in my neighbor's mouth and not face any consequences. Yeah. I have a dream that I can go to, uh, there's no Laura Seacord to like Purdy's chocolate. Uh, you know, in the middle of winter and get my reps in at West Edmonton mall or cross iron mills. Did you see, by the way, did you see the cross iron mills, uh, doomsayers or whatever? No, go on.
00:10:26
Speaker
There are people in white masks with black eyes dressed like nuns from American Horror Story walking around cross-iron mills telling people they were going to die. No, I did not see that. Thankfully, though. Incredible, incredible stuff. Those people are equally as embarrassing as these people. Just stay the fuck home.
00:10:47
Speaker
Yeah. And stay away from me personally. I mean, there is a question here that, um, it's not, it's not obviously impossible to reconcile or, I mean, I'm obviously against people snitching on their neighbors. I'm obviously against a police state, um, you know, going into people's homes and handing out, you know, fines and whatever other consequences there are for this. But like in the context of a pandemic,
00:11:10
Speaker
you know, stay the fuck home. Don't go to a fucking rally saying that the pandemic is actually fake and that the vaccine is bad and that masks are a vector for spreading communism, you know what I mean? If we were to technically, if we were to lock all these people up for what? Until the end of the lockdown. Do you think it would be bad?
00:11:35
Speaker
Uh, like on a, on a purely health level, it would not be bad. You know what I mean? It would probably empower them to, you know, sort of radicalize them further. But this is the other thing I've been, I've been thinking about, right? Is like the ideology of Alberta and the world, but let's talk about Alberta actually goes a lot deeper than I think a lot of proposed sort of nominally social democratic measures to address it. Like if the government, you know, instituted like a temporary
00:12:04
Speaker
UBI measure right or like like a pure UBI measure or something like that like paying people to stay home for you know say the months of August till January right um there would be a vector in which that would be seen as like the government's trying to pay you for your like to stay complacent to stay compliant
00:12:24
Speaker
Right? Like there's something more deeply ingrained than like simple material needs being met and that 100% goes back to this like bootstrap ideology of Alberta, right?
Conservative Politics and Leadership in Alberta
00:12:37
Speaker
And the fact that like the only way we seem to be able to express ourselves and especially in this province, but obviously all over Canada and the US is through consumption. You know what I mean? Like it's a very
00:12:49
Speaker
you know Edmonton has so many fucking malls like more than I grew up in the GTA and Edmonton's mall culture dwarfs that significantly and stuff like that right like I think it's actually pretty telling of more pervasive sickness than like simple material alienation right like it goes well deeper into like a whole other level of like not
00:13:14
Speaker
of just your entire sense of self is caught up in just the ability to go out and spend, which is really upsetting, actually. It's really deeply disconcerting when you really think about it.
00:13:29
Speaker
Yeah, commerce is the ultimate expression of your politics. It's the ultimate, like, aestheticization of politics as well. And it's the ultimate, like, fetishization of materialism and, like, you know, wage slavery, right? I mean, there was a bunch of signs, there was at least two signs at the rally on the weekend that said every business is essential. I was, yeah, do you remember the G20 in Toronto?
00:13:53
Speaker
I mean, I lived in Alberta when it happened, but I remember seeing it on the news, kettling and beatings and kidnappings by the police and the like.
00:14:01
Speaker
There was this great video that went viral off the G20 of a guy who's trying to get into Eaton Center Mall, like slamming on the, cause they shut down the mall, right? Cause shit was going down and he was screaming at the person at the, at the mall, like just the doors and screaming at the person filming him going like the people of Toronto want to show up. You know what I mean? It's a, you can throw it in the show notes. It's a,
00:14:25
Speaker
It's an incredible video. But yeah, that guy was ahead of his time. You know what I mean? Like that. I need my buddy burger. It was basically that. It was like, and yeah, you know, watching him just on his own, you feel bad for the guy and then you realize, no, he's actually like a very early warning sign. He was patient zero for something that came 10 years later and this significantly more horrific.
00:14:55
Speaker
Yeah. And I think you're familiar with Galt's Gulch from whatever Ayn Rand book that's from Atlas Shrugged. I think this is what Galt's Gulch is actually for, is just to send all of these COVID denier, anti-vax,
00:15:10
Speaker
anti-mask people, just send them to Gulls Gulch for a few months and they can just live there. I assume, I mean, they have their own doctors. If you, there are, there are like COVID denier doctors out there, like just send them there. If they get sick, it's they can tell them that it's not COVID and then it's just pneumonia and they'll treat it just like, like, like just go away. I don't want you like next to me or like in my neighborhood or breathing on me. You know what I mean?
00:15:34
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it sucks. And like I honestly thought the worst part about seeing these is that it's hard to like also find a path forward. You know what I mean? Like it's hard to find a way to address this that like balances
00:15:50
Speaker
you know, an understanding of the harm and the danger these people cause with like a broader, like more anti-carceral concept. Like that's really where do you start, right? Like, where do you start? And, and how do you actually reach these people? I mean, it's not, it's, it's, it's a very frustrating thing. It's, it's generations of fucking, you know, propaganda in this province that have just broken people's brains.
00:16:19
Speaker
Yeah, you know, the oil lobby runs this province at this point. I think it's the, you know, what it inculcates is culturally embedded, you know, sort of within its blood. And like there is a certain flavor to Alberta protests that I think is incrementally different from what you're seeing in Quebec or Toronto in terms of how they're framed and you know, the way they're emboldened and also very specifically like the government response to it.
00:16:46
Speaker
Right. Like, like this is even Doug Ford is going out like no kudos to Doug Ford. He's a piece of shit. But like, you know, even Doug Ford is going out and being like, man, you guys are fucking buffoons. Please get off my lawn because they're protesting on his lawn. Right. And stuff like that. Kenny has has, you know, very conspicuously been silent on this in a way that
00:17:09
Speaker
I don't want to step on your charter rights and freedoms, folks. We were trying to balance your charter rights from the very beginning. It's like, shut up. One, that's not what the charter means. And two, it's like your
00:17:28
Speaker
incredibly cynical when it comes to, they tried to fucking Goldilocks it with restrictions and it blew up in their face and now Alberta's in the worst in the midst of the lake of a health emergency that was caused by their fuck ups, right?
00:17:42
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, like, yeah, I guess that's, that's more to what I'm saying. It's like Kenny is softly encouraging it in a way that, you know, even Canada's other most reactionary premiers have not. And like, I've been having this sort of ongoing dialogue with Steven
Jason Kenney's Christmas Message
00:17:59
Speaker
Magusiak on Twitter, where it's like, you know, he's the opinion that
00:18:03
Speaker
you know, maybe conservative politics in Alberta are at a split between like what you would call classic conservatism and, you know, the sort of insane rabid flavor that we have now. Right. It's like Kenny has has obviously made a choice that that that, you know, his bed is made with this new sort of stripe rather than the old one, which is probably good, good political strategy. You know, not gonna lie.
00:18:30
Speaker
it's where the conservative movement is going, right? Like the conservative movement these days is not necessarily like a bunch of guys in suits, you know, divvying up the various corporate, you know, monopolies around the world. It's conservative politics is like, how do I make the most white people the most angry about, you know, pick subject X of the day? And like, when you look at the, the crowds and like what Facebook has done to old people, it's like, that's, that's where they raise their money. That's who they respond to. That's who they're like,
00:18:59
Speaker
Uh, that's who becomes, you know, candidates and volunteers and doorknocks. Like those are the people who drive the conservative movement at the grassroots level these days, not, uh, you know, the business council of Canada. And it's also, by the way, I think it's also like to, to my earlier point, which I just wanted to quickly address. I think, you know, a lot of these people are, you know, sort of, I'm sure like rough and tumble working people, but just as many are like small business owners and tyrants cause playing as such as well.
00:19:29
Speaker
Right. Which definitely factors in RV dealerships or whatever. Yeah. Who pretend to be like quote unquote working class or adopt the aesthetics of like what we traditionally consider like working class or whatever. You brought up Kenny and I think there's something I wanted to talk about as well. And that is Jason Kenny's bizarre Christmas message to the kids of Alberta.
00:19:56
Speaker
According to Jason, a lot of kids have been writing him, which is something that normal children do all the time. They write Jason Kenney and they're worried that Christmas is canceled. So Jason put on a red sweater, sat down in front of a Christmas tree and put together a deeply strange video, apparently targeted towards Alberta's children. I guess when adults see this, they're supposed to bring their children over and they're supposed to watch it together.
00:20:21
Speaker
But let's just listen to the audio on this because it's very special and I think we need to talk about it. Hi everyone, Premier Kenny here and I have a special message for children across Alberta because I have been getting a lot of emails and letters from kids asking whether Christmas is still on and particularly asking whether Santa is still going to be able to visit because of the virus and all the things happening this year.
00:20:48
Speaker
Well, here's some good news. I just got a letter from Santa Claus himself and I'd like to read it to you. Dear Premier Kenny, I hope the people of Alberta are keeping safe at this very hard time. I'm writing to you because I have a special message that I'd like to share with all the boys and girls in Alberta. Christmas is still on.
00:21:10
Speaker
I know a lot of things have changed. You weren't seeing your friends as much as you used to. Your sports teams and other activities have been cancelled and you probably miss Grandma and Grandpa a lot. But none of this will stop the team at the North Pole from making sure all the good boys and girls in Alberta have a wonderful Christmas. We have been in touch with Dr. Hinshaw to ensure that we are following the rules and keeping you safe.
00:21:36
Speaker
Fortunately, the elves and reindeer are immune to the virus, and Mrs. Quas always makes sure that I only leave the home with my mask on, although the beard makes that hard. That means I'll still be able to slide gifts down your chimney this Christmas, so with everything being so different this year, you can count on that.
00:21:53
Speaker
Well, I have to run. I have a lot more letters to write. But please cherish this Christmas with your closest family members. And kids, don't forget to listen to your parents. Have a very merry Christmas, signed Santa. P.S. Please tell the kids that my favourite type of cookie is chocolate chip. Go easy on the eggnog. And don't forget to leave out a little hand sanitizer.
00:22:17
Speaker
Well, Santa is absolutely right. Christmas isn't just about presents, but spending time with your loved ones, whether in person or by calling on FaceTime or socially distanced visits. Now, before I go, kids, please do your best to help out your folks this year, pitch in with the chores, make sure you do as you're asked, and don't forget to tell them that you love them. I want to wish all of you a very merry and safe Christmas
Centrist Narratives in Media
00:22:47
Speaker
and hope to catch up with you sometime in the new year. I've never seen a government video, at least in Canada, that feels more like a Tim and Eric sketch. It's got the exact energy of how they just balance this plausibility and discomfort so well.
00:23:15
Speaker
Um, and this really, really hits. Yeah. Jason Kenny underrated comic genius. But the funny thing is, is that this is like, uh, I dunno, smart people sat around a table and wrote this up and said, Jason, you've got to go out there and reassure the children of Alberta that Christmas isn't canceled.
00:23:38
Speaker
And this is what they fucking came up with. You know, the reindeers won't get COVID. Like, and half of what you're saying is too complex. I think for kids, like in the way he's, he's framing it and stuff like that. Um, I mean, I have a three year old, right? And this is the first year that she's like actually getting into Christmas and like, we're telling stories about Santa and there are presents and things. Cause when they're two, there's like, whatever.
00:24:03
Speaker
What the fuck do they know? They're just going to open some presents and tear around the room. The three, she's three. She's like, okay, Santa, Santa. But like, how long do you really believe in Santa? From like three to what, like eight or nine?
00:24:15
Speaker
I knew kids as old as 10. I grew up in a Muslim family, so I'm a bad metric for this. That's on the outer end of Santa believers. But yeah, those are pretty complex concepts. If you're old enough to know that COVID is going on and that it's bad and that you can't see your grandma because of COVID, you probably know that Santa isn't real. You know what I mean?
00:24:40
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And it's like also, yeah, it's a video I feel that's like more for parents, like it's ostensibly for children, but it's to reassure parents that, you know, I'm still in your, especially parents who are friendly to his government to begin with, right? Like I'm still in your corner and unlike those libs, I'm not trying to cancel Christmas, right? Like no child gives a shit what their, you know, prime minister has to say, right?
00:25:08
Speaker
No, you're right. It's directed at the parents, definitely, and probably more women, more than men. But it's very reminiscent of that infamous pic of like Stephen Harper in a sweater cuddling a kitten where he's working kind of extremely hard to exude kind of non-threatening male energy. This is very much that vibe.
00:25:29
Speaker
Oh yeah. And it's also like, it is a very creepy video. You know what I mean? Like it does give off the extremely bad vibes, like sort of from top to bottom. Like the last thing I want to hear Jason Kenny talk about is sliding down anyone's chimney, especially like when he's talking about talking, like again, ostensibly talking to fucking children. You know what I mean? Yeah. The idea of Kenny talking to children is probably what is the most disturbing thing about this video is like that, that is,
00:25:59
Speaker
That's the strange part, especially when he's like trying to be friendly and approachable and like, I swear, you know, I don't want to grind your bones up for bread so that Suncor can earn an extra half a cent on their quarterly dividend. You know what I mean? But that's what he's thinking when he's saying these things.
00:26:14
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I don't know. The video, it feels like a bad pair. It's one star wipe short of being an actual Tim and Eric sketch. Yes, very much so. There was one other thing I wanted to chat with you about, actually two other things. And one, last week, some of Alberta's most tiresome and least interesting commentators, specifically Don Braid and Dwayne Brad,
00:26:40
Speaker
I unfortunately have two of the largest profiles as well. I ended up with quite prominent pieces displayed in both the CBC and the Calgary Herald.
00:26:51
Speaker
Dwayne Bratt is, by the way, folks, he's a huge dummy. He's a political side professor at the Mount Royal University. He actually instructed me on a class once, and I was very unimpressed even as someone in my early 20s. But yeah, he was talking shit about international criminal law, which is just very, very far outside his realm of expertise to a room full of model UN kids. It's like, what the fuck are you on about?
00:27:17
Speaker
Uh, and look, I know it's hard, you know, times are hard right now. COVID is hard on everyone. It's turning everyone's brain to mush, but this, this piece that Dwayne brat authored is just absolutely a dog shit. And, uh, the headline here, Oh God, what is the headline? I don't have COVID-19. What would law heat have done? There we go.
00:27:40
Speaker
And yeah, I'm just going to read you a couple of sections from this and you can kind of react to it Abdul. This is in Dwayne Bratt's voice. I argue that Laheed, because of a combination of his individual qualities and the structural conditions of his time in office, would have handled COVID-19 in a much better fashion than premier Jason Kenney.
00:27:59
Speaker
For example, I can imagine Laheed instituting a province-wide mask mandate, utilizing the federal tracing app. And if cases spiked, imposing an economic lockdown, but with financial compensation for business owners and workers to supplement federal programs. It turns out when someone's dead, you can just say whatever the fuck you want to know what they would have done. I mean, you describe it in our show notes as centrist fan fiction, which is exactly what it is.
00:28:26
Speaker
Even this is a stretch, right? Because if you wanted to see a better premiere to compare it to would be whoever the premiere was during the Spanish flu that killed thousands of people in Edmonton. There's already precedent for what our former and venerated premiers have done. Whereas this is just like, I'm just going to make some shit up, attach whatever I want it to Laheed.
00:28:54
Speaker
And it's also part of like this broader rehabilitation project of Laheed by both the Alberta NDP and the UCP. Right. Is like some sort of a totem for people to grab on to. Right. Yeah. Well, I mean, the NDP pivots him as like a true like he was a truly progressive, progressive conservative. Right. Like, oh, yeah. That's still hilarious to write because Grant Notley fucking hated Peter Peter Laheed's guts. Right.
00:29:20
Speaker
I was fighting tooth and nail to stop him from doing exactly what he did. And then back in those days, the fucking PC party was winning like 90% of the seats in an election. You know what I mean? It was a fucking hegemon. And it was like Grant Notley and maybe one other dude.
00:29:40
Speaker
Also, like the, yeah, you could literally go back. I'm just looking right now. Who is our premier in? Yeah, Hubert does a little earlier. Charles Stewart and Arthur Sifton, both, you know, were our premiers during an actual pandemic.
00:29:57
Speaker
you can literally go back and look at them rather than making up stuff about Peter Lahid, which is the most perplexing thing about this, right? If you're going to reach into history, it's not like history hasn't and isn't like in a way repeating itself on a very particular cycle.
00:30:13
Speaker
Yeah. In Dwayne Bratt's mind, Peter Laheed is 12 foot tall and never told a lie, right? And here's another quote from the piece by Bratt. Laheed, who put just as much emphasis on the progressive as the conservative in the progressive conservative party. There you go. Like I just fucking said. Was a true centrist. He was a true centrist. He could afford to respond to COVID-19 with less attention to partisanship than Kenny.
00:30:40
Speaker
You could almost hear Brad jizz in his pants when he calls Peter Lahide a true centrist. Yeah. What do you even say to someone like this? How do you tell them that they're wrong? In what way do you articulate to them that they're also not only that they're wrong, but that they're stupid? This person is responsible for providing political education to thousands.
00:31:09
Speaker
of impressionable young undergrads. So there's that as well, just to, just to break your brain at the end of this, at the end of this sequence. But not only that, not only is also very, I was going to say doing Brad is also very obviously, uh, holds a host of comorbidities for COVID-19.
Alberta's Political Response to COVID-19
00:31:27
Speaker
Um, so I'm assuming he hasn't left his house and I can say this, I'm, I'm, you know, marginally smaller than he is, but like, um,
00:31:35
Speaker
You know, I'm sure he's been sitting in his house with like COVID anxiety, looking at, at what Kenny's doing and like facing his own powerlessness and just writing, you know, Peter Lahid fan fiction to cope, right? Like this is all one big cope.
00:31:52
Speaker
It is clearly a part of the coping process for Dwayne Bratt. But not only were we blessed with this dogshit Dwayne Bratt piece, but we also got Don Braid in the Calgary Herald, the guy who worked as a scab and helped break the union of the Calgary Herald for Conrad Black back in 1999, the year 2000.
00:32:14
Speaker
He also indulged in some centrist fan fiction last week. The headline here, Alberta needs to hear a whole new message from political leaders. Subhead, COVID-19 is completely united in its campaign to infect everyone. The province needs to confront it with equal unity.
00:32:32
Speaker
And this is a true classic in like the long running columnist category across all newspapers, really, of, you know, if we all just stop saying mean things to each other, we could really fix all of our problems in society would be great. And this just this just falls into that category. Let's just read a couple passages from it because it is
00:32:54
Speaker
just again, so awful. Again, this guy gets paid money, a lot of money, and is one of our province's premier columnists to say shit like this. So let us imagine that they will be miraculously at work right through September. All right, here we go. Fuck that part. Miracle number one.
00:33:12
Speaker
A statement comes out that shakes the province. Kenny will hold a news conference with NDP leader Rachel Notley. They come to the podium with a common message. Both will pull together during the pandemic. They call a truce on the daily partisan sniping, which has become vicious and destructive. The government will invite Notley into key councils, just as she did with former Wildrose leader Brian Jean during the Fort McMurray fire of 2016. Kenny will actually listen to the opposition and use their ideas when possible. Notley will publicly support reasonable measures.
00:33:40
Speaker
It would take a miracle, that's for sure, but our bitter partisan divisions may be making some people less likely to comply.
00:33:47
Speaker
He's basically writing the Alberta centrist, It's a Wonderful Life. It really does feel like he's engaging in some sort of real holiday season style parable here or something like that. Every time a person gets infected, a centrist gets his wings or gets his paycheck.
00:34:12
Speaker
I'm going to keep reading from it. Here's the second part. Miracle number two, the province will get clearer, less distracting leadership. Kenny will speak for no more than five minutes at the next big announcement. Yeah, sure. The current style is for the premier to talk at exact exhausting length and answer questions in detail.
00:34:28
Speaker
This disclosure may be admirable, but it gets him into trouble. He uses the word police state in reference to Australia's response. He accuses critics of Alberta bashing. He talks about how good Alberta's pandemic response was, as if to excuse how bad it is now. Then those comments become sideshow stories in and of themselves, distancing them from the only thing that really matters, the fight against COVID-19.
00:34:51
Speaker
I do, again, I picture Jason Kenney waking up in the Premier's office on Christmas morning and running through his bathrobe like, oh fuck, like Scrooge, right? Just, you know, Merry Christmas, Dr. Hinshaw. Merry Christmas, legislature fountain.
00:35:10
Speaker
Merry Christmas, Rachel Notley. This is really what he wants to happen. He wants Jason Kenney to wake up and experience a Christmas miracle. The ghost of Alberta, past, present, future, Peter Lahid. I don't know, Rachel Notley and whatever shithead is going to come next to teach him the error of his ways for not embracing, I'd know, liberal democracy or liberal centrism.
Alberta's NHL Sponsorship and Economic Impact
00:35:40
Speaker
the true Christmas spirit of the season, which would mean, you know, actually doing something on COVID-19. Yeah. Yeah. So anyways, I know that's just awful stuff that I subjected you to, but I read it and I was angry about it. So I wanted to subject you to it as well. So I'm sorry. Yeah, I enjoyed it. And lastly, the thing I teased at the very beginning,
00:36:08
Speaker
The exclusive story that the progress report broke, Abdul and myself, we found out that the Alberta government quietly gave the NHL $4 million for a sponsorship and advertising opportunity. And then just this past weekend, we were able to write another story where we were able to go into some detail about what the government of Alberta actually got for that $4 million. So Abdul,
00:36:33
Speaker
What exactly did the fine people of Alberta get for the $4 million it gave to the billionaire owners of the NHL?
00:36:40
Speaker
Um, like a thimble of straw and like they got, they got sand. Um, like it, it really was nothing. It was ad placement, empty arenas, and the chance to be seen for a couple of seconds on TV from like minute to minute. You know what I mean? Um, $4 million in this context, like even ignoring like just a staggering amount of.
00:37:10
Speaker
of ways that money could have been used to protect any other job or do anything else, right? On a good day, if we weren't in the middle of a pandemic, this still would have been a waste of money in terms of what they got out of it. Because this didn't cover, unlike what Matt Wolf said, this didn't cover TV broadcast ads. This didn't cover anything except the rights to promote Alberta, largely to promote Alberta to NHL players.
00:37:39
Speaker
over anyone. Downtown Edmontonians who live and work adjacent to the ice districts, as well as the tourists who will be coming to Alberta any day now. Yeah. Once we get this COVID thing under control.
00:37:52
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, just to run down what they actually got. So yeah, it was in arena advertising on these digital boards in empty arenas that they would catch tiny glimpses of during the coverage, like before a puck drop or whatever. It was digital ads, which we never got any quantification on and what that was or how much they spent.
00:38:11
Speaker
It was social media posts on their various NHL social media channels, which there were some hilarious when I actually dug through and tried to find out what those posts were. Do you have any favorites Abdul?
00:38:29
Speaker
Um, the town halls are a big up there because like, again, you look at any, any shitty sports team with like a parasitic owner will still do more than what the NHL did in terms of like community outreach. Uh, like hockey players go to schools all the time and like hang out with kids, or I'm sure more hockey players from the Edmonton community foundation have been like, or Euler's community foundation have been going out to kids virtually and stuff like that. That was a big one.
00:38:58
Speaker
Yeah. The inside the bubble documentary is also really cool because I don't think I can think of a single person who would watch a 45 minute documentary on Instagram. Um, uh, and it's like idea of Edmonton is, is literally like six hallways inside Rogers place. Cause they literally could not leave. Yeah. Yeah. Like this dehumanizing bubble or whatever. Um, yeah, no, that like,
00:39:29
Speaker
It's incredible that this actually is a bigger story, like not to pat ourselves on the back too much, but like this should be a scandal simply in terms of like, even from an advertising perspective, it's a an egregious misuse of finances. And like when we first talked about the story, I paused it that it was never really about what they got from that money. It was like an added incentive that they could on paper say it was like an advertising deal to help justify
00:39:58
Speaker
Um, the NHL setting up a bubble in Edmonton, it's like, Oh, you know, we'll do, we'll do ads, right? But the ads aren't actually what the money is for. Um, cause you know, you can manipulate that money any way you want. Once it's been transferred and you've done like the token things, you can say anything costs, whatever amount you want to cost it out at. Right. And like 4 million might not seem like a lot in the context of the NHL, but like. It actually is the gate driven league, right? And
00:40:27
Speaker
The bubble was to recover a bit of that broadcast kind of value, but like with no gate revenues, the poor sad Richie Richard billionaire owners of the NHL actually need that cash. And Jason, thankfully they found a sucker and Jason Kenney willing to give it to them.
00:40:48
Speaker
Yeah, it's, it's important to consider that like, uh, unlike the NBA or the NFL $4 million is actually a lot to the NHL. Um, just in terms of like pure economics and the way the revenue split works and stuff like that. Um,
00:41:02
Speaker
So like in that, in that capacity, it's actually a pretty significant incentive on top of all the other amenities that were provided, right? From like police officers in Edmonton to, uh, all this, like, you know, big promotion, Jason Kenny going out and making public statements, how good it is. Um, and all that stuff, right? To like the, the relatively newer, more modern facilities that Edmonton had to offer. Um, and I'm sure whatever stops they could pull in, uh,
00:41:32
Speaker
with respect to making travel easier and facilitating an easy process for players to get in and out of the province and stuff like that.
00:41:44
Speaker
a huge amount of money here. That money obviously did not equal what they got out of it to a degree that I would call extreme. I don't know about you. It's a literal fucking bribe, right? I'll allege that it's a literal fucking bribe.
00:42:05
Speaker
I mean, we don't have, we don't have the proof for the smoking gun, but I mean, was the $4 million part of the deal to bring them here? I mean, we'll never know, but I mean, it certainly seems like a hell of a sweetener to bring them here and who benefits, right? Like they had all of these economic impact numbers that they trotted out as, you know, justification for bringing it, but like who benefited from those? Like Daryl Cates, like the, that's the guy who owns the ice district, right? Like he owns the hotels and the restaurants that are in those hotels and the fucking arena that everything's being held in and being rented for this.
00:42:35
Speaker
there was X amount, X million dollars amount of economic activity. Well, it's like, what good did that do for anyone in Alberta? Economic activity is a question of averages, right? To justify new arenas oftentimes, and you see this I think with the recent Calgary stadium deal as well, the companies that do these economic impact reports will average out
00:43:01
Speaker
Um, we'll basically average out, uh, you know, everyone will make a, you know, 20% raise or whatever if this arena is built, but, um, there is nothing stopping them from, and they always do this factoring in player salaries into that equation.
00:43:16
Speaker
Um, and you can like predict salary increase because of like salary cap and just like very predictable, uh, pay increases. And then, you know, so you're looking at player salaries factoring in, which obviously holds an inordinate amount of weight. Like I'm still like, Oh, see everyone will make X amount. Like they definitely did that with this. Like you, you generate $39 million of revenue or whatever for businesses and surrounding area. Well,
00:43:39
Speaker
that also means Roger's place. That means the hotels the players are staying at, right? Which almost definitely soaked up the bulk of the money. There's no actual economic impact for quote unquote small businesses and small business tyrants the way they want you to believe. The averages never work out that way.
World Junior Hockey Tournament Amidst COVID-19
00:43:59
Speaker
And there's also very little accountability in this respect.
00:44:03
Speaker
The economic numbers apparently came from the Oilers who have every incentive to juice those numbers too. And again, they're the ones who mostly benefit. The other thing that I think I want to close on here is one, I think it is a fucking scandal and it is ridiculous that our media hasn't picked up this story and run with it because not only is it just the $4 million for a very questionable outlay of advertising and sponsorship,
00:44:26
Speaker
But there was a bunch of money spent on television advertising on top of this, which we're still working to figure out how much they actually spent there. So the dollar amount is going to be even bigger than $4 million, which again, is a huge number to begin with. And then two, we have another bubble coming to Edmonton and one that I don't think is going to run nearly as smoothly as the last bubble ran, which is the World Junior Hockey Tournament, right?
00:44:52
Speaker
Yeah, this is something I've been kicking around as a piece to various outlets. And I threw it to current affairs. They haven't replied, but I think I finally found someone to run this in the new year. Yeah, this is horrific. You look at what's happened to Keontae Johnson in the world of basketball, where he's like a young, I think 21, 22-year-old player, maybe younger than that.
00:45:19
Speaker
Who who collapsed because of kovat and he's like, you know physically one of the healthiest You know, I should be one of the healthiest people in America, right? And the camp was already delayed due to kovat like the world juniors camp for team Canada was already delayed due to kovat Right a couple of players had it right or staff. I can't remember the details, but yeah
00:45:42
Speaker
Yeah, they had numerous positive tests and they shut down the camp for a bit and then they obviously like resumed everything. They're acting business as usual or whatever. I mean, realistically, these players might be vaccinated by the time the bubble actually happens. I wouldn't doubt that there's some sort of private pipeline for
00:46:06
Speaker
uh players to get vaccinated so that these things continue because they're such especially the world juniors right it's a fucking religion in rural canada but like yeah no it's um it's bad and like i i really think uh the thing that that underscores all of this
00:46:22
Speaker
Outside of the fact that Alberta is basically the one province in Canada that's acting as horrifically as college sports are acting in the US when it comes to COVID. We're really taking the worst labor practices from American sport and applying them to stuff like the World Juniors, which of course most adversely affects the youngest players.
00:46:46
Speaker
is uh yeah young hockey players need a union um and they need it now right like there is one but doesn't apply to canadian players and minor hockey leagues uh across canada have actually gone out of their way to do some like extreme methods of union busting
00:47:05
Speaker
Um, and like completely alienate these kids from their labor, right? Most of whom never actually make it to the NHL. And then like, you know, the world juniors is, is that times a million. It's like another more like cruel iteration of that because it's, you know, the world juniors, it's not even tied to, you know, the same kind, right? Yeah. It's not even tied to like the medicine hat, tigers, whatever. I'm like, I'm like 80% sure Jason Kenny changed some rules regarding, uh, the way junior
00:47:32
Speaker
Uh, hockey players were paid too, but I mean, I don't have, obviously have that at hand. I mean, yeah, it, it seems like hosting another giant hockey tournament, uh, when we have more than 20,000 active cases in Alberta and on nearly 10,000 active cases in Edmonton seems, uh, like a terrible idea, especially when the Canadian and just bringing folks from all around the world to a place that's already hotspot just seems, seems bad. I don't know. I'm not an expert. Just, just seems bad to me.
00:48:00
Speaker
their kids, like you don't, again, it's, it's that thing of like, you're just going out of your way to exploit children. I mean, like you're going out of your way to, to completely, to completely extract as much value from these, from these kids, uh, while putting them at like immense, immense risk.
00:48:19
Speaker
Right? It's also like very much an outcome of, you know, in the same way that like NCAA football culture in the US, it's also like very much an outcome of like hockey culture and it's like relationship to both like Alberta and national identity. You know what I mean?
00:48:34
Speaker
Um, it sucks. It's, it's super, it's super, super sucks. It's deeply unfortunate. Like Dr. Hinshaw coming out and saying like, Oh no, these, these things can be safe and they will be safe and stuff like that. It's like that. You could make it as safe as possible. It doesn't change the fact that they should not be happening. Right. Like you could, you could do like that.
Conclusion and Call for Support
00:49:01
Speaker
I could go on for hours. I know. I know you could. I know you could. On that downer of a note, let's flip it a little bit. And there's just a bit of a lovely little news hit today. The first vaccines are rolling out across Canada. We're getting apparently more vaccines than we thought. And health care workers who are working in our health care system are starting to get vaccinated. So hurrah for that. Tyler Shamro. Tyler Shamro.
00:49:31
Speaker
Shandro doing his press conference in the, in the vaccine fridge, again, very Tim and Eric sketch, uh, extremely funny. I missed that. Oh fuck. Well, now I have to go back and watch it. All right. Abdul, that's the end of the pod. Uh, now is the time to plug your pluggables. What, uh, what are you doing? How can people follow along with the work you're doing?
00:49:51
Speaker
This is the worst part because I never know what to say first. Well, you can follow me on Twitter. I do a lot of writing and journalism there. I have a couple of pieces recently in Jacobin and a really important one, Canadian Dimension actually. That's probably the most important and most interesting thing I've read. I've written this year about sports and surveillance capitalism and security state.
00:50:18
Speaker
which, yeah, you can read on Canadian Dimension, but a couple of interesting pieces for Jacobin, another one on hockey coming out very soon, probably this week or next. I have a podcast coming out January 3rd on the Harbinger Media Network, plug, plug, plug, called the Off Court Podcast about the political economy and niche
00:50:39
Speaker
world of sports stories. It's a podcast for people who like sports and want to sort of go beyond the field or the rink, but also people who don't like sports and know nothing about them but just want to hear some really entertaining stories and be told why sports are important in terms of a very large global international political context.
00:51:02
Speaker
Um, but yeah, no, if you, if you want to follow me, follow me on Twitter at socialist Raptor. Um, and, uh, if you don't follow sports, you should also mute the term Raptors before you follow me. The work he produces, he's obviously a frequent contributor for us and it's a pleasure to work with him.
00:51:23
Speaker
And I'm going to close this pod out with, uh, and ask if you're, if you've made it all the way to the end of this 50 minute podcasts where Abdul and I are saying all sorts of shit, then I think I am justified in asking you, I'm just going to go straight to the money this time. Give us five, $10, $15 a month, whatever you can afford. Uh, we are providing.
00:51:44
Speaker
an incredible amount of value with not a lot of money between Jim and I when it comes to the reporting and the original investigative work that we're able to do with The Progress Report, as well as on top of putting out a podcast almost every week. And so if you can do that, if you can spare the 5, 10 to the $15 a month, go to theprogressreport.ca slash patrons, it'll be in your show notes as well.
00:52:08
Speaker
and put in your credit card and become a donor. We would really, really appreciate it. Also, if you have any notes or thoughts or things you think I need to hear, things you think I fucked up on, I'm very easy to get ahold of. You can reach me on Twitter at Duncan Kinney, and you can reach me by email at DuncanKatProgressAlberta.ca. Thanks so much to Cosmic Family Communist for the amazing theme. Thank you for listening, and goodbye.