Ezra Levant Keeps His Final Promise to Charlie Kirk: Never Give Up on Canada

[00:02] Uh, in closing here, are you guys going

[00:04] to give up? Is now this, hey, you know,

[00:06] the Liberals won. What is the battle cry

[00:09] for the Canadian Patriot? Because I just

[00:11] have such respect for you guys.

[00:14] >> Because even though that, you know,

[00:15] people from California say, "Charlie,

[00:16] it's so bad here." I said, "No, no, no.

[00:18] Go, go to Ontario. Go to Toronto. Go to

[00:21] Ottawa. Are you going to give up? One

[00:23] minute remaining." Ezra,

[00:24] >> that was one of the last things Charlie

[00:26] Kirk ever said to me, and I've been

[00:28] thinking a bit more about the answer. I

[00:30] have an idea, though, so please stick

[00:31] around till the end of this video. I

[00:32] want to share it with you. You know,

[00:35] Charlie was America first, but he loved

[00:36] Canadians, and he was always checking in

[00:39] on us at Rebel News to make sure we were

[00:41] okay. Like when Mark Carney won the

[00:43] election, Charlie would invite me on his

[00:45] show sometimes. It was his way of trying

[00:47] to support us, especially if he saw that

[00:50] we were in trouble with the government.

[00:52] Can I show you one of the last

[00:53] conversations I had with him right after

[00:56] the election when freedomloving

[00:58] Canadians were pretty down in the dumps?

[01:00] Charlie was worried and so was I, but I

[01:02] always try to be a bit braver when I was

[01:04] talking to him. So, he invited me on the

[01:06] show.

[01:06] >> We're going to dive deeper into the

[01:08] Canadian results here with my friend

[01:10] Ezra Leavant from Rebel News. Ezra,

[01:12] great to see you. You actually have a

[01:14] glass half full interpretation of the

[01:17] Canadian election results. Tell us about

[01:19] it.

[01:20] >> Thanks. I mean, you got to if you're a

[01:21] conservative in a left of center country

[01:24] like Canada, you always got to be

[01:25] looking for the silver lining. We talked

[01:27] for more than half an hour. He really

[01:29] cared about Canada. He knew a lot about

[01:31] us and especially our battles for free

[01:33] speech. He was worried whenever one of

[01:35] our rebel news journalists was arrested,

[01:38] including me. Charlie was tough on

[01:40] immigration, but he used to joke that he

[01:42] would let me become an honorary

[01:44] American. And I think he meant as in

[01:46] Rebel News fights for freedom. And and

[01:48] that's what he did, too. and he knew we

[01:50] face some of the same threats he did

[01:52] >> from a country that we're uh having a

[01:54] little tussle with right now. But we

[01:56] just love this guy. He's a patriot and

[01:58] he could be an honorary American anytime

[01:59] he wants. He's a freedom fighter. Ezar

[02:01] Leavant, Canadian journalist. Rebel

[02:03] Newswe.com.

[02:04] >> We have to hire security guards to

[02:06] protect our journalists from Antifa and

[02:08] from pro- Hamas extremists and actually

[02:10] from violent trans extremists just like

[02:13] he had to do. No other journalists in

[02:16] Canada have to go through that because

[02:17] no other journalists in Canada are

[02:19] attacked by the left in the same way.

[02:22] Charlie asked me what it was like to

[02:24] live in a country without the First

[02:26] Amendment. Here's what I told him.

[02:27] >> So, Ezra, I know I mentioned this

[02:29] previously, but I want to reiterate it.

[02:31] Can you talk and speak to the importance

[02:34] of what you wish you had as far as

[02:36] alternative media and free speech? What

[02:39] if Canada had the So, Canada's like the

[02:42] size of California. So just in

[02:44] California, imagine if you had free

[02:46] media, open media, alternative media,

[02:49] influencers, and laws that allow you to

[02:52] do those things. What would Canada look

[02:54] like?

[02:54] >> It would be completely different. We are

[02:56] constantly fighting for even basic

[02:58] freedom of speech and freedom of the

[03:00] press. And it is a a very costly battle

[03:03] because we do not have the first

[03:04] amendment. I went on to list a halfozen

[03:06] legal battles we're in, including suing

[03:08] the police for falsely arresting our

[03:10] reporters five times. I think he was

[03:13] worried. Here's what he said next. He

[03:15] said, "Are you going to give up?"

[03:17] >> Uh, in closing here, "Are you guys going

[03:19] to give up? Is now this, hey, you know,

[03:21] the Liberals won. What is the battle cry

[03:24] for the Canadian patriot?" Because I

[03:26] just have such respect for you guys

[03:29] because even though that, you know,

[03:30] people from California say, "Charlie,

[03:31] it's so bad here." I said, "No, no, no.

[03:33] Go, go to Ontario. Go to Toronto. Go to

[03:36] Ottawa. Are you going to give up? One

[03:38] minute remaining." Ezra,

[03:39] >> no. I I love this is my home. I mean,

[03:41] for generations, my family been here.

[03:43] This is my country. I'm not going to

[03:45] give it up without a fight. We fought

[03:46] during the the COVID lockdowns, which

[03:48] were extreme up here. Remember the

[03:50] Canadian truckers? They came and they

[03:52] they broke the fever and they set an

[03:54] example for the world. And remember, no

[03:56] politicians supported them. They didn't

[03:58] have a big super PAC behind them. It was

[04:01] grassroots people saying enough is

[04:02] enough. That inspires me, those

[04:04] truckers. So, we're going to keep

[04:06] fighting. And of course, we're not going

[04:07] to give up. But sometimes it's hard.

[04:10] Unlike 99% of the media in Canada, we

[04:12] don't take government grants. We're at a

[04:14] competitive disadvantage to those who

[04:16] do. We have the massive expense of

[04:18] security to protect our reporters from

[04:20] anti-foot thugs. And we have big legal

[04:23] bills to fight for our free speech.

[04:25] Here's what Charlie said to me. One of

[04:27] the last things he ever told me, he said

[04:29] he hoped to see me soon.

[04:31] >> Ezra, God bless you, my friend. Hope to

[04:33] see you soon. Uh it's a depressing

[04:34] picture from my view, but your optimism

[04:36] and positivity uh is remarkable and

[04:38] noteworthy. Thank you.

[04:40] >> Thanks, Charlie. I didn't get the chance

[04:42] to see him because he was murdered by a

[04:44] left-wing extremist. When you talk to a

[04:47] friend who is 31 years old and healthy,

[04:49] it never crosses your mind that it could

[04:51] be the last time you ever speak with

[04:53] him, let alone that he'd be murdered

[04:55] because he's fighting for freedom. The

[04:57] same fights we're in. As we head into

[05:00] 2026, all of the things Charlie worried

[05:02] about for America are getting worse in

[05:04] Canada, too. More censorship, out of

[05:06] control immigration, a failing economy,

[05:09] less hope for young people, a crime

[05:12] wave. So, he asked me, "Are you guys

[05:15] going to give up?"

[05:17] What do you think he'd want us to do?

[05:19] What do you think he'd expect me to do

[05:22] and our rebel news journalist? He would

[05:24] expect us to fight to cover the news,

[05:26] especially the news that other media

[05:27] won't cover, like we did during COVID.

[05:29] He'd want us to continue to take on

[05:31] corruption and mass immigration and

[05:33] censorship, and to go out among the

[05:35] people and tell their stories and help

[05:37] fight their battles, stand up for the

[05:39] underdog like we did for the pastors and

[05:42] the truckers.

[05:43] I think that's what Charlie liked about

[05:45] us the most. We don't just report the

[05:47] news. Every once in a while, we stop and

[05:49] get involved. Whether it's our billboard

[05:50] truck or hiring a lawyer for someone who

[05:53] couldn't afford one on their own or

[05:54] giving a voice to people who don't have

[05:56] a voice or or when we sponsored

[05:58] Christian refugees to get out of Iraq.

[06:01] Charlie also talked a lot about the

[06:02] truckers. I think he would be thrilled

[06:04] to know that we just hired Tamara Leech

[06:06] as our newest rebel and he'd be excited

[06:09] that we're going to put her on a campus

[06:11] tour just like Charlie used to do.

[06:13] That's what he'd want Rebel News to do,

[06:15] I think.

[06:17] What do you think he'd want you to do?

[06:20] Mainly, I think he'd want you to not

[06:22] give up, to not be demoralized, to find

[06:24] the energy and hope and faith to keep

[06:26] fighting. And I'd like to think that

[06:28] he'd want you to continue to support us,

[06:30] too. I won't presume to speak for him,

[06:32] but he knew we had no big backers, just

[06:34] a lot of little backers through

[06:35] crowdfunding. He liked that about us.

[06:38] When I had that conversation with

[06:40] Charlie, I never thought that it would

[06:42] be one of our last. When he told me to

[06:45] keep fighting him, I never thought it

[06:46] would be his last request of me. We talk

[06:50] about Charlie Kirk a fair bit here at

[06:52] the Rebel News office. In the new year,

[06:55] Tamara Leech will be going from college

[06:56] to college, convincing young people to

[06:58] believe in freedom, just like Charlie

[07:00] did. We're going to have to hire a lot

[07:02] of security for Tamara.

[07:05] In my mind, that's the best way for us

[07:07] to live up to Charlie's expectations of

[07:10] us. Don't you think? And can I invite

[07:12] you to join us and help us to keep my

[07:14] final promise to Charlie? I only need

[07:17] your help for that one part, the

[07:19] security team to protect Leech on

[07:21] campus. And for all of our other

[07:23] journalists who bravely go into the

[07:24] world, for example, every time our

[07:26] reporters Alexa and Guom go out in

[07:28] Montreal, we need four security guards

[07:30] with them because police refuse to stop

[07:33] Antifa thugs. We've got everything else

[07:36] covered already for the tour, but if you

[07:38] can protect our team as we all try to

[07:41] keep our promise, please go to

[07:42] journalistdefensefund.com.

[07:47] If you can contribute $100 or more,

[07:49] we'll invite you on a special donorsonly

[07:51] Zoom call earlier in the new year when

[07:54] you can chat with me, Tamara Leech, and

[07:56] our other reporters directly. And any

[07:58] donations of $1,000 or more will get a

[08:01] one-on-one thank you phone call from

[08:03] Tamara herself. I want to keep my

[08:05] promise to Charlie and to you and to my

[08:08] conscience. I told him I wouldn't give

[08:10] up even if things get tough and I intend

[08:11] to keep that promise. If you can help me

[08:14] by helping me keep our reporters safe,

[08:17] please do by going to

[08:18] journalistdefensefund.com.

[08:21] Thanks.