Media Bias & Youth Hopelessness

Journalist Elie Cantin-Nantel joins Prayer Stream to discuss media bias, youth hopelessness, and the discouragement facing Gen Z and Gen Alpha in Canada. Rather than dwell on frustration, the conversation asks how Christians can respond with wisdom, hope, and prayer.

Transcript

Le poll, 68% of young Canadians feel the Canada we're living in isn't as promising as the one our parents grew up in. 90% of Jenz Canadians feel owning a home is only for the rich. Um there is a poll that saw that 78% of Canadians 18 to 34 feel that Canada is broken. And here's one that's that's quite, you know, a bit worrisome. Uh a survey conducted by the Glob and Mail uh found that uh the main emotions Gen Z and millennial Canadians have about the housing situations are Welcome to Prayer Stream, a podcast from the National House of Prayer in Ottawa. We're here to have conversations with leaders and authors about prayer and how it intersects with the local church,

politics and government, Israel, and anything else that might pop up in the news. Join me, your host, Brad Fidler, along with Chris Byberg, as we wait into the prayer stream. All right. Hi everybody. Welcome to another episode of Prayer Stream. I am your host Brad Fedler here with Chris Byberg. Chris, say hi. >> Hello everybody. Great to see you again. What an exciting show today. >> Yes, this is going to be a good one. We've got Ellie Canton Nantel with us. We'll get to you in a second, Ellie. But, uh, Chris, as of time of recording, you've got some interesting plans coming up this next week, don't you? What's going on? >> We are headed to Israel once again and

we are working with Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast as well as the Israel Foreign Ministry. They invited us back. This will be our third time in in about a year and we're really really excited to be going to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and building allyship with the Jewish community across the globe. It's not just here in Canada, but it's also into Israel. and I'm really excited to be with Rabbi Huda Glick again. So, we'll tell you all about it when we get home. >> That'll be fun to talk about when you're back. So, uh yeah, that'll be coming up in a in a future episode. But, um as for today, as we already mentioned, we're here with Ellie Canton Nantel. Uh we're

going to Well, I'm not going to spoil it. Let's let's just hand this over to you, Ellie. Ellie, why don't you say hi? Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do. AB: Absolutely. It's such a pleasure to be here. My name is Ali Canton Nantel. I'm the founder and editor of EMCN Media. Uh I create uh journalistic and commentary content on YouTube which you can find at my name Ellie Kenton Nantel and in the basis for me doing this work is after working six years in independent media 10 years in journalism I realized there are a lot of people that are passionate about politics but in Canada we don't have enough quality political conservative content that seeks to educate people. We

have a lot of people that like to get clicks. there are a lot of people who like to enrage people uh for monetization uh and you know I found myself consuming a lot of US content because that was the only content that I found quality and worthy enough to consume. So I thought instead of complaining let let's try to build an alternative. So basically I'm creating a podcast which is basically what I would watch uh if I was looking for a Canadian political content and so far it's been very successful. We've grown since launching in last fall by 3,000 over 3,000%. We just hit 15,000 subscribers on YouTube. The videos are averaging um are getting actually more views than

some of the more clickbaity channels with over 200,000 subscribers. So, I feel like there's been a lot of momentum. I feel like God has really been uh supportive of of the work that we've been doing here. So, yeah, that that's basically what I've been doing. Prior to that, some people may recognize me. I used to work for True North and I also worked for the hub and I also had a brief stint on Parliament Hill as a staffer. >> As a staffer. Okay. So, so one thing that I really appreciate about Nelly Ellie rather is his his uh how balanced he is and where he's he is uh not afraid to share both sides of the story and he doesn't get into a lot of hyperbole which is so so easy for people to do

like he like I said it's so easy to go after clicks but he is this is why we invited him because of his integrity and his integrity to tell the whole story and that's what we really love about him that's why we brought him on today to talk about something really good. And I got we got to meet Ally about four years ago on Parliament Hill at the March for Life. And he actually he he interviewed us. And not only that, but he remembered he interviewed us when we met just this couple weeks ago at the Canada Free and uh Canada Strong and Free Conference. Anyway, welcome here, Ellie. >> Yes. Thanks so much. So great to see you as always. >> Yes. Thank you. And and welcome, Ellie.

So, uh, you mentioned in your in your comments there, uh, just about noticing a lack of of diversity in political coverage in media in Canada. So, uh, let's let's kind of start there. What led to you um maybe a little bit behind your your views, not not necessarily politically, but just what are some of the values that you're you're looking to see amplified? And and why why are you looking to see those amplified? Are you not like were you looking for those in media and not seeing them covered elsewhere? >> That's exactly it. So I first started doing political media when I was 17 years old and this was in 2020. Sorry, 2019 is when I became frustrated. 2020

is when I did something. But around that area, the conservative party had just uh gotten rid of Andrew Shear after Andrew Shear had not won the 2019 election and they were looking for a new leader. And all CBC and CTV were talking about nonstop all day long was that the conservative needed a leader that was so pro-abortion and that was pro- queer pride parades. And I thought to myself, that's not why Andrew Shear lost the election. Andrew Shear lost the election because he wasn't able to and I like Andrew Shear personally. I think he's lovely, but he wasn't able to galvanize people. And I don't think you're going to galvanize conservatives by talking about queer pride and how abortion is

supposedly great. non-stop on power and politics on uh question period on power play which are the shows of CBC and CTV that's what they talked about in the so-called conservative strategists which were are just lobbyists who care more about their clients than about conservatism they were more hap more than happy to go along with that narrative so instead of complaining I decided well I am now locked down because of COVID I have a computer with a webcam all these leadership candidates there were two that were nonwoke that were running with social conservatism, Leslyn Lewis and Derek Stone, they were running on pro-life platform, um a pro- family platform, and I thought, you know what,

I'm going to interview these folks. And that was the beginning of something much larger. I ended up interviewing lots of other politicians. Uh but to go back to your question, yes, it started with this frustration of lack of conservatives in media. Now, translate that to today, 2025, 2026. I was um working for the hub and finally I I was for the first time ever I thought I had a job where I could do quality conservative content because it had been my frustration for many years that there there was no there was some conservative media but they weren't as good as like the Daily Wire or uh Daily Caller or National Review in the US. And after the election they had decided they didn't want to do

conservative journalism anymore and they caught my position. So they're always like well there I'm back at square one. Um so again I decided and I was blessed some God brought some people into my life that were able to give me some um financial um uh startup funds and I was able to test out a YouTube channel where again my problem was yeah now we had some conservative content but it was mostly just for clicks. It wasn't I thought very intellectual was mostly entertainment and I look I love a good entertainment. I love uh you know hyperbal I love rants. Uh but you you also need to have you know I call that the icing on the cake. A cake isn't good without icing but if it's just icing it's also

not very good and we were missing the actual cake portion of the cake. So that's what I've been trying to do. We did our first explainer about the notwithstanding clause of the constitutional lawyer, not a but we managed to make it appealing to the conservative base and that first video on the new channel got 25,000 views and things continued since. So, so far and I mean we'll see exactly in a year Chris and Brad where the stands but so far I'm getting a feeling that my theory that there's a demand for better content is accurate just based on the traffic my channel's been getting. >> That's so good. I really I really love that because it's it's important that

it's it's uh the main thing is the main thing and and it's you know there's this saying the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing and so often we get f caught up in the trap of hyperbole or or or just bluster but we want to be able to to explain the truth and that's what we do at national house of prayer you know with our weekly prayer points and from this prayer stream report We want to lay out things nice and clear and concise and tell people what is actually going on in the nation and not get caught up in the blusteriness blusteriness of certain issues. We want to be able to teach people and it's important to be able to teach people how to find out for

themselves, right? And so to have a tool like yours, right, to be able to go on and listen. It's going to help us. It's going to help us to to know exactly how to pray. And not only that, but to have a trusted source to know that somebody is not going to pull a fast one just for the sake of clicks is really really important for us. So I just want to commend you on that. That's really excellent. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. And yeah, that that's part of what we do. Everything that we do at the MC media is fact checked twice. We fact check it with human and artificial intelligence. Um you know, if there's ever a mistake, we always issue a correction. um you

know I will just say something on hyperbole and warning or even being angry like there are certain times this is where like the other side so like the super there's kind of two camps that I' I've noticed there are the clickbaiters and then there's the anti-clickbait and the anti-clickbait is the point that there are certain times where it is okay to be worried uh I just did a podcast with a lawyer we're talking about a new bill from Mark Carney Bill C-22 and when you look at the text and you analyze a sec. This does lay the groundwork for a modern surveillance state. And it is not clickbait or outrage to say that because in the past when we didn't warn people

strong enough about let's say the consequences of of maid, the consequences of uh Bill C4, the consequences of you know race or gender social movements or the consequences of the land back movement, we deal with the consequences. So like I I think there are certain times where there's righteous uh warning, there is righteous um anger, righteous fear. Um the issue that I've had in the past with some commentators, they take it too far and everything becomes about outrage. Whereas I think you have to be selective about it. And when you are selective about it, the times that you are outraged, people are going to actually care. They're going to be like, "Oo, this guy doesn't get angry at

everything, but he's angry at that. >> I should start paying attention. Do you know can you could you unpack a little bit because we haven't really started to talk about C-22 yet because it's just emerging. Could you just explain for our audience how diabolical this without and now that sounds like hyperbole but it actually is a very scary bill. Probably one of the most most worrisome pieces of legislation we've seen as of yet. >> Sure. Sure. Um, I I actually, this is so fresh off my mind because the last interview I did was with the constitutional lawyer Josh Hos of the uh Canadian Constitution Foundation. I I've just pulled up the article he wrote, which I think sums it up very well. So,

this bill it it's called the uh safe access to information act and the idea is that it's supposed to u protect Canada from bad actors, >> right? But what it does is it mandates uh companies to provide electronic uh services that provide sorry electronic services to create technical capabilities to allow easy access to private data for law enforcement. Uh it allows the government to require companies to collect metadata. So that's things like your location for up to a year. um the minister would be allowed to uh basically order the secret spying of Canadians again in the name of public safety and worse the minister may be able to order companies to break encryption. Encryption is kind of like

the holy grail of privacy. >> Um it's what's behind things like Signal, which is a messaging app. It's behind the VPNs. This bill would allow the government to break it. Um it's so broad. You have um one cyber security expert who worries that um it would basically allow the government uh to listen to your conversations uh on your phone or even your smart fridge and do so secretly. >> And here's the thing. We just have to look at history. Okay, we have previous bills. Bill C7 made broadly written. People warned about it. The government did nothing. Look what's happening now. We have thigh on demand. The poor are being mutinized. The mentally ill are being mutinized.

>> Um you look at all these other pieces of legislation that the Liberals pass. It's the same thing. Why should we expect a government that time and time again has been proven that the broadly written bills have caused trouble that suddenly this is going to go okay when in the past every single broad piece of legislation that was badly written that open these kinds of risks went wrong. So that's to in a nutshell the government says it's about safety but it opens a lot of concerning um avenues. And lastly, I will just add the lawyer I spoke to says in the event of a future pandemic, if they try to bring back the lockdowns, right? This sort of thing could aid and abet the government in

keeping people in their homes. >> That's right. >> We've seen this and and you rightfully uh communicated that when we have a broadly uh introduced piece of legislation, it really does become a slippery slope, right? They assured and assured like when I was uh when I was when I was in high school, so that was a long long time ago, Ellie, we were debating medical, you know, um medical assistance and dying back then. We just called it mercy killing, right? And we were debating it then back in the 70s. And the big argument was back in the 70s was if we go this route, it'll become a slippery slope. And here it is beyond a slippery slope. It's a full-on luge, right? It

nobody would have predicted. We kind of said this will go, but it it went way farther than we thought. And so, it is so important that we bring light. We get out ahead of things. One, to start praying, right? Number two, to be informed and to actually start to engage with and use the tools that we have available to us in our toolboxes. Absolutely. And so that's uh that's reaching out to your MPs, talking to people, but also talking to people in your spheres to say this is huge. I remember, you know, mate had already been a part of uh uh this scene for a couple of years and I was at an EFC evangelical fellowship uh of Canada leaders conference and they were talking

about made and I would say probably 40% of the people at my table and throughout that grouping even though the legislation had been out already for over two years many of them hadn't even heard of it and then they started to hear about where it was going. Then they started to get engaged. But we also said this and this is what I you said earlier um today. You saw a vacancy and you acted right. So in terms of medical assistance and dying, we like to say my assistance in living. What are we going to do as a society to reach out to those people that are considering these options? Because right now there they're saying there is no option but there has to be an option and we have to be

volunteer v volunteers in that place. But anyway, what do you think? >> Right. Well, I I'll jump in here real quick because this really ties in for the the media bias thing uh with medical assistance and dying. I was listening to uh some parliamentary committee testimonies from a few weeks ago. Um and there was one psychiatrist who was speaking Dr. John Maher, I believe is his name is pronounced. And he was, it was really interesting watching his testimony because he was he was very polite. He was very official about it, but you could tell he was very very frustrated with the the proposed expansion to medical or to uh mental illness as a sole underlying medical

condition. Uh and he made the point that over 90% of psychiatrists in Canada are against this expansion. And that really surprised me because I never would have guessed there was that much professional opposition to the expansion of maid in Canada based on what I've heard about it in the media. I've only seen I've only seen articles and stories presenting it as compassionate care and all these sorts of things. Um I never I was surprised to hear that 90% of psychiatrists are against it because that doesn't match how the media has been presenting it. I I'll be honest, I had not heard that stat before and I've covered this issue. Goes back to what you're saying. The

media is very good at creating narratives, especially on these sorts of issues. Uh you know, for example, abortion being safe, legal, and rare. No, actually it happens very very often. Not in exceptional circumstances. It is basically used as birth control. I I I've heard people in my own life that have used it. I I know one particular woman uh she just was like, I don't want another child. I'll just get an abortion. That's not a safely, you know, a rare uh type scenario. This is birth control. You look at um the gender issue where we say that removing body parts is gender affirming. Like I think most people if they think of gender affirming, they would think of care that

would make you comfortable in your own body. But no, we're very good at again the words. Um and then in this case it's dying with dignity. We it's dignity right. Um so yeah the media is very good at pushing these types of of of narrative and under them there is always this element of compassion and empathy and that's the number one issue or argument that I hear whenever I you know tell someone that I'm opposed to bait and I used to support it for rare circumstances but now I'm against all of it. I think it should all go is they'll say what about the people suffering >> and my answer to that is that human beings are not cats and dogs and that it's insulting to treat them as such. um

we have paliotative care but yeah the media is very good at creating these narratives and a lot of the these narratives immigration uh you know transgenderism abortion um maid the police and crime stat statistics uh reconciliation etc. A lot of these narratives are based around empathy and because empathy is very powerful. Don't you care about that person? >> Right? >> That's a very very powerful tool and yeah the media and we can talk about why the media does this in a moment but that is a trend that I've observed with how the media covers a lot of these stories >> and that's interesting because that that is the question don't you care? the the the the answer for for us uh needs to be

not yeah we care so let's end their misery but actually yes we care so like Chris said earlier how are we going to assist how they how are we going to assist and come alongside and show compassion and care in in in uh minimizing suffering minimizing loneliness minimizing you know whatever it is that's that's creating the the pain or confusion um how are we coming alongside these people and actually providing care that affirms life and not just signs off on death? >> And you see with a constant a constant uh narrative of saying, well, you know what, you really shouldn't be this invested in somebody's life. I mean, it's it's it's diabolical for us to say carrying watching this loved one and

carrying them to the finish line, right? Not just taking an easy quick route and that that yeah the suffering is gone but it's important for us as a society to be caring for every for our loved ones for caring for our families for caring for strangers. Are we not our brother's keeper? Right? It is so important when we turn our back on these things it becomes a slippery slope. We go you know and then we start to hear the little murmurings in the government. you know, we've saved this much money in doing this. And it's no, it doesn't it doesn't matter what the cost is. The cost of caring a loved one and caring for them and loving them to the very end is so important for us as a people and

as the people of God. We should be doing this. And like I said, it's my assistance in living. So I what I was sitting at this table, everybody, you know, like I said with the EFC and all these pastors were outraged about uh about the what the government was doing and rightfully so, right? Rightfully so. But my response to the guys at the table, so what are you doing about it? Right? What are we going to do about this? We hear of people choosing maid because they're lonely. This lands on us as the people of God because we are called. We are called to set captives free out of Isaiah 61. The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon us because he's anointed us to preach good news, to bind

up broken hearts, to set captives free. I know I'm starting for those of track with us. I, you know, I that I say this all the time, but we are to be engaging in society all the time for the greater good. Anyway, that was >> I agree and I will just add one more thing. Real love is tough love. Um I'll just give a personal example and why I'm so against whether it's the maid, whether it's, you know, drugs, giving free drugs to addicts, whether it's tolerating antisocial behavior instead of saying no, we should be putting these people into mandatory care. When I was a child, I was a very uh misbehaving child. Um, you know, I was very demanding and I was also very sensitive.

I was very sensitive to sound. For example, I I I didn't like sounds. I wanted to wear earplugs all day at school. I wanted uh people to, you know, uh, believe in things, you know, I wanted things a very specific way. And I used to go to public school and they would just go along with all of that in the name of caring. And then my mom put me in the private school where the principal wasn't playing those rules. The first uh three to six months, four four to eight months were the most difficult time of my life. But I'm so happy that I was somebody finally said no because that allowed me to grow and become the person I'm I'm I am today. It's a small example, but I think that

very much applies to a lot of what we're seeing today where you have people engaging in behavior that is problematic. And rather than do what you do with younger people like me when I was 9 years old and say enough's enough. You have to overcome this and go and live by society's rule. Today we say okay we will you want drugs. Okay. Here's some taxpayer funded drugs. Oh um you want to be able to run and down run up and down the subway every day yelling at people. Okay. There's nothing we can do about it. We'll give you a free transit pass so you're not uh hop to turn south and potentially hurt yourself. That that's not compassion. That's that's insanity. And you know,

sometimes compassion means we have to be tough on people. That's like the most real amount of that the real love is when you know is tough love. So let's just just a little comment on that. >> Yeah, that's good. >> That's good. God says this is this is so important that for us as believers, God says he disciplines those that he loves. >> Right? And it is so important that we are disciplined. we live a disciplined life. He has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and self-discipline, right? It's so important that we live this. And and you're exactly right. You know, it might be difficult to say no to somebody, right? But uh uh I'm so grateful my

parents didn't allow me to play h street hockey on the 401, right? I'm so grateful that that that was common sense, right? And today we sort of just like >> like there is >> like I have grandchildren in in the public school system and there is no discipline in school anymore. >> No, no, >> none. There is none. A child can run wild and it's okay >> and nobody says no. And it's like how did we get here? But anyway, this is a bit of a uh we've jumped off a little >> pony trail. I'm I'm the I'm the king of bunny tracks. >> Found one. >> Me, too. I love to get him off the track, so two of us. >> Well, just real quick and then I'll come in with a question. Yeah. Just Chris,

you're you're quoting Hebrews 12 there >> and the the the strongest part of that passage, I think, is where where the writer says, "If you're left without discipline, then you're illegitimate and not sons." >> It's like, >> isn't that something? If he's if God's not correcting you, if it if he's not disciplining you. >> Yeah. >> There's a question of are you his >> Yeah. >> Right. And it's it is it is an an important and essential expression of love that we we love our children enough to say I'm not like I'm not going to let you stay stuck in that behavior. I'm going to help you move on to something better. And uh yeah, it's and it's it's and that's the tricky part is when we

leave that stuff up to government like you're talking about Ellie like if we only leave that stuff to government it won't come correction doesn't come with care and compassion from the government >> and it just it's just meeting an instant need and let's let's just plate the situation. But that's for us as the church. That's what we're called to. That's essentially disciplehip is to walk with someone and see them come, you know, see them mature step by step >> growing up in into the fullness of the stature of of Christ. Um that is that's the disciplehip process. That's a loving relational process. And we can't leave that up to government. That's something

we got to be willing to walk with these people and see them, you know, walk with them as they come out of difficult situations. And it's when we leave that to government, it just doesn't it just doesn't happen. Well, that's that's exact that's you really hit that on the head, Brad. Um because we too often pass the bug and we say it's the government's responsibility. You know, not that long ago in our history, it was the church that built hospitals. It was the church that built schools. It was the church that educated, right? It was the people of God that did this. And I'm not saying that we need to necessarily go back to that, but we were doing things. We It

was the local church that cared for the poor, right? Exactly. >> It was It was It was And today we have a mindset that we've handed that off. We We've shrugged our responsibilities and saying, "Well, that falls on the government now." >> And absolutely. I mean, I'll quote Ronald Reagan. He said that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, "I'm from the I'm from the government and I'm here to help." And I I agree with that. Uh literally whenever like whenever there's like a private or maybe a religious uh run institution and the government kind of goes and plates it it's never better. It's literally never better. >> Uh you look at public hospitals, public

schools, uh anything government run like in some countries they are private like Japan has privately run railways. The railways are amazing. Here we have governmentr run railways. They're horrible. >> I I can go on and on. As soon in Toronto, we're going to have a governmentr run grocery store and I'll be there on day one with my camera to see what that looks like. I guarantee you it won't be very nice. So, >> yeah, that's exactly it. If you want if you want it to take uh many many many times longer and if you want it to cost way way way more than you budget it, let the government do it. >> Oh, yeah. Very good. You know, my my wife and I were we pastored for many

years and and we were a part of in Niagara Falls where Brad is now pastoring and uh and the church that we attended and we were pastoring in had a had a Christian school and it was a very efficiently Christian school and the results that came out of that school were astounding. the it went to grade 8 and those kids went into you most of them went into the public high school and the teachers loved the students that came out of this school. They could read, they could write, they were talented, they could act, they could play instruments, they could do all kinds of things. But uh but again, this is why it's important for us as individuals to be the hands and feet of Jesus for

those around us and not leave it up to the government or Pastor Bob in our church. Right? It's about us being the hands and feet of Jesus. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. >> And that can look like small things too. I'll just share this briefly. Um going back to 2019 before before co uh my dad was a youth pastor at the time and he years before he used to coach high school football and uh that had been 20 years before but here he was like I want to get more involved where where these kids are. So, he showed up at the local high school and he said, "What I I'm just want to help. Where do you need help?" And uh and they were kind of surprised by this, but they they said,

"Actually, we have a number of kids that are way behind on their reading. Um reading at a much lower level than they should be right now. Um can you help with that?" And so, went through all the stages of getting clearance and all that, of course. But, uh, he would just show up and go to the library with with a kid or a couple kids and let them read for an hour. And like they would read to him. He'd help him with the reading. That's all he did. And it was amazing how you had uh, you know, you had this 60-year-old guy walking through the halls of a high school, you know, bald and not not like a cool guy, but the kids loved him. The students loved him. And all he was doing was showing up and

letting them read. And and it's amazing how small of a thing can open so many doors. And you know, they had kids join the youth group and and uh some of them came to Jesus and families and so on. And it all originated from something as small as showing up and showing compassion where there were gaps in the system. And that's that's really where we should be trying to insert ourselves is where there are gaps, where are people not being cared for >> and how can we help out there even in small simple ways like that. >> So this is a great segue >> into youth that are feeling hopeless, >> right? This is a major major theme in our society. we see this, you know, we

saw I had two high school students while we were going through through co that was awful. It was so hard and then and then it's like we've never pulled out of this, right? That little season of you know two, three, four years years of cons of seclusion really did something to the psyche of our young people. And then today we see all these other contributing factors like the cost of living uh just just the I I really feel bad for for young men because of the wokeness has been telling them and even in their school system they've been told that they're toxic and all these other things where they are becoming a hopeless generation. So how do we turn this around Ellie? What do you think we

should be doing and how do we combat hopelessness in this Gen Z Gen Alpha? >> Oh, that's such a good question. I mean, there there's so many things I I could probably talk for the rest of the podcast about this. >> Um, let let's um what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you an answer and then you can let me know what you think and then I'll give a second type of answer. I want to talk about young people in general and I think separately we should talk about young men. Let's start with young people in Canada in general. >> Okay, beautiful. I I I pulled up some statistics before um you know joining you guys uh because I this is something I used to write a lot about when I was

at the hub. Um so Le poll 68% of young Canadians feel the Canada we're living in isn't as promising as the one our parents grew up in. 90% of Jenz Canadians feel owning a home is only for the rich. Um there is a poll that saw that 78% of Canadians 18 to 34 feel that Canada is broken and many believes the Liberal uh government the current Liberal government is at fault. And here's one that's that's quite you know a bit worrisome. Uh a survey conducted by the Glob and Mail uh found that the main emotions Gen Z and millennial Canadians have about the housing situations are furious, frustrated and angry. So what you have is you have especially postco and I'll be honest it

feels like co never ended in the sense of like you know we don't have to wear the masks anymore thank goodness uh we don't have the stupid vaccine passport or the restrictions but there's a lot of things that feel like haven't gone back to normal and and one of them is just everything is gotten so expensive. I had pulled a statistic actually just just this is like the housing is obviously one of them now in in Toronto and in Vancouver you need to make $200,000 a year to afford a home but even like other necessities I I had pulled this last year when I I was doing research and I basically had found like a Honda Civic which is like a very basic car u 25 base model is more expensive than

the highest and 2015 Civic that comes with the the leather seats and the leather steering wheel and the sunroof. >> The that's basically price of cars have doubled. Uh housing has doubled. Um >> but so what's happening is you have a lot of these young people. They're looking at this and now there's also AI uh that's been added into the mix. So they're >> they're poorer than their parents. You look at the housing prices, look at car prices, and they're also looking at this monstrosity that even the founders of don't even know what's going to be the end result of. So amidst all of that, you have a lot of young people in Canada that are feeling not very great. So

that's part one. I don't know if you guys have anything to add and we can talk about the young men. Yeah, you know what we see youth unemployment uh especially in Ontario, you know, ranging depending on the city 12 to 17% higher in other places. This is brought on by lots of external factors of coming into our country and uh and it really bothers me that my grandson can't find a job, right? I know Brad finally how many years did it take Joel to find the job? >> Two years. And and many and many of our students aren't even getting a job in high school, right? They're they're they're not so I and this is actually funny. This was before COVID. My first job was on Parliament Hill. And I mean

nowadays I can probably like almost brag about that. But the reality is it's not like I didn't try. I must have handed off my resume to like a hundred different places. But all these places were like we need prior work experience. But how do you get prior work experience if no one will hire you? Right. So, and this is something that like Gen Z out of university are dealing with a lot. I I'm being told um I will also add just one more thing like somebody like myself who's 23 who just graduated when I started university in 2021 AI didn't exist like I mean there was some automization but like the type of AI >> in the background >> it started in the so you know I started

university thinking what I'd be done there'd be no mass AI right so it's not like someone today that's starting a university degree they're like okay I'm going to spend four years not in the workplace not developing a business or capital. This came out of nowhere for a lot of us. So I think that too is a point of frustration. Um there was actually the goo I think it was a former Google CEO. He was giving a commencement speech the other day in the US at a big university and as soon as he mentioned AI all the students booed like really loud and and that I found like okay like >> this is something they're booing. They're not saying, "Yay, this makes our life more efficient, more afford." I

mean, I use it for my business. I save hundreds of dollars a week on consulting fees. I I It makes me twice as fast. They're booing. That tells you something. And I think the policy makers and the, you know, industry leaders should wake up to that. >> They they really they really need to. I was listening to a podcast with Elon Musk and he was talking he was saying in 3 to six years we won't even need surgeons or doctors because AI will take care of it all that is a scary thought very >> right just that that is just like a world like that how is that and if it's going to affect surgeons and doctors where else is it going to affect >> even I mean I look at podcasters there

are some apps now where you can take like and you can have like AI my characters talk to each other. >> Now >> I think on that front uh I mean some of the work I do isn't replaceable because I travel a lot to do like on the ground investigations and interviews. AI can't do that. >> Secondly, I am hopeful that there's enough people who don't want to watch AI slop. Uh I don't watch any AI slop. I'm sure I'm not the only one. I'm sure I can find, you know, 100,000 people in Canada that want to watch my show every day that's not AI slop. Um, I think especially as we get more AI slop, people are going to start tuning up very quickly. >> So, we listen, I just want to say this,

especially to the older folks that are watching us today and what we're saying about AI slop. Um, I I I consume a lot of video to get information, right? So, for us to be informed in prayers, we watch a lot of stuff. That's why I watch Ellie because I want to know what's going on and he's a trusted source. And but there is stuff out there that is repetitious that is not even that but I get to the point where I'm watching for the errors. That's what I watch when you watch a ice because there's error after error after error and you have to be careful with this because unless you're informed and you know your stuff it could be lying to you and you don't even know it. So be careful.

>> Right. Yes. No, that's that's for sure. And also the motives. Okay. My motive is I want to inform people. someone who's just creating ASL all day, what's their motive? Their motive is probably not I want Canadians to be better informed. Their motive is probably I want to get clicks in cash >> and that's not someone who I would trust with news to be very honest. >> Nope. Nope. It's interesting that you mentioned the so the whole thing about AI and and uh its effect on the job market. Um, I've just been as a pastor, I've been I've been researching some things recently, just looking for ways how we can our our own local church, how we can be involved in in different

things. Um, there are some pretty interesting ministries out there doing incredible work around the idea of going into lowincome areas, meeting with people and saying people who are out of work, unemployed, perhaps living on living off the system and saying, "What are you good at?" And I remember this this one gentleman telling the story. Uh he was doing it as part of a a seminary project. They had to go into the projects in the city where the school was. And he was he's it's funny him telling the story. He's like a 6'8 white guy and this little you know uh black grandma opens the door and she's like 4'11 and just even how awkward that was. But asking her say you

know stumbling through I'm so and so from this school. We're doing this project. I'm supposed to ask you, "What are you good at?" And she she was really didn't want to answer and really suspicious of him. And as she's trying to send him away, a voice comes from back in the house saying, "She makes the best chitlins this side of the Mississippi." Or something like that, right? And and he says, "Is that true? You're you good cook?" And she gets a smile on her face. She's, "Yeah, I'm pretty good." They wind up bringing him in and he tells the story. He's sitting there in this living room with all these with this this whole family. And he says, "So, what are you good at?" and

you know, so you're a good cook. She's like, yeah, I'm pretty good cook, but but he can fix any bicycle out there. I've seen him fix kids bikes all the time. Y and he's, Really? Is that true? And he asked this guy and he says, yeah, I'm good at that, but he can fix any car. I've I've seen him fix Fords and Volkswagens and he's and it's and what he watched. He said, "I'm sitting there in this living room and even as they just bragged on each other." He said, "They all started sitting up straighter >> having a little bit more pride and like and he saw a transformation just in that room." And what that led to was helping them giving them entrepreneurial skills

so that they could start businesses, start providing for their families and get on their feet and so on. And so this whole thing of AI removing a lot of jobs from the market uh it really does lead to the sense of hopelessness if you can't you know we're created to have a function to have a purpose to contribute to produce you know that's that's part of what we're wired to do and when there's no opportunities for that there is a lot of hopelessness that comes in so that's just >> and can I just say like this is my advice a lot of people so I for example to do uh So this article in the hub and it says like so in 1985 the median after tax income for a 25 to 34 year old was $51,000

in today's dollars and today it's $52,000 so 2% increase and everything else has gotten more expensive >> way more. >> I personally uh I mean my last job I was compensated extremely well but take that aside. I've just been looking and seeing how many some how some what some of my peers out of university make and I'm insulted. Um, and I'm like, "No, I'm sorry. I I I don't want to like for the amount of burden this type of job would have. I I I I just think I'm worth more." And yeah, like I wasn't happy with the system. I don't want to have to, you know, a lot of the job market for Gen Z, for those who do get jobs, it's all these one-year contracts. So, like for me, it's like I got a one-year

contract and then a year later I was unemployed again. I don't want to have to go through that every year. And that's where where entrepreneurship comes along where you have the opportunity to make more money, to have more stable income. Now, there's some risks and downsides to that. For example, I'm starting a business. I'd be making more money right now if I had gotten one of those jobs that I just called crappy a few seconds ago. But in two, three years, if I'm successful and I the risk pays off, >> I'll be better off. I have to file my own business taxes at uh you know every spring. I have to take care of my own books. I have to you know there's a lot

of I work 12 10 to 12 hour days. Now I do rest on the weekend as the Bible commands us to do. >> There's a bit more work involved but I think for today for a lot of Gen Z entrepreneurship is the way to go. And by the way a a lot of employees much prefer contractors anyways. So, a lot of these jobs you can actually just take on two clients uh and you work for both. And so, there's all there's so many opportunities in so many different fields to pursue what you're good at. I had a friend, for example, I mean, this is a little bit different, but I think it it matches here. His mom really wanted him to go to law school. He wasn't really keen on it, but he started

to go anyways. And at the start of it, he told me, and I think it'll be okay if I share a story because I won't name him. He said, "I don't know what I'm doing." And I said, "What are you passionate about?" He said, "He he loves guns." And I said, "Become a firearms lawyer. and he calls me a week ago and he said, "Guess what, Ellie? I just got a job at a criminal defense law firm that specializes in firearms law." >> Yeah, that was >> right. So, there's there's there's different ways in which you can do what you're good at. I really encourage entrepreneurship or find a need where there's like something like that and pray about it. He was praying about it.

He thought it was divine intervention. But yeah, >> cool. >> Yeah. >> Hey, I want to just say this. And one of the things that we've been seeing uh especially in terms of ministry and and church growth and stuff like that, Bible schools are shrinking like crazy and there very few young people coming into the ministry. And so uh I I know this demographic right now is going to be older. We need to be praying that younger people get involved in ministry. But that being saying said everything we do is ministry, right? So yes, we can work in a in in a sacred setting in a church or in ministry and with youth or whatever, but uh we need to be praying that those people are still h you know

coming there. And so leaders, Christian leaders, I just want to encourage you that you are working yourself out of a job. You should be doing that and looking to the next gen to disciple them, to mentor them, and to get them going. I had I had an MP I had a meeting with an MP just a couple weeks ago and uh and he was at Canada Strong and Free and he says to me, you know, Chris, you know that thing that you said to me in our meeting, I said, "Okay, remind me what he says." I and we were talking about mentorship. He says, "Chris, this is so I'm going to take what you said to me about mentorship to heart." And so he is starting a mentorship program on Parliament Hill,

>> right? not just an internship but a mentorship thing. And so us as the adults in the room, us moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas and business owners and pastors, we should be building mentors and pouring into those. And so Ellie, I wanted to just say this. And you're building a great business, but don't forget to mentor because you are the perfect mentor, right? Just that you have >> and I have a mentor myself like it's mentorship is like it never ends. uh you know yes I took I will actually do the mentorship program with Canada Strong and Free uh back in 2023. It was the best experience of my life basically and it allowed me so we need more of that. I

mean that's something I really you know >> part one of what I'm doing is building a business if God blesses me with that. >> Yes. >> A more long-term vision I would have is it would be great in Canada. They have this in the US. In the US they have more money in politics obviously but you have these these people and they give a bunch of these kids like $100,000 a year to go and produce high quality journalism to help you know because like the stuff we do costs a lot of money like >> my each each investigation that I do when when it involves travel it's around $2,500 because you have to you know you travel pretty last minute you have to book everything flexible because in case

your plans change you have to often bring someone with you etc etc. we were able to like just empower like young people want to be journalists like that I think would go a long way mentorship etc. I do want to get into like the young men which is something else >> wanted to y >> so and I can speak to this as as a young man in my 20s we grew up and it's even worse for gen alpha men and men that age of my brother who's just turned 20. We grew up and I remember in high school at one point I said we were just I was talking amongst a few of my guy friendss and I said I think the modern feminist movement has gone too far right like the yeah women's march the the the pink hats

which the word I won't say on on this podcast the p-word hats uh the the abortion etc. a teacher barges in and says coming from a privileged white man and and basically this sums up what all the young men have been grow they grow up in this whole idea of oh don't ask a girl out or she'll meet to you or uh you know men have a great and this is something that's politically incorrect to talk about but men have great fears of fake sexual assault allegations like that is a real thing um and I speak to to young men all the time that is a real thing so that's impacted relations between men and women. Um they've keep they've been told their pro reason for all the problems. Meanwhile, they go

into the job market today. Talking about job market earlier and if you want to be hired, you have to be gay or woman or person of color blah blah blah anyone but white men. So what's happened is a lot of white men have turned to nihilism and they turn to people like Andrew Tate, like Nick Fuentes, and like a guy named Clvicular. These, for those who don't know, these are influencers that basically preach a view that you don't need women. Nick Fuentes famously said that I think he said having sex with women is gay or something to that effect. And it's basically like thirdwave feminism but for men and that men are oppressed and that men should just work out a lot. And look, I'm not

against working out. I go to the gym every day or try to, but men should only care about themselves, not care about women. Forget women. Uh they start developing very sexist attitudes towards women. Um which is far more toxic. >> That's kind of a blowback. I I don't think that's the answer. The answer was what Charlie Kirk was preaching is the answer is family. The answer is Jesus. >> We are seeing a Gen Z revival and I think that's a good sign. But there's still a lot of these young men that are feeling lost and trapped. >> And when they ask for help, they're they're told to shut up, you privileged white man. And I yeah, >> until that changes, we're not going to see the situation improves.

>> So, how does a young man stand up to this, right? How do they They've been told to shut up. They've been told they're toxic. They've been told that they're less than less than less. I I saw this even when my my youngest, she's now 22, but when she was in public school in grade seven and eight, you know, they had Girls Inc. come to the school, and I was a little leerary about Girls, Inc., my daughter had has a a learning disability, uh, but she's she's very functional, but I just didn't want her to get duped into an agenda or a propaganda, right? And so I told the teacher I was really concerned the principal I was very very concerned that they have this girls ink because they

don't have boys ink and and why don't they have boys inc. And if you walk through the halls of a any public school today you will see all this girl power stuff. You will see the letter people power stuff and there is nothing for heterosexual boys. There's nothing >> and uh and this is just drives me. So anyway so I told the teach the principal why I was I was really concerned. And I said, "This is my concern. I'm concerned that Lydia is going to come home and she's going to say, uh, what the rhetoric she will hear is that boys are bad and you don't have to listen to your parents." This is what I was afraid of. So Lydia comes home and she's and I said, "So Lydia, what did you learn

today?" And essentially she says, "Boys are bad and I don't have to listen to my parents." As a result, I ended up calling the principal back because I was an engaged parent. You have to be an engaged parent. You have to be an engaged grandparent and you need to be having conversations with the teachers, with the principles, building a living active or um relationship in the schools to defend. So that's how you help young men uh build those relationships. And then you guys in the Christian world build men stuff. I we're building something here that we're starting in the fall called man camp because we want to teach men how to pray because men pray different than women and they need

to be amongst each other. They need to be encouraged by each other. So, we're what doing one of these things. But it's so so so important that these young men are nurtured by men >> and men, you need to step up. I just want to encourage you, step up and get around those young men and and encourage them. And it's just I just can't believe that what these guys are going through. And it's about having babies, having getting getting married, having babies. This is it. Not the other way around. >> You know, it's so true. And I'll say something quickly. Uh uh you know, churches love to talk about women's ministry and women's this and women's that, but it's also important to have

men's stuff. Like my church has a men's breakfast and a women's breakfast that are on separate dates. And I think that's great and we need that, right? Yeah. Yep. >> That's exactly it. I I was out we were out west u in in the fall and I don't know how many men's breakfasts I was invited to speak at in Red Deer. I think I I spoke 16 times in six days and I think I went to five men breakfast. Wow. >> And so that is really cool. So there's stuff movement of foot there's things that are happening but you need to older guys you need to make sure the younger guys are showing up. You need to make sure they're a part of what you're doing so you can speak into them and encourage

them and and that's so so important. So so important. >> And that goes Yes. And come alongside them because >> like you're saying like it's it's easy to understand how many of them would be afraid to speak up for anything. >> Yeah. >> Because you're almost wrong no matter what you say. >> It it seems like nowadays. And so even to ask for help, you know, some of them probably don't even know if that's okay. So yeah, just come alongside young men. Come alongside them where you where you see them. And >> and uh yeah, just be be a support, be a listening ear, pray for them. Yeah, just be there. >> I was at a men's conference, a men's uh gathering at my local church here in

Ottawa and I got a chance to share and I started with this line. I said, "I am a toxic male." I told them that. But I'm only toxic to the plans and the schemes of the devil. That's who I'm toxic to. I want to pull down every stronghold that uh raises up against the knowledge of God. And I just as far as being being a loving male, I am a man. And it's like Jesus, the apostle Paul says this, "Love men, love your wives like Christ loved the church, laying down your life for her." That is who we are as men. >> Yep. >> All right. So, so Ellie, we've we've covered a lot of ground here. We got into talking about a bunch, but talking about we talked about media bias. We've

we've covered some things about causes of hopelessness for a lot of young adults today and young men. So, National House of Prayer, we bring in the slant of so how do we pray? >> What do we pray and and how do we pray? So, um actually Chris, I'm going to throw it at you first. Chris, you chime in. Ellie, I'm going to throw it to you next on that. How do we how do we pray and what do we pray? >> Okay. I I'll tell you Ellie, what's so in exciting that you are exciting that you're why you're on this call today. It's because and you remember this Rad. We were praying that God would raise up young voices in media. Yep. >> Right. To come and tell the truth, right? So Ellie, you are an answer to

prayer. >> Yeah. >> Our group have been praying God raise up. And look at this. Look at what's happening right now. There's Josh from Elevate Report. There's Jasmine Lane. And there's all kinds of great voices with godly and biblical principles being coming to the forefront. And I just want to say to you, you are an answer to prayer. And so our heart is to pray that you keep going and you reproduce yourself. >> No, thank you so much. Uh if you were going to ask me what we should pray for, it's exactly that. Pray for those who are engaging in political media work with the good intentions. Uh you know there's enough grifters out there and we talked about that earlier. The godly people

>> deserve all of the the you know support uh that's needed. Um and so yeah pray prayer for that. Pray for the nation. Prayer for the politicians even. You know we have to pray for Mark Carney >> even if we don't like him. We have to pray for people like Christopher Freeland even though she's no longer in parliament. We have to pray for Pierre Polyv. Pierre Polyv deserves a lot of prayer. You know I you know I know you guys are nonpartisan but I think regardless of who you guys want to win, you have to pray for and you have to pray for your enemies. You have to pray for Canada as a whole, Canadians, a lot of Canadians are brainwashed and they're consuming a lot of uh bad media. We have

to pray that they will wake up and realize what's around them. What's happening right now in Canada? there's a burning house and there's some people in front of that burning house that are like, well, at least Trump isn't our president, right? Uh we have to pray for those people. Uh so that that's what I would say. Pray for the nation, pray for the media, pray for the people that are trying to make things better. And uh >> that's good. >> That that's probably best thing we can do as Christians. And also be involved when we can. Um >> supporting, you know, there's different ways to support independent media. I tell people the best thing you can do is watch the video and subscribe. If you

have the means, donations can go a long way. Uh, Conservative Party of Canada raises four 48 million dollars a year. If you were able to raise 10% of that for independent media, the change would be overnight. So, yeah, that's kind of my my pitch to people. Pray. Look at ways you can support uh independent media. Look at ways you can support Christian ministries as well. The work they do and uh if you do that, we'll have a better nation. >> Amen. So, we're going to put your name, your ministry there. I'm going to say this. Go on to his his his YouTube channel. Like and subscribe. Like and do that for us too at National House of Prayer. Like and subscribe. When you

like and subscribe, it does something to the algorithm which we are having lots of fun with. And and Ellie is good. He's good. So he's good soil. Sew into Ellie. Sew into Ellie's what he's doing. Send money to him so he can do more. I want to encourage you folks to do that because it's important. We've been praying for this to happen and here God has g answered our prayers and now it's not just stopped there. It's continue to run and continue to grow and to continue to multiply. >> Mhm. We'll have all Ellie, we're going to have all your information in the show notes here. So, uh links to his YouTube channel, to his socials, uh so you'll be able to to link to them there. I'll just

add this as well, keep praying for truth and media. And I would say this, pray for voices on the left and on the right. Um, you know, Ellie, we like like Chris said, we've seen how, you know, you're you're interested in getting the truth out and you do it from a conservative perspective. Pray for the, you know, pray that there would be others on the left who are also uh dedicated to bringing truth forward, you know, with their with their own political slant, but we want >> we want to pray for truth and media across the board. Yes. And just pray that that these voices don't get swept up in hyperbole and all those things as well. And so, uh, that's that would be

my two cents on this. Um, any last thoughts before we sign off, guys? >> I would say this. Send it's a prayer from my from my heart from the book of Psalms. Send out your light. Send out your truth that it would lead us, Lord. >> That's good. >> Amen. >> Amen to that. >> All right. Good stuff. Ellie, thank you again for joining us. We've enjoyed the conversation and uh thank you for listening again. As Chris said, like and subscribe and uh stick around. We'll be back next week with another episode. Thanks for tuning in to the prayer stream. Bye for now. Thanks for listening to Prayer Street, a podcast from the National House of Prayer. Click the like button, share,

and subscribe to stay uptodate on all our future episodes. For more information on upcoming events, prayer resources, or the canopy of prayer, please visit us at www.enhob.ca. See you next time.