Rebel News LIVE! 2025 in Red Deer, Alberta featured a number of prominent speakers discussing the unprecedented challenges facing Western Canada.

Dr. Dennis Modry is a renowned heart and lung surgeon who formerly saved lives in the operating room. Now, he's fighting to save Alberta from Ottawa's overreach as a fearless advocate for the province's autonomy.

A co-founder of the Alberta Prosperity Project, Modry has been writing policy, building movements and fighting for Western Canada for decades.

“Does anybody here think things are going to get better with the new prime minister,” Modry asked the Rebel News LIVE! crowd in Red Deer. “It's very unlikely.”

Citing Mark Carney's book Values, Modry highlighted the PM's focus on “rigid controls” of individuals, banks and businesses to address the so-called climate emergency.

“He also points out that for ordinary people, life is going to get much worse,” he said. “You won't be able to travel; you will be restricted in how much meat you can eat, whether you can fly or not. Everything will become more difficult for you, and people will experience far more poverty. That is what he says.”

Censorship, controlling access to finance and digital ID are three methods Modry identified as areas of concern.

Should Albertan independence succeed in a referendum, as permitted by Canada's Constitution, Modry believes the United States will then recognize it as a new country.

The referendum would provide political legitimacy, he said.

“And it becomes legal legitimacy when other nations acknowledge that Alberta has had a successful referendum. And if the premier has the guts to do it, the day after that successful referendum, she will declare Alberta as a sovereign nation. And the U.S., we know this firsthand because we were there talking with them on April 22 will acknowledge Alberta as a sovereign nation and we've done it!” Modry declared.