A Cambridge girl has become an overnight hit on YouTube, thanks to her scathing critique of the Canadian banking system.
Victoria Grant, 12, wrote a speech on Canada's banks for school. She ended up reading that speech at a Public Banking Institute conference in the U.S. where it was video recorded.
"What I have discovered," she said in the video, "is the banks and the government have colluded to financially enslave the people of Canada. Presently, the banks have $4 billion on reserve. But they have loaned out over $1.5 trillion dollars."
Victoria says the government should borrow money directly from the Bank of Canada, rather than private banks who charge high interest rates.
Victoria's video was posted on YouTube, where it went viral. The response has been mixed, with both praise and criticism. Some say Victoria memorized a speech her parents wrote themselves, while others accuse her parents of indoctrination.
Zane Grant says he helped his daughter write the speech, but it's her ideas. "We're not forcing them to believe what we believe. We're just saying ‘Hey, here's our perspective on things', and we teach them how to question everything."
Victoria isn't bothered by the criticism. She's also not sure that banking is in her future. "I want to be an interior designer," she says. "So I'll probably do all this on the side."
Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx5Sc3vWefE to hear Victoria Grant's speech.
