Full Comment - How Canada got on the wrong side in the war against Iran

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00:00:30.000 For days, Donald Trump had been coy about whether he would strike Iran or continue to negotiate.

00:00:39.340 On Saturday night or early Sunday morning in Tehran,

00:00:43.040 Trump gave his definitive answer with the biggest use of bunker busters in history.

00:00:48.140 A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities

00:00:56.260 in the Iranian regime for Doe, Natanz, and Esfahan.

00:01:03.920 Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise.

00:01:11.600 Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror. 0.99

00:01:23.040 Hello, and welcome to the Full Comment Podcast.

00:01:25.300 I'm Brian Lilly, your host, and this is the second time I've recorded the introduction to this edition of the podcast.

00:01:31.960 In trying to have up-to-date discussions on what happens in a war zone, things can change quickly, and they did here.

00:01:39.260 That Trump gave Iran 60 days to negotiate a deal, a deal they clearly didn't want, now looks like it might have been a ruse to allow Israel and the United States time to prepare for and carry out their actions.

00:01:51.780 Iran is currently threatening retaliation, as they did after Israel struck, and that is what we wanted to discuss in this episode.

00:01:59.520 What is life like in the middle of a war zone, specifically in Israel?

00:02:04.380 We talked to two Canadians on Friday, Adam Zivo, a journalist and frequent contributor to National Post, and Vivian Berkovich, a former ambassador for Canada to Israel.

00:02:14.360 But even before the American bombing on Saturday night, connecting with people in Israel was difficult due to Iran's ongoing bombing campaign.

00:02:22.600 We had hoped to speak to Jonathan Conricus in this episode.

00:02:25.980 He's a former spokesman for the IDF, still makes a lot of media appearances, but our ability to connect was cut off by he and his family having to take refuge in a bomb shelter.

00:02:36.340 And our chat with Adam Zivo was delayed, as he had to go to a bomb shelter, while Vivian Berkovich spoke to us from her safe room during an attack.

00:02:45.560 Life simply isn't normal, at least it's not something most Canadians have experienced, and that's where we wanted to start our conversation with Adam Zivo.

00:02:54.280 Adam, I know you're used to war zones, you've been in and out of Ukraine over the past several years, but war is not something you grew up with in Toronto, in suburban Toronto.

00:03:04.240 What has it been like the past week in Tel Aviv and then Jerusalem, as Israel and Iran have ramped things up?

00:03:13.840 Well, I'll say that the first night was shocking and rather anxiety-inducing, although at the same time, no one was particularly surprised.

00:03:22.540 Because in the days leading up to the attack, there were rumors that Israel was going to attack Iran, that had been reported in the international media.

00:03:30.160 GPS wasn't working reliably in the South, which indicated that it was being jammed to a certain extent.

00:03:37.140 And so when we all received that emergency message at 3 a.m., and the people in my building and the Airbnb that I was staying at, when we all gathered in the stairwell, we said, well, I guess this is it.

00:03:47.700 This is what's happening now, and the world has changed.

00:03:49.860 Now, the emergency alert that we received is different from the one that is normally given out.

00:03:56.680 So most Israelis have an app on their phone where they receive a notification and some siren when there is an air raid siren.

00:04:06.420 But this is different.

00:04:07.260 This was more like an amber alert that went out to every phone, regardless of what app they had.

00:04:11.280 So that emergency system is used very sparringly, although it's been used a lot over the past two weeks or a week.

00:04:19.420 But as a result, you know, everyone knew this was serious.

00:04:23.000 We all went down to the shelter.

00:04:23.900 And after one hour, we just left because nothing happened.

00:04:28.280 And so the next morning, I went to go report on the streets of Tel Aviv, and there weren't that many pedestrians, which is understandable.

00:04:37.180 Many people were tired.

00:04:38.420 And the few that were there were gathering supplies for their shelters, or they were carrying small pieces of luggage because they were relocating to smaller cities or towns, or they were walking their dogs because dogs always need to be walked.

00:04:53.280 And the shops were mostly closed.

00:04:56.660 People were mostly anxious.

00:04:58.540 There was some fear that a large-scale Iranian drone attack was going to mess the city up because Tehran sent about 100 drones.

00:05:07.600 Those were all shot down.

00:05:09.520 To be frank, as someone who's been in Ukraine a lot, 100 drones is really nothing.

00:05:13.220 That's like an average Tuesday for Ukrainians.

00:05:15.740 And by the afternoon, people had begun to resume their normal life to a certain extent, and some of the people who I interviewed felt underwhelmed by Iran's response.

00:05:31.500 But then, of course, that changed by that night.

00:05:33.680 Well, and I would say I think it was Sunday night where I was watching American Cable News just checking in on what was happening before turning out the lights, and it was middle of the night in Israel, and the American networks cut back into live programming because of how many bombs were falling.

00:05:57.840 The ballistic missiles that have been hitting, as noted, you've been in Ukraine, you've been around that war, and the drones are different.

00:06:08.860 What about when Iran started to send in the ballistic missiles and they were getting through the various levels of defense?

00:06:16.200 Well, so on Saturday night, that was when the first barrage of ballistic missiles came in.

00:06:21.860 And I really want to emphasize that it could have been much worse.

00:06:24.700 So Iran's original plan was to retaliate using about 1,000 ballistic missiles.

00:06:32.220 However, that didn't happen because the Israelis very intelligently destroyed about one-third of Iran's ballistic missile launchers.

00:06:41.100 So they have the stockpile of missiles.

00:06:42.600 They just can't use them, right?

00:06:44.660 So we had around two, three waves of missiles.

00:06:47.220 Quite frankly, I kind of lost track.

00:06:48.780 It's been a whirlwind of the past week.

00:06:50.260 And we went to the shelter, we came out, went to the shelter, we came out.

00:06:54.760 The following day, we saw that some areas in the outskirts of Tel Aviv had been hit.

00:07:01.000 But people didn't seem overly stressed because they really trusted that their bomb shelters would protect them.

00:07:08.560 Because these bomb shelters are ubiquitous.

00:07:10.860 It is necessary to include them in any building that has been constructed, I believe, after the 1980s or 1990s.

00:07:17.520 And they're really sturdy.

00:07:19.780 So as long as you follow the protocol and you go inside, you can be reasonably assured that you will be okay.

00:07:28.020 And so I went to the beach of Tel Aviv.

00:07:30.560 People were still relaxing.

00:07:32.280 They were, you know, running, exercising, playing volleyball.

00:07:35.460 And they said, or at least the people I interviewed said, well, what else can we do?

00:07:39.940 We know that this war was inevitable.

00:07:42.700 We have no other choice but to live.

00:07:45.080 To find joy in our life is an act of defiance.

00:07:48.440 Because if we accept fear, if we accept panic, then that is conceding a victory to the Iranians, to the Islamic regime. 0.98

00:07:56.040 But that night, another attack happened.

00:08:00.540 And this time, there was a strike in the center of Tel Aviv.

00:08:04.900 And that has never really happened before to this extent.

00:08:08.460 So I heard it.

00:08:10.400 I woke up.

00:08:11.800 I went and reported on it.

00:08:13.360 In the morning, there was, it actually, I was 850 meters away.

00:08:19.020 And it landed very close to the first Airbnb that I'd stayed in two, three weeks earlier.

00:08:23.900 Oh, wow.

00:08:24.720 Yeah.

00:08:25.160 So it actually destroyed that Airbnb.

00:08:28.140 And very inconveniently, it destroyed the Airbnb that I was going to relocate to afterwards.

00:08:34.520 But yeah, so there were a few.

00:08:37.540 But you're talking about, you know, checking in and out of Airbnbs in a war zone.

00:08:43.480 So there is some normal things happening.

00:08:46.000 And you talked about the beach.

00:08:47.500 But it must be surreal.

00:08:50.300 Yeah, I mean, it's surreal.

00:08:51.660 But life goes on.

00:08:52.940 And you do what you have to do.

00:08:55.120 And this is something which may seem insane to a Canadian who's never been in a war zone.

00:09:00.600 And the best comparison that I can provide for the average Canadian here is imagine the

00:09:08.460 April or May 2020 version of you explaining to the January 2020 version of you what COVID

00:09:16.040 would be like.

00:09:16.880 Everything is shut down.

00:09:19.260 The fact that you can't touch people.

00:09:21.220 The fact that the streets are all empty.

00:09:22.880 And the January version of you would say, that's crazy.

00:09:26.660 That is a historic event.

00:09:28.540 How do you feel?

00:09:30.060 And the April, May version of you would say, well, I have to go get groceries.

00:09:32.880 And, you know, what else can I do?

00:09:34.400 This is my everyday life.

00:09:35.960 You got to deal with it.

00:09:37.220 You find normalcy where you can.

00:09:39.500 I guess that is a valid point.

00:09:45.180 When you've been talking to people on the street and you're, you know, reporting for

00:09:50.060 various outlets, but also just on your social media platforms has been fantastic.

00:09:54.540 Um, I remember you posting at one point about how, uh, the, the bombs coming from Tehran,

00:10:00.180 uh, we're not going to stop, uh, pride activities in, um, in Tel Aviv.

00:10:06.620 Tell me about that because, you know, we've got Fred Hahn from QP Ontario, uh, backing, uh,

00:10:12.520 you know, a protest for Iran.

00:10:14.640 Fred Hahn would not last very long in Tehran.

00:10:17.640 He would not be welcome.

00:10:19.760 Well, I do want to clarify.

00:10:21.260 I think there was misunderstanding here.

00:10:22.800 They did actually stop the pride activities.

00:10:25.740 So the day that this attack occurred, so I guess like the day after the night that this

00:10:31.320 occurred, uh, was supposed to be Tel Aviv pride.

00:10:34.220 And I actually came to Israel to do a documentary on LGBTQ Israeli life.

00:10:39.800 So when I heard the rumors that there was going to be attack on Iran, I was praying that it 1.00

00:10:44.840 would come after I could get all of my footage.

00:10:46.780 But anyways, um, this attack came because all public gatherings have been banned.

00:10:52.660 You know, pride was canceled, uh, the gay bar, the missile dedicated gay bar in the city.

00:10:58.900 There are other bars that are gay friendly, but it's like the one that's dedicated just

00:11:01.880 to gay clientele.

00:11:02.660 That was destroyed.

00:11:03.880 I actually state my Airbnb was above it.

00:11:06.340 Um, and an underappreciated and very idiosyncratic aspect of this war is that because there was

00:11:12.540 Tel Aviv pride, you had all of these gay tourists who were out clubbing and at bars the night

00:11:18.240 that this happened.

00:11:19.860 And so one person who I interviewed, uh, described going to get water at 4 30 AM, going to the

00:11:26.040 grocery store, like 90 minutes after Iran had been struck and then realizing that the

00:11:30.520 grocery store was filled with gay tourists who had clearly just left the clubs that were 0.93

00:11:34.840 abruptly shut down and were wasted and like seemed to be high on MDMA or something. 0.84

00:11:39.760 So, I mean, imagine that you're, you're, you know, you're going out for a party and then

00:11:44.900 your, your night is interrupted because now there's a war with Iran and you have to rush

00:11:48.720 to the shelter.

00:11:49.400 It's surreal.

00:11:50.720 What, what are these shelters like?

00:11:52.380 Cause you know, it's chatted with Vivian Bercovici.

00:11:55.160 She's in a different scenario, um, these days, she's not in Tel Aviv.

00:11:59.100 She's got a safe room, um, inside her own home.

00:12:02.220 Uh, what is it like where you've been staying?

00:12:05.980 Um, are you just standing in stairwells?

00:12:08.740 Are there dedicated spaces?

00:12:10.400 Are you going to, to public shelters?

00:12:13.340 Well, so it depends where you are.

00:12:14.600 Cause there's all sorts of different shelters.

00:12:16.300 So in the Airbnb that I was in, in Tel Aviv, before I came to Jerusalem, it was basically

00:12:22.180 just a basement and the basement looked like it belonged in the film saw it's the kind of

00:12:27.180 place where you could just imagine someone getting murdered, you know, covered in old paint

00:12:30.880 and dust.

00:12:31.740 And so everyone goes down to the shelter.

00:12:35.320 There's not a lot of space, you know, you're kind of, you're sitting side by like shoulder

00:12:39.020 to shoulder with some people.

00:12:40.720 And it's basically just a vault that is located in the basement and you stay inside.

00:12:45.560 And how long have you had to stay in these places?

00:12:48.120 Like, you know, half an hour to an hour and then you leave.

00:12:50.920 Um, but in the shelter that is just down the street from where I, where I am right now,

00:12:55.460 it's much larger.

00:12:56.340 So it's a series of different rooms, all connected.

00:12:58.660 And there's a bathroom there.

00:13:00.760 Thank God.

00:13:01.920 Um, I I'm told some of them do not have facilities.

00:13:05.300 No, some of them don't.

00:13:06.500 And, you know, there was one time where I had to debate, do I, do I leave to use the

00:13:09.960 washroom?

00:13:10.420 Do I not, you know, thank God I had a modium, but, um, like I think, and, and, and one thing

00:13:18.040 you have to also keep in mind is that there are buildings that have shelters.

00:13:22.260 Once again, those are the newer ones and there are ones that don't.

00:13:24.520 And if you don't have a shelter, like in the building that I'm in right now, you go

00:13:28.860 to a public shelter, which is, you know, usually quite close.

00:13:33.100 And then you end up meeting all sorts of different people and you end up connecting with them.

00:13:37.400 So, uh, because you end up going to these shelters often and there's nothing else to

00:13:43.760 do really, except to talk to the people around you.

00:13:45.640 Cause there's no signal, cell phone signal inside, you end up making these interesting

00:13:50.120 connections with people.

00:13:51.580 And, you know, on my end, my family's Serbian and I heard from my mom, how my aunt who went

00:13:58.320 to the NATO bombings in the late nineties, she mentioned that, you know, you make no

00:14:02.520 better friends than the people that you meet in the shelter.

00:14:05.180 And I get it.

00:14:06.660 You know, it's a, it's a, you end up really making some interesting connections.

00:14:10.600 Adam Zivo being really social.

00:14:12.140 I can't, I can't believe that.

00:14:15.360 Okay.

00:14:15.820 I'm making a joke for people that don't know because I know Adam and, uh, you are an incredibly

00:14:20.940 social man.

00:14:22.000 Um, so you're trying to get out and by the time this airs, you may be out.

00:14:27.880 Um, but it hasn't been easy.

00:14:31.560 You've had at least one flight canceled.

00:14:34.600 What do you do now?

00:14:36.140 Well, I don't know.

00:14:36.760 So the thing is, because I'm here as a reporter, now I've pivoted away from the gay stuff to 1.00

00:14:41.000 covering the war, you know, I should be here for some period of time, but I also promised

00:14:46.440 my fiance that we'd, you know, take a vacation together and he's stuck in Ukraine and we have

00:14:50.800 a non-refundable, you know, cabin rental in early July.

00:14:54.760 So I'm trying to get back before then.

00:14:56.720 I booked a flight earlier today that would take me from Amman in Jordan to the Polish

00:15:02.200 Ukrainian border that got canceled just about half an hour ago, uh, for, because of force

00:15:08.760 majeure, which makes absolute sense, but there's an underlying sense of uncertainty because,

00:15:13.860 okay, if this flight is canceled, well, does that mean you can, you can book a replacement

00:15:17.940 flights?

00:15:18.720 Like as of now, there is so much confusion about, uh, how to get out of here and look the

00:15:25.940 ways out.

00:15:26.680 You can go and pay like 3000 us dollars and take a boat to Cyprus and fly from there, or

00:15:32.620 you can cross into Egypt, but then you need military aircraft to get you out because otherwise

00:15:38.280 you have to drive to the Sinai Peninsula.

00:15:40.780 And that is one of the most lawless areas in the world.

00:15:44.000 And, you know, on my end, I'm not a fan of being kidnapped or beheaded or anything like

00:15:48.380 that.

00:15:48.660 It doesn't seem like fun.

00:15:50.020 No.

00:15:50.920 I mean, look, I'm a social person, but I don't want to talk to my kidnapper.

00:15:54.800 The alternative is to Jordan, but everyone's doing that. 1.00

00:15:57.420 So now it's all congested.

00:15:59.420 So we just have to wait.

00:16:01.140 Okay.

00:16:02.060 Uh, compare this to, um, where you are normally staying when you're in Ukraine, uh, safer,

00:16:11.060 more dangerous, similar.

00:16:14.120 Uh, it's hard to tell because everything is in flux.

00:16:17.180 I think that Ukraine is somewhat more dangerous because, uh, well, Israel has prepared for 1.00

00:16:23.920 this war for quite some time.

00:16:25.240 So they have the infrastructure.

00:16:27.180 So because there are, there are safe rooms everywhere, bomb shelters everywhere, because

00:16:33.440 all the hotels have reinforced stairwells, you know that you can just go to the bomb shelter

00:16:38.020 and you'll be fine.

00:16:39.280 You know, I interviewed two Canadian hockey players a few days ago.

00:16:42.240 They were staying in an apartment just by the Allen B impact site.

00:16:47.820 That was the downtown impact that I mentioned earlier.

00:16:50.580 Shelter was what?

00:16:51.460 200 meters away from the site.

00:16:53.320 They felt the jiggle.

00:16:54.560 They felt the shock wave.

00:16:56.460 They came out, everything was destroyed, but they were fine.

00:16:59.100 So as long as you follow protocol, you'll be okay.

00:17:01.520 And this is why people are calm here.

00:17:03.700 Whereas in Ukraine, they didn't anticipate being bombed by Russia this way.

00:17:09.360 So they don't have shelters everywhere.

00:17:11.320 So there you just go to your hallway or to your stairwell and you pray, uh, and that's

00:17:18.780 much less safe.

00:17:19.820 And then on top of that, the scale of attacks coming from Russia is far greater.

00:17:24.320 I mentioned earlier that the Iranians sent 100 drones to Tel Aviv.

00:17:28.900 That was their bit, like that was their initial big response.

00:17:31.600 You know, just a few days ago, Kiev, I think, well, all of Ukraine was trucked by a combined 0.92

00:17:36.560 attack of 400 drones and missiles.

00:17:38.220 So what counts as an exceptional attack upon Israel is just a normal week for Ukraine. 0.93

00:17:46.880 Utterly unreal.

00:17:48.560 Adam, stay safe.

00:17:50.140 Get home soon.

00:17:51.540 Whether that is to your home in Ukraine or back here in Toronto, where I hope to see

00:17:55.360 you in the coming weeks and months.

00:17:58.060 Thank you.

00:17:58.700 And thanks for having me on the show.

00:18:00.080 We need to take a quick break.

00:18:01.740 More when we come back.

00:18:03.000 This is Tristan Hopper, the host of Canada Did What?

00:18:06.300 Where we unpack the biggest, weirdest, and wildest political moments in Canadian history

00:18:11.020 you thought you knew and tell you what really happened.

00:18:14.600 Stick around at the end of the episode to hear a sample of one of our favorite episodes.

00:18:19.080 If you don't want to stick around, make sure you subscribe to Canada Did What?

00:18:23.540 everywhere you get podcasts.

00:18:24.920 In my discussion with Ambassador Berkovich, we talked about many things, including how

00:18:29.500 irrelevant Canada and the Kearney Liberal government are on foreign affairs.

00:18:33.440 We don't matter on the international stage anymore.

00:18:36.180 The disastrous response, once again, from the embassy in Israel to Canadians looking for

00:18:40.520 assistance is part of our discussion.

00:18:42.140 But we began again with the personal, dealing with life conducted from a bomb shelter.

00:18:47.400 So Vivian, as you and I were setting up to speak, you got a notice to get to your safe

00:18:54.100 room.

00:18:55.360 Jonathan Conricus, who we were trying to connect with, sent back a note saying, I'm, you know,

00:19:00.900 apologies, I have to go into a bomb shelter.

00:19:04.720 Talk to me about this, because this has been the reality, especially the last week, but for

00:19:10.780 so long, for so many people in Israel.

00:19:15.100 What is that like?

00:19:16.560 I don't think most Canadians could relate to hearing an alarm saying, go get in a bomb

00:19:21.660 shelter.

00:19:22.960 Yeah, you can't relate until you're, you're in it.

00:19:26.020 I'm quite right.

00:19:27.260 So what they did here, actually, for this particular round of conflict was the IDF and the Home

00:19:33.460 Front Command kind of changed up the warning system and the signals, because I think that

00:19:39.160 this war-weary nation had become so sort of apathetic.

00:19:42.520 People weren't going to their shelters.

00:19:44.040 They just weren't paying attention.

00:19:45.020 Plus, there would be one alarm and you would have, wherever you lived in the country, 15

00:19:50.380 seconds to make it to the shelter, 10, 25, whatever it was.

00:19:53.720 So what they are doing now is they launched a 10-minute sort of warning bell.

00:19:59.140 And this goes off on your mobile phone?

00:20:01.960 It overrides, yeah, every single phone in Israel, even if you have it off and you're sleeping,

00:20:07.700 because I turn mine off when I go to sleep.

00:20:09.460 It overrides everything.

00:20:11.780 And, but they're really smart because they knew that we'd all ignore it.

00:20:14.740 And so on Friday at 3 a.m. when the first sound came and it's like, it's ear splitting.

00:20:19.820 It's horrible.

00:20:20.460 It's a screech.

00:20:21.500 It's a really hype.

00:20:22.360 You can't.

00:20:23.140 It's burst your eardrums.

00:20:25.320 And, and it starts and it gives you this announcement that tells you get near your safe

00:20:31.640 room.

00:20:32.060 You, there may be incoming, you know, missiles within 10 minutes.

00:20:36.080 So it gives you the warning to get up.

00:20:38.420 So you're not rushing and tripping and falling.

00:20:40.440 And you know how many brick, broken legs and sprained ankles there are in this country now.

00:20:45.560 And they were brilliant because of course I rolled over in bed that night and my daughter

00:20:49.720 phoned me.

00:20:50.940 She said, get out of bed and get down to the safe room. 0.99

00:20:53.620 And so I did.

00:20:54.780 So what you get is first a warning.

00:20:56.800 And then if there is an incoming missile into your area, then there is the siren.

00:21:03.380 And then you have whatever it is.

00:21:05.200 In my area, I have 20 seconds.

00:21:07.560 I remember when I was in Israel with you, we went and we spoke with a journalist and

00:21:13.340 I'm forgetting his name, but you're going to help me remember him.

00:21:16.600 He and his family had been in a kibbutz that was overrun.

00:21:20.160 They had to move to a different one.

00:21:22.860 He writes for, for Haratz.

00:21:24.680 And I remember one of the things he said.

00:21:26.700 Amir Tibon.

00:21:27.500 Amir Tibon.

00:21:28.240 Amir Tibon.

00:21:28.980 Very well-known political writer in, in Israel.

00:21:31.960 And he said that, um, he wanted a life where his three and four year old girls didn't know

00:21:41.180 what to do about a bomb shelter when they were outside playing, that this is the life 0.67

00:21:46.720 that they've grown up with.

00:21:49.100 And, and it's, it was heartbreaking to hear that, but that, that's just your reality.

00:21:54.280 And it has been for a long time.

00:21:57.060 It is.

00:21:58.160 There's not much, uh, not much to add to it.

00:22:00.900 I mean, it is the reality.

00:22:02.360 Kids are very, very hyper aware.

00:22:03.980 Um, I had, uh, one of my neighbor's kids here helping me out in the house with something,

00:22:09.020 uh, when the first notice came just now, he's 15 year old boy.

00:22:13.200 And I said to him, you know, you either come in the shelter with me or you go home with your

00:22:17.220 mom.

00:22:17.960 And he said, no, no, I'm cool.

00:22:19.240 I'm cool.

00:22:19.540 And I said, no, you're not cool.

00:22:20.600 You're my responsibility.

00:22:22.360 Um, and so, and two seconds later, his mom called and off he went.

00:22:26.580 Um, so they still try to be cool, right?

00:22:30.200 Cause they're teenagers, but, uh, yeah, that is the reality for kids.

00:22:34.260 And, um, we understand the consequences of not going in all too well.

00:22:39.980 Over the last week, what has been the, uh, the mood of the population?

00:22:44.780 Um, you know, we, we've spoken before about, uh, at different points since October 7th, you

00:22:51.400 and I talked before October 7th about how, uh, so many people wanted Netanyahu gone that

00:22:56.560 changed after the war started and it's been up and down.

00:23:00.200 Where are people at right now with, you know, now that he's prosecuting the war against Iran?

00:23:08.560 To be honest, I don't think people are really giving him much thought.

00:23:12.300 Um, I don't think that the views of Israelis with respect to Benjamin Netanyahu and the way

00:23:18.840 in which he's conducted the, uh, war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

00:23:23.060 I don't think any of those issues have, uh, moved much.

00:23:26.560 On the political issue matrix, um, Iran is a very different equation for Israel.

00:23:32.380 There is no daylight between people on the far left and the far right period.

00:23:36.840 Um, Iran is a menace. 1.00

00:23:39.800 It is, as they call it, the head of the snake. 0.91

00:23:41.840 It is the financier and moral and religious leader of what I call the axis of terror in

00:23:47.540 the Middle East, Iran, Qatar, the Houthis, Hamas, Hezbollah.

00:23:51.160 Uh, Syria no longer is part of that axis of terror.

00:23:55.020 Every single nation in this region wants this, this regime destroyed, including Saudi Arabia,

00:24:02.420 including the UAE.

00:24:04.280 Everybody does.

00:24:05.380 Iran is, Iran is a threat. 1.00

00:24:07.860 They're making some noises, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

00:24:10.120 Oh, make sure you're following international law or saying you're not following international

00:24:14.380 law.

00:24:14.640 But they're not getting in Israel's way.

00:24:17.840 Syria and Jordan have cleared airspace for Israeli jets.

00:24:23.520 Yeah.

00:24:24.220 I haven't heard anything from Qatar specifically.

00:24:26.660 So if you have, send me a link after.

00:24:28.720 Uh, Saudi, as you know, it has been very low key, but made the most public comments.

00:24:34.700 The others have been very quiet, but behind the scenes, everyone's going like, go Israel, 0.93

00:24:39.880 go.

00:24:40.140 They, they, they want this regime.

00:24:42.720 The Iranian regime is a threat to every country in the Middle East that does not support terror 0.99

00:24:50.420 with respect to, um, the airspace.

00:24:54.340 It's incredible because Israel launched the first attacks at 3am on Friday morning or around 0.95

00:24:59.600 there and literally within 24 max 48 hours, Israel not only controlled the skies over all

00:25:06.800 of Iran, a huge country that is more than 2000, you know, kilometers away from here.

00:25:13.040 It's, it's insane.

00:25:14.300 They can't even strike without refueling their attack jets in the air.

00:25:18.720 But we also, as you noted, um, were given clearance to, uh, use the Syrian airspace freely.

00:25:25.560 I mean, Syria is on side with the West in this battle.

00:25:32.000 This is, you know, a hundred years ago, it was, are you with the allies or the Axis?

00:25:35.480 And today it's really, are you with terror or the West? 0.98

00:25:39.100 And it doesn't mean everybody in the West is great and perfect and all that crap. 0.95

00:25:42.600 It means there's a very stark choice to be made now.

00:25:46.580 And, uh, the question, the real live question to be candid is on which side is Canada, France

00:25:54.520 and the UK, Germany came out very strongly yesterday, the day before Chancellor Mertz.

00:26:00.680 He said, Israel is doing the dirty work for all of us and we should all be grateful. 1.00

00:26:05.560 Many European countries have made similar comments.

00:26:08.680 Yeah.

00:26:08.860 Before we get into where Canada is, because, um, you wrote a great piece for national post

00:26:13.760 the other day on that.

00:26:15.180 Uh, I just want to pause for a moment and have everyone think about what you were saying about

00:26:19.480 the Saudis and everyone else, but in particular Syria, Syria led by a man who until the end of

00:26:24.480 Israel a little while ago, what had been considered a member of Al Qaeda.

00:26:29.260 Um, and you know, a lot of questions when he took over, okay, is this guy seriously reformed?

00:26:35.280 Uh, has Syria just been taken over by a terrorist group?

00:26:38.960 This guy wants Israel to win against Iran.

00:26:42.340 I, that is worth noting and talking about.

00:26:45.580 It's huge.

00:26:46.440 Not only does he want Israel to, to win, he clearly wants to restore, um, you know, some

00:26:55.660 normal life to Syria.

00:26:57.340 He wants people to be able to have proper jobs and live aspirationally and in peace and

00:27:03.620 comfortably and with a nice standard of living and not constantly be fighting.

00:27:08.360 But the big issue with Syria that no one's talking about is that he's kind of, Al-Sharab

00:27:15.600 is kind of giving the middle finger to Turkish, uh, president Erdogan.

00:27:21.460 I mean, he is totally not cooperating with Erdogan.

00:27:25.820 Erdogan is, you know, a member of NATO, but really more an ally of Iran, Qatar, Hamas,

00:27:32.120 et cetera.

00:27:32.480 I don't know why Turkey under Erdogan is in NATO.

00:27:37.660 Well, neither do I, but he is.

00:27:39.780 And, um, what Syria is doing by siding with the good guys, in my view, is very, very courageous

00:27:47.940 because Turkey's on his border.

00:27:50.060 Yeah.

00:27:50.300 And Turkey and people, ISIS.

00:27:52.460 Just looking up the, the background, cause I, you know, wasn't planning on talking about

00:27:55.840 this.

00:27:56.080 So I just did the quick Google search.

00:27:57.740 Uh, he, uh, he helped create the Al-Nusra front in 2012, part of the Syrian civil war

00:28:03.320 and aligned with Al-Qaeda.

00:28:04.700 Um, but that was against the Assad regime.

00:28:06.980 So he, uh, you know, look, if he's, if he's, uh, moving on to a better view, let, let's

00:28:13.800 be happy about that.

00:28:15.260 Uh.

00:28:15.540 You know, I just have to add, he was born in the Golan Heights, eh?

00:28:18.220 He's a Syrian, he's a, he's a, uh, I believe he's from, uh, Majd al-Shams up in the 0.96

00:28:23.340 northern Golan Heights.

00:28:24.500 Oh, wow.

00:28:25.340 And still willing to work with Israel. 0.79

00:28:27.740 Um, is Canada though, uh, you know, I, I look at the statements that we've signed

00:28:36.160 on to whether, or, or that we've put out on our own and I thought you nailed it.

00:28:42.340 We, you know, we, we're irrelevant.

00:28:44.440 Canada used to be, you know, we were never as big as the Americans or, or, you know, various

00:28:51.540 times the Brits, but our voice mattered.

00:28:53.940 And, you know, maybe, maybe Mark Carney can change things.

00:28:59.440 It's been 10 years of Trudeau denigrating our voice.

00:29:02.480 Time will tell on that, but it will not change if he stays on the path that he's on now on

00:29:08.580 this front, you know, de-escalation.

00:29:11.620 Iran's looking at getting a nuclear bomb.

00:29:14.040 Iran wants to threaten the entire Middle East. 1.00

00:29:16.860 And if they can get to the, to it, North America, that they want to get the great Satan, our 0.73

00:29:22.240 next door neighbor and, and inflict damage, which will damage us.

00:29:26.460 And we call for de-escalation.

00:29:30.400 It's, it's, it's utter nonsense.

00:29:32.780 Iran's been funding every attack on Israel for the last, how many decades?

00:29:38.500 De-escalate what exactly?

00:29:41.220 I mean, Iran is the, the most powerful, largest, boldest state sponsor of terrorism. 0.98

00:29:48.540 And they hit all over the world.

00:29:52.420 For goodness sake, they shot down a jet with carrying dozens and dozens of Canadian citizens.

00:29:57.940 And it went down with it.

00:29:59.380 So the, this problem, this, these platitudes that mean nothing, that they just kind of regurgitate,

00:30:05.580 you know, in that department and from the prime minister's office, de-escalate.

00:30:10.240 We should have a ceasefire.

00:30:11.800 We should negotiate.

00:30:12.700 Well, no kidding.

00:30:14.380 You think that hasn't been tried?

00:30:16.080 And, you know, there were the jokes, like the online memes and jokes, um, about Starmer,

00:30:24.840 Macron, and to the degree that anyone even like knows who Carney is, because of course

00:30:28.760 it's Canada.

00:30:29.520 But like, I follow the European press closely, Middle East press.

00:30:33.440 Um, they're looking at these three countries and being like, what are you, what are you talking

00:30:39.480 about?

00:30:39.940 Do you understand what's going on here?

00:30:42.760 And you're saying de-escalate?

00:30:44.720 Like, they're completely detached from the reality on the ground.

00:30:50.320 Absolutely.

00:30:51.040 And you know what?

00:30:52.560 When Tehran does open up, when Iran opens up to the world, it is going to be so glorious. 1.00

00:30:59.340 There, it is such an incredible country, culture, very intellectual, very advanced and sophisticated.

00:31:06.000 And I'll tell you who's not going to be coming in the front door is Canada and France, especially

00:31:12.600 France that has supported this regime overtly, as it did with the previous Ayatollah.

00:31:19.960 So, you know, Carney was sort of stuck at the G7 and making his very solemn kind of banker-like

00:31:26.460 pronouncements.

00:31:28.160 And at the same time, you have a really dramatic reordering of the world order happening in

00:31:37.740 real time.

00:31:39.280 I mean, Bibi's talking to Putin and Trump's talking to Putin and who knows who's talking

00:31:43.840 to Xi.

00:31:44.300 And the pieces on the chessboard are moving mighty quickly.

00:31:49.780 And the only German, sorry, the only European countries that are very engaged are Germany

00:31:56.640 and then Czech Republic, as always, and a few others.

00:31:59.820 But it's time to wake up and pay attention.

00:32:02.840 And meanwhile, we're ignoring the fact that Ukrainian flight PS-752 had 63 Canadians on

00:32:12.380 board.

00:32:13.660 Yeah, that's the flight I was referring to.

00:32:15.580 Exactly.

00:32:17.080 Iran has targeted not just Israel, not just supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, but as you said,

00:32:24.460 exported terror around the world and hit country after country.

00:32:27.280 You know, we're concerned about the discussion of extrajudicial killings by India with Hardip

00:32:39.140 Singh Najjar.

00:32:40.780 Well, Iran has death squads that they've been sending into Canada and the U.S. to target 0.93

00:32:45.500 us, to target people from Iran who have dared to speak up against the regime.

00:32:52.780 As you say, beautiful country, beautiful culture.

00:32:57.520 I would love to go there.

00:32:58.980 It's like Beirut.

00:33:00.380 Oh, I'm going.

00:33:01.360 You used to want to go to Beirut and Tehran before things went sideways.

00:33:06.900 Nobody would want to go there now unless they had family there.

00:33:10.560 We also have developed a reputation in Canada, not only for being among Western nations, the

00:33:15.940 most hostile, sort of horrible country for a Jewish person to live in. 0.99

00:33:21.540 Um, that reputation has become quite entrenched, but we are well known for, um, giving Haven,

00:33:28.840 safe Haven to IRGC officials.

00:33:30.920 And there's word on various sites, um, in the Middle East, um, that senior IRGC officials

00:33:37.220 have already sort of, you know, hopped on planes, trains, and automobiles and made their

00:33:41.260 way or making their way to Canada.

00:33:43.000 The prime destinations for these IRGC officials are Canada and Doha, and I am sure that they

00:33:50.880 would much prefer to be in Canada.

00:33:53.520 And I don't even hear the government of Canada acknowledging that very real issue that is

00:34:02.740 being talked about in Europe and in the Middle East.

00:34:05.940 I, I will give them this small piece of defense last September, but only after incredible

00:34:13.580 pressure from especially the Iranian community here who were saying, look, we fled Iran to

00:34:20.520 escape these guys and I'm running into them at the gym and they're wearing IRGC, uh, you

00:34:27.620 know, logos on their hats, on their clothing.

00:34:30.420 It's like when we, we, we, we, when the, uh, Rwandan genocide happened, we brought in

00:34:39.640 a lot of refugees from Rwanda.

00:34:41.820 Sadly, what we also did was allowed the, the people who committed the genocide to come and 0.98

00:34:45.980 move next to them.

00:34:46.820 That, that is continuing to terrorize them.

00:34:49.340 And we're doing that with officials from this regime.

00:34:52.000 But last September, the Trudeau government announced expanded measures to try and deport them.

00:34:58.640 The sad part is they're not deporting them.

00:35:03.000 And in one case that happened this past January, the government, uh, wanted to deport this individual

00:35:09.360 whose name is not being released, closed door session.

00:35:13.360 And the immigration and refugee board declined and said, no, you can't deport this guy.

00:35:19.080 That, that's how crazy our country is now, Vivian.

00:35:23.240 Yeah, I know.

00:35:24.840 Um, and then there will be things that'll start happening, you know, um, on Canadian soil

00:35:30.860 and people will be like, you know, wow, how'd this happen?

00:35:34.200 Right.

00:35:35.220 I mean, I don't know.

00:35:36.040 You've got CUPE, uh, sponsoring and supporting a hands-off Iran rally that's organized by people 1.00

00:35:42.920 who have backed all kinds of terror groups in the past.

00:35:46.980 That, that is shocking.

00:35:48.480 And, and the union's defending it.

00:35:51.000 What has it been like over the last week?

00:35:53.680 Uh, is it just round after round?

00:35:56.720 Are people not able to, to sleep?

00:35:59.880 You know, as much as we were talking about the military strikes that Israel's doing, Israel

00:36:03.720 is targeting military sites.

00:36:06.120 Iran is targeting civilian sites, residential areas, hospitals.

00:36:11.520 Have you gotten much sleep over the last week?

00:36:13.840 Is society functioning during the day?

00:36:17.300 So, um, like no and yes and no.

00:36:20.700 So have I gotten much sleep?

00:36:22.100 No one's really gotten much sleep.

00:36:23.980 Um, like the problem is that you're so kind of wired, high anxiety, you know, hyped on adrenaline

00:36:30.380 that even if there is a lull, you can't exactly like lie down and, you know, doze off immediately.

00:36:35.820 So, um, there seems to be a bit of a pattern.

00:36:39.280 Like they tend to sort of strike kind of late afternoon, early evening, like now it's just

00:36:45.400 four o'clock here.

00:36:46.880 Um, and then usually there are one or two more rounds kind of late at night, um, middle of

00:36:53.800 the night.

00:36:54.540 Um, the early morning stuff of the last couple of days is new.

00:36:58.160 So, but what we do seem to be able to plan is, you know, kind of in that midday period

00:37:05.060 for a few hours to be able to get out and do whatever needs to be done.

00:37:09.120 Um, many, many shops are closed.

00:37:11.640 Schools are closed.

00:37:12.760 Workplaces are not functioning.

00:37:15.100 Any kind of, um, you know, crowd.

00:37:18.820 Like, so for example, like I live on a kibbutz and there's a swimming pool and I'm a swimmer and

00:37:22.980 I, I can't work out because we can't operate the pool because there are too many people,

00:37:27.580 even though there are shelters everywhere on the kibbutz.

00:37:30.000 So, you know, we are restricted.

00:37:32.200 We have to remain very close.

00:37:33.780 Like you always are very kind of cognizant of, you know, whether or not there's a shelter

00:37:38.440 or a structure you can dash to within 10 minutes if an alert comes through.

00:37:42.560 So if you're driving from one town to another, you plan it pretty carefully.

00:37:46.500 And, um, you know, I mean, so, I mean, is it normal?

00:37:53.600 You know, it's that kind of normal.

00:37:55.460 I mean, it's the, it's the normal during wartime attacks from Iran.

00:37:59.940 Um, obviously I'm living in a rural area again on a kibbutz and I have a house.

00:38:05.740 And so I have a safe room in my house and it's much more comfortable.

00:38:09.200 I was taking in, you know, like underground railroad and some of them were Canadians as they

00:38:13.620 were passing through on their way from Tel Aviv, um, to Jordan to fly, fly back home.

00:38:20.220 And I just said to people, come here.

00:38:21.820 It's easier.

00:38:22.420 We don't have nearly as many, um, sirens and alerts because, you know, Tel Aviv is the prize. 1.00

00:38:27.720 They want to take down buildings in Tel Aviv Iranians. 1.00

00:38:30.120 They don't care about my backwater, but you know, the other thing is, so it's easier.

00:38:36.820 You don't have to be running.

00:38:37.820 You don't have as many sirens.

00:38:39.140 It's less stressful.

00:38:39.980 Um, and it's a much more pleasant, um, environment.

00:38:43.620 The other thing is that in Tel Aviv, um, like the shelters are gross.

00:38:49.480 I mean, I know some people, you know, like where I lived in Tel Aviv in this really groovy,

00:38:54.620 you know, apartment for, for years and central, but I didn't have a safe room in my apartment.

00:39:01.180 And I also, um, had to go to a public shelter and the closest public shelter was like five minutes

00:39:07.660 away and it was disgusting. 0.79

00:39:09.300 Like these public shelters in Tel Aviv haven't been used since, you know, 73 war really.

00:39:16.340 Maybe for a few minutes, you know, during the Iran Iraq war.

00:39:19.580 So, you know, they're underground, there's no air.

00:39:22.100 Um, there's no facilities.

00:39:23.600 I mean, think about it.

00:39:24.780 You know, they're gross, you know, cats, raccoons, whatever we have live there.

00:39:29.560 And a lot of people are having to live in those places.

00:39:33.580 A lot of people are living in the, um, underground light rail stations, just like we see photos

00:39:39.880 from Kiev in Ukraine.

00:39:42.120 So when you're in a dense urban area that's targeted, um, there's a lot of other stuff

00:39:47.980 that goes with it.

00:39:48.980 So why not come out to a rural place and people are flocking to this area.

00:39:53.620 So I was in touch with some of the Canadians that, uh, that passed through your home and

00:39:58.960 you were known as a gracious host, but let's talk for a moment about the Canadian government

00:40:03.900 response, because just as you have been in the past, you've been critical of the current

00:40:09.880 government saying that they're doing everything they can to help people.

00:40:13.720 And you're saying, actually, you know what, um, I'm hearing from people because they can't

00:40:19.200 get in touch with the embassy.

00:40:22.040 Uh, what, what is the reality for Canadians who are there, who want to get out or people

00:40:27.500 that want to come back into Israel?

00:40:30.640 So people who want to come back into Israel, I've been helping out a lot of those too.

00:40:34.440 Um, the Canadian government won't take responsibility for them.

00:40:37.640 Israel's great at dealing with that. 0.58

00:40:39.360 And that's a whole other issue.

00:40:40.980 Israel's always good at repatriating their people. 1.00

00:40:42.840 Um, remember during COVID, we were the first ones to get them out of so many countries,

00:40:47.320 but in terms of Canadians who are here for all kinds of reasons, I mean, it's interesting

00:40:52.020 to see the backlash, which I don't recall having seen with Ukraine.

00:40:56.020 Um, but you know, well, they're not really our citizens anyhow.

00:40:59.440 And what are they doing there anyway?

00:41:01.160 You know, that kind of anti-Semitic stuff.

00:41:04.240 Is that from officials or is that just online clap?

00:41:09.020 No, that's online clap drop.

00:41:10.340 But I mean, in terms of the officials and the response, um, look, I, I didn't want to

00:41:16.900 run civil evacuation flights after October 7th, nor did I want to open my home, particularly

00:41:21.940 as an underground railroad.

00:41:23.220 I was happy to do it where there was a need, but you know, it wasn't in the plans.

00:41:26.960 Um, it's unbelievable because, um, the little operation we set up after October 7th, we

00:41:32.960 helped hundreds and hundreds of people and thousands have my number.

00:41:36.940 They still have it.

00:41:37.700 I'm getting inundated.

00:41:38.720 So you ask, am I sleeping?

00:41:40.220 Even when I lie down and try to rest calls, I get messages day and night.

00:41:43.920 People are panicked.

00:41:45.220 They're in touch with the Canadian embassy, so to speak.

00:41:48.100 I've seen the emails.

00:41:49.480 They've been sending out this gobbledygook.

00:41:51.880 Um, first they didn't do anything for a few days.

00:41:54.980 It was the weekend.

00:41:55.880 They're like, call back on Monday during business hours.

00:41:58.440 I mean, pardon me?

00:42:01.120 I saw you post on that.

00:42:03.040 Yeah.

00:42:03.320 Um, and, and, and this is not the first time I've remembered there was a long weekend.

00:42:07.460 Oh, wait.

00:42:08.400 October 7th happened over Thanksgiving weekend for Canadians.

00:42:12.000 Yep.

00:42:12.140 And, and, and they refused to do anything then.

00:42:14.440 Oh, well, you know, we have Turkey to look after. 1.00

00:42:17.240 If you were ambassador and this was happening, if you were still Canada's ambassador, what

00:42:23.760 would your response have been?

00:42:25.800 Would the office be open?

00:42:27.380 Would you be calling people in on the weekend?

00:42:29.720 Absolutely.

00:42:30.340 And in fact, I was ambassador during a war during 2014 in the summer with Hamas.

00:42:35.100 And, you know, the protocol, so to speak, and the people in Ottawa were telling me, you

00:42:40.600 know, do this, do that, the other thing.

00:42:42.360 And frankly, I think the work ethic there is a pollen.

00:42:46.220 Um, and I come from the private sector.

00:42:48.180 I have a service ethic.

00:42:50.100 My, my Canadian citizens who need help are my clients.

00:42:53.360 That's not how they see it.

00:42:55.140 And so I pushed and pushed and pushed.

00:42:59.220 And at the time, I mean, I was appointed by Prime Minister Harper.

00:43:01.700 So I did have the support of the Prime Minister's office.

00:43:03.560 I demanded having extra reinforced.

00:43:06.200 They have a special team.

00:43:07.260 They can send in reinforcements.

00:43:09.020 First, they said, oh, no, you don't need it.

00:43:10.880 Then I needed it.

00:43:12.380 And you know who I was really busting my behind for to help then?

00:43:18.000 It was people who were stuck in Gaza.

00:43:21.060 Canadian citizens, many of whom lived full time for many, many years in the Gaza Strip.

00:43:26.660 And then when the war hit, they would always want to get out.

00:43:28.880 And we mounted several very complex operations in conjunction.

00:43:35.260 We had to work with the Red Cross because they liaised with Hamas to get them out of the Gaza Strip, onto buses, overland.

00:43:43.140 We had to negotiate that with the Israelis. 0.99

00:43:44.700 And then they would pass through at the Allenby Bridge.

00:43:47.400 And then the personnel from our Amman embassy would take over from there once they were in Jordan.

00:43:53.620 There are many countries here on the ground now that have already launched overland bus evacuations for their citizens on exactly the same route.

00:44:04.860 So they're assembling them from, you know, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem.

00:44:09.200 I was reading this morning, a couple of other cities show up for the bus and will take in.

00:44:14.020 The Argentinian embassy is taking its citizens straight through to the airport in Amman.

00:44:18.220 They're booking tickets for them.

00:44:21.420 There are some boat evacuations that have been going on.

00:44:24.420 People getting on ships and boats to Cyprus.

00:44:27.020 Many, many countries have been very, very active.

00:44:29.520 I can also tell you on October 7th, when the crisis broke, there were some Canadians murdered.

00:44:35.500 On October 7th, there were many Canadians who were kind of, they disappeared.

00:44:39.400 Nobody knew where they were.

00:44:41.180 The super hotline, you know, that the memos that the office here sends out every day to Canadians stranded.

00:44:48.400 Oh, well, you know, we're not working because, like, it's a long weekend and everything.

00:44:51.860 But, you know, call this hotline in Ottawa.

00:44:53.840 It's manned 24-7.

00:44:55.020 There are people who will be helpful.

00:44:57.000 They'll have current.

00:44:57.460 They knew nothing.

00:44:59.520 They knew nothing.

00:45:01.120 In fact, some were even unaware that there was anything going on, and if there was, what it was.

00:45:06.240 People sent me recordings of their conversations.

00:45:09.380 They were horrified at what they were hearing.

00:45:12.440 And that's happening again.

00:45:14.300 They're saying, oh, phone Ottawa 24-7 hotline.

00:45:17.080 I invite you to try it.

00:45:18.240 I invite Minister Anand to try it.

00:45:19.740 I invite Prime Minister Mark Carney to try it.

00:45:22.300 Sometimes you just go round and round and round in a loop, and you get nowhere, and eventually it hangs up on you.

00:45:26.700 Sometimes a human being answers.

00:45:28.120 They're saying to people here on the ground, if you really want to see someone in person, a consular official, you can come to the Canadian embassy in person.

00:45:40.840 Are you ready?

00:45:41.760 Monday to Thursday during business hours, whatever those are.

00:45:47.680 And I'm thinking, you're kidding me.

00:45:51.440 You're telling people in a war zone that they should transport themselves from wherever they are in the country to your embassy, which is horribly located in Tel Aviv, and that's a whole other story,

00:46:05.180 if they want to have the privilege of speaking to a consular official in person.

00:46:11.400 Number one, and they know this well, about 85-90% of Canada's consular clients, i.e. citizens, live in the Jerusalem area, not in the Tel Aviv area.

00:46:23.360 We don't even have a consular presence in Jerusalem.

00:46:27.000 So you're telling people in this very dangerous war situation that they should get on the road to come and see you.

00:46:35.340 The hours are incredibly limited.

00:46:37.480 Everybody has children at home who they have to take care of because schools and all programs are cancelled.

00:46:42.940 Is there a reason that the government of Canada cannot set up a bank of phones and have people sit and answer them?

00:46:53.160 It's not rocket science.

00:46:55.100 It's not high tech.

00:46:57.020 It's really basic crisis communications.

00:47:01.420 Make it easy, make it snappy, and make it informative.

00:47:05.420 And we are doing none of the above.

00:47:08.840 And it doesn't sound like that's going to change based on how things have been going.

00:47:12.420 As Adam looks to leave Israel, as many Canadians are trying to do, as Ambassador Berkovich stays there trying to help those in need,

00:47:20.600 we only wish the best for them and safety for all.

00:47:23.680 And we also hope that after the bombing that Iran realizes going on with their nuclear program is a fool's game and that peace comes to the region. 0.84

00:47:34.240 Thanks for listening.

00:47:35.200 Full Comment is a post-media podcast.

00:47:37.660 My name is Brian Lilly, your host.

00:47:39.000 This episode was produced by Andre Proulx, theme music by Bryce Hall.

00:47:43.700 Kevin Libin is the executive producer.

00:47:45.640 Please make sure that you hit subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, on Spotify, on Apple, wherever you listen.

00:47:52.160 Hit subscribe, leave us a like or a review, and tell your friends about us.

00:47:57.240 Thanks for listening.

00:47:57.980 Until next time, I'm Brian Lilly.

00:47:59.540 Here's that clip from Canada Did What?

00:48:06.820 I promised you.

00:48:11.180 Castro would end up occupying a space in the Trudeau family similar to that of a beloved uncle.

00:48:17.240 They went diving.

00:48:18.600 They smoked cigars together.

00:48:20.500 They gathered sea urchins for beach cookouts.

00:48:22.880 Informal talks at an island hideaway intensified their respect for each other and their mutual enjoyment of skin diving added to the rapport.

00:48:32.740 In addition to a well-publicized 1976 summit meeting, Trudeau took three separate vacations to visit Castro after his time in politics had ended.

00:48:41.920 I can make, you know, just one reference to Pierre Trudeau's sons to show the closeness of the relationship.

00:48:53.280 The nickname that the Trudeau's sons had for Fidel Castro was Papa Fidel.

00:48:57.760 So, that gives you an indication of the closeness of the bond that existed between a communist dictator, you know, thorn in the side of every American administration for the past 50 years, and Pierre Trudeau.

00:49:13.820 When Trudeau's youngest son, Michel, died in an avalanche in 1998, Castro called the family in tears to express his condolences.

00:49:22.700 As an eight-year-old, Michel had referred to Fidel Castro as his best friend.

00:49:27.760 When Pierre died, Fidel declared three days of mourning in Cuba and flew to Montreal to act as an honorary pallbearer.

00:49:35.140 Every time Trudeau went down to Cuba, all the people in South Florida, the, you know, the exiles were thinking,

00:49:43.040 why is this Western leader giving comfort to a murderous dictator, you know, who is oppressing their people in Cuba and saying, you know, good things about Fidel Castro?

00:49:54.520 And as I've mentioned, to have him in the pew at Trudeau's funeral in the front row as a dignified person when he had been such a brutal leader says more about Pierre Trudeau than it does about Fidel Castro.

00:50:14.540 Here's where we should probably touch on what Castro had done and what he was continuing to do while going on beach vacations with the Trudeau family.

00:50:22.140 If you want to hear the rest of the story, make sure you subscribe to Canada Did What?

00:50:29.060 Everywhere you get your podcasts.

Full Comment - June 23, 2025

How Canada got on the wrong side in the war against Iran

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