Juno News - Doug Ford wants Conservatives to be less right-wing

00:00:00.000 Ontario Premier Doug Ford is urging the federal Conservatives to be more liberal and cater to

00:00:10.680 all Canadians rather than sticking by Pierre Polyev's own principles.

00:00:15.480 US fighter jets were called to Vancouver International Airport after a small plane

00:00:21.120 was allegedly hijacked by a climate activist in Victoria.

00:00:25.080 A CBC report released on Wednesday blamed podcasters such as Joe Rogan and Andrew Tate for rising divorce rates.

00:00:34.080 Hello Canada, it's Friday July 18th and this is the True North Daily Brief.

00:00:39.480 I'm Cosmin Georgia and I'm Clayton DeMaine.

00:00:42.320 We've got you covered with all the news that you need to know.

00:00:45.600 Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.

00:00:51.200 Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on the federal Conservatives to avoid what he calls, quote,

00:01:00.760 political extremes and embrace a middle-of-the-road approach that blends progressive social values.

00:01:07.920 During a recent remark published in a Calgary Herald column, Ford said, quote,

00:01:13.740 It can't be one extreme or the other. You can't be far left or hardcore right.

00:01:20.300 Ford, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and critic of federal Conservative leader Pierre Polyev said the party needs to avoid governing, quote,

00:01:31.300 based on your personal beliefs and instead focus on what voters actually want.

00:01:36.860 He said, quote, You've got to have a social heart too.

00:01:41.220 His comments come amid internal Conservative conflict following Prime Minister Mark Carney's minority re-election victory

00:01:48.900 and ahead of a National Party convention in January.

00:01:53.300 In a move that raised eyebrows among fiscal Conservatives, Ford even defended Carney's Brookfield credentials,

00:02:00.460 praising the Liberal Prime Minister's corporate background.

00:02:03.460 He said, quote, There should be a law that you can't be Prime Minister unless you've been involved in a business at a high level.

00:02:11.620 But for all his talk of moderation and pragmatism, Ford's record tells a different story.

00:02:17.720 Clayton, Ontario Premier Doug Ford doesn't lack his critics.

00:02:22.760 In fact, if you read some of the comments online, he gets criticisms from quite a few different angles,

00:02:29.160 both from the left and the various shades of the right, including more libertarian types or more socially conservative people.

00:02:39.600 What are the main criticisms of this progressive conservative view the Premier of Ontario touts?

00:02:49.100 Yeah, you're absolutely right that there's no absence of criticism against Ford from the right.

00:02:55.240 One big area is that he's not even fiscally conservative.

00:02:59.880 Since 1965, as that was the time that Fraser Institute decided to start collecting this data for a report,

00:03:08.680 they said that Doug Ford had spent more of the taxpayer dime annually than any other Premier in Ontario's history,

00:03:15.680 barring only Dalton McGinty in 2010.

00:03:18.880 Ford's spending has led the province into a $86 billion hole,

00:03:24.440 and he's a strong believer in anti-free market policies such as corporate welfare

00:03:29.560 and even included tariffs in his policies against China to protect all of his investments into the EV market.

00:03:38.720 True North just released an article noting another EV plant has closed its doors in Montreal, for example.

00:03:45.320 The demand is just not there for this, and he's spending all this money into that.

00:03:50.320 Now, it became mainstream to rag on Ford as someone who's more of the progressive part of his so-called progressive conservative government.

00:04:00.960 The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has criticized Ford and his government for giving themselves raises and pension hikes.

00:04:08.100 Ford will sometimes push out soundbites that keep conservatives appeased for a time,

00:04:13.200 but when push comes to shove, the criticism is that he folds like a pretzel.

00:04:17.940 If you recall, on election night, Conservative MP Jamil Javani blasted Ford and his campaign manager

00:04:24.780 for, quote, sabotaging the federal conservative campaign throughout the election.

00:04:30.800 He said, Jamil Javani said, that Ford spent more time propping up the Liberals than backing conservative politics.

00:04:37.580 He has taken the provincial conservative party and turned it into something hollow, unprincipled, something that doesn't solve problems.

00:04:44.580 He's glad-handing with Chrystia Freeland, having coffees and lattes with Mark Carney.

00:04:49.140 And I'm sitting here saying, we need to be fighting for change in something new and something different,

00:04:53.560 not being a hype man to the Liberal Party.

00:04:55.620 It's telling that Ford essentially said a leader shouldn't stick by his own principles

00:05:00.920 and instead try to steer the ship in whatever direction the majority wants to take it.

00:05:05.720 As the slightly altered saying goes, you can please some of the people some of the time,

00:05:11.940 but you can't please all of the people all of the time.

00:05:17.740 U.S. fighter jets were called to Vancouver International Airport after a small plane was allegedly hijacked

00:05:23.880 by a climate activist in Victoria before it flew circles around the airport for nearly half an hour.

00:05:29.900 The man who allegedly seized the Cessna 172 aircraft in Victoria on Tuesday has been charged with hijacking and terrorism offenses.

00:05:38.680 The pilot is believed to be a former commercial airline pilot based in Victoria named Shahir Qasim,

00:05:44.940 who had previously been involved in climate activism.

00:05:48.200 In 2012, Qasim held a news conference in Victoria at the start of a cross-country bicycle track

00:05:54.200 to raise awareness of global warming.

00:05:56.900 Shortly thereafter, Qasim posted to Facebook claiming that he was a, quote,

00:06:01.360 messenger from Allah and that, quote, humans will go extinct within a few years.

00:06:06.740 The post further stated, quote,

00:06:08.660 I am the Messiah sent to save humanity from climate change and usher in a new era of world peace.

00:06:15.240 Police in Richmond received a report that the small plane had been hijacked

00:06:19.640 and was on its way to Vancouver around 1 p.m.

00:06:23.100 Vancouver Air Traffic Control first mentioned a, quote,

00:06:25.980 rogue aircraft around the same time, asking nearby aircraft to watch for the Cessna

00:06:31.600 and relay to controllers should they need to maneuver as necessary.

00:06:36.340 The incident resulted in what the Vancouver airport called a 39-minute ground stop for arrival.

00:06:43.160 So, Qasim, the irony of someone protesting climate action and stealing a jet to circle around,

00:06:50.960 wasting all that jet fuel, is not lost on me, at least.

00:06:55.080 And let's put aside the references to Allah and the Messiah complex that's inherent in this story.

00:07:00.900 But, you know, we hear from hate experts such as Barbara Perry from the Ontario Tech University

00:07:05.820 that left-wing extremism isn't an issue in the West.

00:07:09.400 Is she right or is there a blind spot for left-wing violence among the political elites?

00:07:16.040 No, she's absolutely wrong.

00:07:18.120 There are prevalent examples of left-wing extremism even annually on Canadian streets.

00:07:25.100 You only have to look at Montreal on Labor Day.

00:07:28.220 There is a annual Antifa far-left rally and they go and smash store windows and engage in scuffles with the police.

00:07:38.020 But even beyond that, there simply isn't an interest at the political level to investigate left-wing extremism.

00:07:46.700 I've actually put in ATIPS to Public Safety Canada that turn up empty when you're looking for things like Antifa or left-wing extremism.

00:07:55.640 They simply do not care to investigate.

00:07:58.720 But there's plenty of examples of far-left, especially eco-terrorist actions, for decades in North America.

00:08:07.480 You only have to look at groups like the Weather Underground in the United States,

00:08:12.260 which historically bombed government buildings in the name of social and eco-justice.

00:08:18.920 And in more recent years, this is more prevalent in Europe, but we have seen similar tactics expressed here in Canada,

00:08:28.100 but particularly British Columbia.

00:08:29.820 There's movements like Extinction Rebellion and Last Generation,

00:08:34.400 which sometimes have crossed the line from peaceful protest into outright sabotage,

00:08:42.200 blocking emergency vehicles, damaging infrastructure,

00:08:46.920 causing disruptions on highways, and risking public safety altogether,

00:08:52.360 all in the name of climate action.

00:08:55.660 So no, Barbara Perry is not right.

00:08:58.120 There is a pattern of politically motivated violence on the far-left and the eco-left,

00:09:04.060 and there's simply a refusal to acknowledge this as a reality.

00:09:12.260 A CBC report published Wednesday has sparked debate after alleging that a rise in male interest

00:09:19.280 in online personalities associated with the so-called manosphere,

00:09:24.200 like podcaster Joe Rogan, is becoming an increasingly common factor in divorce proceedings.

00:09:31.820 The state broadcaster's article highlights the views of Swift Current-based family lawyer Scott Byers,

00:09:40.040 who claims he is seeing a, quote,

00:09:41.980 new and unsettling dynamic in his legal practice,

00:09:46.140 men allegedly adopting misogynistic views that he argues

00:09:50.860 are encouraged by online male influencers.

00:09:54.720 Byers told the CBC, quote,

00:09:56.760 it's not the same man that woman met years ago.

00:10:00.780 He puts his earbuds in,

00:10:02.560 and he's listening to these podcast thinkers

00:10:04.940 associated with the so-called manosphere.

00:10:08.440 The term manosphere, as used by the state broadcaster,

00:10:11.660 refers to a collection of online influencers

00:10:14.320 that discuss masculinity, gender roles,

00:10:17.600 and men's affairs often critical of feminism in their content.

00:10:22.460 CBC's article links this online environment

00:10:25.060 to increase in divorce filings,

00:10:27.520 citing examples where men allegedly adopted traditional values

00:10:31.700 after engaging with content from the Joe Rogan podcast or others.

00:10:36.820 Anecdotal accounts in the report include one woman

00:10:39.340 who said her American partner began to ridicule and control her

00:10:43.140 after consuming manosphere content.

00:10:46.480 Another case involved a man who reportedly changed his views on parenting

00:10:50.600 after being injured on the job and spending more time online.

00:10:55.720 Clayton, how much of a public interest story is this,

00:10:59.080 and how do you think Canadians feel about the CBC

00:11:02.140 dedicating time and taxpayer resources

00:11:05.520 to going after podcasters like Joe Rogan?

00:11:09.500 Yeah, so a lot of critics are saying

00:11:13.200 that it certainly wasn't a public interest story enough

00:11:17.280 to warrant taking taxpayer funds to make it.

00:11:22.780 Some critics of the report called the move politically loaded,

00:11:27.640 as many criticisms of the CBC say, right?

00:11:31.980 And it was an attempt to marginalize valid male perspectives,

00:11:35.580 which stray from the accepted social orthodoxy that we see on the left.

00:11:40.200 Like speaking about gender and relationships

00:11:42.440 in a way that is just unacceptable to folks, such as the CBC.

00:11:46.540 Others brought up the apparent double standard,

00:11:49.400 saying that the CBC would never have run an article

00:11:52.000 blaming feminism for high divorce rates. 1.00

00:11:55.480 A lot of people were also upset that the article tries to link

00:11:58.380 people like Joe Rogan with influencers,

00:12:02.580 for lack of a better term, such as Andrew Tate.

00:12:05.180 And so Tate seems to espouse these anti-gender equality views,

00:12:10.380 most likely as a bit of a joke or played up for the cameras.

00:12:14.100 Whereas Joe Rogan has female guests on his show,

00:12:18.080 talks about the female comedians and athletes

00:12:20.460 that he likes as a comedian and a sports commentator.

00:12:23.740 And he always speaks very highly of his relationship

00:12:26.960 with his daughters and his wife.

00:12:28.340 So the idea that he is a misogynist on a comparable level to Andrew Tate

00:12:33.820 is absurd to many commentators online.

00:12:37.020 Others also noted that in divorce, there are likely many other issues.

00:12:42.080 I'm reading things from Reddit that were saying this,

00:12:45.860 that there's other issues going on when a marriage is failing.

00:12:50.460 And it's ridiculous to blame one type of media the husband happened to be consuming

00:12:56.780 on the breakup of a marriage.

00:12:59.760 We've seen this before with the CBC.

00:13:01.960 Right after the 2024 election, the CBC even had the openly Marxist

00:13:07.600 and much criticized Hassan Piker on their podcast

00:13:10.660 to break down the shortcomings of the election.

00:13:13.260 And even Piker didn't lay all the blame solely at the feet

00:13:17.300 of the mostly unconnected group of successful podcasters.

00:13:24.340 That's it for today, folks.

00:13:25.800 Thanks for tuning in.

00:13:26.620 You can stay on top of new episodes every weekday

00:13:29.580 by subscribing to The Daily Brief on iTunes and Spotify.

00:13:33.400 While you're at it, make sure to hit us with a five-star rating

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Juno News - July 18, 2025

Doug Ford wants Conservatives to be less right-wing

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