Juno News - September 24, 2025


Liberal minister ＂confident＂ Canadians will surrender guns


Episode Stats

Length

13 minutes

Words per Minute

156.10487

Word Count

2,185

Sentence Count

105

Hate Speech Sentences

5


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 The Liberal Public Safety Minister is once again backpedaling on the Feds' gun confiscation program,
00:00:10.060 contradicting a leaked recording the minister had with one of his rental tenants,
00:00:14.480 released to True North just a day before.
00:00:17.020 A taxpayer-funded, Antifa-linked activist group is hiring an investigative journalist
00:00:21.280 to report full-time on what the organization deems to be far-right.
00:00:25.420 B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad won a leadership review with over 70% support from party members on Monday evening.
00:00:33.180 Hello Canada, it's Wednesday, September 24th, and this is the True North Daily Brief.
00:00:37.620 I'm Isaac Lamoureux.
00:00:38.860 And I'm Al Sultan.
00:00:40.360 We've got you covered with all the news you need to know.
00:00:42.900 Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.
00:00:51.540 Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangri said he has, quote,
00:00:55.120 quote, absolute confidence that law-abiding Canadians will hand over their firearms
00:00:59.360 to comply with the Liberal government's gun confiscation program.
00:01:03.420 On Tuesday, Anandasangri officially announced the launch of the gun grab program at a press conference
00:01:08.760 where he spent much of the time contradicting comments he made privately
00:01:13.080 to one of his rental unit tenants in a leaked audio recording just the day before.
00:01:18.280 Anandasangri insisted in his opening remarks that, quote,
00:01:21.220 the program is voluntary.
00:01:23.180 Nobody is having their weapon confiscated.
00:01:25.920 He said that nobody is being forced to participate in the buyback program.
00:01:29.900 However, he clarified that when the amnesty period concludes,
00:01:34.040 anybody who does not comply will be considered a criminal for violating federal law.
00:01:39.140 He later added that he had, quote,
00:01:41.140 every confidence in Canadians to voluntarily comply with the confiscation program.
00:01:45.220 I have every confidence that law-abiding citizens, first of all,
00:01:50.840 will ensure compliance with the law.
00:01:53.500 Secondly, I also have every confidence that law enforcement will be able to do their job
00:01:57.760 and to ensure the implementation of the criminal code.
00:02:00.640 Canada is a rule of law country, so if it is in the criminal code,
00:02:03.640 it is imperative that police or jurisdiction are able to implement that law.
00:02:09.880 Liberal MP Natalie Provost, who was alongside Anandasangri at the announcement,
00:02:14.000 maintained that while the program was voluntary,
00:02:17.360 the decision to not comply would constitute, quote,
00:02:20.120 committing a crime.
00:02:21.820 In French, she said, quote,
00:02:24.340 Yes, it's possible that after the program,
00:02:26.260 there will be people who choose to keep prohibited weapons in their homes,
00:02:29.500 but those people are committing a crime.
00:02:32.200 When fielding questions from the media,
00:02:33.920 Anandasangri was grilled over remarks he made in a leaked audio,
00:02:37.040 which seemed to contradict much of what he was claiming to support only a day later.
00:02:42.120 So, Alex, how did Anandasangri's comments on Tuesday
00:02:45.180 contradict the audio recording he was speaking about the day prior?
00:02:49.520 In leaked audio provided to True North,
00:02:51.960 Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangri
00:02:54.320 dismissed concerns from licensed gun owners
00:02:56.740 who worried about being arrested
00:02:58.260 if they refused to surrender firearms banned
00:03:00.780 under the Liberal government's gun confiscation program.
00:03:03.500 Now, Isaac, as you may recall,
00:03:05.320 this quote-unquote gun buyback program,
00:03:07.560 which has transformed over time into a gun confiscation program,
00:03:12.120 but now seems to have transformed,
00:03:14.000 according to the Public Safety Minister,
00:03:16.000 into a voluntary program.
00:03:18.120 It goes all the way back to 2020.
00:03:19.940 That's over three public safety ministers ago.
00:03:22.660 The audio, which was provided to True North
00:03:24.240 by the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights,
00:03:26.320 was recorded by a tenant of one of Anandasangri's rental properties.
00:03:30.400 The minister actually initiated the conversation
00:03:33.320 on the gun confiscation program,
00:03:34.920 which he suggested will be launched as of yesterday.
00:03:37.900 Anandasangri told the tenant that he had three options.
00:03:40.840 He could either deactivate the firearms,
00:03:42.940 turn them in for compensation, or do neither.
00:03:45.660 The tenant asked the minister
00:03:46.760 whether he would become a criminal if he refused to comply,
00:03:49.400 and Anandasangri expressed doubt and added,
00:03:52.000 I just don't think municipal police services
00:03:54.260 have the resources to do this.
00:03:56.400 I would tend to agree with the Public Safety Minister.
00:03:59.460 Again, this program goes back the better part of the last decade,
00:04:03.160 more than three public safety ministers ago,
00:04:05.960 has cost the Canadian taxpayer millions of dollars,
00:04:09.100 and has resulted in paltry, if any, gun confiscations.
00:04:13.320 So I would say that Anandasangri had a rare moment
00:04:17.280 of clarity of thought when he said
00:04:19.380 that police resources would be stretched thin
00:04:21.280 if police services were to try to enforce the buyback program.
00:04:25.500 He even said to the tenant,
00:04:26.640 I will come and bail you out if that happens.
00:04:29.740 You call me.
00:04:33.900 An activist group that claims to be, quote,
00:04:36.200 independent, despite being subsidized by taxpayers,
00:04:39.540 is hiring an investigative journalist to monitor and report
00:04:42.240 on what it deems to be, quote, far-right.
00:04:44.900 The Canadian Anti-Hate Network posted a full-time remote position
00:04:48.120 paying $60,000 a year on LinkedIn last week.
00:04:51.020 The job posting has over 100 applicants
00:04:52.920 at this article's time of publication.
00:04:54.600 The first responsibility listed for the job
00:04:56.860 is monitoring far-right spaces.
00:04:59.160 The organization's definition of far-right
00:05:01.200 was derived from work by Dr. Barbara Perry
00:05:03.920 and Dr. Cass Munnell.
00:05:06.020 Perry was recently defended by the CBC
00:05:08.320 for falsely claiming Charlie Kirk
00:05:10.020 called for queer people to be executed
00:05:11.980 during a live broadcast.
00:05:14.260 There's also the hypocrisy there, I think,
00:05:16.040 that feeds into the rhetoric, right,
00:05:19.220 where he's talking about the polarizing rhetoric
00:05:21.600 and the vilification, which is very much laid at his feet
00:05:27.340 in terms of exactly the language that we're seeing there.
00:05:31.700 The language even that Charlie Kirk uses,
00:05:35.620 vilifying particular groups,
00:05:37.700 talking about the Democrats, for example,
00:05:40.800 as, and I quote,
00:05:42.540 standing for everything that God hates,
00:05:46.480 claiming that, you know,
00:05:48.640 queer people are defective and dangerous
00:05:51.680 and should be executed.
00:05:54.420 I mean, that's sort of polarizing language
00:05:56.400 that contributes to this environment,
00:05:58.840 this loss of civility,
00:06:00.600 and encourages violence directed towards the enemy,
00:06:04.180 whatever the stripe,
00:06:05.120 and we are seeing this from both sides.
00:06:07.720 The job posting lists several
00:06:09.180 of the organization's priority areas.
00:06:11.480 They include Christian nationalism,
00:06:13.520 anti-2SLGBTQIA+, movements,
00:06:16.960 anti-gender movements,
00:06:18.480 and male supremacist movements.
00:06:20.860 Between 2020 and 2026,
00:06:22.960 the Canadian Anti-Hate Network
00:06:24.280 received three federal grants
00:06:25.940 totaling almost a million dollars.
00:06:28.600 These include $268,400
00:06:31.340 under the Anti-Racism Action Program
00:06:33.540 for, quote,
00:06:34.600 containing and countering Canadian hate groups.
00:06:37.920 Another $440,000
00:06:39.560 under the Community Support Multiculturalism
00:06:42.060 and Anti-Racism Initiatives Program
00:06:44.040 for, quote,
00:06:45.220 encouraging anti-hate activities in Canada.
00:06:48.360 And then another $200,000
00:06:50.140 from Public Safety Canada's
00:06:51.900 Community Resilience Fund
00:06:53.520 to develop a, quote,
00:06:55.160 ethical framework for research
00:06:57.000 on far-right organizing in Canada.
00:06:59.920 So, Isaac,
00:07:00.460 what do we know
00:07:01.480 about this so-called
00:07:02.640 Canadian Anti-Hate Network?
00:07:05.520 Yeah, Alex,
00:07:06.000 you covered a lot of what we know,
00:07:07.880 but of course,
00:07:08.720 the Canadian Anti-Hate Network
00:07:10.000 is a Toronto-based non-profit
00:07:12.240 that has built its reputation
00:07:14.160 by positioning itself
00:07:15.400 as Canada's primary
00:07:16.680 and even, according to them,
00:07:18.180 the only watchdog
00:07:19.220 against what it labels
00:07:20.260 as far-right movements.
00:07:22.060 But while it presents itself
00:07:23.340 as independent
00:07:24.440 and non-partisan,
00:07:26.240 the group has relied heavily
00:07:27.340 on taxpayer dollars
00:07:28.340 to fund its operations.
00:07:29.560 As you mentioned,
00:07:30.180 since 2020,
00:07:31.180 it has secured
00:07:31.700 more than $900,000
00:07:33.260 in federal grants
00:07:34.540 from programs run
00:07:35.700 through Canadian Heritage
00:07:36.580 and Public Safety Canada
00:07:37.760 with subsidies earmarked
00:07:39.060 for countering hate groups,
00:07:40.900 promoting anti-hate activities,
00:07:42.140 and even building
00:07:42.920 an ethical framework
00:07:43.920 for research
00:07:45.080 into so-called
00:07:45.920 far-right organizing.
00:07:47.780 And the group's definition
00:07:48.760 of far-right activity
00:07:50.900 is broad.
00:07:51.880 According to its own website,
00:07:53.520 priority areas include
00:07:54.640 neo-Nazism,
00:07:56.000 white nationalism,
00:07:57.360 Christian nationalism,
00:07:58.440 male supremacist movements,
00:07:59.660 and opposition
00:08:00.240 to gender ideology.
00:08:02.180 In fact,
00:08:03.600 the definition
00:08:05.720 on their website
00:08:07.200 for what far-right is,
00:08:08.660 which was also
00:08:09.100 on the job posting,
00:08:09.900 by the way,
00:08:10.300 is a bit convoluted.
00:08:11.960 It reads,
00:08:12.420 quote,
00:08:13.280 Domestic extremism
00:08:14.320 is a belief system
00:08:15.180 that is characterized
00:08:15.880 by its reference
00:08:17.040 to racial,
00:08:17.880 ethnic,
00:08:18.080 and cultural supremacy
00:08:19.220 which advocates
00:08:20.040 a system of belief
00:08:21.040 in inequality
00:08:21.740 based on an alleged difference
00:08:23.200 and the perceived threat
00:08:24.260 posed by out-groups.
00:08:26.040 This extremism
00:08:26.920 is often framed
00:08:27.860 in terms of white power
00:08:29.140 and commonly exhibits
00:08:30.220 nationalism, racism,
00:08:31.640 xenophobia,
00:08:32.400 anti-democracy,
00:08:33.280 misogyny,
00:08:34.260 hate against minority communities,
00:08:35.880 and strong state advocacy.
00:08:37.680 So while in my opinion
00:08:38.520 that definition
00:08:39.120 didn't really necessarily define
00:08:41.300 what far-right even is,
00:08:42.720 it definitely tried to jam
00:08:44.580 as many buzzwords in there
00:08:46.140 as it possibly could.
00:08:47.100 But as for the network,
00:08:49.060 in the past,
00:08:49.580 it has singled out
00:08:50.480 political figures
00:08:51.500 under the guise
00:08:52.280 of tracking extremism.
00:08:53.600 For example,
00:08:54.040 in 2021,
00:08:55.540 the group accused
00:08:56.380 former Newfoundland
00:08:57.340 Premier Brian Peckford
00:08:58.440 and former BC Premier
00:09:00.180 William Zander Zalm
00:09:01.520 of legitimizing
00:09:02.700 conspiracy theories
00:09:03.640 after they criticized
00:09:04.740 pandemic restrictions.
00:09:06.420 And it also publicly
00:09:07.380 pressured managers
00:09:08.240 of an Ottawa convention center
00:09:09.900 for renting space
00:09:10.800 to Catholic organizations
00:09:12.020 attending a pro-life march.
00:09:13.700 The president
00:09:14.560 of the Aristotle Foundation
00:09:15.920 for Public Policy,
00:09:16.900 Mark Mielke,
00:09:17.740 said the public square
00:09:18.680 needs robust debate
00:09:19.840 but, quote,
00:09:20.660 what it doesn't need
00:09:21.620 is the 800-pound gorilla
00:09:22.960 of government-funding
00:09:24.080 advocacy groups
00:09:25.040 that plant fake news.
00:09:26.940 So the network
00:09:27.620 was also co-founded
00:09:28.740 by Amira El-Gwabi,
00:09:30.500 who now serves
00:09:31.460 in Prime Minister
00:09:32.080 Mark Carney's cabinet
00:09:33.280 as the special representative
00:09:34.680 on combating Islamophobia,
00:09:36.360 which, of course,
00:09:36.900 is a role
00:09:37.320 with a $191,000 salary.
00:09:39.740 But according
00:09:40.720 to its mission statements,
00:09:41.960 the organization
00:09:42.800 produces news articles,
00:09:44.360 investigations,
00:09:45.320 toolkits,
00:09:46.000 and training materials
00:09:47.040 designed to disrupt
00:09:48.140 and compete
00:09:49.260 with far-right movements.
00:09:50.740 It also emphasizes
00:09:51.900 collaboration
00:09:52.380 with policy makers
00:09:53.520 and legacy media outlets
00:09:54.940 to amplify its work.
00:09:56.640 So in short,
00:09:57.440 the Canadian Anti-Hate Network
00:09:58.720 isn't just an advocacy group,
00:10:00.860 it's one that has positioned itself
00:10:02.500 as both activist
00:10:03.520 and media producer,
00:10:05.420 while, of course,
00:10:06.180 being heavily subsidized
00:10:07.900 by Ottawa.
00:10:09.740 B.C. Conservative leader
00:10:13.700 John Rustad
00:10:14.420 has won a leadership review
00:10:15.680 with nearly 71%
00:10:17.140 of party members
00:10:18.060 backing him.
00:10:19.500 Of 1,268 eligible members,
00:10:22.460 70.66% voted yes
00:10:24.940 for Rustad
00:10:25.740 to continue as leader,
00:10:27.100 while 29.34%
00:10:28.800 voted against him.
00:10:30.640 Rustad won in 78
00:10:31.800 of 93 ridings
00:10:32.900 where votes were held.
00:10:33.860 He lost in 10 ridings,
00:10:35.520 tied in three,
00:10:36.360 and two ridings
00:10:37.140 recorded no votes.
00:10:38.520 Rustad said in a statement,
00:10:40.400 quote,
00:10:41.200 I would like to thank
00:10:42.100 our members
00:10:42.500 for coming out
00:10:43.300 to use their democratic right
00:10:44.720 and voicing their opinion
00:10:45.840 on the direction
00:10:46.520 of our party and movement.
00:10:48.120 This process
00:10:48.920 has localized democracy
00:10:50.280 and allowed all members
00:10:51.380 to not only vote
00:10:52.360 in this crucial review,
00:10:53.420 but share their concerns
00:10:54.460 with me directly.
00:10:56.000 He added,
00:10:56.720 quote,
00:10:56.960 Mark Robertson,
00:11:10.880 the party's returning officer,
00:11:12.520 administered the leadership
00:11:13.520 review process
00:11:14.280 and an impartial third party
00:11:15.780 conducted the vote count.
00:11:17.660 According to the party,
00:11:18.840 Robertson traveled
00:11:19.700 across the province
00:11:20.620 during the summer
00:11:21.420 overseeing voting logistics.
00:11:24.040 So, Alex,
00:11:24.540 obviously we've written
00:11:25.700 a lot about Rustad
00:11:26.760 at True North
00:11:27.340 and he's controversial
00:11:28.660 even within
00:11:29.560 the conservative movement
00:11:30.460 in B.C.
00:11:31.120 But what is Rustad
00:11:32.480 taking out
00:11:33.020 of this leadership review?
00:11:34.540 What does he view
00:11:35.220 as his mandate
00:11:35.800 from supporters
00:11:36.460 of his party in B.C.?
00:11:38.280 So, Isaac,
00:11:38.980 as we had written about
00:11:39.840 previously at True North,
00:11:41.240 he introduced something
00:11:42.240 called the 11-point pledge
00:11:44.020 and amongst that
00:11:44.780 11-point pledge
00:11:45.720 were some promises
00:11:47.020 to not only his constituents
00:11:48.800 but obviously potential voters
00:11:50.240 in a future election.
00:11:51.540 Those included
00:11:52.220 law and order,
00:11:53.480 cracking down
00:11:53.960 on violent crime,
00:11:55.040 fast-tracking prosecutions
00:11:56.440 and specifically targeting
00:11:58.000 random stranger attacks.
00:11:59.460 Also, he wanted to ban
00:12:01.200 age-inappropriate content
00:12:02.480 in schools,
00:12:03.260 somewhat similar
00:12:03.800 to the policies
00:12:04.560 being supported
00:12:05.640 in Alberta
00:12:06.380 by Premier Daniel Smith,
00:12:07.960 something that you
00:12:08.620 are familiar with yourself.
00:12:10.260 Also pushing for
00:12:11.340 stronger election
00:12:12.480 voter ID rules,
00:12:13.820 there were a lot
00:12:14.860 of concerns
00:12:16.260 about the fairness
00:12:17.580 of the last
00:12:18.260 provincial election
00:12:19.280 and so I imagine
00:12:21.260 that that appealed
00:12:22.420 to a lot of
00:12:23.680 conservatives specifically.
00:12:24.840 He also promised
00:12:26.480 to offer an end
00:12:27.660 to mass immigration policies
00:12:29.180 that one I think
00:12:30.120 would be a bit
00:12:30.580 more challenging
00:12:31.160 given that the
00:12:32.060 provincial government
00:12:32.660 has limited carriage
00:12:33.760 over immigration
00:12:34.720 but still something
00:12:35.520 that I think
00:12:36.000 would largely
00:12:37.000 appeal to his base.
00:12:38.640 In terms of
00:12:39.500 what this win means,
00:12:41.040 I think that it's
00:12:41.780 premature
00:12:42.220 to say that it's
00:12:44.280 either overwhelmingly
00:12:45.300 positive
00:12:45.840 or overwhelmingly negative.
00:12:47.940 However,
00:12:48.380 on the positive side
00:12:49.220 what we can say
00:12:49.920 is that he is still
00:12:51.440 the leader of the
00:12:51.980 Conservative Party.
00:12:52.780 On the negative side
00:12:53.560 he nearly lost
00:12:55.100 a third of the votes.
00:12:56.440 On the whole,
00:12:56.980 I would say this is
00:12:57.540 clearly a win for Rustad
00:12:58.720 as he received
00:12:59.360 nearly two-thirds
00:13:00.560 of the party membership
00:13:01.600 in the latest
00:13:03.140 Conservative leadership race.
00:13:05.160 It will be interesting
00:13:05.760 to see how he balances
00:13:06.940 this mandate
00:13:07.600 with the realities
00:13:08.440 of governing
00:13:08.960 and appealing
00:13:09.440 to a BC broader electorate.
00:13:11.500 As people are well aware,
00:13:13.900 BC,
00:13:14.860 for better or worse,
00:13:15.760 I would say probably worse,
00:13:16.940 is incredibly left coast.
00:13:19.060 And so Rustad
00:13:20.260 has a considerable challenge
00:13:21.780 on his hands.
00:13:22.460 He has to appeal
00:13:23.140 to the more conservative
00:13:24.060 voices within his own party
00:13:25.660 but he also has to
00:13:26.920 appeal to
00:13:28.140 the broader population
00:13:29.580 of BC,
00:13:30.240 many of which
00:13:30.700 do not identify
00:13:31.600 as corely conservative.
00:13:33.480 From the party's perspective,
00:13:34.500 however,
00:13:34.860 this vote is being framed
00:13:35.860 as grassroots exercise
00:13:37.020 in democracy
00:13:37.660 and Rustad is using it
00:13:38.880 to position himself
00:13:39.820 as the leading voice
00:13:40.640 for the conservatives
00:13:41.300 in the province
00:13:42.080 heading into the next election,
00:13:43.920 whatever that happens to be.
00:13:44.980 That's it for today, folks.
00:13:48.740 Thanks for tuning in.
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