Juno News - Most youth believe Canada 'belongs' to Indigenous people

00:00:00.000 A new survey finds that a majority of youth in Canada believe that the country belongs to Indigenous people.

00:00:11.460 Academic Frances Whittowson, a co-author of the Trunard published book, Grave Error, and her team were surrounded, shouted down, and allegedly assaulted by a mob of Indigenous activists.

00:00:22.400 Toronto's dancing mayor, Olivia Chow, has warned that the feds' failure to fund housing for asylum seekers on the taxpayer dime could lead to a 2% property tax hike for residents.

00:00:33.960 Hello Canada, it's Wednesday, October 1st, and this is the True North Daily Brief. I'm Isaac Lamoureux.

00:00:39.280 And I'm William Tam Tam.

00:00:40.340 We've got you covered with all the news you need to know. Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.

00:00:47.520 A growing share of young Canadians believe Canada belongs to Indigenous peoples, according to new polling that highlights a widening generational divide over national identity and historical interpretation.

00:01:01.880 The survey, conducted by Leger and first reported by the Canadian press, found that 58% of Canadians aged 18 to 24 agreed with the statement that, quote, Canada belongs to Indigenous peoples.

00:01:14.460 That figure stands in stark contrast to just 24% among those aged 65 and older.

00:01:20.940 Overall, among all ages, about 1 in 3 Canadians, so 34%, supported the statement, while a majority either disagreed or were unsure.

00:01:30.000 The results come as debates over land acknowledgements, Aboriginal title, and reconciliation continue to shape policy and public discourse across the country.

00:01:38.560 Political commentator Caroline Elliott reacted to the polling results on X, calling the youth sentiment the product of what she described as a long-running campaign in the education system.

00:01:48.840 Elliott wrote, quote,

00:01:50.000 This is the direct product of an education system that has been relentlessly driving this narrative unchallenged for well over a decade.

00:01:57.380 She warned that, quote, 0.93

00:01:58.660 More than double the number of younger Canadians than older Canadians think true ownership of our country is, or should be, based on ethnic lines.

00:02:05.900 And added, quote,

00:02:07.080 We won't fix our country until we fix education.

00:02:10.520 So, Waleed, with so many non-Indigenous people in the country and so many immigrants being welcomed into Canada, 1.00

00:02:16.400 what is the logical conclusion of this line of thinking so many Canadian youth hold?

00:02:20.600 Well, it takes you to the narrative of land back, Isaac, and this is what we're seeing happen in British Columbia when it comes to the cases where the government is handing off land,

00:02:29.700 in some cases privately owned, off to Indigenous tribes, without democratic consultation, without consultation in the community,

00:02:38.680 and without considering the full scope of effects it has on Canadians.

00:02:41.560 I really think the logical conclusion of this line of thinking, especially what is coming through our generation,

00:02:47.960 is a potential division of Canadians along ethnic lines.

00:02:53.540 I mean, look, the fact of the matter is, especially when you're considering the mass migration Canada has seen,

00:02:57.680 I've seen this so many times at some of these protests and events where people are, you know,

00:03:03.120 sticking up for the right of Canada having a controlled immigration system.

00:03:07.540 The counter-narrative being, well, you know, your white folks, your Anglo-Saxon Canadians, English Canadians, 0.78

00:03:13.900 European Canadians, what have you, are themselves immigrants.

00:03:17.400 And that's true, factually speaking, in terms of perhaps their descendants generations ago.

00:03:23.140 But generations and progress and contribution to a country is what exactly ties people to a country

00:03:29.780 and what makes them part of that country, in my personal view.

00:03:32.560 So I would say the logical conclusion is one where, let's say, that narrative is embraced more in our generation,

00:03:39.260 well, then you'd have a future where the run-of-the-mill migrant will just, you know, 0.99

00:03:44.440 pull up to Canada and tell people that, oh, I have a right to be here because, you know,

00:03:47.560 you're also an immigrant yourself.

00:03:49.040 And pretty much everyone except from, you know, a shrinking Indigenous population 1.00

00:03:53.680 has essentially free will to hop onto the land while, you know, essentially putting everyone on a similar base,

00:04:02.100 a similar boat, everyone just simply being described as an immigrant,

00:04:06.220 not such thing as a Native Canadian or a Native-born Canadian.

00:04:09.840 Instead, just Indigenous versus immigrant and immigrants running wild. 1.00

00:04:14.860 I don't think it's a narrative that really supports social development.

00:04:18.140 I don't think it's a narrative that respects even the history of Indigenous people.

00:04:22.180 Frankly, it's a narrative to conveniently excuse the mass migration regime

00:04:27.260 this country has been forced to tolerate for far too long.

00:04:33.520 Chaos erupted at the University of Winnipeg last week

00:04:36.160 when a crowd of protesters swarmed academic Frances Whittowson 0.99

00:04:40.480 during her, quote, Spectrum Street epistemology session,

00:04:44.680 banging drums, shouting her down, and allegedly assaulting members of her team.

00:04:49.580 One man filming the event was punched, a woman was spat on,

00:04:53.280 and equipment was doused with water in a scene.

00:04:56.760 Whittowson later described as a, quote,

00:04:59.000 complete breakdown of civilization.

00:05:02.240 The exercise adapted from philosopher Peter Boghossian's Socratic Dialogue method

00:05:07.160 asks participants to stand along a spectrum

00:05:10.360 from strongly agree to strongly disagree

00:05:12.900 in response to prompts designed to spark conversation.

00:05:16.820 On a live stream before the events,

00:05:19.020 Whittowson said, quote,

00:05:20.400 I'm not afraid,

00:05:21.620 anticipating hostility,

00:05:23.040 but insisting the conversations were important.

00:05:25.300 Whittowson was able to carry out

00:05:26.680 her Spectrum Street epistemology exercise

00:05:29.080 at the University of Manitoba on September 25th

00:05:31.780 with limited opposition.

00:05:33.060 But a day later at the University of Winnipeg,

00:05:35.040 the situation escalated into open confrontation.

00:05:38.020 Afterwards,

00:05:38.380 a woman appears to have poured water over their equipment

00:05:41.480 and spat on a supporter

00:05:42.760 while a man was punched in the face.

00:05:44.920 One clip shows someone filming laying on the ground

00:05:47.380 while being surrounded by activists,

00:05:49.300 berating them,

00:05:50.160 and shoving phones in their face.

00:05:51.700 One activist tells the person on the ground,

00:05:53.880 quote,

00:05:54.460 you belong underground.

00:05:55.360 That man identified as academic Daniel Page.

00:06:14.340 He said he attended to document the event,

00:06:17.500 not to take a position.

00:06:18.900 He told viewers, quote,

00:06:20.200 I'm here to make sure we're in an academic institution

00:06:22.720 upholding academic freedom.

00:06:23.900 According to Whittowson,

00:06:25.280 police were called but did not arrive.

00:06:27.400 In a live stream,

00:06:28.240 she later compared the chaos to dealing with,

00:06:30.060 quote,

00:06:30.200 toddlers who are very badly behaved,

00:06:32.320 saying she chose to stand still and not yield.

00:06:35.380 She said, quote,

00:06:36.360 it was terrible.

00:06:37.440 It was really terrible.

00:06:38.660 We witnessed a breakdown of civilization.

00:06:41.360 So Isaac,

00:06:42.080 U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk

00:06:44.120 was assassinated three weeks ago today.

00:06:46.240 Many think political violence is just an American issue.

00:06:49.320 Does this incident so that Canadians 1.00

00:06:50.720 are also willing to commit political violence

00:06:52.380 against those who would disagree with them?

00:06:54.440 Yeah, Waleed. 0.99

00:06:54.820 Well, if I were to go through every instance

00:06:56.220 of political violence happening on campuses alone,

00:06:58.480 let's say in Canada,

00:06:59.800 I mean, it's almost an endless list.

00:07:02.060 It would take forever to even list all of the events.

00:07:05.300 But clearly,

00:07:05.840 when we look at incidents like this on campuses,

00:07:08.360 it's clear that political violence

00:07:09.920 is not something that stops at the U.S. border.

00:07:12.960 And we have seen multiple Canadian cases

00:07:14.860 where left-leaning activists

00:07:16.500 have either excused or directly engaged in violence.

00:07:20.320 For example, in Calgary,

00:07:21.760 Black Lives Matter organizer Taylor McNally

00:07:24.020 faced a string of criminal charges since 2020

00:07:27.120 and was actually convicted in 2023

00:07:29.340 for assaulting an off-duty police officer

00:07:31.500 during a high school protest

00:07:32.840 where she also confronted a student

00:07:34.940 over gender identity policies.

00:07:37.060 She was later charged with other offenses, 0.84

00:07:39.180 including assault and unlawful confinement

00:07:40.940 linked to the same demonstration.

00:07:43.180 And True North has highlighted

00:07:44.140 various Canadian academics and activists

00:07:46.880 in the way they've responded

00:07:48.100 to the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

00:07:50.360 Instead of condemning it,

00:07:51.580 some have mocked it

00:07:52.740 or even celebrated his killing online.

00:07:54.840 For example,

00:07:55.500 a University of Toronto professor wrote,

00:07:57.720 quote,

00:07:58.180 shooting is honestly too good 0.98

00:07:59.880 for so many of you fascist expletives. 0.96

00:08:02.580 And to give you a hint,

00:08:03.580 that's often the expletive

00:08:05.560 that people deem the worst in the world.

00:08:07.520 But anyways,

00:08:08.040 that shows a willingness to excuse extreme violence

00:08:10.560 when it targets political opponents.

00:08:12.400 That professor, Ruth Marshall,

00:08:14.040 was far from a lone incident.

00:08:15.440 For example,

00:08:15.840 we saw recently Florence Ashley,

00:08:17.840 a law professor at the U of A

00:08:19.200 and a transgender advocate,

00:08:20.860 was similarly temporarily suspended

00:08:22.580 after he compared Kirk to a Nazi.

00:08:24.880 However,

00:08:25.420 he was just recently reinstated.

00:08:27.660 True North has also documented at length

00:08:30.140 similar behavior

00:08:31.060 at pro-Palestinian encampments

00:08:32.920 across Canadian universities

00:08:34.700 at McGill, Toronto, and Ottawa.

00:08:37.040 Demonstrators have openly called for

00:08:38.920 intifada,

00:08:40.020 an armed uprising,

00:08:40.900 and displayed banners

00:08:41.680 celebrating resistance

00:08:43.080 and even celebrating massacring Israelis. 0.58

00:08:45.920 In Montreal, 0.81

00:08:46.740 an encampment escalated

00:08:47.840 to vandalism of statues

00:08:49.540 and open clashes with police

00:08:51.380 when officers dismantled the site.

00:08:53.080 And we've seen similar happenings

00:08:54.840 at other cities amid these encampments.

00:08:57.280 But even Canada's intelligence services

00:08:59.300 have been criticized

00:09:00.500 for downplaying these threats.

00:09:02.940 True North, for example,

00:09:03.860 reported that CSIS's annual report

00:09:05.980 zeroed in on right-wing extremism

00:09:08.460 while overlooking the violence

00:09:10.260 and intimidation carried out

00:09:11.920 by left-wing activists

00:09:13.140 in recent years.

00:09:14.180 So all of this underscores

00:09:15.300 that political violence

00:09:16.340 is not uniquely an American problem.

00:09:19.020 From campuses to city streets,

00:09:20.660 Canada has witnessed episodes

00:09:22.100 where activists cross the line

00:09:23.800 from protest into physical intimidation

00:09:26.040 and even assault,

00:09:27.100 often excused by sympathetic voices.

00:09:29.960 And it, of course,

00:09:30.860 raises the question

00:09:31.740 as to whether authorities

00:09:33.180 and institutions

00:09:33.900 are willing to treat these acts

00:09:35.460 with the seriousness they deserve.

00:09:36.940 But for me, the recurring theme

00:09:38.760 is perhaps that institutions

00:09:40.380 seemingly try to focus

00:09:41.680 on the almost non-existent violence

00:09:44.060 on the right side

00:09:44.820 of the political spectrum

00:09:45.780 while turning a blind eye

00:09:47.260 to the extremism

00:09:48.720 and extreme violence

00:09:50.260 that is recurring on the left.

00:09:54.340 Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow

00:09:56.040 says the federal government's

00:09:57.340 failure to provide sufficient funding

00:09:59.320 for housing asylum seekers

00:10:00.840 could force the city

00:10:02.140 to impose the equivalent

00:10:03.260 of a 2% property tax hike.

00:10:05.840 Chow made the remarks

00:10:06.560 during a press conference on Monday

00:10:08.000 warning that Ottawa's shortfall

00:10:09.620 in delivering funding

00:10:10.540 is putting pressure

00:10:11.500 on municipal finances.

00:10:13.240 According to the mayor,

00:10:14.520 Toronto is still waiting

00:10:15.460 on roughly $250 million

00:10:17.240 in federal commitments

00:10:18.380 related to refugee housing

00:10:19.700 and social services.

00:10:21.180 Chow said, quote,

00:10:22.060 if we don't get the funding,

00:10:23.400 the pressure will land

00:10:24.200 on the property tax base

00:10:25.300 of average Torontonians.

00:10:27.000 The comments come amid

00:10:27.980 mounting concerns

00:10:28.820 from critics who say

00:10:29.700 Ottawa's immigration policies

00:10:30.960 have placed an unfair burden

00:10:32.480 on cities

00:10:33.160 without corresponding resources

00:10:35.080 to manage the fallout.

00:10:36.580 Conservative politicians

00:10:37.520 have repeatedly called

00:10:38.940 on the federal government

00:10:39.700 to reduce intake numbers

00:10:41.000 and provide direct compensation

00:10:42.480 to municipalities

00:10:43.380 that are absorbing

00:10:44.720 the costs of temporary housing,

00:10:46.440 shelter space,

00:10:47.280 and local services

00:10:48.300 for asylum seekers.

00:10:49.640 So, Walid,

00:10:50.620 obviously we're looking at Chow

00:10:51.780 talking about

00:10:52.340 a property tax increase here,

00:10:53.820 but how has she done

00:10:54.860 in terms of managing

00:10:55.900 Toronto's budget?

00:10:57.240 Well, I don't have

00:10:58.100 the economic pedigree

00:10:59.360 to give you a scorecard,

00:11:00.900 but I can tell you what,

00:11:01.660 her budget record

00:11:02.780 is about the same

00:11:03.880 as Pride Toronto's

00:11:05.060 budget record.

00:11:06.020 Shortfall after shortfall

00:11:07.340 after shortfall.

00:11:08.360 Now, we can remember

00:11:09.340 back to the summer,

00:11:10.320 Pride Toronto

00:11:11.000 had a funding shortfall,

00:11:12.560 which Olivia Chow

00:11:13.420 accounted for

00:11:14.140 using Torontonians' tax dollars

00:11:16.400 to the tune

00:11:17.360 of around $350,000

00:11:18.680 over the summer

00:11:19.500 to fund that event.

00:11:21.440 And they believe

00:11:22.000 the budget shortfall

00:11:23.000 she's looking at

00:11:24.080 from the winter

00:11:24.800 was somewhere around

00:11:25.860 back in February,

00:11:27.620 instead of Toronto approved

00:11:28.520 the 2025 budget,

00:11:30.060 which included

00:11:30.860 an operational budget

00:11:32.320 of $18.8 billion

00:11:33.940 and a capital plan

00:11:35.360 of $59.6 billion,

00:11:38.220 which was uniquely

00:11:38.880 supported by a 6.9%

00:11:40.920 property tax increase.

00:11:42.520 Now, speaking of property tax,

00:11:44.680 as you mentioned,

00:11:45.640 that is not including

00:11:46.480 the potential incoming

00:11:47.820 2% property tax increase

00:11:50.280 just to deal

00:11:52.000 with the massive amount

00:11:53.660 of asylum seekers 0.92

00:11:55.360 and the housing

00:11:56.380 that the city is providing them

00:11:57.720 as a result of

00:11:58.860 the federal government

00:11:59.540 pushing that financial burden

00:12:01.120 onto the cities

00:12:01.880 when they ended

00:12:02.780 the federal hotel support program

00:12:05.040 effectively,

00:12:06.400 shifting costs to provinces

00:12:07.720 and in many cases

00:12:09.060 the municipalities,

00:12:10.320 which is the case in Toronto.

00:12:12.120 So I would say

00:12:12.680 prior to this event,

00:12:14.500 you had already seen

00:12:15.380 some tax types,

00:12:16.600 significant ones,

00:12:17.420 come from Olivia Chow.

00:12:18.660 Now you're hearing

00:12:19.840 yesterday

00:12:20.680 about potential increase

00:12:22.220 of a 2%,

00:12:23.500 so that's somewhere

00:12:24.400 close to 8.9%

00:12:27.020 of property tax increases

00:12:28.660 that the city of Toronto

00:12:30.160 has to face

00:12:30.780 at a time

00:12:31.460 where already

00:12:32.100 the provincial

00:12:32.680 and federal deficit

00:12:34.180 and debt burden

00:12:35.560 is looking like

00:12:36.620 we're going to have

00:12:37.040 to see funding increases

00:12:38.160 from somewhere

00:12:38.760 and of course

00:12:39.680 the potential

00:12:40.320 for tax increases

00:12:42.420 always remains.

00:12:43.920 So I think

00:12:44.420 Olivia Chow

00:12:45.040 has done

00:12:45.960 a pretty poor job

00:12:47.420 in assisting

00:12:48.040 Torontonians

00:12:49.020 with overcoming

00:12:50.380 the federal

00:12:51.620 and provincial

00:12:52.760 stress

00:12:53.560 by adding additional

00:12:54.660 stress

00:12:55.020 at the municipal level.

00:12:59.060 That's it for today, folks.

00:13:00.340 Thanks for tuning in.

00:13:01.280 You can stay on top

00:13:02.000 of new episodes

00:13:02.840 every weekday

00:13:03.660 by subscribing

00:13:04.340 to The Daily Brief

00:13:05.100 on iTunes and Spotify.

00:13:06.660 Also, while you're at it,

00:13:08.000 make sure to hit us

00:13:08.620 with a five-star rating

00:13:09.540 and please leave a review.

Juno News - October 01, 2025

Most youth believe Canada 'belongs' to Indigenous people

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript