Juno News - September 12, 2025


MP Aaron Gunn on Kirk assassination & free speech


Episode Stats

Length

6 minutes

Words per Minute

150.13788

Word Count

980

Sentence Count

34

Hate Speech Sentences

1


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 You spoke a lot about, you know, Charlie Kirk today.
00:00:05.280 Could you just give a little bit, like, just your response to the assassination of Charlie Kirk yesterday?
00:00:13.460 Well, I just think it's a really important opportunity for all Canadians,
00:00:16.900 but especially those holding elected office, to be clear that we can never allow political violence.
00:00:23.100 We must always, we can never allow free speech and free expression to be intimidated in our country,
00:00:27.380 and we have to make sure and do everything in our power to make sure some of the violence
00:00:31.520 that we're seeing south of the border in the United States doesn't make its way up to Canada.
00:00:35.980 We have our share of issues, of course, but we have to make sure that those are always debated
00:00:41.120 and resolved peacefully through the democratic process and using these great democratic principles
00:00:47.480 that have been handed down to us by generations that came before us
00:00:51.740 and defended, by the way, through two world wars.
00:00:54.600 So I think that's an ultimate responsibility, and it was just very shocking to see what happened.
00:00:59.820 You see someone who was assassinated, who was murdered, essentially for the views that he held
00:01:04.480 and the speech that he was engaging in.
00:01:07.780 Absolutely.
00:01:08.540 And the state broadcaster, the CBC, did several pieces on this.
00:01:15.440 You commented on it on X.
00:01:17.460 There was also, this morning, hate expert, so-called hate expert, Barbara Perry, was interviewed,
00:01:26.840 and she kind of said the back, like, she was worried that this attack would be a backlash towards the left.
00:01:38.620 She said that Charlie Kirk wanted to execute queers, and I just want to get your response on what the CBC's reporting has been on this.
00:01:49.260 Yeah, I think, look, whether it's the CBC, it's always especially egregious with the CBC
00:01:54.380 because, of course, they're being subsidized with over a billion dollars in taxpayer money,
00:01:57.740 but, you know, when somebody, especially somebody who is engaging in free speech,
00:02:01.840 engaging in the free exchange of ideas, who's putting themselves out there courageously in pursuit of the truth,
00:02:07.700 is gunned down, that is not the time, 12 hours later, to contextualize their gunning down,
00:02:14.720 to somehow create this kind of social narrative,
00:02:19.900 yes, they were killed, but, or these are some of the most controversial views that Charlie...
00:02:25.300 No, now is the time to grieve, first and foremost,
00:02:28.920 to reflect back on what society and the state of public discourse has become,
00:02:35.720 and to, most importantly, reinforce that this is completely unacceptable,
00:02:40.000 that we can never allow or justify in any way, shape, or form political violence,
00:02:45.280 and we must always stand up for free speech, free expression, and the free exchange of ideas,
00:02:52.060 especially on our university and college campuses,
00:02:55.660 which Charlie Kirk was obviously most well-known for.
00:03:00.440 Absolutely, and you talked about public discourse,
00:03:02.320 and we've seen a lot of, like, backlash, or, you know, reactions to his death,
00:03:09.660 and celebrations of Charlie Kirk's death online.
00:03:13.980 What, do you think that has anything to do with, like, kind of the radicalization that may have led to Charlie Kirk's death?
00:03:22.540 Like, do you have a response on why this could have happened?
00:03:24.940 Well, look, there's always a couple things.
00:03:31.120 You're always going to have people on the fringes.
00:03:33.160 You're always going to have despicable, ugly souls out there that are celebrating violence and celebrating murder like this.
00:03:40.900 So, that's always going to be there.
00:03:43.280 With the internet now, it's out there for everybody to see.
00:03:46.400 We must always condemn it.
00:03:48.380 At the same time, we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that pretty much everyone across the political spectrum
00:03:53.620 has been outspoken in denouncing this.
00:03:56.340 This is a moment for people to come together, I think, in their denunciations
00:04:00.420 and their reaffirmation of the important values that we all hold as Canadians
00:04:05.040 and as members of Western civilization.
00:04:07.440 I do think it's also an opportunity for conservatives, I think, to make sure that we're separating our liberal friends
00:04:17.300 who we can disagree with proudly and disagree with strongly on matters of public policy
00:04:25.760 but continue to debate and exchange dialogue with as we compete for voters in our country
00:04:31.980 and elements of the hard left that have been moving away from liberalism,
00:04:37.680 moving away from the democratic process and resorting to more extreme tactics and rhetoric.
00:04:42.960 Things like words are violence or deplatforming people
00:04:47.000 or this anti-free speech wrapped up in terminology like anti-fascism and things like that.
00:04:53.740 So, I think it's important as responsible conservatives and leaders to separate those two things
00:04:57.900 as well as liberals because the vast majority of Canadians
00:05:02.500 and the vast majority of our political leaders are on the same page about this kind of stuff
00:05:06.540 so it's important for us to be very vocal about it
00:05:09.180 while also identifying those corrosive elements of our society that need to be called out,
00:05:15.640 that need to be put into the corner where they belong
00:05:20.740 or they have no place in the public square.
00:05:24.800 Is there anything I didn't ask you that you think is relevant
00:05:27.040 or just something you'd like to add?
00:05:30.980 I don't think so.
00:05:31.960 I just think that it's great to see people like Melissa Lansman and Pierre Polyev
00:05:37.920 and Andrew Lawton and Jamil Javani who were all very outspoken after this event.
00:05:41.720 I know, look, you read the headline and you see conservative political commentator assassinated.
00:05:48.040 I mean, up until five months ago, that was my byline, was conservative political commentator.
00:05:54.180 So it hits really close to home.
00:05:56.760 It makes you think about things.
00:05:58.680 But I think for most conservatives that I talk to,
00:06:01.320 it's made them more determined than ever to keep up this fight.
00:06:05.760 We're not going to be intimidated and we're just going to keep fighting for the truth
00:06:08.500 and for the courage of our convictions.
00:06:10.680 We're not going to beеляén.