Juno News - September 12, 2025


MP Jamil Jivani on Kirk assassination & free speech


Episode Stats

Length

9 minutes

Words per Minute

172.36761

Word Count

1,673

Sentence Count

65


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 You were talking a lot about Charlie Kirk's assassination today.
00:00:05.720 Can you just kind of round up a bit of a response to the news that Charlie Kirk died yesterday?
00:00:12.420 Yeah, well, it's a very sad and tragic situation.
00:00:16.660 I think it's important for people to remember there's an entire generation of people in Canada
00:00:21.420 and in the United States and around the world who have grown up with Charlie Kirk being a part of how they think about politics
00:00:29.180 because he's been famous and on YouTube for the last 13 years.
00:00:34.100 And there are so many people who've watched his debates on campuses and whether they agree with him or they disagree with him,
00:00:39.880 a lot of people admired the effort he made to have conversations with people who don't share his point of view.
00:00:46.440 And so I heard from so many young people in our community here in Bowmanville, Oshawa North,
00:00:51.740 and also around the country who are just really sad.
00:00:54.580 And I felt like, you know, we had planned this event here in Bowmanville weeks ago,
00:01:00.500 but it felt like an important thing to talk about today and to just acknowledge the sadness a lot of people feel,
00:01:06.820 but also to make the point that, you know, we're at risk of people feeling discouraged by what happened, right?
00:01:12.740 Young people feeling like politics is not worth engaging in because of how polarized it is
00:01:18.740 and to feel like, you know, hopeless about the future, especially people who agree with Charlie
00:01:25.700 that debating folks on the other side of the political issue is worth doing.
00:01:31.020 So I felt it was important to kind of point out that, you know, not to take that lesson from this,
00:01:35.820 but rather to really look at the impact he had and remind ourselves that having debates
00:01:41.760 and taking strong positions and standing up for what you believe in,
00:01:44.640 but also being open-minded to talk to people who don't agree with you,
00:01:48.220 this is an important part of politics.
00:01:50.280 And I hope that's what people remember him for, and that is his legacy.
00:01:54.200 And then I hope young people who grew up watching him on YouTube
00:01:57.540 feel that that is part of the legacy to continue,
00:02:00.660 that don't shy away from taking strong positions, say how you feel, say what you believe,
00:02:05.620 but also be prepared to debate.
00:02:07.460 That's what we're supposed to do in politics,
00:02:09.080 and I think that's what makes for the best political culture we can have here in Canada.
00:02:13.880 Absolutely.
00:02:14.560 Okay, and I don't know if you've seen any of the CBC's reporting on this.
00:02:19.880 They're, you know, they immediately, like, their first article,
00:02:24.080 they ended it off by wrapping this up into January 6th,
00:02:29.020 referencing January 6th and political violence that happened since from Trump supporters.
00:02:33.960 They also immediately put a thing out on his most controversial statements.
00:02:40.520 This morning, Barbara Perry from Oshawa, the so-called hate expert,
00:02:45.380 was on and discussed kind of her fears that this will backlash into violence against left-wing folk.
00:02:54.480 You know, I don't know if you've seen this,
00:02:56.600 but what is your response to the way that the CBC, the state broadcaster, has handled this?
00:03:01.240 I'm not surprised by how CBC has reported on this story,
00:03:06.520 in part because I think CBC has a hard time humanizing people they don't agree with.
00:03:13.800 And I think that's a really huge problem in Canadian media.
00:03:17.980 We have a diverse country with people with all sorts of different perspectives,
00:03:23.140 and we should be able to share that with peace and understanding of one another.
00:03:30.820 And, you know, you look at an outlet like CBC and they love to lecture about things like diversity
00:03:35.280 and, you know, equity and inclusion, you know, and the whole, you know, ideology that they embrace wholeheartedly.
00:03:42.760 And yet, when they have an opportunity to show that they appreciate and respect differences of opinion,
00:03:49.040 you can see in their reporting that they actually don't seem to respect people with a different point of view.
00:03:55.940 I think at minimum, they should be able to say without equivocation that violence is never acceptable,
00:04:02.820 regardless of whether you like what someone said or not.
00:04:05.440 And when you publish an article outlining someone's controversial views,
00:04:09.420 it almost has this hint of suggestion that that somehow justifies what happened
00:04:14.120 or should be taken into consideration when you grieve a young man's death.
00:04:19.860 And I think that's, you know, it's just reprehensible.
00:04:22.300 It's unacceptable.
00:04:23.820 And, you know, I think this is an opportunity for people to really check their own humanity here.
00:04:29.060 Like, a young man, 31 years old, two children and a wife, was assassinated on a university campus,
00:04:37.780 assassinated at an event where he was debating people with another point of view,
00:04:43.080 open to hearing their side and sharing his own.
00:04:46.660 I think that's what we're supposed to want in our politics and in our media,
00:04:51.280 is different points of view.
00:04:52.540 And they should respect that.
00:04:54.020 And their reporting doesn't seem to suggest that they do.
00:04:56.180 And I think when they, you know, clutch their pearls,
00:04:59.920 when conservatives say that they're biased,
00:05:02.120 I hope they remember how they reported on this.
00:05:04.960 And maybe, you know, remember why people call them biased,
00:05:07.920 because time and time again, when they've had an opportunity to show
00:05:11.180 they respect people across the political spectrum,
00:05:14.220 they have shown that they don't.
00:05:16.560 And, you know, it is too early to say we don't know a lot about this case,
00:05:20.780 but we've seen people on media from institutions in Canada.
00:05:25.200 There was a U of T professor saying that a bullet is,
00:05:30.080 is, like, you know, not good enough for fascists and things like this.
00:05:34.980 Does this kind of play into kind of potentially why people felt radicalized enough
00:05:41.220 to assassinate Charlie Kirk to begin with?
00:05:44.980 Like, why do you think people are feeling like this radicalized,
00:05:50.100 that they resort to political violence?
00:05:51.820 Well, as you said, we don't know all the specifics of this case.
00:05:56.280 I do think, you know, as a member of parliament who's been in office for about a year and a half now,
00:06:03.100 I certainly have felt that we are in a political culture where vilifying people comes easily
00:06:11.480 to some folks in the media, to some folks who are involved in partisan politics.
00:06:18.020 And I think in many cases, they want to have it both ways,
00:06:23.000 where they, you know, want to hold you accountable for what you say,
00:06:27.760 but they don't want to hold themselves accountable for what they're saying.
00:06:30.620 And the reality is, like, if you have a systematic effort to smear a person,
00:06:35.100 to portray them as something other than a human being who simply disagrees with you,
00:06:40.360 but instead they want to make this person into a monster,
00:06:42.640 I think they have to accept that, like, their actions have an effect on people.
00:06:49.360 You know, and I wish they held themselves to the same standards that they hold others,
00:06:55.220 and certainly making jokes or making light of death or justifying someone being assassinated.
00:07:02.640 I mean, this is really unhealthy, bizarre, unhinged stuff,
00:07:06.740 and I think people need to be able to point that out.
00:07:09.860 I mean, I've been a public figure for a while.
00:07:15.540 I have taken strong positions.
00:07:17.580 People know where I stand on important things.
00:07:19.840 Whether they agree with me or not, I'm pretty open about my views.
00:07:24.240 And I have never once in my entire life thought that to make a joke or make a light
00:07:30.700 or make excuses of violence perpetrated on someone who disagrees with me.
00:07:34.480 And I wish more people on the political left felt that way, too.
00:07:39.600 Are people free to have a different point of view,
00:07:41.740 or are institutions feeling, like, entitled to crack down on them
00:07:45.980 and try to stifle the ability to articulate different ideas?
00:07:50.520 And I think that's very unhealthy.
00:07:52.680 And I will say, you know, as a person who spends my time talking to Canadians every day,
00:07:57.920 it's my job to read emails that are sent to my office,
00:08:01.400 to talk to people in my community.
00:08:03.100 I really believe Canadians are far more open-minded than a lot of the powerful people
00:08:07.620 running this country are.
00:08:09.760 And I think Canadians are open to debates and different perspectives.
00:08:13.360 And in fact, regardless of where they fall in the political spectrum,
00:08:16.560 I think we all feel like we have to accept other points of view
00:08:20.900 just to live our lives in a diverse country.
00:08:23.300 Whether it's your workplace, your own family, your friends,
00:08:26.460 people are used to talking to people with different points of view.
00:08:28.740 It's odd to me that we have so many institutions and media outlets
00:08:33.160 that seem completely out of sync with the Canadian people.
00:08:37.580 And that is a huge red flag to me.
00:08:40.560 We deserve a country where the values and the morality of the people
00:08:44.260 are reflected in the institutions that we fund with our taxpayer dollars.
00:08:48.680 And when that's not happening, we have a problem.
00:08:51.900 It needs to be fixed.
00:08:53.320 And frankly, this is one of the reasons why I'm a member of parliament,
00:08:55.740 because I want an alignment between the good natured values of the Canadian people
00:09:00.880 and the institutions that they fund.
00:09:04.300 Is there anything I didn't ask you that you think is relevant
00:09:07.080 or just something that you'd like to add?
00:09:08.960 Yeah, I'd just like to reiterate the point I made earlier,
00:09:12.880 which is any young person who is sad and feels like they're in a moment of grief
00:09:17.960 because of what happened to Charlie Kirk, I just want to encourage them.
00:09:22.500 Don't be intimidated. Don't give up.
00:09:24.560 We need you to organize. We need you to be politically involved.
00:09:27.820 We need you to speak clearly and take a stand for what you believe in.
00:09:31.640 And yeah, I just genuinely hope that people are not discouraged because of what happened.
00:09:37.940 I want them to feel hopeful and to keep trying, keep fighting for a better future.