Juno News - Ontario MP Jamil Jivani takes shots at Premier Doug Ford

00:00:00.000 A mother in Nanaimo, BC has been banned from her child's school after refusing to delete

00:00:10.320 a social media post criticizing a teacher's Progress Pride flag shirt on the first day

00:00:16.940 back.

00:00:17.600 Conservative MP Jamil Javani criticized Ontario Premier Doug Ford, accusing him of lacking

00:00:23.820 principles and creating cynicism among Conservative Ontarians.

00:00:27.680 Conservative leader Pierre Polyev has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney

00:00:32.940 laying out four priorities the official opposition wants to see the government focus on when Parliament

00:00:39.540 resumes next week.

00:00:41.280 Hello Canada, it's Tuesday, September 9th, and this is the True North Daily Brief.

00:00:46.440 I'm Cosmin Jirja.

00:00:47.900 And I'm Jeff Knight.

00:00:49.100 We've got you covered with all the news you need to know.

00:00:52.020 Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere

00:00:57.340 else.

00:01:01.180 A Nanaimo mother has been banned from her child's school after refusing to delete a social media

00:01:07.180 post criticizing a teacher's Progress Pride flag shirt.

00:01:11.180 On the first day of school, Bryony Dixon posted on Facebook objecting to a teacher wearing a

00:01:17.780 Progress Pride flag t-shirt.

00:01:19.900 While the original Pride flag was a symbol of gay rights, the Progress Pride flag is a symbol of

00:01:26.500 intersectional social justice.

00:01:28.780 Dixon made the post just days after a mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and

00:01:34.560 school in Minneapolis, where the 23-year-old trans-identified gunman opened fire, killing two children and

00:01:41.600 injuring dozens before taking their own life.

00:01:44.360 Dixon's post said in part, quote,

00:01:47.200 An ideologue teacher at my son's school has chosen to rock the extremist, misogynist, and 0.91

00:01:53.260 homophobic flag of their shared secular religion on the first day back, a sex-denying transhumanist

00:02:00.200 propaganda shirt made by the Nanaimo District Teachers Association.

00:02:04.840 The post also discussed, quote, denying girls the right to safety, privacy, dignity, fairness

00:02:11.200 in sports, and even their own sex-based language upon fear of severe retribution.

00:02:17.060 The next day, Nanaimo Ladysmith School District 68 sent Dixon a letter ordering her to remove

00:02:23.180 the Facebook post.

00:02:24.500 The district wrote that it considered her post, quote, disrespectful to the staff member who

00:02:29.640 was photographed, adding that, quote, bullying and harassment, including sexual harassment

00:02:35.440 in any form, is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

00:02:39.500 The letter concluded reading, quote, on behalf of the district, I am directing you to remove

00:02:44.360 the offensive post.

00:02:45.740 I also direct you to cease inappropriate posting of the images or comments with respect to the

00:02:51.340 gender identity of our staff in the future.

00:02:53.880 Dixon declined to remove it.

00:02:55.740 Instead, she shot back in an email posted to X saying, quote, you must cease and desist

00:03:01.160 indoctrinating students with quasi-religious belief systems and listen to the valid concerns

00:03:06.860 of your district's well-informed parents.

00:03:09.720 We've covered a lot of instances on this show, Jeff, where regulatory bodies have gone after

00:03:15.740 professionals for things they've said on their own personal social media.

00:03:20.760 But how could a school board ban a parent for expressing their own views on a topic, a topic

00:03:27.800 that's quite controversial and up for public debate, and extend that to essentially removing

00:03:34.960 their ability to attend the school where their children go?

00:03:39.120 Yeah, Cosmin.

00:03:39.740 A school board like Nanaimo Ladysmith School District 68 can ban a parent under its authority

00:03:45.220 to maintain a safe and respectful environment, as outlined in its policies on bullying and harassment.

00:03:50.760 Which extend to interactions involving staff, according to Juneau News coverage of the Byron

00:03:55.800 Dixon case.

00:03:57.160 The district's letter to Dixon invoked its right to protect staff from perceived harassment,

00:04:01.620 such as her social media post criticizing a teacher's Progress Pride flag shirt, allowing

00:04:06.520 it to impose restrictions like barring her from school premises if she refuses to comply

00:04:11.100 with directives to remove offensive content.

00:04:13.980 This action aligns with broader legal precedents where school boards, as public entities, can limit

00:04:19.040 parental access to protect operational integrity, similar to how regulatory bodies suspend

00:04:24.080 professionals for social media breaches, though this parental ban hinges on the district's

00:04:28.800 interpretation of disrespectful speech rather than a formal legal charge.

00:04:33.080 The decision also reflects the district's discretion under British Columbia's School Act,

00:04:37.880 which empowers boards to regulate conduct on school property, potentially extending to off-site

00:04:42.880 behaviour impacting staff, though it lacks a clear public appeals process, raising questions

00:04:47.920 about fairness in Dixon's case.

00:04:52.240 Conservative MP Jameel Javani criticized Ontario Premier Doug Ford, accusing the progressive

00:04:57.680 Conservative Premier of lacking principles and creating cynicism among Conservative Ontarians,

00:05:02.640 potentially disengaging them politically.

00:05:04.640 On Saturday, during an interview at the Canada Strong and Free Network's annual convention,

00:05:09.680 Javani criticized Ford, stating that he lacks ideology and values and instead governs based

00:05:14.800 on popularity.

00:05:15.600 But I would say this is less of an ideological problem and more of a what is the point of

00:05:22.960 politics problem, okay? So let me explain what I mean. I don't think Doug Ford or the people

00:05:31.040 in his administration believe they have an ideology. I don't believe they have come to a rational

00:05:39.760 conclusion that there's a better way to be a Conservative than what I or you would say. In fact,

00:05:47.520 I'm not even sure they would be capable of having a conversation about Conservative ideas or principles.

00:05:54.800 Javani suggested Ford's main objective differed from the Federal Conservatives, saying Ford's goal

00:06:00.240 was to, quote, have and maintain power for as long as possible at whatever cost. He said he and the CPC,

00:06:07.120 on the other hand, want to do politics because they believe in certain values, ideas, and changes

00:06:11.680 that they would like to create. In late April, on the night of the last Federal election,

00:06:16.560 Javani targeted Ford, criticizing him for allegedly being a Federal Liberal hype man,

00:06:21.760 having hollow politics, and sabotaging the Federal Conservative campaign.

00:06:26.000 Ford and campaign manager Corey Tenaik claimed Conservative leader Pierre Polyev's campaign was

00:06:31.600 mismanaged and had blown a 20-point lead over the Liberals.

00:06:35.360 Conservatives still won over 40% of the popular vote in that election,

00:06:39.440 which was their best showing since 1988 under Brian Mulroney's PCs.

00:06:43.600 For weeks and weeks, I had been seeing volunteers putting their effort in

00:06:50.160 to trying to help win this Federal election. Kids who've never voted before,

00:06:56.080 you know, single moms making time after her shift to come and knock on doors, 1.00

00:07:00.400 people who were giving everything they had. And when they would open up their phones and see stories

00:07:06.480 of the so-called conservative Premier of Ontario, trashing what we were doing, they felt discouraged.

00:07:14.880 And they deserve someone to speak up for them and tell this guy, I don't care about how, you know,

00:07:21.760 about your theatrics and your stunts. I don't respect you. And I'm going to point it out

00:07:28.000 because I don't like what you're doing to the people who are trying to fight for a better country.

00:07:31.600 So, Cosmin, what is the reception to Giovanni's comments online?

00:07:34.720 Are people agreeing with Giovanni or has he drawn some criticism online?

00:07:38.640 Yeah, Jeff, I think if you look at the online reaction,

00:07:42.080 the responses are overwhelmingly in favor of Giovanni. And that's just a representation of the fact that

00:07:51.920 way more people supported the Federal Conservatives than, you know, the subset of Conservatives who

00:07:58.640 support Ontario Doug Ford and as well as those, you know, middle centrist voters who Doug Ford seems

00:08:05.280 to have a handle on. But this is just a continuation of a difference of opinion, to put it lightly,

00:08:13.600 between the Federal Conservatives and the Doug Ford Progressive Conservatives. This has been playing out

00:08:22.320 since the election where Giovanni essentially blasted Ontario Premier Doug Ford and the Ontario PCs

00:08:30.480 for what he said was sabotaging the Conservative campaign. Now, the lead up to the election,

00:08:37.920 several Progressive Conservative strategists from Ontario were going on air discussing

00:08:44.400 Pauliev's polling, you know, casting shade on the direction and leadership of the Conservative campaign.

00:08:52.080 And that has created this rift and this back and forth, which seems to be continuing to this day. We even saw

00:08:58.960 one pollster that the Ontario PCs rely on going online blasting Jamil Giovanni for his acquaintance

00:09:06.720 with US Vice President JD Vance.

00:09:13.280 In an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, Conservative leader Pierre Pauliev has laid out

00:09:18.160 four priorities the official opposition wants to see the government focus on when Parliament resumes on

00:09:23.840 September 15th. Pauliev said the opposition will press the government to tackle the cost of living

00:09:29.680 crisis, the job loss crisis, the crime crisis and the immigration crisis. Pauliev said, quote,

00:09:36.160 you promised you would change but everything is worse. We will simply hold you to your lofty promises on these

00:09:43.520 liberal crises. Pauliev accused Carney of breaking commitments made during the recent election, including pledges to

00:09:50.560 reign in spending and deliver the fastest growing economy in the G7. He said, quote, you promise to

00:09:57.120 spend less yet even without introducing a budget, you're already spending 8% more and you have doubled

00:10:02.880 the deficit Trudeau left behind, said Pauliev. The Conservative leader also added that the cost of living crisis

00:10:09.600 created by the Liberals has resulted in Canadians having the worst household debt, the highest housing costs and

00:10:15.360 the second highest unemployment in the G7. I mean, Pauliev is right. Carney did make a lot of lofty promises.

00:10:23.760 And we all know that's part of election campaigns. You don't necessarily deliver on these promises. But

00:10:31.680 Carney was essentially sold to Canadians as an economic genius, somebody with a lot of experience working with global

00:10:41.600 economies. And the reality we are facing several months in about five months into this government

00:10:52.000 isn't necessarily the reality Canadians were sold who voted for him. So has anything really improved on the

00:10:59.920 economic front? Or are we the same or perhaps even worse off than we were before?

00:11:06.080 Yeah, Cosman. I mean, we're five months after Mark Carney took office in April,

00:11:10.960 and his promise to change from Trudeau's Liberal Party has shown at best limited progress,

00:11:16.320 with several indicators that things are actually getting worse. Juno News reports that unemployment

00:11:21.680 rose to 7.1% in August 2025, up from 6.9% in July, marking the second highest in the G7,

00:11:29.440 aligning with Pauliev's critique of a job loss crisis. Housing costs have continued to climb,

00:11:35.600 with average home prices in Hamilton reaching $850,000 in August 2025, a 12% increase since April,

00:11:44.160 exacerbating the cost of living crisis and householding debt, which now averages $1.85

00:11:49.120 per dollar of disposable income. Government spending has indeed risen by 8% without a new budget,

00:11:55.280 doubling the deficit left by Trudeau to $60 billion, contradicting Carney's pledge to rein in

00:12:00.720 expenditures, as noted in Pauliev's letter. On the immigration front, net migration remains high

00:12:05.760 at $817,000 in the first four months of 2025, showing no significant shift from Trudeau's levels,

00:12:12.880 while crime rates, including a 15% uptick in violent incidents in major cities like Toronto since June,

00:12:19.040 suggest no improvement in public safety. No major economic growth to rank Canada as the fastest-growing

00:12:25.040 G7 economy has materialized, with GDP growth stalling at 0.2% in Q2 2025, indicating that little has

00:12:35.600 improved under Carney's leadership. That's it for today, folks. Thanks for tuning in. You can stay

00:12:42.320 on top of new episodes every weekday by subscribing to The Daily Brief on iTunes and Spotify. Also,

00:12:48.640 while you're at it, make sure to hit us with a 5-star rating, and please leave a review.

Juno News - September 09, 2025

Ontario MP Jamil Jivani takes shots at Premier Doug Ford

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