Juno News - June 24, 2025


Persians in Toronto demand a free Iran


Episode Stats


Length

10 minutes

Words per minute

152.96402

Word count

1,654

Sentence count

76

Harmful content

Hate speech

6

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Iranians and their allies in Toronto rallied for Iran to be free of the Islamic regime. Taiwan accuses CBC of bowing to China after referring to Taiwan as a self-ruled island in a correction. The BC government is said to rename a bridge to a name in an indigenous language.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Persians and their allies in Toronto rallied for Iran to be free of the Islamic regime.
00:00:09.640 Taiwan accuses CBC of bowing to China after referring to the country as a self-ruled island
00:00:15.760 in a correction. The BC government is said to rename Surrey's Petulo Bridge to a name
00:00:22.080 in an indigenous language. Hello Canada, it's Tuesday, June 24th and this is the True North
00:00:27.780 Daily Brief. I'm Cosmin Georgia and I'm Jeff Knight. We've got you covered with all the news
00:00:32.660 you need to know. Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't
00:00:37.740 hear anywhere else. Hundreds of protesters, many waving pre-Islamic regime Iranian lion and son
00:00:47.640 flags and carrying images of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi gathered in Toronto to celebrate the
00:00:55.240 recent Israel and US strikes on the dictatorship. Over 200 Canadians and many from the Israeli and
00:01:01.300 Iranian diaspora gathered at Mel Lastman Square, united in the hope that Iran will someday soon
00:01:07.340 be free of the Islamic Republic. Many attendees were refugees who fled the regime and found safety 1.00
00:01:13.260 in Canada. Two protests were held on Sunday, one a pro-regime and anti-war protest outside of the US
00:01:19.760 consulate in Toronto. The other, the rally held at Mel Lastman, was organized by Salman Sima,
00:01:26.200 a refugee and survivor of torture at the hands of the Iranian regime. Sima told True North,
00:01:31.920 quote, freedom unites us. When I see that my people in Iran are in pain, when I see the IRGC
00:01:38.260 terrorists freely operating on Canadian soil, we need to do something. Freedom in Iran helps Canadians, 1.00
00:01:44.500 helps Iranians, and helps all over the world, and I'm so glad that many people showed up today.
00:01:50.860 The protests were held just a day after the US used bunker busters in targeted strikes against three
00:01:56.720 of Iran's remaining underground nuclear facilities, which Israel was unable to reach due to a lack of
00:02:03.160 technology to do so. Sima said many of the Iranians in attendance were both hoping that civilian
00:02:08.880 casualties would be limited in Israel and the US war against the regime. Still, they are happy that
00:02:15.180 many of their oppressors have already been eliminated by the strikes. The days of the Islamic regime may 0.99
00:02:21.320 be numbered, but if the government there were to be toppled through a revolution or other means,
00:02:28.040 what may come next, Jeff? And what kind of government are supporters of the crown prince calling for?
00:02:33.880 Yeah, Cosman, if that were the case, the next steps would hinge on the diverse aspirations of Iran's
00:02:39.740 supporters. There'd be a significant push for a structured transition guided by the crown prince
00:02:44.660 Reza Pahlavi. The Toronto rally on June 15th, with over 200 protesters waving pre-Islamic lion and sun
00:02:51.260 flags and carrying Pahlavi's image, signals strong backing for his vision. Pahlavi, in a press conference
00:02:56.840 today, reiterated his stance from prior interviews, proposing to oversee a transitional government to
00:03:01.980 facilitate a national referendum. He emphasized principles of national sovereignty, individual
00:03:06.920 liberties, and secular democracy, aiming to replace the theocratic regime with the government
00:03:11.840 reflecting the will of the people through a democratic vote, supported by an 80% desire for
00:03:16.860 a democratic system, per a 2024 Gamann poll of 158,000 Iranians. This transition would likely involve
00:03:24.720 dismantling the current theocratic structure, where the supreme leader holds ultimate power,
00:03:28.940 and establishing a secular framework, a stark shift from the 1979 Islamic Republic constitution.
00:03:34.700 Pahlavi's plan includes forming a solidarity council, where he's the top candidate with 32-40%
00:03:40.220 support among 34 contenders, to guide this process, potentially restoring a constitutional
00:03:45.020 monarchy or a republic based on referendum results. Supporters at the rally, including Salman Sima,
00:03:50.620 a torture survivor, see this as a path to freedom that benefits Canada and the free world by curbing IRGC 0.84
00:03:56.620 influence on Canadian soil. However, challenges do loom. Internal divisions, economic collapse post-regime,
00:04:02.540 and potential resistance from hardliners could complicate the shift, with the outcome depending
00:04:07.020 on how effectively Pahlavi's transitional leadership navigates these hurdles towards a secular democratic future.
00:04:15.820 Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
00:04:17.820 expressed displeasure after the CBC News referred to Taiwan as a self-ruled island rather than an
00:04:23.820 independent nation. The country is now suggesting that Canada's public broadcaster might have used
00:04:29.100 that phrasing to keep China happy. The article in question was discussing a Taiwanese Buddhist group
00:04:34.060 practicing in Prince Edward Island. While reporting on ties between the Buddhist group Bliss and Wisdom and
00:04:40.460 the Chinese Communist Party, it described one monk as being, quote, between his home country, Prince Edward Island,
00:04:46.620 and China. CBC News later issued a clarification on Wednesday, which further failed to acknowledge
00:04:52.780 Taiwan as an independent state. A story about a Buddhist group on PEI inadvertently referred to Taiwan as a
00:04:59.500 country, it read. Continuing, it said, quote, in fact, Taiwan is a self-governing island and sovereignty
00:05:05.820 claims over the territory are disputed. Corrections were broadcast on radio and television and a notice
00:05:10.460 was posted to the story online. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded with a statement to the
00:05:15.020 media saying that Taiwan, quote, is a sovereign and independent country and is not subordinate to the
00:05:20.220 People's Republic of China. CBC News did not respond to True North's request for comment but later released
00:05:25.980 a video announcing the clarification on its website. So, Cosmin, Taiwan is saying the CBC folded under
00:05:31.260 pressure from Beijing to avoid referring to Taiwan as a sovereign nation. Have there been any other
00:05:35.660 cases that you can think of where the CBC has been accused of placating the communist Chinese
00:05:39.740 government? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it was the case throughout the pandemic where the CBC insisted
00:05:48.620 that the lab leak origin was a conspiracy theory playing right into the hands of the People's Republic
00:05:55.740 of China, when today we know that the lab leak is definitely one of the more likely scenarios of the
00:06:04.060 origin of COVID-19. Yet for years, I think at least two years time, the CBC, along with the legacy media,
00:06:13.900 claimed and tried to shut down any questioning of the lab leak origin, saying instead that the pandemic
00:06:21.420 originated from a natural contact between humans and animals, which doesn't seem to be the case. All evidence is
00:06:29.980 pointing to the lab leak theory. And additionally, intelligence agencies have confirmed that the lab leak
00:06:38.300 is definitely one of the most possible origins of the virus. And this is just one example. The CBC insists on
00:06:45.820 repeating and parroting CCP talking points. And I'm not even sure who requested this correction, but they seem to
00:06:54.860 oblige them as quickly as possible. And it's really concerning when a public broadcaster, arguably the
00:07:02.540 one of the largest media companies in this country that is solely funded by taxpayers, kowtows and bends 1.00
00:07:10.380 over to requests that accommodate Chinese sentiments.
00:07:15.340 The new bridge replacing the historic Petulo Bridge is set to receive a First Nations indigenous name. Officials
00:07:27.580 confirm Saturday that the Musqueam and Kwantlen First Nations are collaborating on the new name, which will
00:07:33.420 replace the Petulo designation. The current bridge was named for Thomas Dufferin Petulo, BC's premier during the
00:07:41.660 Great Depression and early Second World War. Although the new name has yet to be publicly announced, it is
00:07:47.420 part of a broader initiative to change names from English to indigenous languages. That initiative was
00:07:53.820 on full display Saturday with the unveiling of a large concrete mural beneath the newly opened Highway 17
00:08:01.340 Old Yale Road overpass. The bridge is expected to open in the fall after multiple delays. The replacement
00:08:08.220 structure will feature four wider lanes, two in each direction, separated by a central barrier and pathways
00:08:14.860 for pedestrians. The bridge's cost has ballooned to over $1.6 billion up from the initial $1.3 billion
00:08:22.700 budget. This renaming aligns with a growing movement by governments to endow indigenous names to public
00:08:28.700 infrastructure. Similarly, Vancouver's Trutch Street was renamed with an indigenous language name,
00:08:35.980 and it was the first official use of a non-English alphabet for a Canadian street. So Jeff, there's
00:08:41.980 obviously a movement pushed by First Nations, activists, etc. that are trying to rename certain
00:08:50.700 public infrastructure, whether it's streets, bridges, schools even, to accommodate indigenous languages.
00:08:58.780 Has there been any other recent name changes that are, let's just say, unreadable, and perhaps
00:09:05.500 unpronounceable to most Canadians not familiar with these indigenous languages?
00:09:10.220 Hey, Cosman, this is a trend we're seeing across Canada, with several streets and landmarks undergoing
00:09:15.180 similar changes to honour indigenous heritage. One example is the renaming of Trutch Street in
00:09:20.540 Victoria to Suet Street in 2022, reflecting the Lekwungen word meaning to be true. Another is the
00:09:27.580 transformation of Highway 11 in Manitoba to Louis Rio Trail in 2001 to honour the Metis leader. Both
00:09:34.700 were moves aimed at reconciliation. And now such renaming are again becoming common as governments
00:09:39.580 seek to address colonial legacies, with the Petulo Bridge's new name set to be unveiled after its fall
00:09:45.260 2025 opening following suit. However, some recent name changes have sparked debate due to their
00:09:50.700 unreadable and unpronounceable nature for most Canadians, as I will now demonstrate. The article
00:09:55.820 mentions the renaming of a street in Kamloops to Sekwepemk, reflecting the local Sekwepemk language,
00:10:03.660 which many residents find challenging to pronounce without guidance. Similarly, in 2023, a park in Prince
00:10:09.580 George was renamed the Hedli Tine Memorial Park, honouring the local First Nation but leaving many
00:10:15.820 non-indigenous Canadians struggling with the unique phonetics. These examples, while culturally 0.99
00:10:20.460 significant, illustrate a growing tension with public frustration with these names feeling
00:10:25.020 disconnected from everyday use, potentially alienating taxpayers who fund these projects,
00:10:29.820 like the $1.6 billion Petulo upgrade.
00:10:35.980 That's it for today, folks. Thanks for tuning in. You can stay on top
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