Juno News - January 01, 2026


Top 5 Protest Moments of 2025


Episode Stats


Length

27 minutes

Words per minute

123.36931

Word count

3,395

Sentence count

294

Harmful content

Misogyny

9

sentences flagged

Toxicity

10

sentences flagged

Hate speech

3

sentences flagged


Summary

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

In this episode, we discuss the top 5 protest moments of the past decade, and why they are the most impactful. We also have a contest where you get to vote on your favourite clip of the decade!

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 You're probably sitting at home hungover. It is New Year's Day for you, not for me.
00:00:08.440 But what better way to celebrate or commiserate your New Year's Day than looking and then having
00:00:16.160 my guest Karima Saad talk about the best protest moments of 2025. I'm so glad you joined me here
00:00:22.580 today, Karima. Thanks for joining the show. Thanks for having me. Now, you have a little
00:00:28.640 contest that's going to be happening after we've recorded, but it will have ended by the time that
00:00:35.460 the show comes out. You have been following protests across Ontario for a little while now,
00:00:43.580 and you have a bunch of clips that you are going to put out for people to vote on their favorite
00:00:47.540 clip of 2025. Is that right? You got it. Okay, so I haven't seen all of the ones that you're putting
00:00:54.100 out. I've seen a select few, but I've selected my top five. So we're going to do a little top five
00:00:59.940 today because I'd like to know if on New Year's Day, my top five are correct in any way at all.
00:01:07.960 So let's just queue up the first one. So what we're going to do, we're going to play these clips
00:01:11.120 and, uh, and then we're going to talk about them. Sounds good.
00:01:14.460 This is a roadway, a roadway for emergency service. If we have fire or whatever, we're going to do it.
00:01:20.300 This is a roadway. This is a roadway, a roadway for emergency service. If we have fire or whatever, we're going to do it.
00:01:45.040 We're not allowed here.
00:01:47.900 I'm a resident here.
00:01:51.640 I live here.
00:01:52.400 Hyah! 0.98
00:02:00.640 Peace, yes, freedom.
00:02:06.780 I live here. 1.00
00:02:08.060 Hey, you don't fucking touch her. Don't touch her. Don't touch her. You're the one who's touching her. Don't touch her. Don't move where I'm walking. And you don't come and harass us. I live here and this roadway is against the law to block. In Canada, it's against the law. 1.00
00:02:29.240 Are you trying for this? Let's not engage. Let's not engage. Free, free, free Palestine. Free, free, free Palestine. Free, free, free Palestine.
00:02:49.240 Come on over here. Come on over to the sea. Come on over here. Come on over here. Come on over here. Come on over here. Come on over to the sea. Come on over here.
00:03:09.920 These are our roadways for safety and to get to our jobs and to go to the TPC.
00:03:17.500 I would love to accompany you so you're safe. Let's go.
00:03:20.060 I'm not going that way.
00:03:21.360 Okay, whichever way you want to go, you're free to go.
00:03:23.180 Wow, really?
00:03:24.200 Yeah.
00:03:24.800 Have a long time.
00:03:25.700 I think you understand.
00:03:26.380 Listen.
00:03:29.420 Totally unacceptable in Ontario.
00:03:32.760 Totally unacceptable.
00:03:35.160 Why we allow this in our government is totally unacceptable.
00:03:39.120 Come on your scooter and follow me.
00:04:09.120 This is totally unacceptable with our laws.
00:04:23.240 With our laws in Canada and Ontario, blocking the intersection is against the law.
00:04:43.760 Well, what is it you don't get here?
00:04:46.740 It's totally unacceptable.
00:04:50.760 Okay, so we've seen so many videos this year about these protests that are blocking the streets.
00:05:03.600 It's not even protests.
00:05:04.440 They're street prayers.
00:05:05.260 They're blocking streets and blocking private property.
00:05:07.980 Why this one, Karina?
00:05:11.040 So I thought this one was particularly interesting because it's an extended cut of a resident reacting to the public prayer demonstration.
00:05:22.660 And then you have protesters reacting to her reaction.
00:05:28.600 And this video resonated quite strongly across the political spectrum.
00:05:35.460 On the one hand, you had people who were upset at the resident for being disrespectful.
00:05:44.980 I would say that that was probably the minority of comments that I saw online.
00:05:50.320 But nonetheless was a reaction to this.
00:05:55.380 And then the more overwhelming response was people agreeing with or sympathizing with the lady.
00:06:03.960 And so this particular video went, I would say, it made the round internationally.
00:06:09.560 Oftentimes, I post something on my account, and it will either be picked up by larger accounts or featured in a news article.
00:06:22.760 So the reach extends beyond just my following on Twitter or Instagram.
00:06:29.200 And that was the case for this video.
00:06:31.020 And in fact, on this particular video, I got a message from someone indicating that the police chief had seen it and wanted more details about when it was recorded.
00:06:46.740 This is from March of 2025.
00:06:49.920 And I believe that conversation happened much later in the year, but because it had picked up again.
00:06:58.160 And that's the other thing with videos, you know, it has its initial debut and then out of the blue sometimes can go viral again.
00:07:10.360 So this one, it made some waves.
00:07:13.720 And I think it really captured the essence of what it is in that moment and sort of a voice of dissent and how she interacted with protesters and then with police.
00:07:28.160 Yeah, I certainly sympathize with that lady, you know, screaming, I live here. 1.00
00:07:31.900 I live here and just being mobbed by by all those people shouting, hello, Akbar.
00:07:35.900 Okay, let's do number four. 0.70
00:07:38.660 Let's do number four. 0.98
00:07:42.400 Oh, I have a wish.
00:07:44.220 God!
00:07:44.960 So the man is full of water in that environment for sinners.
00:07:48.720 Christ died for us.
00:07:52.060 Hope yourselves!
00:07:52.280 If he died for me, the differences that I believed and received the Lord has saved her seeing the life is right. 0.99
00:07:59.060 On January 12th of 2021,
00:08:03.880 say, I was a broken man.
00:08:06.220 I'm a man, a man who's addicted to drugs, that's who I was.
00:08:16.220 I'm not some self-righteous individual.
00:08:19.220 Any righteousness I have from the Lord's Savior, Jesus Christ.
00:08:23.220 Keep going.
00:08:24.220 I don't need to keep going.
00:08:25.220 Get out of my neighborhood.
00:08:26.220 And I'm grateful that I'm saved.
00:08:29.220 Because I had no faith.
00:08:31.220 Go back to school, go away.
00:08:32.220 You think I was a musical.
00:08:34.220 I was not promised you 3,000 years ago.
00:08:38.220 Ignoring reality.
00:08:40.220 Say hi to Karima for me.
00:08:42.220 And I guarantee, tons of you over there are doing the same thing.
00:08:49.220 Get out of our neighborhood.
00:08:52.220 Hiding from Jesus Christ, the one who created you, and the one who died for you.
00:08:59.220 The only one who can save you.
00:09:05.220 It's okay to admit that you're wrong and you've been deceived by your father the devil.
00:09:11.220 Because if your father is not, you destroy your father the devil.
00:09:17.220 And you are a child of disobedience.
00:09:21.220 Disobedience to the one who's created you.
00:09:26.220 The one who's created your soul.
00:09:29.220 Oh my God, this video, every time I watch it, it really gets me.
00:09:33.220 You know, I've become very suspicious of somebody walking around with a finger like this these days.
00:09:37.220 But beyond that, how can it be considered a protest to be in a residential neighborhood walking up and down the streets?
00:09:45.220 So the context for this video is it was shot at Bathurst and Shepherd, which were two years after October 7 was the site of a weekly Free the Hostages rally.
00:09:59.220 A year into that, the demonstration drew counter-protesters.
00:10:06.220 And after the pro-Israel Free the Hostages rally wrapped up once the hostages were released, the counter-protesters continued to show up.
00:10:16.220 And my speculation is that they got bored standing on the corner with no one to yell at across the street.
00:10:23.220 And so they started venturing into the actual residential areas for a couple of weeks before police put a stop to that.
00:10:33.220 To answer your question, how is this considered a form of protest?
00:10:38.220 Talking to the protesters themselves, they genuinely see themselves as spreading some sort of awareness.
00:10:49.220 They think it's a targeted message and, you know, they have every right to express themselves, you know, regardless of the demographics of the neighborhood or perhaps because of the demographics of the neighborhood.
00:11:05.220 As I mentioned, police eventually did enact a strategy to prevent them from turning down residential sidewalks.
00:11:15.220 This particular clip was especially chaotic because not only did you have the pro-Palestine protesters led by someone cosplaying as a Hamas fighter.
00:11:27.220 You also had these Baptist counter-protesters following them and preaching Christ.
00:11:37.220 So the whole thing was really just a cluster.
00:11:41.220 And then, of course, police sort of following along on their bicycles and their cruiser, kind of hapless to it all.
00:11:50.220 And this clip, again, it really resonated with people.
00:11:55.220 It's been referred to pretty widely in editorial pieces.
00:11:59.220 And at one particular committee, I think it was the Justice Committee, not 100% sure,
00:12:06.220 but an MP used this image kind of in his social media posting about questions that he asked.
00:12:16.220 And he grilled the deputy police chief about why this was allowed to go on.
00:12:21.220 Yeah, and we've seen a few of those protests in residential neighborhoods since.
00:12:27.220 Okay, so we are now at number three.
00:12:32.220 And what protest list would be complete without Mr. Fred Hahn?
00:12:36.220 Don't hit me! Don't hit me! Don't hit me! Don't hit me, Fred!
00:12:49.220 You're bound to lose! You're bound to lose! You're bound to lose!
00:12:58.220 Don't touch me! Don't do this! Don't touch me! 0.60
00:13:04.220 You're bound to lose! You're bound to lose! 0.99
00:13:09.220 This is so American, Joe!
00:13:12.220 You're bound to lose! You're bound to lose!
00:13:18.220 It's just so enormous.
00:13:23.220 How do you think that? 0.99
00:13:26.220 Oh, you fascist bound to lose, you fascist bound to lose. 1.00
00:13:56.220 Oh, you fascist bound to lose, you fascist bound to lose. 1.00
00:14:13.580 Oh, you fascist bound to lose. 1.00
00:14:22.540 Oh, you fascist bound to lose. 1.00
00:14:26.620 You're bound to lose, you fascist bound to lose. 0.96
00:14:31.580 Okay, so this one for me is especially entertaining because it covers my own beat education.
00:14:41.780 We have Nigel Barif in this clip.
00:14:46.800 Nigel Barif is part of the Unions, part of the Elementary Teachers of Toronto.
00:14:50.680 I actually went to one of their conferences in April.
00:14:53.520 We're not here about me today.
00:14:55.220 But yeah, this merges protest and my area.
00:14:58.680 Do you want to tell us a little bit about that clip, Karima?
00:15:00.480 So the context for this, it was a counter-protest to a Canada First rally, and this was filmed at Queen's Park.
00:15:12.480 Where to begin?
00:15:15.040 What you see is what played out.
00:15:18.660 There was nothing that provoked Fred Hahn into behaving the way he did.
00:15:23.500 Apart from, I guess one could argue, he has been a central character in many of my protest videos over the years because of the high-profile nature of his job.
00:15:37.140 And something sort of seemed to trigger him on this particular day, this resulted in a police report being filed.
00:15:47.340 And Nigel, singing his heart out, is another character who has featured pretty regularly in my footage.
00:15:58.700 And apart from his connection to the education and union sectors, he's also a board member with the Canadian Anti-Hate Network.
00:16:09.080 Thanks for bringing that up.
00:16:11.040 Yeah, he came to my attention initially in that capacity and has also been a very volatile figure.
00:16:19.000 For someone who you'd expect to have some level of media training and just common sense, both Nigel and Fred consistently behave in ways that are just shocking.
00:16:36.220 Or would be shocking if, you know, I wasn't jaded by all of the things I've seen.
00:16:43.100 Certainly very emotional, very reactionary and emotional.
00:16:46.720 Yeah, yeah.
00:16:47.340 It's not grounded.
00:16:48.500 It's not measured, that's for sure.
00:16:50.640 And it's not calm.
00:16:52.900 And it's not what I would expect to encounter, again, from professionals.
00:16:58.420 But that is the reality in which we live.
00:17:01.060 And these are both quite powerful men.
00:17:04.100 So, weird.
00:17:06.100 Well, it just goes to show you don't have to be professional to be high up and influential in the protest circuit.
00:17:11.960 In fact, I think that professionalism might work against you.
00:17:15.960 It seems that the most erratic rise to the top.
00:17:20.660 So, there you have it.
00:17:22.560 Okay, beautiful.
00:17:23.380 Well, that one I enjoyed quite a bit.
00:17:25.980 I'll be looking for it in the rankings of your contest.
00:17:30.540 Okay, so now we are at number two.
00:17:33.960 Not quite number one.
00:17:34.880 We are at number two with none other than Mere Chao. 0.90
00:17:39.320 Oh, yay.
00:17:41.960 I've had taco party where I have like 10 different ingredients.
00:17:51.500 And then the different, so I have the salsa, the guacamole, and the different vegetables,
00:17:58.600 different salads, and then different cheese.
00:18:01.980 And then you have the chicken, and then you have the shrimp, and then you have the beef.
00:18:06.940 You have soft taco, and then corn taco, and this kind of taco.
00:18:11.580 Like, yeah.
00:18:13.220 So, I love having taco parties.
00:18:16.880 In my newsroom, we're constantly asking whether or not this woman is on the sauce 0.99
00:18:21.380 because of things like this that come out all the time.
00:18:24.040 Do you want to give some context to this one?
00:18:25.600 So, this was at a Latin American festival at Yangandandas or Sankofa Square, depending on your, I guess, inclination.
00:18:38.760 In fairness to the mayor, the other individual on stage did ask her what her favorite Latin American food was.
00:18:50.120 So, this wasn't a complete and total tangent.
00:18:53.480 However, you know, as she got into it, that sort of stream of consciousness, thought, flow, process,
00:19:04.680 I think is really illustrative of how…
00:19:08.260 And she does like a good little dance, though. 0.99
00:19:11.440 She, you know, she… 0.92
00:19:12.440 I'll give it to her.
00:19:13.180 She's about dancing, but frequently…
00:19:14.440 She can move.
00:19:14.900 She can move, you know, and credit to her for that.
00:19:19.460 I don't know that there's much other credit I can give, so we'll, you know, be generous for sure in that respect.
00:19:28.980 Yeah, like…
00:19:29.900 Credit where credit is due.
00:19:31.440 Yeah, exactly, right?
00:19:32.540 We're fair here.
00:19:33.380 We're fair.
00:19:33.740 And this clip, Ben Bankus, the comedian, he actually did four versions of voiceovers with it.
00:19:44.080 So, this one gained a lot of traction through his reposting, and somehow this made it into the news as well.
00:19:55.420 But, yeah, you know, it's…
00:19:58.060 I think it captured the essence of…
00:20:01.300 She makes our job easy. 0.99
00:20:02.240 Yeah.
00:20:02.640 Yeah, it makes it look easy for sure.
00:20:05.380 Okay, well, we've made it to number one, and I really, really, really hope that this particular clip is the clip that makes it to your number one,
00:20:14.640 because it absolutely went everywhere during the election season.
00:20:19.580 Let's have a watch.
00:20:20.200 The Brentford Boomer has to be…
00:20:50.180 The 2025 number one video of the year.
00:20:52.920 Do you want to say anything about it?
00:20:54.520 When I initially posted it, I took a screenshot of the video, and my caption was something to the effect of elbows and or fingers up.
00:21:05.160 I didn't make any value judgment on this man.
00:21:08.680 I didn't say anything about him or what had preceded this or… It was just an image. And that took off in ways that I was not prepared to sort of see. It became a meme.
00:21:23.420 People repurposed it in all sorts of ways.
00:21:27.160 Not just a meme, the meme of the moment.
00:21:30.120 The meme of the election, I think. And, you know, I won't overstate, but certainly it was a defining image of the election.
00:21:38.080 And I think it resonated with people because just that smug face and the gesture and the grin, you know, it really encapsulated, I think, how people were feeling about the election and sort of the demographics of the election.
00:22:00.580 What was interesting to me is how outlets like the CBC ran cover for this guy.
00:22:10.820 And without reaching, like, they didn't reach out to interview me about what happened or how this clip came about.
00:22:17.620 And they sort of did a fluff piece. You know, poor guy. He became a meme. He was being harassed. And, you know, he was provoked into this. And none of that is true.
00:22:30.220 Right. I have footage from what was happening before, which is there were protesters at this Mark Carney event.
00:22:36.940 But the double middle fingers were directed at my cameraman. And that was because, you know, there's this stigma that has taken root against anyone who identifies as independent media.
00:22:51.740 You're assumed to be fake news, even if what we're showing is just raw footage.
00:22:58.280 And certainly that's what I strive to do with minimal commentary and just let people sort of see and make things, you know, make up their own minds.
00:23:07.760 And listen, we're all responsible for how we behave in public, especially when there's cameras around.
00:23:12.820 And when you behave poorly and people pick up on that and it goes everywhere, it is your responsibility for your own behavior.
00:23:19.620 Perhaps you shouldn't be behaving like that in the first place.
00:23:21.960 I want to just add one thing that you didn't mention about this clip in this event.
00:23:28.600 You showed up at a Pierre Polyev rally with a Brampton boomer cutout.
00:23:36.980 Did you not?
00:23:38.520 I did. Bramford, though, we don't want to malign Brampton unfairly.
00:23:43.220 They have.
00:23:43.700 Brampton.
00:23:44.020 Did I fit Brampton?
00:23:44.960 Oh, my mistake.
00:23:45.940 No, but that's Brampton has its own issues.
00:23:48.560 So let's let them be.
00:23:50.500 That was a slip of the tongue.
00:23:51.780 Sorry, Brampton.
00:23:55.360 I did.
00:23:56.400 And, you know, normally I don't.
00:24:00.140 Normally I don't involve myself in that way.
00:24:03.720 I tend to be sort of just behind the camera and not really.
00:24:08.680 Well, the way I interpreted it, you were participating in the meme.
00:24:12.700 This was about not necessarily the clip.
00:24:13.980 This is about the meme.
00:24:15.700 You bet.
00:24:16.220 And even there, people sort of interpreted the cutout in different ways.
00:24:20.780 Some thought I was there to promote and support the guy and was giving people in line the finger.
00:24:26.060 Others sort of took it as, hey, I know this.
00:24:28.880 This is great.
00:24:29.680 And so I had a lot of fun with that.
00:24:33.020 You know, once or twice a year, I allow myself the indulgence of participating in sort of in more dramatic ways.
00:24:45.240 I do have a bit of a flair for drama.
00:24:47.480 And so, yeah, it was a real trip to get that printed.
00:24:53.620 I don't know what the print shop was thinking when they received that order on a rush basis.
00:24:59.980 But they were very accommodating.
00:25:01.340 And, yeah, the point is that, you know, this coverage became part of Canadian pop culture.
00:25:09.440 And I'm really proud of that.
00:25:11.480 You know, it's not my doing beyond sort of posting and publishing and, you know, providing the footage.
00:25:19.220 That's all on Canadians. 0.99
00:25:21.180 But to be a part of that, I think, is kind of an exciting thing.
00:25:25.420 Yeah, I won't be forgetting the Brampton.
00:25:28.140 I was going to say the Brampton boomer again.
00:25:30.400 I got Brampton on the brain.
00:25:31.820 The Brampton boomer.
00:25:32.640 I won't be forgetting him anytime soon.
00:25:34.380 Going into 2026, do you have any predictions for the protest scene as we close off the episode?
00:25:41.360 You know, I expect a little bit, you know, there's going to be more of the same.
00:25:46.140 But I do think that we're due for a new thing, right?
00:25:53.320 I think that.
00:25:54.500 After two years of Palestine protests, you think we might see something else emerging?
00:25:58.800 Right.
00:25:59.000 I don't think that that's going to go away entirely.
00:26:01.740 But with gender ideology, we saw about a year. 0.70
00:26:05.660 I think that was cut short by Israel-Palestine.
00:26:09.120 Yeah.
00:26:09.340 But you did see that kind of on a weekly, sometimes daily basis for a year and a half, right?
00:26:17.160 Two years.
00:26:18.440 So I think that we're due for something new.
00:26:21.680 It's anyone's guess what that might be.
00:26:24.500 And I, you know, I also am observing that law enforcement is shifting their strategies a little bit.
00:26:33.840 And that's happening sort of in sync with the government proposing new legislation that will curtail civil liberties.
00:26:42.600 So are we going to see more reactions to that?
00:26:44.940 Are we going to see crackdowns like we have in the past where things have gotten or been allowed to get out of hand?
00:26:51.320 And then, you know, there is an overreaction.
00:26:54.940 I hope that that's not the case.
00:26:57.040 But we're kind of due for it.
00:26:59.540 So that's what we'll be on the lookout for.
00:27:02.040 Well, I just want to say, as we close off, your work is invaluable.
00:27:05.440 And I think it brings to light for many Canadians, whether they're following on social media or not,
00:27:10.560 sometimes some of the things that are going on in the streets.
00:27:13.280 So thank you very much from me to you.
00:27:15.800 And I hope that the protests die down over the next year.
00:27:23.460 Well, I guess we'll find out what new flavor will be popping up.
00:27:26.340 And happy New Year to you, Karima.
00:27:30.420 Happy New Year.