Juno News - Trump vows ＂radical left＂ crackdown in response to Charlie Kirk killing

00:00:00.000 Following the assassination of U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk,

00:00:09.580 President Donald Trump has pledged to hunt down his killer

00:00:12.860 and crack down on, quote, radical left political violence.

00:00:17.420 Controversial critical race theory lessons at a Hamilton, Ontario school board

00:00:21.760 are now being implemented in 33 schools across the region.

00:00:26.380 Canada's public safety minister claimed that the Liberals' gun ban

00:00:30.240 and confiscation program has, quote, always been voluntary.

00:00:34.820 Hello, Canada. It's Friday, September 12th.

00:00:37.500 This is the True North Daily Brief. I'm Cosmin Georgia.

00:00:41.920 And I'm Clayton DeMaine.

00:00:43.160 We've got you covered with all the news you need to know.

00:00:45.940 Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives

00:00:49.560 you won't hear anywhere else.

00:00:51.080 U.S. President Donald Trump promised a sweep.

00:00:57.560 U.S. President Donald Trump promised a sweeping response

00:01:01.440 to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk,

00:01:06.080 pledging to hunt down not only the killer,

00:01:08.640 but the networks and organizations that enable, quote,

00:01:11.940 radical left political violence in America.

00:01:14.580 In a somber Oval Office address,

00:01:16.880 Trump said Kirk's murder is the latest in a string of attacks

00:01:21.120 driven by years of left-wing demonization of conservatives.

00:01:25.360 It's a long past time for all Americans and the media

00:01:28.600 to confront the fact that violence and murder

00:01:31.920 are the tragic consequence of demonizing those

00:01:36.140 with whom you disagree day after day, year after year,

00:01:39.840 in the most hateful and despicable way possible.

00:01:43.060 For years, those on the radical left

00:01:46.180 have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie

00:01:49.340 to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals. 0.87

00:01:54.720 This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible

00:01:58.240 for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today,

00:02:02.380 and it must stop right now.

00:02:05.280 Trump declared, quote,

00:02:07.380 my administration will find each and every one of those

00:02:10.560 who contributed to this atrocity

00:02:12.460 and to other acts of political violence.

00:02:15.040 He continued saying, quote,

00:02:17.120 that includes the organizations that fund and support it,

00:02:20.520 as well as those who go after our judges,

00:02:23.020 law enforcement officials,

00:02:24.240 and everyone else who brings order to our country.

00:02:27.640 Trump tied the killing to a broader pattern

00:02:30.540 of political violence,

00:02:31.840 pointing to the assassination attempt

00:02:33.760 against him in Butler, Pennsylvania,

00:02:36.800 the shooting of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise,

00:02:40.400 attacks on ICE agents,

00:02:42.360 and the murder of a New York healthcare executive.

00:02:45.300 He said, quote,

00:02:46.340 radical political violence has hurt too many innocent people

00:02:49.580 and taken too many lives.

00:02:51.160 It must stop right now.

00:02:53.400 Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA,

00:02:57.080 was shot during a student town hall

00:03:00.160 at Utah Valley University.

00:03:02.100 Videos show him collapsing from his chair

00:03:04.820 after a single gunshot rang out.

00:03:07.940 He later died of his wounds, Trump confirmed.

00:03:11.180 Clayton, as people are processing this news,

00:03:16.000 I think one of the things that's becoming apparent

00:03:19.240 is this awakening to how many people out there,

00:03:23.560 people on the left mainly,

00:03:25.340 who are celebrating this and reacting to this,

00:03:30.140 relishing in it almost,

00:03:31.980 and using it to score political points

00:03:35.100 or downtalk Kirk's own legacy.

00:03:38.360 What has been the reaction to this

00:03:41.280 from the left so far in the Canadian context

00:03:45.100 that you've seen, Clayton?

00:03:46.860 Well, we at True North have compiled a list

00:03:50.320 of many unhinged statements from leftists online

00:03:54.020 over the following hours after the news broke

00:03:57.300 that Charlie Kirk was killed.

00:03:59.640 But more recently, on Thursday morning,

00:04:02.240 in response to those Trump statements

00:04:04.200 we just aired a clip of,

00:04:06.720 the legacy media appointed expert on hate,

00:04:10.520 Barbara Perry from Ontario Tech University,

00:04:13.520 came out and claimed that

00:04:15.380 when Trump laid the blame on the radicalization

00:04:18.960 that led to Kirk's assassination

00:04:21.160 on a constant vilification of those

00:04:25.480 who disagree with the left,

00:04:27.320 calling them Nazis or literally Hitler,

00:04:29.580 as we've all, I'm sure, heard be said before,

00:04:33.220 she said that Trump was in line with his,

00:04:36.020 quote, politics of vengeance

00:04:37.560 and punishing his enemies.

00:04:40.200 She later went on to say

00:04:42.180 the exact kind of disinformation

00:04:44.280 that Trump was talking about

00:04:46.320 by claiming that Kirk labeled queer people

00:04:48.880 as defective and dangerous people

00:04:51.300 who should be, quote, executed.

00:04:54.400 Now, we did receive a response from the CBC

00:04:57.520 that said, well, Kirk has referenced Bible verses

00:05:02.240 that denounced homosexuality

00:05:06.320 and call for the death of those as a punishment,

00:05:12.340 and now that's the Old Testament Jewish law.

00:05:15.560 But Charlie Kirk has never said anything of the sort.

00:05:19.020 In fact, he's often advocated for free and open discourse

00:05:22.880 in a peaceful, democratic fashion.

00:05:25.500 He's never advocated for that law

00:05:28.320 to be put in place in government.

00:05:30.240 Now, Perry also used her time 1.00

00:05:32.480 on the CBC's live broadcast

00:05:34.680 to espouse worries

00:05:36.980 that the attack would be used

00:05:39.080 to further vilify the left, liberals, and Democrats.

00:05:42.140 And in a similar way,

00:05:43.520 Canadian TikToker Rachel Gilmour

00:05:45.400 used the moment as a springboard

00:05:47.440 to denounce the specter of right-wing violence.

00:05:50.560 And when she got pushback from conservatives,

00:05:53.000 including Andrew Scheer,

00:05:55.560 conservative MP Andrew Scheer,

00:05:57.420 she claimed that Scheer was trying to get her killed

00:06:00.300 by criticizing her insensitive take

00:06:02.260 at a moment where many people

00:06:04.920 in the Western world are mourning.

00:06:07.120 One of the Hilltimes contributors,

00:06:09.260 Eric Ithil,

00:06:10.500 called Kirk a host of vile and vulgar names

00:06:13.280 and was surprised that people cared

00:06:15.620 about a conservative debater and speaker

00:06:17.240 being shot in front of his kids' wife

00:06:19.720 and thousands.

00:06:21.340 She said he was a big reason

00:06:23.220 for the supposed rise in fascism.

00:06:25.740 You know, and one more,

00:06:27.060 I got a U of T professor,

00:06:29.080 Dr. Ruth Marshall said, quote,

00:06:31.180 shooting is honestly too good

00:06:33.040 for so many of you fascist C-words,

00:06:35.800 just hours later.

00:06:37.200 But honestly,

00:06:37.960 there are too many unhinged responses

00:06:39.620 from the righteous left

00:06:41.160 to be able to say on this podcast.

00:06:43.520 And I do recommend listeners

00:06:44.900 take a look at our coverage

00:06:46.920 on this tragic event for more.

00:06:52.140 A Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board program

00:06:55.600 that drew controversy

00:06:56.960 when it launched in 2021

00:06:59.580 has now expanded to 33 schools.

00:07:03.300 The lessons rooted in critical race theory

00:07:05.640 are delivered under the guidance

00:07:07.100 of equity consultant Nicole Westburns.

00:07:10.580 In 2021, the HWDSB rolled out a, quote,

00:07:14.800 learn, disrupt, rebuild lesson package

00:07:17.800 described on their website

00:07:19.620 as a means for, quote,

00:07:21.580 students to understand who they are,

00:07:23.960 speak up when things are unfair

00:07:25.380 and to help create

00:07:26.640 a safer learning experience for everyone.

00:07:29.160 The lessons attracted attention

00:07:30.700 from parents and members of the public.

00:07:33.120 In a interview with True North,

00:07:34.960 a Hamilton teacher said that,

00:07:36.900 quote,

00:07:37.560 teachers were directed to teach LDR.

00:07:40.720 In fact, many teachers were warned

00:07:42.560 that principals were checking

00:07:44.060 whether teachers had accessed the modules.

00:07:47.280 A handful of downloadable lessons

00:07:49.060 were provided, but, quote,

00:07:50.860 principals had a hard time

00:07:52.340 advocating for the program

00:07:53.740 because they really didn't understand

00:07:56.080 what the board was actually

00:07:57.380 asking teachers to do, they said.

00:07:59.720 The teacher asked to remain anonymous

00:08:03.480 due to fear of reprisals from the board.

00:08:06.000 A True North investigation found

00:08:08.080 that the program developed

00:08:09.500 by equity consultant West Burns

00:08:12.160 has since expanded in scope

00:08:14.360 and is being developed

00:08:15.320 across 33 schools in the region.

00:08:17.680 After learning about this expansion,

00:08:19.780 the teacher said, quote,

00:08:21.000 I had no idea that the program

00:08:22.820 had continued past its initial rollout

00:08:25.120 from about four years ago.

00:08:27.360 West Burns joined the Ontario Institute

00:08:29.180 for Studies and Education

00:08:30.460 in the early 2010s,

00:08:32.680 where she developed equity frameworks

00:08:34.420 that later became known as, quote,

00:08:36.540 culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy.

00:08:39.280 According to her consultancy website,

00:08:41.440 West Burns was hired

00:08:42.660 by the Ministry of Education

00:08:44.080 between 2013 and 2019

00:08:45.880 to design diversity, equity,

00:08:48.120 and inclusion frameworks,

00:08:49.660 later delivering, quote,

00:08:51.420 professional learning tied to CRRP

00:08:54.620 for 39 school boards across the province,

00:08:58.320 often branded as, quote,

00:08:59.860 critically conscious practitioner inquiry

00:09:02.000 or disrupting and dismantling anti-Black racism.

00:09:06.320 Despite the different names,

00:09:07.560 these frameworks and resources

00:09:08.840 are fundamentally based

00:09:10.260 in critical race theory

00:09:11.720 and the revolutionary Marxist philosophy

00:09:14.000 of education scholar Paolo Freire.

00:09:18.200 West Burns did not respond to requests

00:09:20.380 for comment regarding her programming.

00:09:22.020 So, Cosmin, I've been hearing about this

00:09:24.160 for at least five years now.

00:09:25.720 Maybe it's been a problem longer than that.

00:09:28.620 But what is critical race theory

00:09:30.280 and why is it such a controversial

00:09:32.180 education program?

00:09:34.920 Yeah, you're right.

00:09:35.660 Critical race theory,

00:09:37.040 it was actually more in the news,

00:09:38.960 I would probably say,

00:09:40.300 in 2021.

00:09:43.200 Prominent U.S. influencers

00:09:45.080 like Chris Ruffo

00:09:46.620 were talking about it

00:09:48.120 and really popularized attention

00:09:50.220 to what was an unknown

00:09:52.620 sort of academic practice before then.

00:09:55.700 But essentially,

00:09:57.120 critical race theory

00:09:58.720 originated in U.S. legal scholarship

00:10:02.300 and it sees all institutions

00:10:04.280 as being systemically racist

00:10:07.920 and needing to be dismantled.

00:10:11.040 That is, the hierarchies

00:10:12.880 that they view to be

00:10:14.360 based on racism

00:10:16.300 and white supremacy

00:10:17.700 need to be dismantled

00:10:19.500 for these institutions

00:10:21.140 to operate

00:10:22.180 under this equity

00:10:24.200 framework

00:10:25.720 or worldview

00:10:26.900 that the proponents espouse.

00:10:30.260 Now, that equity framework

00:10:32.620 doesn't mean

00:10:34.700 that it views everybody,

00:10:36.600 every race as equal.

00:10:38.460 It doesn't,

00:10:39.380 it actually discounts

00:10:40.640 color blindness.

00:10:42.000 So, the idea that

00:10:43.280 when you're treating

00:10:44.180 other individuals,

00:10:45.100 you shouldn't be looking

00:10:46.340 at their ethnicity

00:10:47.520 or race

00:10:48.380 and basing

00:10:49.900 your treatment of them

00:10:51.040 or your value

00:10:52.040 and opinion of them

00:10:53.060 based on that.

00:10:54.260 It's rather that

00:10:55.400 there are certain races

00:10:57.280 that are disadvantaged

00:10:58.540 and therefore

00:10:59.680 they deserve

00:11:00.620 better treatment

00:11:01.760 or rather

00:11:02.680 a surplus

00:11:03.460 of advantages

00:11:05.180 to level

00:11:06.420 the playing field.

00:11:07.420 And that comes

00:11:07.960 with all sorts

00:11:08.840 of problems

00:11:09.620 when it's enacted

00:11:10.700 into policy,

00:11:12.160 especially in education.

00:11:13.320 but you've seen it

00:11:14.300 in places

00:11:14.820 that have,

00:11:15.640 you know,

00:11:16.480 opportunities

00:11:17.160 or even granting

00:11:18.500 access to certain spaces

00:11:20.300 to Black identifying patrons

00:11:23.360 while not explicitly,

00:11:26.000 they say,

00:11:27.140 excluding others.

00:11:28.460 But in practice,

00:11:29.120 that's what it amounts to.

00:11:30.980 And it's even been ruled

00:11:32.660 in Ontario,

00:11:34.060 I think,

00:11:34.800 at the Human Rights Tribunal

00:11:36.360 level

00:11:37.400 that this somehow

00:11:39.240 falls in

00:11:40.460 to being

00:11:41.980 within the scope

00:11:42.800 of human rights law

00:11:43.840 in Canada,

00:11:44.340 that you can actually

00:11:45.520 do reverse discrimination

00:11:47.640 as it's sometimes called

00:11:49.400 and that

00:11:50.500 Caucasian

00:11:52.260 or white Canadian people

00:11:53.800 don't necessarily

00:11:55.020 have a recourse

00:11:56.240 when they're confronted

00:11:57.700 with something

00:11:58.360 that says,

00:11:59.360 oh,

00:11:59.500 you're not allowed

00:12:00.260 in here

00:12:00.720 because you come

00:12:02.220 from,

00:12:02.920 you know,

00:12:03.680 a ethnicity

00:12:04.920 that historically

00:12:06.560 is known

00:12:07.700 to be

00:12:08.420 excluding of people

00:12:10.320 as participated

00:12:11.220 in some sort

00:12:12.160 of historic wrong.

00:12:13.580 So it's,

00:12:14.640 to put it

00:12:15.600 in brief,

00:12:17.260 it's essentially

00:12:18.200 an ideological position.

00:12:20.520 It's a worldview position,

00:12:22.400 but like a lot

00:12:23.360 of these left-wing

00:12:24.840 dogmatic

00:12:25.940 philosophies

00:12:27.260 or theories,

00:12:28.360 it just lumps

00:12:29.700 a bunch of things

00:12:31.040 together

00:12:31.600 and uses it

00:12:33.300 as a

00:12:34.440 academic guise.

00:12:36.160 They dress it up

00:12:36.940 in all of this

00:12:37.840 theory language

00:12:39.180 to cover

00:12:40.720 for what is

00:12:41.860 essentially

00:12:42.460 a political program

00:12:44.580 and a political practice.

00:12:46.380 And this is

00:12:47.460 the major issue

00:12:48.460 that Ontario schools,

00:12:50.580 but not only

00:12:51.120 Ontario schools,

00:12:52.000 schools across Canada

00:12:53.240 are facing

00:12:54.000 and that is

00:12:54.640 these theories

00:12:56.840 and pedagogies,

00:12:58.080 these ways

00:12:58.540 of teaching kids

00:12:59.600 that were ingrained

00:13:00.900 in this generation

00:13:02.660 of teachers

00:13:03.380 and administrators

00:13:04.520 through university,

00:13:06.760 colleges,

00:13:07.540 campuses,

00:13:08.760 et cetera,

00:13:10.120 has essentially

00:13:11.820 entered the classroom

00:13:13.060 and is being practiced

00:13:14.440 not only

00:13:15.460 by individual educators,

00:13:17.280 but at an institutional level

00:13:19.400 as this article points out.

00:13:24.340 When asked

00:13:25.420 whether he agreed

00:13:26.280 with Prime Minister

00:13:26.980 Mark Carney's

00:13:27.800 latest remarks

00:13:28.760 on the liberal gun grab,

00:13:30.320 Public Safety Minister

00:13:32.140 Gary Ananda-Sandry

00:13:33.740 told True North

00:13:34.720 that the Liberals'

00:13:35.840 gun confiscation program

00:13:37.320 has, quote,

00:13:38.480 always been voluntary.

00:13:40.480 He made the comments

00:13:41.580 outside of the

00:13:42.420 Westin Hotel

00:13:43.340 in Edmonton

00:13:44.100 where the Liberal caucus

00:13:45.380 is having a retreat

00:13:47.060 this week.

00:13:48.400 Firearm rights advocacy groups

00:13:50.180 have disputed

00:13:51.120 attempts to label

00:13:52.000 the firearm ban

00:13:53.040 as a, quote,

00:13:53.900 voluntary confiscation program,

00:13:56.220 pointing to potential

00:13:57.340 consequences

00:13:58.160 for gun owners

00:13:59.520 who refuse to forfeit

00:14:00.860 their now illegal guns

00:14:02.400 over to the government.

00:14:04.580 Prime Minister Mark Carney's

00:14:05.880 comments were made

00:14:06.620 on Wednesday

00:14:07.240 when he similarly called

00:14:08.940 the Liberals'

00:14:09.620 gun ban voluntary,

00:14:11.000 seemingly for the first time.

00:14:13.120 Nanda-Sandry said,

00:14:14.660 quote,

00:14:15.420 well,

00:14:15.760 the program is going

00:14:16.860 to be launched soon.

00:14:18.020 He responded to a question

00:14:19.460 about Carney's statements

00:14:20.580 by saying the gun grab

00:14:21.960 has, quote,

00:14:23.100 always been voluntary.

00:14:24.360 The program introduced

00:14:26.260 via cabinet decree

00:14:27.440 in 2020

00:14:28.360 eventually banned

00:14:29.560 over 2,500 models

00:14:31.560 of firearms.

00:14:32.840 That list has expanded

00:14:34.060 and costs are expected

00:14:36.000 to reach nearly $2 billion.

00:14:38.100 However,

00:14:38.720 the federal government

00:14:39.520 has continuously extended

00:14:41.060 the amnesty period

00:14:42.340 as it has struggled

00:14:43.360 to implement the program.

00:14:45.740 To date,

00:14:46.220 after five years,

00:14:47.200 the banned guns

00:14:48.100 remain in the possession

00:14:49.580 of their licensed owners

00:14:50.980 who legally purchased

00:14:52.480 the firearms.

00:14:53.220 Over the last half decade

00:14:55.280 since its inception,

00:14:56.920 the program has been

00:14:58.020 presented as mandatory.

00:15:00.540 So, Clayton,

00:15:01.260 what are critics

00:15:02.060 of the gun buyback

00:15:03.640 program saying

00:15:04.840 and how are they responding

00:15:06.200 to this idea

00:15:07.100 that it has always

00:15:08.380 been voluntary

00:15:09.260 as the minister suggested?

00:15:11.740 Well,

00:15:11.980 the CEO of the Canadian

00:15:13.180 Coalition of Firearms Rights,

00:15:15.080 Rod Giltaka,

00:15:16.500 told True North

00:15:17.260 that he doubts

00:15:18.300 that Ottawa

00:15:19.260 has shifted

00:15:20.260 to a voluntary approach

00:15:21.760 with the gun buyback program

00:15:23.440 or the so-called

00:15:24.920 gun buyback program.

00:15:26.960 Instead,

00:15:27.460 he said it was

00:15:28.260 more likely

00:15:28.980 that Carney

00:15:29.620 and his public safety minister

00:15:31.060 has, quote,

00:15:32.380 no idea

00:15:33.100 what the program

00:15:33.840 is capable of

00:15:34.740 in the first place.

00:15:35.820 And he also speculated

00:15:37.820 that if Canadians 0.82

00:15:38.880 were allowed

00:15:39.580 to voluntarily

00:15:40.660 keep their firearms,

00:15:42.760 that legislation

00:15:43.700 would force them

00:15:44.780 to deactivate

00:15:45.680 their firearms

00:15:46.380 or weld them shut,

00:15:48.180 rendering them useless.

00:15:49.980 And anyone

00:15:50.820 found in possession

00:15:51.980 of any of the firearms

00:15:53.140 banned by the liberal

00:15:54.080 legislation

00:15:54.700 could face

00:15:55.940 a penalty

00:15:56.580 of up to five years

00:15:57.940 in prison.

00:15:58.800 So, by definition,

00:15:59.940 it isn't a voluntary program.

00:16:01.860 It involves confiscation

00:16:03.300 and the threat

00:16:03.900 of imprisonment

00:16:04.660 for not complying.

00:16:05.580 But according

00:16:06.460 to the liberals,

00:16:07.160 it's a, quote,

00:16:08.460 opportunity

00:16:09.120 for licensed

00:16:10.200 and lawful

00:16:11.300 firearm owners

00:16:12.620 to turn in

00:16:13.360 their property.

00:16:13.980 And we should remember

00:16:15.420 that this is the same

00:16:16.420 public safety minister

00:16:17.540 that Conservative MP

00:16:19.880 Andrew Lawton

00:16:20.780 grilled in Parliament

00:16:22.360 about his understanding

00:16:24.020 of these firearms

00:16:25.500 legislations.

00:16:27.280 And he couldn't answer

00:16:29.080 any of the questions.

00:16:30.820 He didn't,

00:16:31.180 he clearly didn't know

00:16:32.460 enough about the program

00:16:34.060 as the public safety minister.

00:16:37.820 That's it for today, folks.

00:16:39.560 Thanks for tuning in.

00:16:40.840 You can stay on top

00:16:42.080 of new episodes

00:16:43.080 every weekday

00:16:44.120 by subscribing

00:16:44.880 to The Daily Brief

00:16:45.980 on iTunes

00:16:46.620 and Spotify.

00:16:48.260 Also,

00:16:48.860 while you're at it,

00:16:49.600 make sure to hit us

00:16:50.440 with a five-star rating

00:16:51.960 and please leave a review.

Juno News - September 12, 2025

Trump vows ＂radical left＂ crackdown in response to Charlie Kirk killing

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript