Juno News - June 03, 2025


Woke judge throws out loaded handgun as evidence because ＂racism＂


Episode Stats

Length

13 minutes

Words per Minute

152.13228

Word Count

2,012

Sentence Count

85

Misogynist Sentences

1


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed Marc-Andre Blanchard, a Trudeau-era insider,
00:00:10.840 with influence since 2015 as his new Chief of Staff.
00:00:15.100 An Ontario judge recently deemed a loaded illegal firearm inadmissible evidence against a Black
00:00:20.680 driver, ruling Peel Police racially profiled him during the traffic stop.
00:00:24.440 Air Canada's first all-2SLGBTQIA plus flight Pride post faced immediate backlash online from
00:00:33.220 Canadians, leading the airline to disable comments.
00:00:37.120 Hello Canada, it's Tuesday, June 3rd, and this is the True North Daily Brief.
00:00:40.900 I'm Cosmin Jirja.
00:00:42.180 And I'm Jeff Knight.
00:00:43.360 We've got you covered with all the news you need to know.
00:00:45.920 Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.
00:00:51.040 Prime Minister Mark Carney has quietly installed Marc-Andre Blanchard as his Chief of Staff,
00:00:56.540 a shadowy Trudeau-era insider who's wielded influence over the makeup of Cabinet since
00:01:01.600 former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's rise to power in 2015.
00:01:05.880 Canada's former representative to the United Nations will officially take over the top role
00:01:10.760 in the Prime Minister's office in July, replacing former Liberal MP Marco Mendicino,
00:01:16.080 who is stepping down as Carney's interim Chief of Staff and is widely expected to run for Toronto
00:01:21.780 Mayor in 2026.
00:01:23.720 While the appointment was briefly mentioned in a social media post, what went unsaid speaks volumes.
00:01:29.720 Blanchard is no ordinary staffer.
00:01:32.540 He played the role of gatekeeper for consecutive cabinets during Trudeau's multiple terms in
00:01:37.800 office.
00:01:38.220 Blanchard's name first surfaced in Liberal transition documents following the 2015 election,
00:01:44.440 where he was enlisted to personally vet Trudeau's Cabinet ministers, interviewing candidates to assess
00:01:50.220 their ideological alignment and detect any, quote, skeletons in the closet.
00:01:55.500 The Globe and Mail reported in 2019 that Trudeau sought to put Blanchard in an official top
00:02:01.280 advisory position, replacing longtime friend and advisor Gerald Butts.
00:02:05.640 Though the plan was never formalized publicly, insiders say Blanchard remained a trusted voice
00:02:11.140 in Trudeau's ear, and now seemingly Carney's.
00:02:14.140 Blanchard has acted as an informal advisor to Trudeau in the past, advising his Cabinet
00:02:19.020 appointments and decision-making, similar to current Prime Minister Mark Carney, who acted
00:02:23.680 as an economic advisor.
00:02:25.540 He shares similar views with Carney on the climate agenda and has appeared on multiple globalist
00:02:30.660 sustainability forums boasting about net-zero policies and measures.
00:02:34.860 Blanchard also previously held an executive role at the CDPQ Global Investment Group, which
00:02:41.300 has collaborated on multiple projects with Carney's former company, Brookfield Asset Management.
00:02:47.120 Blanchard's appointment comes as Carney prepares for a meeting with Canada's premiers today and
00:02:52.060 a G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, later this month.
00:02:55.960 So, Jeff, this is quite the change-up in the Prime Minister's office.
00:03:00.400 Carney is fleshing out his top team.
00:03:02.400 And he's replacing former Cabinet Minister and Liberal MP Marco Mendicino with Blanchard.
00:03:10.840 So, why was Mendicino's time as Chief of Staff so short-lived?
00:03:16.840 Yeah, Cosmin.
00:03:18.280 Marco Mendicino's tenure as Mark Carney's Chief of Staff was short-lived due to a combination
00:03:22.800 of his interim roles, predefined timeline, and his own political ambitions.
00:03:27.880 Mendicino was appointed as a temporary Chief of Staff following Carney's election in April,
00:03:32.600 with the understanding that he would serve only until the end of June, as noted in a statement
00:03:36.860 by Carney on social media in May.
00:03:39.060 This brief stint was intended to cover the intense post-election transition period,
00:03:43.960 leveraging Mendicino's familiarity with the Liberal caucus and his prior security clearance.
00:03:48.360 But it was always meant to be a stopgap, while Carney searched for a permanent replacement,
00:03:52.680 which turned out to be Marc-Andre Blanchard's starting in July.
00:03:55.880 Additionally, Mendicino's departure aligns with his reported plans to run for Toronto Mayor in 2026.
00:04:01.380 Having resigned his seat in the House of Commons upon taking the Chief of Staff role,
00:04:05.220 Mendicino had signaled his exit from federal politics earlier this year,
00:04:09.180 criticizing the Trudeau government's stance on Israel in a January statement and choosing not
00:04:13.360 to run in the 2025 election. His interim role allowed him to bridge his federal career to take
00:04:18.520 a new chapter, with insiders noting his long-standing interest in municipal leadership,
00:04:23.320 making his short tenure a strategic stepping stone rather than a reflection of any failure in the position.
00:04:28.760 Ontario Superior Court Justice Renu Mandahain disqualified a loaded illegal gun as evidence
00:04:37.300 in a case against a black driver, ruling that Peel police engaged in racial profiling when they
00:04:42.460 stopped the suspect. Mandahain described racial profiling as a systemic and intractable problem
00:04:47.320 within Peel Regional Police. The judge's decision resulted in the exclusion of the firearm from
00:04:52.020 evidence, ending the prosecution. This has drawn sharp criticism from federal conservative candidate
00:04:57.000 for Oakville East and former Peel police officer Ron Chinzer, who called the ruling, quote,
00:05:02.540 one of the most outrageous judicial outcomes in recent memory. According to Chinzer, the stop
00:05:07.380 occurred when a Peel police officer, who is South Asian, conducted a lawful traffic stop after his
00:05:12.480 onboard system flagged a Jeep registered to an individual with a suspended driver's license
00:05:16.900 and outstanding drug charges. The driver was arrested for driving while suspended. During a routine
00:05:21.560 inventory search that occurs before towing a vehicle, officers found a loaded firearm concealed
00:05:26.060 under debris in the back of the Jeep. The court, however, found the officer's actions were tainted
00:05:30.300 by racial bias, citing a comparison to an earlier stop the same day where the officer did not handcuff
00:05:35.900 a white female driver. Justice Mandahain ruled that this disparity supported a finding of systemic
00:05:40.880 racial profiling. Mandahain was appointed to the Ontario Superior Court in 2020 by formal Liberal
00:05:46.120 Justice Minister David Lamedi, who was also responsible for Bill C-75 bail reform, dubbed by critics as
00:05:52.440 the catch and release law, which allows violent criminals to go free by seeking bail. The Department
00:05:57.720 of Justice admitted earlier this year that it does not track bail data. Before her appointment,
00:06:02.680 she served as the chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, where she led inquiries into
00:06:07.600 systemic discrimination. So, Cosman, were there any other startling points of the judge's decision
00:06:12.360 that raised eyebrows? Yeah, so I think the main one is the inference of racial profiling without any
00:06:20.080 direct evidence. And it's ironic that she decides to throw out a piece of clear evidence, a loaded illegally
00:06:28.560 obtained firearm in this individual's vehicle, based on this spurious conclusion that this officer
00:06:38.080 racially profiled this individual. And what's more is that this officer, his name is Anand Gandhi,
00:06:45.360 is not a white person himself. So, she actually acknowledges this in the ruling. She writes,
00:06:52.400 while Officer Gandhi's racial bias was likely unconscious and the product of our culture and his own
00:06:58.400 worldview, that is not an excuse or even a mitigating factor in terms of the seriousness of the conduct.
00:07:04.600 And she adds that Gandhi is himself racialized. He is a brown man, but this does not insulate him
00:07:11.520 from the insidious power of anti-black racism stereotype and racial bias. So, what I take from this is that
00:07:19.680 there is some permeating evil force of anti-black racism that somehow touches officers, whether they're
00:07:29.920 brown, black, or white, and influences their views. And it's sort of like this mystical thinking,
00:07:36.640 and the fact that this made it into a court of law is quite outstanding and just really strikes at the
00:07:44.320 root of the flawed thinking some of these judges who end up in these positions rely on. And it really
00:07:51.280 is rooted in this progressive ideology and this belief that systemic racism is a permeating force in
00:08:00.400 society. And the concept of systemic racism is central to this ruling. She frames the entire case through
00:08:09.760 a lens of systemic anti-black racism. And given her past activist role as a quasi-judge at the Ontario
00:08:19.840 Human Rights Commission, let's remember that that is an extrajudicial tribunal, not an actual court of
00:08:27.760 law, so to speak, in the traditional sense. She views everything clearly through this lens. And
00:08:34.400 additionally, the dismissal of the officer's testimony as biased. Like, what are you supposed to
00:08:41.760 take as evidence and testimony in a clear case like this if you can't take the fact that there's a loaded
00:08:48.800 weapon in the car, that the officer provides an honest testimony in this case, and as a judge she just
00:08:55.600 writes it all off as biased and the result of systemic racism and intergenerational trauma affecting
00:09:02.320 this individual, none of those things are pertinent to the facts at hand. And it's quite a miscarriage
00:09:08.960 of justice to dismiss what otherwise would be seriously incriminating evidence to let somebody off
00:09:16.560 on a charge as serious as driving around with a loaded firearm.
00:09:25.200 Air Canada's attempt to kick off Pride Month with a celebratory post about its first ever quote,
00:09:30.640 all 2SLGBTQIA plus flight backfired almost instantly, drawing a flood of critical responses
00:09:37.920 from Canadians and prompting the airline to shut down comments. The Monday post was flooded with
00:09:43.360 negative replies, overwhelming the number of likes it received, which prompted the airline's social
00:09:48.480 media team to turn off the replies a few hours after the post was initially published. Despite
00:09:53.840 limiting who can reply a few hours after the post, the previous top comments remain active. Canadians
00:09:59.840 offered their views in the replies before they were turned off, telling the airline to focus on
00:10:04.880 safe air travel instead of identity politics. True North previously reported on widespread diversity,
00:10:10.960 equity and inclusion programs embedded throughout Canada's airline sector, including identity-based
00:10:16.400 hiring targets and mandatory ideological training. Air Canada mandates employee training on micro
00:10:22.240 aggressions, allyship and unconscious bias. The company employs a dedicated DEI sourcing manager
00:10:28.800 and requires recruitment slates to include individuals from government defined quote designated groups.
00:10:35.760 WestJet, on the other hand, has implemented genderless uniforms and has boasted about flights
00:10:41.520 staffed entirely by female crews. Transat mandates unconscious bias workshop and flair has hosted
00:10:47.920 pride flights in alignment with LGBT activism. Sunwing, meanwhile, became the first airline to implement
00:10:54.640 a gender neutral pilot dress code and has hosted promotional flights led by all black crews.
00:11:01.120 It increasingly seems to be the case, and we see this play out time and time again, that when companies,
00:11:08.960 major corporations, embrace these explicit and overt shows of woke, you know, whatever you want to call
00:11:17.760 it, gender ideology, etc., these virtue signaling displays, it almost immediately backfires on them.
00:11:26.560 So, Jeff, just looking through the post and some of the comments, what were some of the most frequent replies to Air Canada?
00:11:34.400 Yeah, these replies all indicate a strong preference for
00:11:37.680 merit-based hiring and operational focus over diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
00:11:42.880 A recurring sentiment is the demand for competence and safety in aviation,
00:11:46.880 with users emphasizing that qualifications should be the sole criterion for roles like pilots and crew,
00:11:52.480 as seen in comments like, I just want someone who can fly the darn plane, and I want the best people in those jobs,
00:11:58.480 not people that are there to fill quotas.
00:12:00.480 Many express frustration that DEI policies might compromise safety, with one user stating,
00:12:06.080 encouraging DEI policies in aviation is going to equate to DIE.
00:12:11.040 Another dominant theme is outright rejection of DEI and woke agendas,
00:12:15.280 often coupled with a call for airlines to prioritize passenger experience over social initiatives.
00:12:20.800 Replies like, all airlines need to stop this BS and think about passenger safety, and,
00:12:26.560 and shrinking room in airplane seats, now DEI in positions that demand merit.
00:12:31.360 This has to end.
00:12:32.640 These highlight frustrations with perceived distractions from core responsibilities,
00:12:37.200 such as timely flights and customer service.
00:12:39.680 Some users also express a willingness to avoid Canadian airlines entirely, with comments like,
00:12:45.440 I guess I'll have to check US airlines when I travel, and I'm never traveling by train again.
00:12:50.880 The replies reflect a deep skepticism of DEI in aviation, prioritizing merit and safety above all else.
00:13:00.400 That's it for today, folks. Thanks for tuning in.
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