KINSELLACAST 372: Hunger, aid and politics with Lilley, Vuong, Sims, Mulroney and Chapin - plus Split System, Bad Dreems, Children Collide, Gyroscope
Episode Stats
Length
1 hour and 7 minutes
Words per minute
145.30759
Harmful content
Misogyny
11
sentences flagged
Toxicity
52
sentences flagged
Hate speech
67
sentences flagged
Summary
When a country doesn t matter militarily, diplomatically, when no one is sharing intelligence with it anymore, all that's left is empty words, preaching, sanctimonious tweets. Canada has become a bit of an afterthought and a punchline, and Donald Trump knows this.
Transcript
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It's the Kinsella cast starring Warren Kinsella.
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Hey, it's Warren. Welcome to Kinsella cast. And I'm grateful. I'm grateful this morning
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for you tuning in to this summertime edition of the Kinsella cast. But also we got rain last
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night. We got some rain this morning. And when you live in rural Canada, as I now do,
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there's always a city slicker. But you start worrying about stuff that farmers worry about,
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like lack of rain, lack of moisture, drought. We've had drought here for weeks. And you can see the
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impact on the corn, like it's all stunted. So those of you expecting like a bounty of corn,
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you know, sometime in the next few weeks, it's not going to happen. The wheat's okay.
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Soybean seems to be okay. Grapes are okay. All of you drinkers out there, because the,
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you know, the grapes don't need a lot of moisture. But anyway, getting a little hairy. So grateful
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for rain. Gratefully, you have tuned in to hear Brian Lilly and I, Kevin Vong, Ben Mulroney,
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Chris Chapin, Chris Sims, some great voices and some great music. But I'm back on an Australia
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kick. So I've got from Melbourne, I've got Split System with their song The End. Some of these guys
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are in Stiff Richards, one of the greatest band names of all time. They kind of formed in the
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pandemic in 2021. You've got Theory of Everything, which is a song. Okay, it's not, there's actually
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multiple bands called Theory of Everything. There's one Dutch band named that, one in the UK,
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one in Ireland. But this band is actually called Children Collide, and the song is called Theory
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of Everything. And it's not, as far as I know, the film about Stephen Hawking.
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Gyroscope, also from Australia, from Perth, formed in 1997. Great catchy tune, Dr. Doctor.
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And then Bad Dreams from Adelaide in Australia formed, though this song came out, no, wait a second,
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I played Bad Dreams for You before, back in January. And what is this song called? Something about having
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for, hoping for, hoping for, hoping for, that's what it is. And they've been around for a long time,
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since 2011. Anyway, when a country doesn't matter militarily, diplomatically, when no one is sharing
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intelligence with it anymore, all that is left is empty words. Piety, preaching, but that's it. So now,
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when the world kind of looks at us, and when it comes to world affairs, Canada is a season's ticket
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holder, I think, up in the nosebleed seats. We're holding up homemade signs and hollering and hoping
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to get on TV, where the real action is being played out far from where we are. And ever since
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2004, when Paul Martin and his brain trust thought it'd be a good idea to meet the homicidal Libyan
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dictator Muammar Gaddafi in a tent in the desert, Canada has mattered less and less internationally.
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It all happened gradually. We became a bit of an afterthought and then a punchline.
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And Donald Trump, I think, in particular knows this. He's noticed that the rest of the world
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hasn't rallied to our side as he's coveted us as his 51st state. It wasn't always like this,
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of course. At one time, say, when Mike Pearson won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for resolving the Suez
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crisis, or when Brian Mulroney fought to end apartheid in the 80s, or when Jean Chrétien
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refused to participate in George W. Bush's war against Saddam Hussein in 2003. Like, Canada
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truly mattered on the international stage, but not so much anymore. In recent years, I think
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we've been reduced to thumbing out sanctimonious tweets from the sidelines, far removed from the
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action, but in both official languages. Anyway, so Carney issued a tweet on Thursday. And here is
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what he said, just part of it. Quote, Canada condemns the Israeli government's failure to prevent
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the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian disaster in Gaza. Israel's control of aid distribution must be
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replaced by comprehensive provision of humanitarian assistance led by international organizations.
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Many of these are holding significant Canadian-funded aid, which has been blocked from delivery to
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starving civilians. This denial of humanitarian aid is a violation of international law. End quote.
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Carney's tweet wasn't a serious statement by a head of a country, I think. It was a selfie, basically,
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designed to get someone to notice us on a metaphorical global jumbotron. And we won't
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duck if they do. But all you have left is words, guys. Words matter. So let's look at those five
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concluding words in Carney's statement. A violation of international law. Is it? Well, the first problem
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is international law itself. International law is a vague set of principles and rules, sort of,
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rarely if ever enforced. International law wasn't written down anywhere. So you can make it into
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whatever you want, as Carney has done. He seems to be referring to the right to food, which is mentioned
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in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and
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Cultural Rights. So that's good. You know, agreed. But in the case of Gaza, the fact is this. The Gaza
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Humanitarian Foundation, GHF, which is an organization created by the Americans, supported by Israel. It
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was set up to prevent Hamas from stealing food, water, medicine, and tents, which they had been doing
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for a long time. On good days, the GHF has distributed as much as 3 million meals daily. And American
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contractors and Israeli troops oversee all that at four different distribution centers in Gaza.
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But as of this week, more than a thousand trucks containing GHF aid are sitting idle in Gaza
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because the United Nations refuses to administer the desperately needed food to Palestinians. And
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the UN doesn't dispute that either. Like it says it can't distribute the GHF aid because,
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this is for the first time in its history, it's concerned about bureaucracy. Quote,
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I don't think we need to add another layer of for-profit organizations, end quote, said the UN
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spokesman. Anyway, so to recap the facts, food is going into Gaza. Israel and the United States are
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sending it. The food is, and Canada isn't, by the way, the food is not being properly distributed.
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And the UN, which is actually paid to do these things by people like us, is adamantly refusing to
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help out. And here's another pesky fact. Gaza is a war zone. Neither Hamas nor Israel permit
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non-combatants into that war zone. So where exactly did Prime Minister Carney get the evidence to back
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up his claim that Israel is quote-unquote violating international law? Well, not from Canadian diplomats
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or military observers, because we don't have any in Gaza. And we designated Hamas, Gaza's government,
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as a terrorist entity way back in 2002. So like, how is PMO and Global Affairs getting their
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information about Gaza? Anyway, so I decided to ask them. I got in touch with PMO. I got in touch
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with Global Affairs. I wrote to them. Here's what I said. This is a quote. On what basis did the Prime
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Minister determine Israel has broken international law in the distribution of aid in Gaza? Does Canada
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presently have any official representatives on the ground in Gaza? Or have we instead relied upon
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hearsay accounts and or the government there, which is a terrorist entity? End quote. I never got a
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response from either PMO or Global Affairs. Like we say, like I say, we're up in the nosebleeds,
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folks. We're trying to get noticed. And it ain't working.
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Down on the street. Down on the street. Shuffle in your feet. Shuffle in your feet. Down on the street.
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Down on the street. Shuffle in your feet. Shuffle in your feet. Down on the street. Down on the street.
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Down on the street. Shuffle in your feet. Down on the street. Down on the street. Down on the street.
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The sunsets along the St. John River in Fredericton
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And since I've got to meet Susan Holt a couple of times
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I was able to take my son and his wife over and say
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Hi, Premier, here's a couple of your constituents
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That Israel was deliberately starving people
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Take it back to the mind that you tried to bite me
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Look it back, remember you left the judge had me
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Look it out, take your cover in cakes, you saw me
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From the top, take ignited the knives you write me
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Look it back, remember you left the judge had me
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Hit me down, double-crossed, just cross me
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Hope you die for the misery that you gave me
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Hope you die for the misery that you gave me
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And we're here to talk about a Liberal MP's latest attempt
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To sponsor petition to lower the voting age here in Canada
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Alright, let me take a look at the things that someone can or cannot do at 16
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You can't get a tattoo without parental consent
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He's a former special advisor to a prime minister
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So, Warren, the news of today is this 14 year old
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Whose audio, where he brags about murdering a grandmother
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We can't even play because they are considered a youth
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But at 16, he would be able to vote like one
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He was briefly the Minister of Housing under Justin Trudeau
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You may famously recall him saying he was disrespected by the Prime Minister
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By the Prime Minister taking him out of his Cabinet
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Everybody knows that Prime Ministers are allowed to decide who's in their Cabinet
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So, I think Nate wants to challenge Bonnie Crombie
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Actually, I know Nate wants to challenge Bonnie Crombie
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And he's trying to get publicity any way he can
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And this week he's doing the petition about lowering the voting age
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Last week he was attacking his own government for pushing through C5
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I think he's trying to get attention so he can go after Bonnie Crombie
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Trying to, I guess, exploit an issue for themselves
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I think it's a cynical, calculated move to get attention
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And, you know, because this has been attempted before in the House of Commons, as you know
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You know, the majority had the same view that you have expressed
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You know, other jurisdictions around the world that have tried this
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And so, you know, I guess we're giving him some attention now
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But I think his ultimate goal is to take out Bonnie Crombie
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She beat him for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party last time
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And now he's coming after her and trying to get his name in the paper
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I guess suppose it is working because we're discussing it
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I think the thing that bothers me perhaps the most on this issue
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Is one of the things we talk a lot about is the need to engage young people
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And so, to hear, potentially hear that this is just a cynical exploitation of young people
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Probably, for me, makes this a lot worse than it otherwise would be
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I suspect you were much more mature than me at the age of 16 or 15
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But, you know, most parents know that, you know, kids lack life experience and maturity at that age
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As you and I have talked about many times before
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With respect to bots and hashtags and algorithms
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You know, coming out of places like Iran and Russia and China
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Voting should align with adult responsibilities, right?
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And it should align with, you know, the other things that you get from being an adult
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You know, jury duty and military service and full-time work
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Like, is Nate actually proposing that, you know, these kids are going to be voting
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Should also be, you know, constricted into the military someday
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So, to me, it's just a cynical grab for publicity
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In order to pump up his drive for Bonnie Crombie's job
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Yeah, and I think you bring up an important point in terms of the risk, too
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And a former special advisor to the Prime Minister of Canada
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About this petition from a Liberal MP to lower the voting age to 16
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And I think once you make anyone eligible to be a voter
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That also means then political parties can start to target them
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And I think when you're young and impressionable and you're vulnerable
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I'm not sure that I would necessarily want my now nine-month-old daughter
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But I imagine if she was 16, I'm not sure that I'd want her to be targeted by political campaigns
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And, you know, we've seen this with respect to the Israel-Hamas conflict
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The demographic that had become most susceptible to pro-Hamas, pro-Iran messaging are young people
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And millennials from the age of 25 to the age of 39
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Those are the constituencies that have been successfully manipulated, in my opinion
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And to promote themes that are anti-Semitic and anti-democracy and anti-Western
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So, like, do we really want to make that problem worse?
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And say to young people who are being targeted by these manipulations and these propaganda efforts
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Do we want to make it worse by giving them the ability to vote at this point?
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I don't see a lot of young people clamoring for this
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This seems to be just Nate Erskine-Smith and a few, a very small number of liberal MPs
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But again, in Nate's case, I think it's about something else entirely
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Now Warren, I think we can put this particular topic to bed
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Because I think, at least for me, you've articulated a very persuasive argument for your position
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Alright, we do have a real issue with youth disinformation and apathy
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Firstly, you know, the billionaires who own these platforms
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And, you know, take some concrete and positive steps
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To ensure that the manipulations that are taking place now
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We need to ensure that, you know, people are going online
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Need to get themselves more fully involved in this
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Look, you've got an obligation to facilitate the truth
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That you are not going to be able to tell the difference
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The effect that that would have on young people
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Is our government doing any of these three things?
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Did take some steps to deal with some online harms
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So the Carney guys have signaled no willingness
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Whether it's a Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy theory
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And the people who are online more than any other
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Their opinions are being changed by what they see
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Which means we take stock of the big political stories of the week
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And couldn't ask for two better partners to do this with
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As well as managing principal at Upstream Strategy
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And Warren Kinsella, former special advisor to Jean Chrétien
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All right, so let's start with the big court case
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We've been waiting on pins and needles for the decision by the judge
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In the sexual assault trial for the Hockey Canada players
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And quickly, as the judge was rendering her decision
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It was pretty clear that she was gonna come out in favor of not guilty
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And also, if you harken back to Gian Gomeschi so many years ago
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My rule of thumb is always be careful about commenting
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If you haven't been there to hear and see all the evidence
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But, you know, there is fallout that we can comment on
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Any of these guys are gonna be heading into the NHL anytime soon
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Because there was five guys in a room with one woman
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This is why we have no confidence in the justice system
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And, you know, fewer women are gonna come forward
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And, you know, professional sports taking yet another hit
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Chris, this is yet another black eye for Hockey Canada
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And there are calls to take that thing down to the studs
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It's almost like the stories that we heard about the Catholic Church
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I think if there is one black spot in this whole case
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And said that, you know, what they were accused of
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And tried to make sure that this never saw the light of day
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And I mean, I thought Warren made a great point
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About, you know, if you weren't in the courtroom
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Because I thought it was, you know, a fascinating one
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And there were things that came out in her verdict
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Because, you know, whoever was covering the court case
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Is, you know, there were clearly things that were said
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To let Canadians steal into the United States
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