Rebel News Podcast - June 20, 2019


Liberal MP Majid Jowhari changes tune when confronted on Iranian support

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SEE the hate propaganda I got in the mail — from the House of Commons Is Trudeau manipulating the re-approval of the TMX pipeline for his re-election strategy?

Episode Stats


Length

33 minutes

Words per minute

158.89

Word count

5,345

Sentence count

387

Harmful content

Misogyny

4

sentences flagged

Toxicity

13

sentences flagged

Hate speech

10

sentences flagged


Summary

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

I bumped into Liberal MP Masjid Johari and asked him why he has such an admiration for the Iranian regime. Here's what he had to say: "It's my bloody right to do so. I don't know why."

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 .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Hello, Rebels. You're listening to a free audio-only recording of the Ezreal Event Show.
00:00:07.200 Today, I talk about how I ran into Liberal MP Masjid Johari to ask him why he has such admiration
00:00:14.680 for the odious Iranian regime. If you like listening to this podcast, then you would love 0.99
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00:01:26.120 You're listening to a Rebel Media Podcast.
00:01:29.580 Tonight, I bumped into Liberal MP Masjid Johari and asked him why he has such admiration for
00:01:36.460 the Iranian regime. It's June 19, 2019. I'm David Menzies, and this is The Ezra Levent Show.
00:01:47.100 Why should others go to jail when you're a biggest carbon consumer I know?
00:01:50.700 There's 8,500 customers here, and you won't give them an answer.
00:01:54.760 The only thing I have to say to the government, the wire publisher, is because it's my bloody
00:01:59.620 right to do so.
00:02:05.920 Well, I had an enlightening run-in on the weekend with Liberal MP Masjid Johari.
00:02:11.800 Johari was not on Parliament Hill, but in his hometown riding of Richmond Hill, apparently
00:02:18.320 getting a head start on his re-election campaign.
00:02:22.200 So it was that I made a detour from my original destination, that being the oh-so-retro-cool 1.00
00:02:27.880 Three Coins restaurant, and tried to engage in some political discourse with this whiz-bang
00:02:34.440 member of parliament, who seems to have an admiration for totalitarianism.
00:02:42.100 Then again, that makes him a kindred spirit with Justin Trudeau, doesn't it?
00:02:47.040 I mean, Trudeau has publicly stated his admiration for China's basic dictatorship, because it allows 0.89
00:02:54.460 Beijing to, well, you know, get things done efficiently.
00:02:58.160 What things?
00:02:59.780 Well, let's not get into the nitty-gritty details here, because doing some of those things might
00:03:06.020 have consequences, like, you know, depriving people of their basic human rights, all of
00:03:12.140 which kind of seems downright un-liberal to me.
00:03:16.480 Anyway, speaking of dictatorships and curtailing human rights and whatnot, that brings us back
00:03:21.980 to Mr. Johari.
00:03:23.040 Now, if you need a brief refresher course on this individual, who the locals on the hill
00:03:29.040 refer to by his nickname, the Persian Pinocchio, thanks to his fast-and-loose approach with 1.00
00:03:35.420 the facts, such as his engineering status, our rebel commander Ezra Levent weighed in
00:03:41.660 on this honourable member of parliament in January.
00:03:44.920 Ezra's commentary focused on why Trudeau and some of his Iranian MPs seem to have this
00:03:52.000 cosy relationship with the regime in Tehran.
00:03:56.080 Well, folks, it all boils down to this.
00:03:58.840 Three words.
00:04:00.180 Conflict of interest.
00:04:02.360 Check it out.
00:04:03.020 To this day, Justin Trudeau has not said a word about it.
00:04:08.420 Why is that?
00:04:09.860 Is it because Justin Trudeau's brother, Alexandre Trudeau, is an official paid propagandist for
00:04:17.160 the Iranian regime, including producing this propaganda film.
00:04:19.880 It was called The Next Great Game.
00:04:22.180 He produced it in cooperation with Iran's state broadcaster, Press TV.
00:04:27.600 Justin Trudeau's brother does Iranian government propaganda.
00:04:30.800 Is it that Trudeau is an Islamophile?
00:04:33.200 And just plain old likes Iran and likes his basic dictatorship. 0.71
00:04:37.120 That's the phrase Trudeau used to commend China.
00:04:40.140 And we know how Trudeau loved the Castros and their dictatorship.
00:04:43.060 Maybe Trudeau just sides with the empire instead of the rebels.
00:04:46.140 I don't know.
00:04:46.520 Maybe it's to court Canadian Muslim voters. 0.81
00:04:49.000 Maybe it's Bombardier, as it so often is.
00:04:51.920 You know, they have a $100 million sale of their airplanes to Iran.
00:04:55.600 Look at this.
00:04:56.800 The headline here, Ottawa to finance Iran's Bombardier order.
00:05:01.140 Financed by Canadian taxpayers.
00:05:03.080 Is that why Trudeau is siding with the regime he wants his Bombardier deal to go through?
00:05:07.600 Not a word from Trudeau on this whole thing.
00:05:09.540 And from our foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, just a three-line statement.
00:05:15.360 Canada is encouraged by the Iranian people who are exercising their basic right to protest peacefully.
00:05:20.300 We call on the Iranian authorities to uphold and respect democratic and human rights.
00:05:24.740 Canada will continue to support the fundamental rights of Iranians, including the right to freedom of expression.
00:05:29.920 That's it.
00:05:31.600 Now, of course, Iran has not upheld or respected democratic rights.
00:05:34.980 So, now what?
00:05:36.780 What's Canada going to do about it? 0.63
00:05:38.800 It's been three days since that statement.
00:05:41.040 Dozens have been killed.
00:05:42.440 Hundreds arrested.
00:05:43.320 So, nothing more.
00:05:46.380 What does it exactly mean when Chrystia Freeland says that Canada will support Iranians?
00:05:52.480 How?
00:05:53.440 And when's that going to start?
00:05:56.220 You know, there's an Iranian-born MP.
00:05:58.000 There's a couple of them.
00:05:58.620 One liberal named Majid Johari, he continuously presses Canada to become friendlier with the Iranian dictatorship.
00:06:07.460 He took Chrystia Freeland's statement.
00:06:09.000 I just read you her statement in full.
00:06:11.180 And he added a few extra words to it, which was so bizarre.
00:06:15.300 Look at this.
00:06:15.720 Look at this.
00:06:16.120 You see this is his tweet?
00:06:17.260 Look up at the top there.
00:06:18.040 He added,
00:06:20.060 With the support of their elected government in a secure environment and without the fear of persecution.
00:06:24.840 He's saying that Iranians have the support of their elected government.
00:06:32.140 Elected?
00:06:33.260 There are no free elections in Iran.
00:06:35.020 They're rigged.
00:06:36.480 But not to that guy, a liberal MP from Iran, whose statement has gone uncontradicted by the Liberal Party.
00:06:44.840 The liberals are literally choosing to side with the Iranian regime over the Democratic protesters.
00:06:49.460 By the way, regarding Johari's resume, he has this penchant to describe himself as an engineer,
00:06:55.720 even though he currently isn't a practicing engineer,
00:06:59.080 and he certainly wasn't an active engineer during the 2015 election campaign either.
00:07:05.160 In fact, he hasn't been one since 1999,
00:07:09.340 and it was only when he was called out regarding this fibbing did he issue an apology.
00:07:14.920 So, he's careless with the truth, making him even more of a kindred spirit with Justin Trudeau yet again.
00:07:24.220 So, anyway, as I mentioned, I caught up with this learned liberal on Saturday.
00:07:28.600 I just wanted to know why he likes to tweet support to one of the most despicable regimes in the world,
00:07:34.980 an odious administration that happens to be one of the biggest state sponsors of terrorism on the planet.
00:07:41.060 By the way, I should add, Johari's support of the mullahs in Iran has infuriated the vast majority of those in the Canadian Persian community,
00:07:50.900 given that the reason they immigrated to Canada in the first place was due to the fact that living in Iran has become increasingly intolerable. 1.00
00:08:01.420 Well, here's what Johari had to say to me.
00:08:04.800 Hi there. How are you doing, sir?
00:08:06.120 David Menzies. How are you doing there?
00:08:07.820 Are you taping something?
00:08:09.740 I am indeed. I want to ask you, why did you support the Iranian regime in a recent tweet?
00:08:14.480 I did not support the Iranian regime. These are fake news.
00:08:16.620 It's fake news?
00:08:17.300 Do you have any proof? Do you have any proof, sir?
00:08:20.000 Yes, your own tweets, sir.
00:08:20.960 Do you have any proof? No, my tweet is...
00:08:22.080 What is your opinion of Iran?
00:08:26.660 That is something that we could discuss later.
00:08:28.700 Oh, why not? Right now.
00:08:29.640 So, you know it's one of the largest state sponsors of terrorism in the world. Would you agree with that, sir?
00:08:35.680 There are terrorism going in there.
00:08:37.760 Yeah. So, do you support the regime, sir?
00:08:40.940 Absolutely not.
00:08:41.920 Oh, then why did you tweet congratulations to it?
00:08:43.960 Because I'm not tweeting congratulations and you're faking your news.
00:08:47.240 No, I'm not faking my news.
00:08:48.080 Yes, you are. You are. You don't have any fact. You haven't had any facts.
00:08:51.420 I haven't had any facts in four years.
00:08:54.360 And you're harassing me and I don't appreciate it.
00:08:55.980 I'm not harassing you, sir.
00:08:56.920 I'm in a public place asking you.
00:08:58.600 You are in a public place and I told you I do not support the regime.
00:09:02.860 I do not support the advocate for them and you're accusing me of that.
00:09:05.800 And if you put that in formal writing, then we can have a discussion later on.
00:09:09.320 Okay, then.
00:09:09.660 Thank you very much. Have a great day.
00:09:10.280 Why is the local Richmond Hill Persian community so upset?
00:09:12.560 That I can't do. Why don't you go ask them?
00:09:14.300 Huh? Why don't you go ask them?
00:09:15.300 Because you've tweeted your support.
00:09:17.160 No, sir.
00:09:17.840 You're faking and that's not true.
00:09:19.580 So, yet again, when it comes to the federal liberals, denial ain't just a river in Egypt.
00:09:25.200 They sure don't like going on the record about the sordid stuff they support.
00:09:30.800 And when cornered, they engage in plenty of talking without, well, actually saying anything.
00:09:37.260 Kind of like that other Trudeau cabinet minister, Maryam Monsef.
00:09:41.940 Remember her remarks to us during an event marking World Press Freedom Day in Toronto?
00:09:47.260 Before we were frog-marched out of the building because, hey, apparently embracing World Press Freedom Day, according to Ms. Monsef,
00:09:56.540 is all about stifling freedom of the press that the journalist isn't one of Trudeau's state-sponsored stenographers.
00:10:05.140 Check it out.
00:10:05.760 Say, Minister Monsef, David Benzies with Rebel Media.
00:10:08.740 Just a quick question.
00:10:10.320 The United Nations told our reporters they were banned from covering their conferences due to a directive from the Canadian government.
00:10:21.860 Do you support that?
00:10:23.320 I hope you support what we're doing here today, which is ensuring freedom of expression and an independent free press for your colleagues around the world.
00:10:31.040 But that's precisely the point. We traveled to Morocco, we traveled to Poland, and we were shut out of UN conferences because of an edict from your government.
00:10:41.160 Does that sound like world press freedom to you, Minister?
00:10:44.260 What we're doing today is supporting an independent and free press in some of the most troubled regions of the world.
00:10:51.280 And I have no doubt that you rejoice in this investment and this initiative.
00:10:55.220 Well, you know, but how do you square the fact that you won't even let Canadian journalists that might have a dissenting opinion about things like immigration and climate change?
00:11:06.340 And again, I ask, whatever happened to Sunny Ways, my friends? Sunny Ways?
00:11:12.660 What happened to that often stated promise of open transparency?
00:11:16.840 I think I know what you're thinking, folks, and I wholeheartedly agree.
00:11:23.440 Namely, October 21st can't possibly come soon enough.
00:11:29.880 Stay with us for more.
00:11:31.220 Well, it's like a cliche from a cheesy horror movie, isn't it?
00:11:49.220 You know, just when you think the monster has been slain and the exhausted protagonists begin to walk away.
00:11:55.640 Well, that's how Mark Stein looks upon the possibility of the anti-free speech provision, Section 13, being restored to the Canadian Human Rights Act.
00:12:15.320 This incredibly flawed provision was rightfully tossed by the Stephen Harper Conservative government in 2013.
00:12:23.380 But now a liberal-dominated justice committee wants to restore it.
00:12:28.420 What's more, it will be supercharged this time around with an additional focus pertaining to social media.
00:12:35.880 So, in essence, folks, Section 13 is the polar opposite of the First Amendment.
00:12:40.660 It is anti-free speech and pro-censorship.
00:12:46.040 No wonder the left loves this thing.
00:12:49.920 Joining me now with the latest on Section 13's potential comeback is Andrew Lawton with TNC.news.
00:12:57.220 Welcome to the Ezra Event Show, my friend.
00:12:59.940 Good to be with you, David. Thanks for having me.
00:13:01.740 It is always a pleasure, Andrew.
00:13:03.320 So, in addition to, oh, I don't know, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Michael Myers,
00:13:08.000 it would appear that Section 13, it just refuses to stay dead, doesn't it?
00:13:14.260 Yeah, and, you know, usually horror sequels are bad.
00:13:17.920 I mean, in this case, the horror sequel is going to be more terrifying than the original.
00:13:22.460 I mean, this is one of the rare cases where the remake is going to have much more of an impact than the first one did,
00:13:28.140 because now they're out for blood, and one of the biggest problems with this is that, as you noted in your preamble there,
00:13:35.400 the proposal from the Justice Committee empowers or I'll say coerces social media companies
00:13:42.200 into being what I characterize in my writing on this as state enforcers,
00:13:47.040 because you see it in, I believe it's recommendation number nine,
00:13:51.180 this idea on the committee's report that social media companies must have requirements imposed by the government
00:13:58.380 on how they're going to get rid of what the government says is hate speech.
00:14:03.740 Now, the reason this is so relevant is because when Section 13, Part 1 was around,
00:14:09.100 there was this sham of a tribunal you'd go to,
00:14:11.720 and the tribunal would determine if what you posted was hateful, and that was bad enough.
00:14:16.080 Now you don't even get to the tribunal part.
00:14:18.760 The government is forcing social media companies to censor their users.
00:14:23.500 And, you know, Andrew, let's talk about the way in which Section 13 worked back in the battle days pre-2013
00:14:31.840 and why the Stephen Harper Conservatives got rid of it.
00:14:37.040 We know, well, at least those who follow this story know,
00:14:40.680 that essentially Section 13, it was gamed by one individual, if you will,
00:14:45.560 Richard Warman, sometimes he was an employee of the human rights racket,
00:14:49.980 sometimes he was a complainant, and he brought forth well over a dozen cases in which he always won,
00:14:57.360 in which he went trolling for hate speech on the internet, posing as somebody else,
00:15:02.960 and himself using hateful language in order to do his phishing, if you will.
00:15:08.920 And this is what I find disturbing about this.
00:15:12.420 We know how inherently flawed this is, so why bring it back in the first place?
00:15:18.020 What is the agenda of those who want to reinstate it?
00:15:21.940 Well, I think the agenda is very clear here.
00:15:24.600 You're talking about a movement of people that fundamentally believe speech should not be free.
00:15:30.560 And when you look at the witnesses that were testifying as part of this online hate study,
00:15:35.740 there were 59 of them, so nearly five dozen witnesses,
00:15:40.460 and all but about five were taking an anti-free speech stance,
00:15:45.300 or at the very least a stance that was a lot more focused on where the limit to free speech should be,
00:15:51.700 rather than fundamentally putting the protection and preservation of free speech front and center.
00:15:56.720 So that's the agenda.
00:15:57.940 And trust me, you've got a lot of people that have very legitimate grievances,
00:16:01.020 whether you're talking about Muslims or gays or transgender people.
00:16:05.480 I don't doubt them when they say that they see mean, nasty things on the Internet, 0.97
00:16:10.300 and they are on the receiving end of perhaps mean and nasty and maybe emotionally hateful bars.
00:16:16.120 But something being emotionally hateful or something that you feel is hateful does not mean it should be illegal.
00:16:23.680 And that's the fundamental divide here, is that we are criminalizing hurting feelings
00:16:28.580 when we already have a mechanism in Canada called the Criminal Code
00:16:32.340 that deals with speech that is sufficiently hateful to cause real harm.
00:16:38.300 And you know, Andrew, I think you nail it there on two fronts.
00:16:41.560 One, you do not have a right to not be offended.
00:16:46.420 You simply do not.
00:16:47.680 And secondly, as you said, there are provisions on the books,
00:16:51.500 libel, slander, defamation, you name it,
00:16:54.600 in which real courts, not kangaroo courts, i.e. human rights tribunals,
00:17:00.040 can be used to implement justice when you really are, you know, criminally maligned.
00:17:07.920 So I'm with you on that.
00:17:10.360 Why can't we let the real courts and the existing laws take care of the really odious stuff? 0.99
00:17:16.920 Yes, and that Section 13, in its 32 or 34 years, had a 100% conviction rate.
00:17:24.060 And this is astonishing.
00:17:25.680 And I know Mark Stein mentioned this in his testimony.
00:17:28.740 Even North Korea would be jealous of the 100% conviction rate
00:17:33.160 that the Canadian Human Rights Commission had.
00:17:35.400 I mean, Saddam Hussein would say, no, no, no, that's too much.
00:17:38.380 We don't think, like, this is insane.
00:17:40.080 Nothing has a 100% conviction rate.
00:17:42.120 I mean, government can't do anything right.
00:17:44.100 So if government's convicting people 100% of the time,
00:17:46.900 there's a problem with the law itself.
00:17:48.660 But beyond that, I want to direct your viewers to two relevant people here.
00:17:54.480 Number one, David Arnott.
00:17:56.120 Now, he is the chief commissioner of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission,
00:17:59.840 and he testified before the Justice Committee and said,
00:18:04.000 and this is a direct quote,
00:18:05.540 that Canada has no unbridled right to freedom of expression.
00:18:09.720 And Dean Stacey, who was with the Canadian Human Rights Commission
00:18:13.700 back when Section 13 was around the first time, said in a deposition,
00:18:18.380 I think back in 2010 or 2011, I might be wrong about the year,
00:18:22.260 but said in a deposition, when he was asked by a lawyer,
00:18:26.400 how much of an emphasis do you put on freedom of speech?
00:18:29.780 And he said, freedom of speech is an American concept,
00:18:33.160 so I don't pay any mind to it, or something like that.
00:18:35.760 But it was freedom of speech is an American concept.
00:18:38.700 So you have people that are in this human rights bureaucracy
00:18:41.960 that fundamentally believe freedom of speech is not something
00:18:45.760 that Canadians have as a right or should have as a right.
00:18:49.340 And when they're saying that so brazenly,
00:18:51.920 we have to be very mindful of what's going to come
00:18:55.000 from what was supposed to be the ashes of Section 13.
00:18:59.200 And, you know, Andrew, back earlier this month
00:19:02.560 when the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights was sitting,
00:19:06.920 we bumped into each other in Ottawa.
00:19:08.660 You described that session as farcical, and I think that's an excellent word. 1.00
00:19:15.880 It began with us at the Rebel being denied press credentials to cover it,
00:19:21.120 so we just went in anyways.
00:19:23.740 Secondly, when you looked at the witnesses testifying,
00:19:28.180 Mark Stein, Lindsay Shepard, John Robson,
00:19:31.620 I think the way they were treated was appalling.
00:19:35.200 And even in the preamble before they got to say what they wanted to
00:19:39.100 and the questioning, Mr. Cooper's remarks were completely expunged from the record.
00:19:46.740 It was like that season of Dallas, you know, where what's-his-name Patrick Duffy didn't die.
00:19:54.760 Oh, it was all a dream, honey.
00:19:56.860 You know, those words were never uttered in this chamber.
00:19:59.900 I mean, Andrew, I've never seen the likes of this in my life.
00:20:03.240 No, by the way, thanks for the spoiler alert.
00:20:06.300 I hadn't gotten around to watching that season yet.
00:20:09.400 But what actually I think is relevant here is that we're beyond parody.
00:20:14.680 We're beyond satire.
00:20:15.960 I mean, if I were to write a parallel universe in which I said,
00:20:19.520 OK, and the committee studying free speech is going to pass a motion to censor someone,
00:20:25.480 someone would look at me and say, oh, no, Andrew, that's not yet—no one would do that.
00:20:28.220 That's not realistic.
00:20:28.960 But that's what happened.
00:20:30.380 A discussion on free speech and the MPs unanimously, because the Conservatives abstained,
00:20:35.940 unanimously voted to censor someone's words from the record.
00:20:39.480 And I've got to tell you, David, it wasn't just that motion,
00:20:42.920 which really bothered me on a visceral level,
00:20:46.120 but it was when I went back and listened to the audio and found that even the audio,
00:20:51.560 which was supposed to be a live, raw feed of the meeting, had been retroactively edited,
00:20:57.060 silence in the place of where Michael Cooper was speaking.
00:21:00.340 And you go back and you listen, and he says, you know, I'm going to read from the manifesto of—
00:21:06.320 and then you think your computer has died.
00:21:08.420 I mean, this is not something that is supposed to happen in a free and freedom-loving country.
00:21:13.460 This is literally censorship.
00:21:15.300 When you're going back and removing something from the record,
00:21:18.260 it's not conjecture or hyperbole or exaggeration.
00:21:21.380 That is the literal definition of censorship.
00:21:24.820 It is appalling, Andrew, and it's unbelievable it's happening in Canada.
00:21:28.800 And what's more, another angle I wanted to pursue with you,
00:21:31.720 it's how the Conservatives—and let's not forget,
00:21:34.240 there are dozens of Conservative MPs that were part of the Stephen Harper regime
00:21:40.940 back when this odious section was lifted from the Canadian Human Rights Act.
00:21:46.840 And I don't know, Andrew, I don't see any strength on this issue.
00:21:52.380 It's either they're sitting on their hands or they're voting for something that was going to be carried anyways,
00:21:57.340 because, as you mentioned, it was a Liberal-dominated committee.
00:22:02.180 I really wonder, where does Andrew Scheer stand on this?
00:22:09.080 Well, you know, it's funny.
00:22:10.720 I try to give criticism where it's due and credit where it's due.
00:22:14.560 And there was a lot of criticism due, in my view anyway,
00:22:18.200 towards Andrew Scheer and the Conservatives over how they handled the Michael Cooper situation,
00:22:23.300 how they handled, really just a week later, the Salim Mansoor nomination.
00:22:27.840 And I know you did an interview on that in London.
00:22:30.720 So I think that there was a string of really bad decisions there by the Conservatives.
00:22:35.620 But I have to say, in the Justice Committee report,
00:22:38.420 the Conservatives issued a dissent that was very positive, I'd say, in free speech.
00:22:44.180 They said, look, the Liberal recommendations are despicable.
00:22:47.720 They don't strike a balance between dealing with online hate and preserving free speech.
00:22:52.120 And bringing back Section 13 in no uncertain terms is a, like, that's just an absolute terrible idea.
00:22:59.060 So I do think that the Conservative response to the report was what I would have hoped it would have been.
00:23:05.060 Again, that doesn't take away my misgivings about the Conservatives in the procedural aspects of this.
00:23:10.980 I do think that Andrew Scheer is, as a person, on side.
00:23:14.520 I mean, this is a guy who, in the leadership race,
00:23:16.920 said he wanted to cut federal funding of universities that don't protect free speech.
00:23:21.400 So I don't know if this has just been a political miscalculation
00:23:25.320 or if this is about different advisers talking on different sides.
00:23:29.700 But I do think that if the Conservatives can do more of what's in this response to the report
00:23:35.660 and less of what they were doing in the mechanics of the committee,
00:23:39.780 they're going to be on the right side of this.
00:23:41.560 But I want to see more of that before I can say,
00:23:44.340 yes, they're allies in this fight definitively.
00:23:46.520 Yeah, well, at the very least, Andrew, I think they've really miscommunicated their position.
00:23:52.980 And I'm saying this, too, in order to give you the benefit of the doubt.
00:23:55.740 When we spoke to Maxime Bernier that day after the committee hearing,
00:23:59.560 he was very clear, crystal clear where he stood on it.
00:24:03.220 He compared this to something out of the pages of 1984.
00:24:06.940 And I think he's bang on.
00:24:08.500 But, you know, we're running out of racetrack here.
00:24:11.160 Andrew, takeaway question.
00:24:14.540 Look into your crystal ball for me right now, if you could.
00:24:18.040 Where does this go from here?
00:24:20.720 Is this going to be, is it an accomplished fate that this is going to be re-implemented
00:24:25.980 while this government is still sitting before the election day of October 21st?
00:24:32.060 Or what's going to happen?
00:24:33.260 Well, listen, we have very little runway left between now and the election
00:24:37.880 when you talk about sitting periods in the House of Commons.
00:24:41.820 And even if the Liberals were to throw together a law and implement it,
00:24:46.340 there's no way that gets through the House and the Senate
00:24:48.660 and gets royal assent before the writ drops.
00:24:51.900 So I don't think we have to worry.
00:24:54.160 I mean, famous last words they may be.
00:24:55.920 But I don't think we have to worry about something before the election.
00:24:59.840 But I do think we need to worry about what a re-elected Liberal government will do with this.
00:25:04.800 Because now that this report is on the record, Michael Cooper's words aren't,
00:25:08.600 this report is, the Liberals have the opportunity to use this as a jumping-off point
00:25:13.220 immediately into a new term to say, yeah, it's time to start tackling this.
00:25:17.760 And, you know, if they win, I mean, nightmare scenario for Canadians,
00:25:21.260 if the Liberals win a majority, that means there's no one to push back against this.
00:25:26.040 So I don't think there's an imminent fear here.
00:25:29.140 But I do think there is a genuine fear, if the Liberals are re-elected,
00:25:33.800 that Section 13 comes back.
00:25:36.300 And it's not speculation or exaggeration to say that free speech suffers a blow.
00:25:42.280 Well, you just mentioned something, another Liberal majority.
00:25:45.560 I think that's the kind of thing that would give Count Floyd white hair.
00:25:50.220 But, Andrew...
00:25:50.940 If you need, we can go and remove it from the record, David.
00:25:53.580 Never said it.
00:25:54.100 Oh, if only that, yeah.
00:25:55.800 If it bothered you, I can say I never mentioned it.
00:25:58.200 Maybe I'll review this interview before it's posted.
00:26:01.120 And if I don't like anything you said, I'll take inspiration from this Justice Committee
00:26:05.740 and just remove it from the record.
00:26:08.260 Oh, my goodness, I can't believe.
00:26:09.680 Well, let's hope that this doesn't come back.
00:26:12.580 And let's hope there's not another horror movie-like cheesy cliché in October,
00:26:17.980 i.e. the return of another majority Liberal government.
00:26:22.140 Who knows? Time will tell.
00:26:23.100 Andrew, thank you so much for weighing in on this very important subject.
00:26:27.240 A pleasure.
00:26:28.040 You got it.
00:26:28.860 And, folks, keep it here.
00:26:29.800 More of the Ezra Levent Show to come right after this.
00:26:32.160 Well, you know, folks, it's estimated that more than a million people clogged the streets
00:26:47.360 of downtown Toronto today to pay homage to their basketball heroes, winners of the 2019 NBA championship.
00:26:55.380 And Toronto was going to show the world, much like Toronto did in 1992 and 1993 with the Blue Jays winning the World Series,
00:27:03.060 how it's done to have a huge street party without any serious crime.
00:27:08.680 Well, my cameraman, Efren, and I were here at the atrium on Bay, and this broke out.
00:27:15.400 Well, that was the aftermath, and I didn't catch it from the beginning,
00:27:32.620 of people that ran into the atrium screaming.
00:27:36.140 I thought it was people just engaged in tomfoolery, but no, those weren't screams of joy.
00:27:42.320 They were screams of terror.
00:27:43.900 And, of course, the reason for those screams of terror was due to a few savages who thought it was perfectly okay 0.99
00:27:50.640 to bring handguns to a massive victory parade that saw as many as 2 million people clogging the streets of Toronto's downtown core.
00:28:00.060 As to motivation, was this all about settling a score?
00:28:03.540 Was it gang-related? 0.98
00:28:05.320 Or were these just pathetic individuals who decided they would attempt to hijack a victory celebration for their own self-affirmation? 0.94
00:28:14.580 Those details will come out in the days ahead. 0.93
00:28:16.980 In the meantime, here's what some of you had to say.
00:28:20.640 Long Drives at Night writes,
00:28:22.580 I grew up in Newfoundland and Labrador, plenty of gun ownership, very little amount of gun crime.
00:28:28.240 Now I live in New Brunswick, same thing.
00:28:30.520 It appears some folks in the inner city have bad upbringing and culture,
00:28:36.080 and these folk are the reason libs and lefties want to pick on Canadian law-abiding gun owners, 1.00
00:28:43.120 start jailing longer, and in some cases, deport them.
00:28:47.300 Well, Long Drives at Night, you touch upon a couple of good points here.
00:28:52.120 The knee-jerk reaction whenever there is any kind of crime involving guns is, of course,
00:28:56.940 to go after legal gun owners who are not the problem.
00:29:01.080 As for upbringing and cultural issues, well, these are no fly zones for the left.
00:29:06.980 It's just way too culturally sensitive for them.
00:29:10.460 And finally, when are we going to have some real penalties?
00:29:15.280 And how about this?
00:29:16.760 If you're found with an illegal handgun in your possession, bang, that's an automatic 10-year sentence.
00:29:23.040 But in this day and age of restorative justice, it is far easier to go after the legal gun owners 0.88
00:29:29.760 because that's an easy way to make it seem like the government is doing something to fix the problem,
00:29:36.560 whereas in reality, they are doing absolutely nothing.
00:29:41.060 Charles Clements writes,
00:29:42.180 Oh, Charles, how dare you?
00:29:53.760 The rebel is not and never will be a Trudeau-approved state stenographer.
00:29:58.760 We embrace the truth and we never shy away from telling it.
00:30:02.320 The reasons why the culprits weren't identified was due to the fact that when we filed our report,
00:30:07.200 this information was not yet available.
00:30:09.500 But thanks to some excellent police work by Toronto's finest,
00:30:14.380 three suspects are now in custody.
00:30:16.700 Shaquille Anthony Miller, 25,
00:30:19.520 Adrakarim Karou, 18,
00:30:22.860 and Thano Toussaint, 20.
00:30:25.980 This threesome faces multiple firearms charges as well as several other charges.
00:30:31.240 The hunt continues for a fourth suspect.
00:30:33.780 In the meantime, let's hope that if found guilty,
00:30:36.900 the judge sends a firm message by throwing the book at these guys.
00:30:41.800 We don't know yet if the shootings were targeted,
00:30:44.020 but given the huge crowds that day,
00:30:46.960 a bullet missing its intended target would have surely have hit an innocent bystander.
00:30:53.720 And there were thousands of kids at this parade.
00:30:56.380 Like I said, let's hope the judge likes the idea of hard time in prison, 0.94
00:31:01.500 as opposed to sending human trash to some healing lodge in Saskatchewan. 0.96
00:31:07.500 Toby T writes, 0.98
00:31:08.740 Nobody cares about the Raptors or whatever they are called.
00:31:12.640 Nobody even knew about it merely two months ago. 0.99
00:31:15.580 The dumb millennials are biting into anything with a slight hype. 0.99
00:31:20.000 After a month, nobody will remember the news or care. 1.00
00:31:22.820 Suddenly, everyone is a basketball fan.
00:31:25.940 Basketball is non-existent in Canada.
00:31:29.320 Oh, gee, where do I even begin?
00:31:31.460 The numbers indicate that people do indeed care, Toby T,
00:31:35.940 when you get about two million people out on the street
00:31:38.660 waiting to catch a glimpse of a procession that was more than three hours late.
00:31:43.980 I'd say that's caring big time.
00:31:46.400 Granted, there were plenty of bandwagon hoppers, myself included,
00:31:51.020 during the Raptors' amazing playoff run.
00:31:53.380 But so what?
00:31:54.820 The owners of the team love bandwagon hoppers.
00:31:57.800 Hey, if you're going to buy all that pricey official merchandise,
00:32:01.820 then the more the merrier.
00:32:03.720 As for your statement that basketball is non-existent in Canada,
00:32:08.280 what do you even base that on?
00:32:10.000 Basketball is huge in Canada,
00:32:11.600 and I would suggest that this nation is now producing
00:32:15.120 world-class basketball talent that is second only to the USA.
00:32:20.380 They say everyone loves a parade, but if you don't,
00:32:23.140 hey, that's fine.
00:32:24.000 Stay home.
00:32:24.740 Do your own thing.
00:32:25.500 I just don't get the idea of dumping on something
00:32:28.600 that was truly a golden moment for Toronto and even Canada.
00:32:33.040 And even though there were a few thugs
00:32:35.820 who tried to hijack this celebration with their gunplay,
00:32:39.820 the fact is they ultimately failed to do so.
00:32:43.480 Unlike so many other victory parades in Europe and North America,
00:32:47.300 for the most part,
00:32:48.660 Hogtown lived up to its nickname of Toronto the Good.
00:32:52.180 There was no rioting.
00:32:53.300 There was no mass vandalism and looting.
00:32:56.020 Police cruisers were not overturned and set ablaze. 0.94
00:32:59.380 All of this mindless crap has become a due rigueur occurrence 0.89
00:33:03.440 at so many other sporting celebrations. 0.97
00:33:06.020 But that did not happen in Toronto on Monday.
00:33:08.840 So take a bow, folks.
00:33:10.620 All of this mindless ن voyage to all different areas.
00:33:12.720 We've already got some instructionalmercialς,
00:33:13.740 but it was actually an ideal casus.
00:33:15.260 We've been in Toronto.
00:33:15.720 There was no leaders.
00:33:16.160 Well, valentine.
00:33:16.940 We've been pursuing this too.
00:33:17.460 We've been thinking about the different ways we've been able to
00:33:18.400 to can definitely
00:33:24.700 ask what the intervene is to do.
00:33:27.040 While we're in Toronto,
00:33:28.760 we've been waiting for altruism to stay here.
00:33:31.600 We're just following up to the tech news.
00:33:33.140 So we've been thinking about nothing but
00:33:33.660 what we're doing about technology it
00:33:34.680 means we've been doing anything next.
00:33:35.420 You're going to be sneezing
00:33:37.800 over Villainville.