00:01:14.060And I've seen some debates in the U.S. that have gone haywire when moderators haven't stepped in.
00:01:17.840So it's good you were able to really keep that going well.
00:01:20.640So your history, reading up on you, when you were 16 years old,
00:01:25.600You were declared functionally illiterate by the schooling system.
00:01:29.520You were going through a bit of a rough time, and you were able to really turn yourself around.
00:01:32.900Tell me about what your childhood was like.
00:01:34.880Yeah, as you said, I was considered illiterate when I was in high school.
00:01:37.940I always try to tell people I think I saw some of the most challenging parts of life in Canada,
00:01:41.720and I also saw some of the best parts of Canada, because by the time I was 22, I had a scholarship to law school, right?
00:01:48.020So I think I've seen what doesn't work well and what does work well.
00:01:51.860For me, a lot of it was just a strong community coming around me, getting the right mentors, having professors who really cared about teaching me the basics of how to read, write, and think critically.
00:02:02.240Some of the fundamentals we don't see honestly prioritized in public school these days.
00:02:06.460But I needed those things, and I was grateful to have the right people.
00:02:09.600So by the grace of God, I was able to make a transition from an illiterate student in high school to a successful post-secondary student.
00:02:16.720But unfortunately, that transition doesn't happen enough.
00:03:20.100So could you talk about that book and what the writing process was like and what it's about?
00:03:24.140Yeah, the book is about my experience growing up, but also the shared experiences I have with other young men in Europe, in Egypt, in the Middle East, in America.
00:03:33.540You know, all the different things that we have in common when we're going through this similar and relatable period in life where you are lost and where there might be some negative influences trying to pull you in the wrong direction.
00:03:44.140And depending on where you are in the community you grow up in, those negative influences could be absolutely destructive.
00:03:50.440In the case of gangs or terror organizations, white supremacist organizations, young men are the targets of lots of people who want to use us to further their own agenda.
00:03:59.840And so part of the book is to explain why young men get caught up in these sorts of situations where they may be tempted by destructive forces,
00:04:07.820but also what we can do to support young men, to believe in them, to put the right people around them.
00:04:13.300How do we counter the negativity with positivity?
00:04:16.120And the book outlines that from a policy perspective, but to me, most importantly, from a grassroots perspective.
00:04:22.800Absolutely. I'd like to get your thoughts on policing in Canada.
00:04:25.500Now, you made some comments that some saw as controversial in the aftermath of George Floyd's death,
00:04:30.280where you were critical of defunding the police, that movement, the Black Lives Matter associated.
00:04:35.280What are your thoughts on policing in Canada, but also in the United States and some of the challenges, what should perhaps be done?
00:04:40.660Yeah, look, I think policing, like many other services, public services, has its issues.
00:04:46.820I don't think police are perfect in any way.
00:04:50.120And I think most police officers I know would agree with that, too,
00:04:52.720that some reforms are necessary to increase accountability
00:04:55.940because police officers have a unique power in our society.
00:04:59.300That said, making things better is verily solved by defunding.
00:05:04.060And up until a couple years ago, I think most people on the left agreed with that.
00:05:07.760I mean, you didn't hear someone like President Barack Obama talking about defunding the police.
00:05:12.520But the fact that that slogan became popularized and became treated as mainstream by institutions like the Globe and Mail, by the CBC, by the city of Toronto.
00:05:22.200I mean, this just shows you how far left a lot of liberals have gone.
00:05:25.800And so for me, when I saw that slogan emerging, and not just that, but that people wanted to use black communities to justify a political agenda to defund the police,
00:05:35.120which most black people according to polling do not support most black people do not support
00:05:39.880defining the police and I as a black person in public life am I supposed to just keep nodding
00:05:44.180along as these liberals promote something that is baseless so I took a stand against it and it was
00:05:49.300very weird to be criticized for it because I'm thinking here like do you not talk to other black
00:05:53.720people like black people don't all think the same like I'm not like this is not some unique position
00:05:59.020I was taking and yet the mainstream liberal media kept suggesting that I was taking some sort of
00:06:04.540controversy. So I was doing these interviews with like the Globe and Mail and the CBC and they're
00:06:08.180presenting me like I'm some kind of like rogue element in the community. And it's like, actually
00:06:12.460most people agree with me, they're the rogues. And that's part of what I think the conservative
00:06:16.440movement needs to do is start treating the fringe groups that are trying to push their agendas onto
00:06:21.940us like they are the fringe groups that they are and not allowing them to spin us as if we're the
00:06:27.140small minority that doesn't have a justifiable position. For sure. So you don't think that
00:06:31.180community workers can do the job that police officers have been doing no I mean and I think
00:06:35.380that is so disrespectful to police officers frankly and also to social workers to even say
00:06:40.560things like that like when these people say oh just send someone with a clipboard when someone's
00:06:44.520got a gun it's like why would you like it doesn't make sense and that's the weird thing about a lot
00:06:49.240of like what we've seen as the far left becomes more dominant in our society it's like we've lost
00:06:54.860common sense like no one in their right mind would say the right response to gun violence is a person
00:07:00.600with a clipboard and yet somehow when we're in front of a camera we're supposed to pretend that
00:07:04.600that's a good idea i'm not going to pretend it's never going to happen yeah western society i think
00:07:09.140everybody would agree is is very divided right now we saw a lot of talk about that yesterday on
00:07:13.240the debate stage uh why do you think that is do you think that that is as you say the far left
00:07:17.260is uh is moving away or do you think it's both parties or can't see eye to eye and they're moving
00:07:22.080further away from each other politically what do you think's going on with that well i think the
00:07:25.780far left success comes from a lot of the sort of you know middle of the road
00:07:30.280center left and center right being too afraid to defend our society defend our
00:07:34.660culture defend our values and so out of some sort of weird type of a guilt or
00:07:39.520discomfort with Canadian identity we've just sort of surrendered the debate to
00:07:44.200the far left because they're willing to actually defend what they believe in yeah
00:07:48.400and I think more of us just seem to do that I mean if you do not agree with the
00:07:51.420far left on issues like policing or parents rights or a wide range of other
00:07:55.720things you need to be able to say so and having that discussion and saying what we believe in
00:08:00.520is a key step to actually making sure our values don't get lost in the wind so to me that's the
00:08:05.560biggest issue we can point a finger at the far left all we want but unless we're willing to
00:08:08.920defend what we believe in can we really be mad at them for actually trying to affect the world
00:08:14.280and you know have their own activist agenda for sure now in order to be fair as a journalist i
00:08:18.760got to ask about the far right now i see a lot of people that incorrectly mischaracterize the
00:08:23.160entire conservative movement as being far-right or alt-right. What do you think about the far-right
00:08:28.200and some of the more perhaps extreme elements? Do you think that that's a big issue or it's being
00:08:32.120exaggerated by people on the left? I do think there is a far-right. I mean, there are times,
00:08:36.440I mean, listen, anybody who spends time on social media can tell there is a far-right.
00:08:40.520You know, when we start to see things like ethnic nationalism, racism directed toward people because
00:08:45.240of things that are, you know, they're immutable characteristics, things have nothing to do with
00:08:48.680their individuality, their beliefs, their culture. Yeah, a lot of that is far-right political
00:08:54.260organizing. The reality though is, if we're being honest, which institutions in our society embrace
00:08:59.920that ideology, right? I mean, it is a fringe ideology. It is extremism. I don't see that being
00:09:05.640allowed into the schools the way far-left ideology is allowed into the schools. I don't see that on
00:09:10.460university campuses the way far-left ideology is on university campuses. So the far-right is an
00:09:15.320issue. And as a conservative, especially as a black man, especially as a black Christian with
00:09:19.260a Muslim name, I'm very sensitive to the far right because frankly, it's people like me and my family
00:09:24.060who are often targeted by the far right. But I don't think they present an equal threat when
00:09:28.360we're talking about making policy in this country. For sure. They definitely don't have as much of a
00:09:32.620platform or even an audience. Yeah. So you had a show on iHeartRadio and you said that you were
00:09:38.180fired because you wouldn't go along with the leftist agenda that you didn't agree with. Could
00:09:42.560you talk a little bit about that? Yeah you know I was hired after George Floyd was killed tragically
00:09:48.620back in 2020 and you know it was one of those things where I don't think they they assume that
00:09:53.600because I'm a black man I would have certain liberal political views and pretty quickly I
00:09:58.880think they realized I don't and you know I never wanted to go on the radio because I wanted a
00:10:03.420career out of it I went on the radio because I wanted to share what I believe in and so as Bell
00:10:08.580media started to realize like hey this guy we hired thinking he might be like a token black
00:10:13.620liberal is actually a conservative uh they started to apply pressure exactly on me uh changing
00:10:19.460expectations they wanted us to decry the country as racist before canada day last year they wanted
00:10:24.900us to have certain views on gender ideology certain views on vaccine mandates and my view on this was
00:10:31.620you know i think the diversity of my community as a black man deserves representation and not
00:10:36.740every black person thinks like a white liberal so why would i expect to have my show reflect those
00:10:42.980uh you know only one way of looking at the world and they were just very upset with it and it just0.85
00:10:47.220got very weird where i think they like didn't want to acknowledge that you know these white
00:10:53.060liberal executives thought they should be telling a black man what to say about diversity and uh we
00:11:00.580just you know at the end eventually it just became clear to them i think that i was not going to be
00:11:05.380kind of forced into parroting their talking points and they created in my view a fake restructuring
00:11:11.540narrative to eliminate the show without acknowledging that the real reason they're
00:11:15.620getting rid of me is because i just won't say what they want yeah that's really too bad but
00:11:19.780it's good that you stuck to your guns and you didn't let them push you around like that and
00:11:23.220say things you don't believe in um what are your thoughts on the the state of conservative uh the
00:11:27.780conservative party in this country i mean we lost the last three elections uh you saw a lot of
00:11:31.780of discussion last night about what needs to be done. What are your personal thoughts about where
00:11:35.760we go forward and how we can defeat Justin Trudeau in the next election, whenever that's held?
00:11:40.220Yeah, you know, one of the things that really stands out to me is I think Canadians want
00:11:44.040authenticity. They want people who they feel are being real with them, who are being transparent
00:11:48.700and upfront. I do believe that, you know, the Conservative movement really needs to embrace
00:11:53.640that and stop this sort of political correct posturing, just be real with people. I think
00:11:59.220that's what people want, especially given all the suffering people went through over the last two
00:12:02.660years, losing loved ones to COVID, the lockdowns, the mental health issues. We're just at a point
00:12:08.140where people just want to trust their leaders. And so I hope that's the direction that we're
00:12:13.240headed in. I do hope also that we are a group that will embrace some genuine dissent and
00:12:19.120disagreement and show Canadians that we're not here to cancel you. We're not here to tell you
00:12:24.440don't have a right to say what you think. We're the side of the political spectrum that wants
00:12:28.140actual conversation so those are the things that i think are going to make a difference in terms of
00:12:32.780connecting with the average you know working middle class family and i really hope that we
00:12:36.780take that seriously absolutely now as the president of the strong and free uh what are your plans what
00:12:42.780what direction would you like to take uh take it in in the future yeah well you know as we've been
00:12:46.940discussing it's obvious that we cannot rely on the public schools universities the mainstream media
00:12:52.460to pass on the wisdom and traditions of the conservative movement from one generation to
00:12:56.540the next so we've got to do that ourselves and i think that the canada strong and free network has
00:13:01.100done a very good job of doing that for some canadians and we just want to broaden that
00:13:05.340expand it bring more young people into the fold bring people from different regions different
00:13:10.220cultures different backgrounds into the fold and really be that institution that can help connect
00:13:15.180different generations so the lessons learned from conservative activists and politicians from the0.60
00:13:19.66080s and the 90s can be understood by the zoomers and the millennials that are going to lead us into
00:13:24.460the future yeah um going back to the debate were there any issues that i know you only got an hour
00:13:29.580and a half but any things that you would have liked to have seen discussed maybe or you would
00:13:33.100really like to see in future debates yeah i think more of a conversation on inflation and also
00:13:38.300housing we didn't get to either of those two issues some of the candidates sort of touched
00:13:42.540on them a little bit but i think that's weighing on canadians minds a lot and i think it would be
00:13:47.580nice in future debates there's three more happening this month for the uh those debates to really
00:13:52.780press for solutions you know we can blame justin trudeau for inflation we can blame justin trudeau
00:13:57.980for the housing crisis but what are we going to actually do to fix those issues that's one of the
00:14:02.620things that we didn't get to touch on much last night that i i really like to talk more about
00:14:06.860absolutely jamil before we wrap up here is there anything else you'd like to add about
00:14:10.540the kind of work you're going to be doing in the the months and years to come you know what i
00:14:14.300really want to be able to do is show more people across canada that conservative principles can
00:14:20.780solve the problems that they care about and there are a lot of people who have never had that
00:14:24.700conversation they've never had talked about what is a conservative what do conservatives stand for
00:14:28.700what do they mean the entire narrative of our politics has been so influenced by the left
00:14:33.580i really just want to balance it out and i hope that's what we can accomplish
00:14:36.940absolutely i do too well thank you very much for taking the time to speak with me yeah it's been