The Ben Mulroney Show - A day of shame for Toronto and TMU
Episode Date: November 6, 2025GUEST: ETHAN / Jewish Student and vice president of students supporting Israel at TMU GUEST: Rich Robertson / B'nai brith GUEST: Nolan Quinn / Ontario Minister of Colleges and Universities... If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! https://link.chtbl.com/bms Also, on youtube -- https://www.youtube.com/@BenMulroneyShow Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Insta: @benmulroneyshow Twitter: @benmulroneyshow TikTok: @benmulroneyshow Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Welcome to the Ben Mulroney show.
It's Thursday, November.
We hope everybody had a great night.
Listen, I wish I could just start this and we could have a lot of fun this morning and sort of back into the news of the day.
Yesterday was not a good day for this city.
It was a terrible day for this city.
It was a shameful day for this city.
I am going to do my best to keep my emotions in check, but I am angry this morning.
I am angry at the people who've been running this city for two years who allowed yesterday to happen.
yesterday didn't happen by accident it wasn't an aberration it was an escalation that was as predictable as the tides
and what i'm talking about specifically is what happened and i don't want to talk like this i don't
want to be speaking about this but the situation dictates that we must this is the news of the day
that yesterday at about 1 p.m uh a mob attacked a group of people who were having a conversation
That's really what it was.
So fundamentally what happened was students at Toronto Metropolitan University were trying to invite an IDF soldier into conversation.
They wanted to host this dialogue on campus.
TMU said no.
We're not going to let you do that, which is rich, which is rich given what they've allowed, what permissions they've allowed to fester what they've,
the behavior that they've allowed to fester on their campus,
having a dialogue with an IDF soldier,
that was a bridge too far for them.
Pardon?
Two soldiers.
I apologize.
Two soldiers.
And so they went off campus.
And that was not good enough for the other side of that conversation.
And some masked thugs forced their way into the building
where this dialogue was happening.
and broke in, put their hands on a police officer
who was defending the building
and broke in and made life traumatic
for the students who were just trying to have a conversation
and one of the IDFs, they barricaded themselves into the room
as these people were banging on the doors,
threatening them with language and screams
and eventually broke the glass, and one of the IDF soldiers had to go to the hospital.
And once he got to the hospital, the protesters protested at the hospital.
And so let's listen.
We've got some audio.
Let's listen to the sounds of that chaos.
Jonathan.
Jonathan, suicide.
Stop, stop, stop.
Get out of here.
Get out.
get out
get off
this property
get out
in our city
we refuse to allow
in our city
call 911
in our city
call 911
all right
yeah so there
you go
that's what happened
yesterday
the university's
response
TMU condemns
acts of aggression
intimidation or violence
the actions
that took place on
Wednesday are unacceptable and do not reflect the values of our community.
This is another one of this is not who we are nonsense.
Our thoughts are with any students who may have been injured during the incident.
What about the IDF soldier?
The safety and well-being of our community and the broader public are of paramount
importance.
The university will apply our policies as appropriate to espel these kids.
Expell them.
They broke the law.
They're criminals.
Keep their money.
Keep their tuition.
send them packing. That's what you do. That's what's appropriate here. Oh, and also make sure
that charges are pressed because they broke the law. How did this happen? Well, in my humble
opinion, this has been festering since October 7th. This has been festering with the
permission structure that we have allowed to grow and metastasize that.
allows for people to import the ills, the perceived ills from half a world away and make
them our problem and ascribing guilt to Jews in this city for again perceived ills by
Israel in a war that they were prosecuting because the other side decided to host a one-day
Holocaust against them.
This is what Brad Bradford said yesterday.
And we're saying Brad Bradford, because he's running for mayor, he's announced he's
running for mayor.
And so I think it's incumbent upon us to share the views of those who want to run this
city.
And right now he's the only person who has put his name in, thrown his hat in the ring.
This is a horrific targeted attack of violence in a city that has shrugged off far too many
attacks.
These thugs must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
law and our leaders must take accountability for their words and not just condemn this but take
action to prevent it from happening again. I don't know if he's referring to the words that we're
going to play for you right now, but why do I think this happened when it happened? I think it
happened because our mayor decided to cross a line she should not have crossed and decided to
define what she believes happened during the war in the most insane way.
possible. Let's listen.
We feel the pain of what happens around the world.
The genocide and Gaza impact us all.
Our common ball, our shared humanity is tested.
And I will speak out when children anywhere are feeling the pain and violence and hunger.
Mayor Chow, shame on you.
you as a sitting representative of the most multicultural city in the world picked aside in a war that we are not in
and you decide to call the actions of a country defending itself
you called it a genocide based on what proof show me the proof show me the data
madam mayor you gave permission to this group of people to take the next step in their fight
if after the Second World War
we found out that Adolf Eichmann
the architect of the final solution
was decamping here to Toronto
we would all mobilize to go find him
and that's what you've done
you've turned this IDF soldier who is here to have a conversation
into a genocider
that's what you did Madam Mayor
you gave these people permission
to go seek justice
because you turn this soldier into a war criminal.
That's what you did with your words.
You must be held accountable for the irresponsibility of your words.
You are giving license to emotional people who are governed by feelings, not facts,
to take justice into their own hands.
You put one of your own police officers at risk, Madam Mayor, with your words.
you need to walk them back
we looked online
do we have
do we have any statement from the mayor
crickets
crickets
we've got
nonsense thoughts and prayers
from TMU
this shameful organization
and I'll remind you
what happened in Milton
right we talked about it yesterday
not because we wanted to
but because it was so
so odd and so
shameful that when a group of people didn't get their way in the democratic process,
they decided to wail and scream and intimidate people.
They wanted the Milton City Council to approve a motion that the city was, quote,
apartheid free.
And they wanted Milton, a city of 122,000 people to put pressure on Mark Carney to put an embargo against Israel.
What are you talking about?
This is crazy.
So we've got a lot of angles
that we're going to be hitting this story with,
but this is a day of great, great shame.
I'm so tired.
This is not who we are.
Everybody deserves to, you know what?
Words are meaningless.
Action is the only thing that will change the temperature,
take the tone down,
and nobody in a position of leadership
seems to have the balls to want to do it.
So we're going to hit this story
from multiple angles, and we're going to speak with the Minister of Colleges and Universities,
but first, one of the students who was there.
Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show, and we are going to continue with our coverage of
the shameful act of violence that was perpetrated on Jewish students of Toronto Metropolitan
University, trying to host a dialogue with two.
former IDF soldiers that resulted in one of them in the hospital and everyone involved,
traumatized over this disgusting act of violence by protesters. We're joined now by the vice president
of students supporting Israel at Toronto Metropolitan University Jewish student. His name is Ethan.
We are withholding his last name because Ethan, welcome to the show. Why are we withholding your last
name? Hi, Ben. Thank you for having me. You're really
withholding my lesson because, again, I'm a Jewish student at TMU, and I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared to be on campus. I'm scared to go to my classes. It's a pretty chaotic environment. I know you saw what happened yesterday. It was traumatic. I mean, it was a crazy experience. None of us really expected what happened yesterday to happen. Yeah. Yeah. So let's, first of all, I'm very sorry this happened to you. This should not be happening, but it's predict.
did happen.
I've only seen the social media posts.
And so I've seen through,
I've seen this,
this story play out,
but through a keyhole, right?
I'm not getting the whole thing.
So for our listeners,
for our viewers on YouTube,
talk to us about the genesis of this,
this event,
and what led to yesterday.
100%.
Again, like what you're seeing on the news,
everything is a little over the place.
I don't think people are getting the full story
of individuals,
or, I mean, myself, I was there, I know, and I saw what happens.
I mean, we had this event.
We were setting up for the event.
The event was supposed to start at 1.30.
Everything started happening with the protesters.
But for context, Ethan, tell us, this was an event that, what was the purpose of it?
What was it called?
Who, you tried to host it on campus, correct?
And TMU denied you permission.
So give me those details.
Exactly.
So this event was, we were hosting two ideas.
Two Jewish-American IDF soldiers, they're coming to talk to us about their experience in Israel since October 7th and talking about the war.
One of the soldiers was going to talk about how his uncle was kidnapped by Hamas and to share his story.
I mean, this event was open to Jewish, open to Christian, open to Muslim, students coming in for open dialogue to have a conversation to talk, to share their experience.
this event was open
to all students wanting to learn
I mean, it's really unfortunate
that this construed and
this came down. I mean, it was supposed
to be a conversation and a safe space
for everyone. And so, but TMU
denied you permission to do it on campus
and so you went just off campus, correct?
To a private, to a... And where
did it take place? It looked sort of like
a podcast room or something. It looked like
you were in an office.
Exactly. So we, so exactly,
TMU denied us.
They've been denying us a lot of events over the past couple of months, a lot of Jewish and a lot of Israeli events.
It's unfortunate.
So we also, for safety reasons for us, we wanted to have an event.
We booked out a space off campus, close to TMU, close to UFT, so students from both universities could come and listen.
This space was supposed to be a private space that we booked out.
It was more like a, it was like a conference room.
It was a room with chairs and for people, for the speakers to come speak.
Okay.
Okay.
And then, and then the word got out that it was happening.
And how, how, when we say protesters came into the building, how many were there?
There was about 50 as I'm at one point.
50.
And how many of you were there?
How many, how many organizers, how many students?
How many Jews were there?
Um, there was about five students setting up and two or three other individuals. Um, they came in loud. They came in violence. They, I mean, you've seen the videos. They broke glass. Actually, there was actually two individuals that were transported to the hospital yesterday. Not one. Oh, wow. Two of our individuals. Um, yeah, one of them actually had a tool that he used to break the glass open on the door, um, that police confiscated off of him.
I mean, they put their hands on a police officer.
They arrested.
I'm pretty sure they arrested four individuals.
I'm not 100% certain because police were trying to shield us from them.
I mean, you've seen the videos of them barricading, us barricading the doors.
Ethan, this reminded me of the videos I saw after January 6th.
Yeah.
That's what this, you know, a few police officers, in this case, one, trying to keep a mob out of a place they're not supposed to be.
and a mask mob
this to me
this that's what this looked like
yeah it was such an innocent event
we were again
we always wanted to do was have
open dialogue and free speech
but it turned into
the other side and other individuals
having hate speech towards us
okay I got to ask Ethan
do you know like prior to October 7
did you know any of these people on the protest
do you know any of the protesters who showed up
I mean they were all masked from what I could see
so they don't have the courage to actually show their faces when they commit these crimes.
But did you get a sense that you maybe knew any of these people?
I didn't, but they definitely knew me because they definitely said,
they said I witnessed them on campus.
They've yelled at me free Palestine as I'm walking to class.
They know me, but I don't know them because obviously they're all wearing masks.
We don't know what they look like.
And again, they don't get in trouble.
I mean, if they're not getting arrested and people don't know who they are,
No one is never going to find out who they are.
They're just mask individuals who think that they could get away with anything.
And that is how TMU lets them get away with this stuff.
Well, what did you think of TMU's response?
We asked for an interview.
No one was available.
And when they say they condemn acts of aggression,
our thoughts are with any students who may have been injured.
I find it really rich that they didn't reference the IDF soldier who was injured.
the safety and well-being of our community,
the broader public,
of paramount importance,
the university will apply our policies as appropriate to respond.
You hear that.
What do you think?
So we've, I've been vice president of students supporting Israel.
I'm in Jewish fraternity, AEPI.
I'm in, I'm in Halel.
I'm in a lot of Jewish clubs on campus.
I host a lot of events on campus for Jewish students.
This is not the first time this has happened to us.
And again, the university,
they choose to say silent.
I mean, they have not reached out to us.
They haven't reached out to us in the past.
They choose to say silent.
They choose to say neutral.
But when Jewish students are being harassed,
there's no way that you can stay neutral.
Right.
No.
I mean, absolutely.
There's one side that was trying to have a conversation.
The other side decided to pick up arms.
This is not a time for moral equivalency.
This is not a both sides sort of thing.
You know, people didn't like it when people thought,
Donald Trump referred to both sides, which turns out he didn't do.
But like that was, there are certain types of people who were outraged by that.
And those same people are both sidesing this.
I've got to, so how are you feeling today?
What would you, is this going to stop you from organizing and trying to have these dialogues in the future?
To be honest, I still can't wrap my head around of what happened yesterday.
And my friend actually, she wrote me a text this morning.
She was one of the students there at the beginning.
She said, I had a nightmare about what happened yesterday.
I don't think students could really grasp Jewish students or other students could dress.
What happened yesterday?
I don't think I want to back down and I'm a proud Jew.
But it's pretty scary.
It's scary going to class.
It's scary being with other students on campus.
I've been yelled at.
I've been stalked.
I've been harassed.
It wasn't my first time talking to Belize.
Yeah.
This had happened before.
And, of course, I mean, this nonsense continued with the protesters protesting at the hospital, if I'm not making.
What hospital was this at?
I'm not 100% sure what hospital at.
I think it was either St. Michael's or Toronto General.
Yeah.
Well, regardless, it's against the law to protest in front of the hospital.
It's literally against the law.
Justin Trudeau put that in during the pandemic, saying that no one.
is allowed to protest in front of a hospital.
First responders need to be able to get to hospitals.
That is, every one of those people should have been rounded up and arrested.
And I'm so tired of the permission that we're giving people who break the law in this city to break the law.
I want the paddy wagon backed up.
I want mass arrests.
And I want the courts to figure it out.
If there's a charter violation, let the courts figure it out.
But enough is enough.
And Ethan, I'm sorry this happened to you.
I'm sorry this happens to any students
I'm sorry that the university has failed you
I'm sorry the city has failed you
I'm sorry the police have failed you
it is wrong
and I wish I could say it's going to get better
I honestly don't know
but I do thank you for joining us today
I really appreciate thank you
up next we're going to dig a bit deeper into this
should someone be held accountable at TMU
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Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show.
We are going to continue with our discussion about the abhorrent behavior by pro-Palestinian protesters yesterday.
Warren Kinsella just tweeted that this is a kind of Kristallnacht at TMU.
Yes, yeah, absolutely.
This is a pogrom against Jews yesterday.
And we as a city are sitting back and just saying, this is not who we are.
Oh, we reject this.
This is exactly who we are.
We let this happen.
Enough.
Take the world as it is.
And this is the world that we created.
And so we want to talk about who's responsible for this.
And what tools do we already have at our disposal to course correct and get back to a place where we can be proud of this city?
We're joined now by Rich Robertson of B'nai Brith.
For full disclosure, I have a financial and I've got a job with them.
I'm a national ambassador, nothing to say there that I'm not proud of.
Rich, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me on, Ben.
Who's responsible for this?
Well, the students, first and foremost, are responsible for this.
I'm sick and tired of us as a society treating students like they don't have full agency.
These are adult members of our society.
Their actions were beyond the pale, and they need to be held responsible for their actions.
No more passing the buck on the behavior.
of our students. They don't get special
treatment just because they're students.
What? Yeah. Yes. Go on.
Our leadership
has created this situation
that we're in. You said that in your intro
and you're absolutely correct. When you
allow hate and incitement to
foment on your streets,
unchecked, these are the repercussions
and we're now paying the price.
We've got
laws on the books. We've
got laws that don't permit
you to wear masks in public.
We got laws that are supposed to protect people from this sort of thing.
You're not allowed protesting in front of a hospital.
Nothing really seems to happen.
What can we do at this point to affect change?
Is it a money issue?
Is it about withholding federal funds from TMU to get them to take this seriously?
Should the donors, the big donors that put money into these schools?
Is it about them withholding their donations until changes occur?
What's going to get the needle to move?
Well, then, I'm glad to see that arrests were made,
and it's important that the appropriate charges are laid.
You reference the mask.
You cannot wear a mask in the commission of an offense in Canada.
And so we need to ensure that those charges are laid
because the wearing of masks and the proliferation of offenses
is a serious problem. It escalates the offense. It's an aggravating feature, and those charges
must be laid. When it comes to the university, now is the time for TMU to act and to demonstrate
unequivocally that they will not condone this type of behavior from their students and their
student organizations. And if TMU won't act and does not take the appropriate measures,
then we as a society must hold them accountable. And our government must find a way,
to curtail the autonomy that allows our universities
to turn a blind eye to instances like this.
Yep.
My producer just gave me some information
on the people who are arrested,
and you damn right, I'm going to name them.
Nicole Baton, 25 of Oakville, Kia Alexis, 22 of Toronto.
They were both arrested and charged with forcible entry,
members of an unlawful assembly,
and obstructing a peace officer.
Then you have Fatima Mugni, 23,
of Toronto arrested with forcible entry, member of an unlawful assembly.
Chelsea Wu, 29.
Yeah, that's a student.
29 of Toronto arrested in charge with obstructing a peace officer and assault of a peace
officer.
And Manal Kamran, 21 of Toronto, arrested and charged with obstructing a peace officer.
I'm glad we got their names.
I'm glad I got to say their names.
They need to be named and shamed, arrested, and prosecuted and incarcerated.
We need to be, at some point, at some point, at some point, at,
some point this city needs to say enough is enough and I don't know that look this is this is good
I'm glad this happened but people need to be scared to do this from now on rich well people need
to be scared to do this because what happened yesterday to the students was terrifying Ben I know
that you've seen the videos I was sick to my stomach having to barricade yourself in a building
while hostile entities are trying to gain access to it,
viciously banging on glass.
That is a horrifying experience.
It looked like a scene out of January 6th at the capital in Washington.
Or out of October 7th, Ben.
This is not, this is what you see in anarchy.
This is what you see from terrorists.
Yeah, yeah.
And again, like when I hear that Toronto Metropolitan University says the safety
of and well-being of our community,
the broader public of our
are of paramount importance.
Those are meaningless,
hollow, disingenuous words.
I couldn't agree more than.
That is the insult
added to the injury of yesterday.
I don't,
it's beyond the comprehension
to me how our
leaders and the leaders of our
universities don't understand that the time for
platitudes has long since
passed. We need the
university to hold these students
accountable. That club should not
exist anymore. In any argument
to the contrary, I really don't see how
it can suffice. Rich, give me
Benabreth's position on Olivia
Chow's statement that
there was a genocide in
Gaza. Well, first
off, Ben, no international
body has ruled that
there is a, no international legal
body, I should clarify, has ruled that there is
a genocide in Gaza. There is strict.
legal criteria to meet for something to be clear to genocide, and that has simply not been done.
So anyone who is postulating that Israel is committing a genocide is spreading dangerous misinformation
that inflames and emboldens the incitement that we are seeing on our streets.
Doctors Without Borders came out with their numbers of the deaths in Gaza, and they do not line up
with anything but the most responsible prosecution of a war in the history of urban warfare.
That's what those numbers say. You want to take an issue with doctors without borders? You go right
ahead. However, she also pointed out that the reason she had to say it was because she feels for
children. What about the children who are attacked here? What about the people, the kids in
Toronto, who just only now are becoming adults, you have made them feel unsafe? What about kids who go to
Jewish schools who had were shot at multiple times. What about the kids who have to walk past
swastikas that you have normalized because of this sort of thing who feel unsafe in their own
communities? Like what about the kids in your own city, Madam Mayor? You're so concerned with kids
on the other side of the world. How about Torontonians who feel unsafe? That's a, sorry,
I'll get off of my, I'll get off of my soapbox, Rich. But it's a, it's a, it's a disconnect that
I personally, if I'm being cynical, it's up, it's, she's looking at,
the numbers and it's a political play and i'm sick and tired ben of the city of toronto our mayor
other municipalities around canada engaging unduly in geopolitical issues when we have enough
problems to focus on at home uh yeah voters across the country need to take note of where the
priorities of our municipal leaders are at this time because it's frightening uh rich really quick i just
wanted um you were actually in milton as as a deputant a few days ago when things got out of control
because pro-Palestinian uh voices did not get what they wanted uh in terms of a motion that
did not pass talk talk to me real quick you got about a minute well i delegated virtually
and one of the reasons i had to delegate virtually ben is because i have concerned for my own
safety and that that that's an important note ben that as a member of our society a representative
of the Jewish community, I have to fear for my safety when asked to delegate to a municipal
council here in Canada. The behavior of the protesters was abhorrent. And I like to point out
to your listeners, Ben, that they are the epitome of intolerant. Anyone who doesn't agree with
their side is shut down, and that is not democracy. My goodness. I mean, I'm a, I'm a center,
center-right Canadian. I almost never get what I want politically in this country. And
the most I do is try to engage in conversation.
Every now and then, my temper runs hot,
but it never goes beyond words.
And I don't know where anybody thinks
that they have license or latitude
to do anything like what we've been witnessing
on the streets of Toronto and recently in Milton.
It is shameful behavior.
And again, I got to say,
this is now who we are.
And anybody suggesting otherwise
is trying to minimize the,
the grotesque nature of what's happened on our streets.
Rich, I want to thank you very much for joining us.
Keep up the good fight, my friend.
Thank you for having me, Ben.
All right.
What is the provincial government doing about all this?
We're going to find out next.
You know,
Welcome.
back to the Ben Mulroney show. We're having conversation about the nonsense that has been
allowed to fester at Toronto Metropolitan University that led to what Warren Concella referred to
as our own little, our own little Kristallnacht, here in the city of Toronto yesterday. And we
want to know about what can we do. So we're very fortunate that the Ontario Minister of Colleges
and Universities, Nolan Quinn, has called in. We only have a few minutes with the minister. Thank you so
much for joining us, Mr. Quinn.
Thanks for having me, Ben.
I'm sure this is not what you want to be talking about, and yet here we are.
What can be done?
Because I don't know about you, but the statement made by TMU is another one of these
thoughts and prayers.
It's a useless gobbledygook that doesn't help anybody and just allows us to move
past it and let it happen again.
Absolutely, Ben.
And, you know, this behavior is entirely unacceptable.
You know, when I heard about the incident, I immediately contacted the senior leadership of TMU
to ensure that they're taking the proper steps, you know, because all students, you know,
I have children in my own, I know you do as well, deserve to have a safe environment when pursuing their higher education.
So we are well aware that, you know, the police have made arrests and TMU is working closely
with the Toronto Police Service to be able to identify any students and hold them accountable.
Now, from according to the 2025-2020s budget plan,
TMU receives about 36% of its operating revenue from government grants.
That includes federal and provincial.
That's a lot of money that comes from the taxpayer to this university.
Is that a lever that you're willing to play with and to leverage in order to change behavior and change perspective and change outcomes?
Well, Ben, we brought forward to legislation last year, Bill 166, and all 47 publicly assisted college universities have attested that,
They have easily accessible anti-hate policies and reporting mechanisms for the students to report any anti-hate, anti-Semitism, you know, incidents that are happening on campus.
But we are closely monitoring how these policies are being implemented.
And if it's found that more needs to be done to ensure our campuses are safe, I will absolutely explore that.
And when we talk about accountability, how far are we willing to go here?
Because it's, I don't see a lot of kids ever getting expelled from university.
like you know what you paid your tuition you broke the rules we're keeping your money go away go away
and never come back you're banned from campus is that's i'm some would say i'm being too harsh but i'm
tired of being nice i'm tired of making allowances i'm tired of people making excuses i'm tired of people
both siding this uh and so like how far is how far are we willing to go here to send a message
that this kind of behavior will never be tolerated again well ben as i mentioned you know this is
unacceptable. This type of violence is horrific.
You know, I was shocked yesterday
when I watched the video of the
incident. And I understand
when speaking with TMU that they're working with the Toronto
Police Service and individuals, as I mentioned,
have been arrested. Yeah. But TMU
will be taking action and I expect
them to take action in accordance with
their academic and anti-hate
policies. How long are you going to give them?
How long are you going to give them? Because this stuff,
this stuff could, it could repeat today, you know.
We could see another one of these today if they don't take
action soon.
Absolutely. We'll be in contact with TMU, but we've got to give them time to be able to do their investigation, just to make sure that they dot all their eyes and cross their teeth. But I do expect swift action from TMU in any institution across Ontario. If there's any form of anti-hate, they need to act swiftly.
Lastly, and then we'll let you go, because we know how busy you are. I really want to thank you for coming on the show and going on the record with us.
But, you know, there's a lot of money that flows into these schools by large donors. There are banks.
there are wealthy families, there are funds that pay into these schools.
Is there a role for your office to communicate with those donors to gauge the temperature
of whether or not they're willing to pull their funding if behavior doesn't change at that school?
Well, you know, it's not for my office to dictate to where donors put their dollars,
but, you know, we have heard in the past of donors being frustrated with some of the
encampments that happen on school. But ultimately, you know, there is a reaction that's going to
happen because of what's gone on campus. And, you know, if I was a donor of a school, I would
possibly act on that as well. But as I said, this is completely unacceptable, Ben. I want to be
super clear. It's my expectation that colleges, universities, TMU, are going to take swift action
with their student bodies when instances of hate occur.
Yeah.
All students, regardless of faith should feel safe.
welcome on campus. As I mentioned earlier, I have
three kids my own, and this is something
we teach my children very early on
respect of difference
of opinion and respecting others'
right to religion
or their own freedom of beliefs.
And, you know, it's egregious
what happened, and it's embarrassing.
If I was a parent of one of these students,
I would be significantly
embarrassed if my children were doing
that. So I truly expect
these institutions to take this very
seriously, which I know they are.
All of them have attested to the anti-hate legislation that we put forward.
Anti-Semitism is not welcome on any of our campuses.
Minister Quinn, when we ultimately get some sort of announcement or pronouncement from TMU,
we hope that you'll come back on and let us know what the Ontario government feels about that action
and whether or not it was enough and what the government may do next.
If you'll come back, we'd appreciate it.
Absolutely, Ben. Like I said, we're going to closely monitor
this. And if more needs to be done, if more legislation needs to happen, I'm absolutely willing
to look at it. Thank you very much. And we wish you the best today. And we, again, thank you for
going on the record here at the Ben Mulroney Show. Thanks so much, Ben. All right, we've got a few minutes
left. I would love to take your calls, 416870-6400 or 1-3-8-225 talk. Give us a call. What do you
make of this? What do you think should happen? Right now, we've got the government paying very
close attention. A lot of eyes are on this university. They have dropped the ball.
They, in my humble opinion, this was a logical, predictable thing that happened after years
of, of normalizing this, this level of petulance, which has turned to violence. So give us a call
at 416-870-6400. I want to paint with a broad brush here. You know, I don't think we need a
scalpel anymore. We need a bazooka. I think, you know, if you show up at a protest with
your mask on, the cops have a talking to you. If you show up at a protest, if you protest in
front of a hospital, you get arrested. If you shout these terrible slurs, you get arrested
for hate speech. Let the courts figure it out. Even if the court said,
throws it out, I want your day tied up paying a lawyer for this.
nonsense. Enough is enough. Let's talk to Ian. Ian, how are you? Yeah, Ben. I think this all
stems from back to the pandemic, Black Lives Matter. We stopped enforcing laws. So now people
think they can get away with anything. You know, they feel that if I have a sign, it's not a
crime. Yeah, that's a good point. That's a good point. I think we've, we've allowed, you know,
we're not consistent, Ian, in how we apply our law.
laws. There's certain type. I've said it before. We've allowed a permission structure
to exist on one side of the equation where if you believe certain things, you can get away
with things. And if you believe them on the other side of the political spectrum, you can't.
You know, attacking Jews is okay. But if you say those same things about homosexuals,
if you say those same things about anybody else, you would be, if you said them, the black
students, you would be arrested, you would be marginalized, you would be canceled, you would be
sent packing. But I thank you for your call because we don't have a lot of time left.
So let's, oh, oh, we got Tom. Tom, welcome the show.
Well, my thoughts are, like, with all this stuff going on over in Israel right now, I say that
they just filmed, I mean, and it's real, they filmed those IDF soldiers, torturing the prisoners.
It was really a good idea to have those IDF soldiers at the campus.
Yeah, I don't know what you're talking.
about IDF soldiers torturing prisoners? I mean, I've seen, listen, I've seen videos of
Hamas fighters, shooting people in the heads. So, but hold on, let me just, let me just say
this, John, because I'm not attacking you. I don't want to go down, I don't want to live in a
world where the simple act of having a conversation gets turned around on that person and saying,
like, that's like just, that's like the, the, the, the guy who beats his wife saying,
you made me do this. You made me. Are running high.
Emotions are running high, then.
Yeah, well, of course they are.
But I don't understand how the simple act of a conversation and a dialogue has given permission to people,
oh, well, but we're so emotional about this.
We need to let it out.
I reject that.
But I do thank you, John, for calling.
I really do.
Thank you.
