The Ben Mulroney Show - Ben says let's take John A. McDonald out of the box and stop trying to erase our history

Episode Date: February 11, 2025

Guests and Topics: -Let's take John A. McDonald out of the box and stop trying to erase our history -How close are we to getting an NFL Team in the GTA with Guest: Carolyn Parrish, Mayor of Mississauga -TDSB strategy to combat antisemitism with Guest: Michelle Stock, Vice President, Ontario, Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! https://globalnews.ca/national/program/the-ben-mulroney-show Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TD Direct Investing offers live support. So whether you're a newbie or a seasoned pro, you can make your investing steps count. And if you're like me and think a TFSA stands for total fund savings adventure, maybe reach out to TD Direct Investing. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney Show. Thank you so much for joining us. And now it's time we want to hear from you at 416-870-6400 or 1-888-225-TALK. Just a little while ago on the Greg Brady show, Bonnie Crombie, the Ontario Liberal leader, said it's time to be patriotic again and get Sir John A. MacDonald out of the box in which he finds himself at Queen's Park. Let's listen.

Say, we just rally around our prime ministers, your father included. Imagine if your father was one of our greatest prime ministers, your father included. Imagine if your father was one of our greatest prime ministers was also boxed up. Can you imagine if Brian was in a box? We've got John A in a box. Let's let John A out of the box. But correct me if I'm wrong, the fear is if you let him out of the box,

somebody's gonna show up with paint. Granted, we need to better explain, you know, what the circumstances are, but now, this is all about the Canadian flag and wrapping ourselves up and being patriotic And standing up for Canada and part of standing up for Canada as unleashing John a let's get him out of the box Yeah, I co-sign that Bonnie. Yeah, let's get it done. That's got in the quit And it's leadership to yes, of course, there are some problems There are problems probably with every statue that we have.

We're going to take down all the statues. We need to explain. We need to explain what the historical significance is. But be proud of it too. Like you said, there'd be no Canada without John A. Correct. Let's get John A. Well, yeah, and I continued. I said if the litmus test for whether or not we cancel our leaders of the past is perfection, then they will all fail. Pierre Trudeau, are you proud of Pierre Trudeau? Because there are stories of him driving around

outremont in Montreal on his motorcycle wearing a Nazi jacket. You wanna cancel that guy? Thought you were proud of him. What about Justin? You proud of Justin? Are you forgetting the black face? Ah, you know?

So like what's the litmus test? 416-870-6400 or 1-triple-8-225 talk. Is it time to be grown up about this sort of thing? Is it time to be realistic about this sort of thing and recognize that human beings are frail and they have foibles and they have faults and flaws? And just because they do doesn't mean that they didn't contribute valiantly to our history.

And it is time to celebrate what they did to build our country and take the good with the bad and acknowledge that without them, we do not have the country of today. Because I'm getting sick and tired of simpletons dumbing down history and sometimes making up outright lies about sort of our nation builders in order to satisfy their ideological bent. And I'm tired of witch hunts and I'm tired of burning people at the stake metaphorically to satisfy a bloodlust in us because they don't they don't live up to your

whatever test that you've deemed is essential to whether or not we remember them or not. Let's welcome Stephen to the show. Stephen, is it time to stop being childish about this sort of thing and start appreciating our history for what it is? Yes, I'm getting really tired of people trying to or attending to take today's ethics and morals and applying it to 150 years ago.

It was a completely different time. You can't do it. And people need to read not their version of history, but history. I'm getting really tired because I am aware, like you are, you're a well-read person, that John A. MacDonald stood up in the House of Commons and demanded funding for two indigenous tribes out west because they were going to a tuberculosis outbreak albeit brought by the europeans and it's right

however he got voted down for that now you know but i i i'm i'm i'm getting so tired why we have to apologize for everything in this country. No country is perfect. No leader is perfect. Yeah, yeah, you're absolutely right.

And again, like, if the litmus test is perfection, nobody is perfect. We would all fail. And I'm so done with that. It is such an overly simplistic view of the world. And I do not want to engage with people who are unreasonable in their demands. Sonja, welcome to the show. Oh, I agree with you, Ben. I don't understand why we are erasing our history.

Why we're, I think they're putting it to the level of 2025, what we're supposed to be doing in this year. They're comparing it. What they did at that time was good for them at that time, not compared to what we're doing it here. I don't know, I don't know other country. I can't believe I've heard of erasing their history. Yeah, no, there is no other country. You know, you've got China is proud of their history. They got Mao pictures of Mao everywhere. He killed 65 million of his own people, but for some reason we're the bad guys.

You know, you look at the aggressive nature of what's happened in the history of Russia, but we're the bad guys. You know, it's countries like, it's liberal democracies that allow for this sort of thing. We are the ones that are castigated. It's the great irony. It's the countries that are the least open, the most racist. Those are the ones where you would never protest against them because for fear of reprisal.

But you can do it here, so you do it here and we suffer because of it. Because we're so open, because we're so fair, because we're so free. Let's say hi to David. David, welcome to the show. Hey, how you doing? I'm well, thank you. Well, they keep pushing this narrative of like, you know, white colonial guilt and stuff like this. And oh, you know, like, I just I find the narrative extremely,

looks really one sided and extremely narrow and not very like, for instance, my family came here 200 years ago. We were empire loyalists, you know, fought for the crown, had to leave on the rusing side, came to Canada. There was no Canada and then the political movement of them, they helped me, but the seven brothers are I'm descended from when they got here. They were given land, great, but it was a big force. They had to go to cut down the trees, they had to uproot the roots, they didn't just give, they weren't given, it wasn't here. What we

have here wasn't here back then. So I've got like, how many generations of my family have like put in blood, sweat and tears, fought in four wars, yet they call it white privilege. Could we not like just at least admit that there might be a little bit of white equity there as well? Yeah, David, thank you so much for the call. I think we've got a counterpoint here with Rose. Rose, welcome to the show.

Good morning. Good morning. I just think that statues are a little bit outdated and based on the precedent that everybody has good and bad, why are we singling out anybody to be put up in our country? And this whole erasing our history, that's impossible. You cannot erase it. We can teach them in school and have them in a museum where these things are explained and respected and not just out in the world willy-nilly just because I feel like

these things are just all about ego because like we already said everybody has good and bad so why are we singling out anybody because because the country because the country we know is Canada started with one man started have a museum and honor it properly not by willy-nilly putting up a statue well I don't know I don't know where you get I don't know where you get willy-nilly the statues in front of Queen's Park, which is sort of the seat of our government in Ontario, which was upper Canada. So I don't understand how that gets to be willy-nilly. And he is a breed apart. He is

different. And he's not like everybody else. If you subscribe to the notion that he's not like everybody else. If you subscribe to the notion that he's the shepherd and we were the sheep, then yeah, he was special. He was special. And saying he was special does not mean, here's the thing that I'm getting really tired of. I'm getting tired when I say something, then the trolls will say, because you said that,

you must mean this. Absolutely not. I pick my words very specifically, and nobody is going to put words into my mouth that did not come out of my mouth. When I say he was special, it's because he brought this country together, he helped build this country,

he helped do things that other men probably could not have done. Was he perfect? Absolutely not. Name one perfect man. Was he perfect? Absolutely not. Name one perfect man. Name one. I'll wait. Al, welcome to the show. Hi, Ben. Thanks for taking my call. I called about this before. We're only patriotic right now because it suits the cause. It's a big difference between us and Americans. Americans are always patriotic. And I noticed during the Trump's inauguration, difference in us in americans americans are always patriotic

and i noticed during the trumps inauguration if you look in the back the frescoes jefferson was a slave owner but yet everybody you know that nobody talks about that and uh... americans are so patriotic and and we we don't know the history of the john a mcdonald actually with other time when there's going to be an american invasion this is real and the only way they could

with the country together was to build the. And the only way they could link the country together was to build the rail. And of course, the Civil War rained the American forces because they would have been up here. So we need to know that. And just to pick and choose something that suits the narrative, I'm 100% behind what you're saying.

We need to get that message out that this guy, with all those adversities, was able to put our countries together, so that's my point. Well, thank you very much. And there are a lot of people who just a few years ago were very eager to tear down these statues. And by the way, if you are somebody who feels that you are

entitled to deface or desecrate a public statue because it offends you, then you're the problem, not the statue. If you feel that you have license and agency over a public statue that has been put there to educate, to remember, and you've decided that you as an individual whose time will pass is more important than the statue that's been there forever

and will be there forever, you are the problem. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney Show. And yes, it's true, our listeners come to us on CFPL in London as well as 640 in Toronto. But we have listeners from all over the region, including in Mississauga, all the more reason to welcome to the show the mayor of Mississauga, Carolyn Parrish. Madam Mayor, thank you so much for joining us on the Ben Mulrooney show. Thank you, Ben, for paying attention to what goes on outside of Toronto. Oh, well, you know, listen, that's that's really the focus that I want to start with.

And we'll start at 30,000 feet. What does Mississauga need or want from whomever wins the Ontario election? What are the most pressing issues for the city? Our most pressing issues, first of all, is our divisions with Brampton on paying the police. It doesn't sound significant to you, but we pay 62 percent. Brampton pays 38, but we have the same populations. This year's increase of 144 million just about knocked our socks off.

Second, we would love to have our LRT, once it's finally completed, paid for the operation of it for the first year like they're doing for Toronto and Ottawa. We kind of get treated differently out here. Thirdly... So what mechanisms, what mechanisms need to change in order to get you what you need, especially from the police and the LRT? The mechanism, there isn't one. It's all held in the hands of the province. And I am going to be pressing them very hard when this election is over. Whoever wins has to come to our assistance because Mississauga is overpaying.

We're subsidizing Brampton and Caledon. That's why the previous mayor, Bonnie Comby, wanted to separate from the region. I don't think we need to separate. I think we need to fix the funding process. Okay. Do you think that too much over the course of a campaign, do you feel that too much of attention

is focused on a city like Toronto at the expense of other municipalities in the region? Well, I guess that's where all the seats are, my friend. You've been in a political family. There are a lot of seats there, so I guess they're focusing there. It's also a very compact area, so you can hit a lot of writings and a lot of voters very easily. But they need to put in their platforms things that actually affect those of us on the outside of Toronto. Yeah, yeah. Well, listen, if you if Mississauga ends up getting an NFL team, perhaps more attention will be given to the city. Where are you in those conversations? Because that's exciting. I know that, you

know, in previous generations, the talk was always, you know, a region like like the greater the GTHA shouldn't be focused on something like that because we have more pressing issues, but very good things can flow from the development of a stadium with a team if done properly. Well, and we actually have vacant space right on the LRT. We've got 80 acres sitting vacant, happy to rezone it,

or actually we don't even have to rezone it, we just have to tweak it a little. It would be a real fantastic event. It's right now a bit of a pipe dream but I'm going to keep working on it. I think we're receptive. I think we've got the people. We're right on the intersection of several highways. We're right on the LRT. It would be an absolutely perfect location. I'm sure they'll still call it the Toronto whatever, but we don't find that. Well, when you think about it, in New York, none of the New York teams actually play

in the state of New York. They play in New Jersey. So if New York can get over it, then maybe Mississauga can get over it too. Oh, we can get over it. That's our airport, you know, and they call it Toronto-Pearson. That's true.

We're good. Yeah, that's true. I'm in conversation with Mississauga Mayor at Carolyn Parish. And I want to go back to this duality between, you know, with regard to how much more you pay for the police. How did it come to pass that you pay so much more? It's been like that for 50 years since the police force was created. And back in those days, Brampton had a half the population we did at the time. They've now exceeded us by about 11,000 people in the last census. So I think it's time we re-looked at the formula because 144 million increased with 23.3% budget increase this year. That seems like a gimme, Madam Mayor.

If the population increases, then the share should increase this year. That seems like a gimme, Madam Mayor. If the population increases, then the share should increase as well. Well, you know what? As long as Kaladin and Brampton are happy with the split, we only have 12 votes. They have 12 votes. It's a bit of a stalemate, but we're going to work on it really hard after this election is over. This year was the biggest increase on the police services we've ever had, and it's very hard on us. It takes our taxes here in Mississauga up 4% before we even do anything else. So we've got to fight back for our taxpayers. Is there one party in particular that you feel is giving Mississauga the attention it

deserves and focusing on the priorities of Mississauga? And of late, I think since the mayor changed, we're getting a lot more attention out of the out of the province, out of the current premier. He's been visiting frequently. He's been giving us checks that we need, that we asked for. So the Liberals, it would be unfair to say they're not paying attention to us because they've got our former mayor as their leader. And I'm sure they will pay more attention to us should she win. But no, I think the Tories have been pretty good to us lately. Madam Mayor, I did want to spend a minute on a little dust up that happened a few months

ago. The memorial for Yaya Sinwar that mercifully did not happen in Mississauga. But you know, the comparisons to Nelson Mandela, if you had to, if something like that were to come to pass again, how would you handle it? I did not compare Sinwar to Nelson Mandela. I said yesterday's rebels could be tomorrow's heroes and I unfortunately used those two names. I should have used George Washington.

I think there's probably still a rip for his arrest somewhere in England. People who are terrorists from one opinion could be heroes with the passage of time. It was a bad choice. I should have used Washington. Yeah, but given the time we're living in, given the atrocities of Hamas, given the barbarity of Yaya Sinwar, to me, it felt like you were twisting yourself

into a pretzel in order to, I don't know, satisfy a particular group It felt like you were twisting yourself into a pretzel in order to, I don't know, satisfy a particular group that wasn't worthy of satisfaction. No, I disagree with you. There were a lot of young people that were told a vigil. Vigil was inappropriate. How I dealt with it was I called in the people who were organizing it to my office. I explained to them that this was now becoming ballistic

and there would be obviously problems and they agreed to not hold it. I'm a big negotiator. You can talk to, and they're particularly, they're very intelligent young people and they understood that it was becoming very inflammatory and instead they went out and helped us with our food drive that weekend.

So no, I don't take sides in this. and instead they went out and helped us with our food drive that weekend. So no, I don't take sides in this. I think both sides are having a terrible time. And it's just a horrible situation. And I do the best I can to balance it here in Mississauga. We've had no violence with protests. We've had no windows broken. We've had no cars stopped on.

A lot of our young people, we have two universities here. A lot of the young people are protesting one way or the other and they're protesting peacefully. And how would you say your relationships are with both sides right now? How have they improved since then? Cause I know they reached a pretty low point with the Jewish community at that point.

Well, I've got some really good Jewish developers here who've been in and spent an hour or two with me. We've had good conversations where our fences are mended. I think we're doing fine with the people who live in Mississauga. I had the rabbi from our local synagogue in for coffee and spent some time with her. She wants to restart her multi-religious meetings that she used to hold every couple of months. So we're providing space in City Hall for that. We're on good terms. Well, I've been in conversation with Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish. I know you have a very, very busy day. I thank you for taking time to speak with our audience. I appreciate it. I wish you the very best.

Thanks, Ben. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show. And the TDSB is not often something that we talk about in positive glowing terms as it relates to being tip of the sword or forward thinking regarding anti semitism regarding anything that's on the right side of the fence when it comes to these social issues. But there's some news that came across our desk that warrants a discussion that the TDSB's new anti-Semitism strategy is a good first step in combating Jew hatred in public schools.

That is according to CJA, the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs. And so to talk more about what this means, what it is, and why it's a good first step is Michelle Stock, the Vice President for Ontario for the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs. Michelle, welcome to the show. Thank you so much.

Hi, Ben, how are you? I'm well. So this is a long time in coming. This is after months of discussion with TDSP. Talk to me about what exactly this first step is. Yeah, so it's a strategy that has come out. It was published on Friday called Affirming Jewish Identities and Addressing Antisemitism.

And it's a part of their combating hate and racism strategy. And it follows a few months of consultation with Jewish community groups, which included CJUF and the Office of Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, faith leaders, students, and the Jewish Heritage Committee at TDSB. And it really does highlight some key action items and priorities that are addressing the surge in antisemitism that we've seen for the last 15 months in the TDSB schools.

And it's really, I think, it highlights the troubling rise in anti-Semitic incidents that we have seen. And what we found that was really interesting is it really did validate what was going on in schools and the Jewish student and faculty experience, right? We already know that there's been a lot of complaints where students have been completely undermined in being able to feel openly Jewish within schools. They've been blamed for, you know, issues that stemmed from a conflict in the Middle East and in not being able to share their Jewish identity openly. But what was emphasized in the report was that 91% of Jewish people identify with Israel and consider it to be their ancestral homeland, and that Jewish identity stands beyond religious

beliefs with individuals having diverse political, racial, and cultural identities. And we found that from our perspective, that really validates what we've been saying all along, is that Jewish identity is not just about religion. It is a culture and an ethno culture. And that our connection to Israel and being Zionist is inherently, for many of us, 91%, one in the same. But Michelle, the devil's in the details. And it's one thing to get the TDSB as an organization in line and to agree with these principles. It's another thing to get the sort of the frontline teachers in line with it. And I remember a few months ago at a march where Jewish students were urged by, I believe,

their teachers to wear certain colors so that they could be identified at that march as colonizers. And that to me speaks to almost a miseducation by certain teachers who are going to really be required to change their entire way of thinking. For sure. And I think what the strategy is highlighting is that there are key action items and priorities that need to be addressed within TDSB. What is lacking is the details of how they intend to address these actions. But part of this does include educating staff to understand Jewish identity beyond the religious perspective, creating spaces for Jewish students and faculty to feel that they could have a safe space to exercise their

right to religion. And then also engaging the unions to support Jewish staff and create spaces for them and address some of the issues that some of the Jewish staff are feeling that they can't be, you know. So I think, you know, what's promising is that it's on paper in a report that is going to be going to the board. First, it's going to the policy and planning committee for them to receive the report. We hope that there will be no amendments because we feel that this is a positive step for the Jewish community. And then the next step would be that it's adopted. And hopefully from then we can see some actual action items on how they intend to implement some of the pieces that they have highlighted in the report.

And that you just brought up the amendment process, you know, I was worried and my fear is that something like this gets watered down as the as is typically the case in the dialogue around anti semitism. Anytime somebody points out the rise in the dialogue around antisemitism. Anytime somebody points out the rise in antisemitic hate in Canada, someone also then says, well, now do Islamophobia. And my fear is this won't be allowed to live on its own as its own thing. It will get looped in and watered down with other forms of hate, forgetting that the rise in anti-Semitic hate

has been has been astronomical compared to anything else. And given the fact that Jews represent such a small percentage of the student population versus other groups, it's not even in the same category. That's right. I think I think there is a real possibility that That's right. I think I think there is a real possibility that Tomorrow evening that there are other groups that will come in and aim to undermine the report and Try to aim to water down with you know veiling it as Us is a report that silencing their voices and their their experiences but I think that the point of the report is to identify that there are many different groups within the Jewish community that identify in a certain way and that it is both statements

can be true. You can identify as Jewish religiously, but you also can identify Jewish and have attachments to Israel and be Zionist. And both of those spaces for Jewish students need to be fair and equal within the space of TDSB and that everybody and what we hope is that we that TDSB is going to foster an environment of inclusion for everybody including Palestinian students so that we are not creating segregation but we are bringing common values and people together because what we have seen is there's been

so much isolation and what we would like to see is that students are brought together to focus on academic excellence and other pieces that really should be what the focus and not the geopolitics in the classroom. Absolutely. Look, I've said many times that the first place a student should a child should feel safe is at home and the next space should be school, every single student should feel safe and respected in their school. And this does feel like a positive first step.

So let's take the win. Thank you so much very much, Michelle Stock from the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs. I appreciate you to be here on this day with this good news. Thank you. Take care. Daniel Blanchard is no ordinary thief. His heists are ingenious. Thank you. Take care. How long can CC Star stay lucky for Daniel? I'm Seren Jones and this is a most audacious heist. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.