The Ben Mulroney Show - Best of the Week Part 2 - Paul Wells, Kris Sims, Tom Korski

Episode Date: May 31, 2025

Best of the Week Part 2 - Paul Wells, Kris Sims, Tom Korski Guests: Paul Wells, John Turley-Ewart, Kris Sims, Tom Korski, Casey Babb 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

At Starbucks, we serve cold coffee just the way you like it. That refreshing chill of ice, that rich, smooth taste you crave. That handcrafted care every time. Your summer ritual is ready at Starbucks. Welcome to the Ben Mulroney Show Best of the Week podcast. We had so many great discussions this week, but the most surprising thing, one of our panelists on The Dilemma revealed

he's never owned a cell phone. Enjoy. The Ben Mulroney Show marches on, and I thank you for joining us on our journey. One of our panelists on the dilemma revealed he's never owned a cell phone. Enjoy. The Ben Mulry Show marches on and I thank you for joining us on our journey. I would be lying if I said that I paid attention to every single throne speech that has ever crossed my path, that I've ever been alive for. That would be a lie. So I, when I looked at the one from yesterday, I kind of look at it in a bubble, of in a vacuum devoid of historical context, but somebody who can bring a lot of that context to the conversation to talk about, you know, how what yesterday meant compared to perhaps thrown speeches of the past is our next guest, please welcome to the show, Paul Wells, a journalist pundit and overall great guy. Paul, thank you

so much for joining us today. Hi, Ben. Thanks for having me. So I really wanted to talk to you because in your sub stack that you wrote on this, you said about a couple of paragraphs and you said, I saw two surprises big enough to make me write today. So tell me about the surprises that made you want to write about the throne speech. So yeah, I mean, I was running errands yesterday, just about everybody who could get into the Senate to see the king was there. And I was taking my car in to get the tires taken off. And I was gonna leave it to the pack. And, but then he said two things.

One was Canada needs to build a coalition of like-minded countries that Canada will lead. And that's the first I've heard any kind of language like that. And he said, what he's talking about will be demonstrated at the G7. Well, there's a million associations of like minded countries in the world. There's G7, G20, NATO, you know, the Commonwealth, Asia Pacific, etc. And so if that means something, it means something new, and I can't for the life of me figure out how he's going to do it. And I think you pointed out, I think you pointed out, Paul,

like, you don't, you don't say things just to say them in the throne speech. If it's in there, it's because it matters. Yeah, this was an unusually short throne speech, which to me is a good thing. Yeah. But that means that every word should count. And I, if he doesn't mean anything by that, then it shouldn't have been in the speech. Yeah. Yeah. And that's a good point. What what new organizations do we need to build and lead that we're not already part of? I

mean, have you racked your brain? Have you given it some thought like any any theories as to what they he might have been talking about? I got nothing. Um, uh, it's, he's, he's dropping very strong hints in an interview with the CBC yesterday. He made it clear that he plans to join a European procurement consortium, but that's not Canada building or leading anything. No, you know, it's probably a good idea. But that's, this isn't bad. Yeah. I, I said as much just a little while ago on the show that to me, I mean, I take him at his word when he says it's

75 cents of every procurement dollar that we have is goes to the United States doesn't hurt to diversify and and find other people to take our money that we can take their military equipment from. I think that's a fine idea. But that you're right. That's not building a new coalition, nor is it leading it? Yeah, exactly. So I mean, so at the end of the day, I'm just left with a question mark and something I plan to keep my eye on. Yeah. Yeah.

And so what was the second? What was the second thing that popped up? The other thing is that he wants to make Canada a global head a global hub of science and innovation. And I'm one of the very few journalists in the country who keeps an eye on Canada's position as a science and innovation leader and it really isn't one. It's further from being one than it was 15 years ago and he has said nothing about science and innovation apart from a again a vague

plan to adopt AI within government. He said nothing about science and innovation until yesterday. Yeah. And so I'm really curious what he plans to do to make that sentence more than a happy wish. Yeah, and you drill down into that center offering some some pretty important data to support your contention that, you know, we're actually drifting farther away from the pack, let alone being in a position to lead it.

And this is to me, you know, one of the sad things about Canadian politics is our Canadian politicians, and specifically our leaders, and it just so happens that it's been the Liberal Party for so long, but they very much like to make bold pronouncements about leading being the first doing something innovative being bold, and then stopping short or coming up with a half measure or a watered down

version that doesn't really get us anywhere except, you know, just create some more bureaucracy spends money and then doesn't get us anywhere close to the stated goal. Well, this is it. And to the extent that Mark Carney has impressed Canadians, and I mean, I've seen polling since the election that suggests that people are pretty interested in what he's doing and by and large, fairly impressed. It's because he seems like a departure from that too long tradition of empty puffer room,

you know? Yeah. long tradition of empty puffer. Yeah, you know, yeah. And so I, as I said at the end of my piece yesterday, I think this was just words, but I'd be delighted to be wrong. Yeah. Now, generally speaking, if we take a step back and look at the throne speech, it said, what did you think of the day yesterday? Well, you know what, I would there was a reception afterwards for whoever wanted to show up at a watering hole near Parliament,

and the mood was just fantastic. And I ran into a fair number of Conservatives who were fine with today, you know. Good to see the King. Good to see that he was willing to act in his capacity as King of Canada. And it was very hard to find anything in the throne speech that just sounded nutty on the face of it. Well, they also, I mean, a lot of the conservatives sort of half jokingly suggested that their priorities were laid out in that throne speech. Yeah, I mean, it's kind of like John Sherry won the conservative leadership in 22

and then won the federal election, you know? There's very little in that speech that John Sherry would have a problem with. And to be a little bit less cranky and cynical about it, honestly, it does the heart good to see Justin Trudeau, Margaret Trudeau, and Stephen Harper sharing a laugh and trading notes at a big event. That's the sort of,

we all are all actually of good heart and in this together that we haven't seen much of in Canada in the last little while. Well, yeah, you know what, let's expand the conversation a little bit then Paul, because, you know, we heard last week from the caucus meeting that Pierre Poliev wants to present as a quote government in waiting.

And I wonder whether you think that that indicates that there might be a tonal shift in the party when he ultimately assumes a seat in the House of Commons, going from the the zingers and the, you know, the attempts to go viral, that served him very well, by the way. But do you think that there might be an attempt by the conservatives in this new parliament to present as you know more more adult Than we might have seen in the past. I Think it picked up on the on the three words that I will mention which is government in waiting. Yeah, I think here probably have

Went and the conservatives went very far and had an impressive result But if they lost it's because too many Canadians didn't believe that he could be the government. And so he, a little too late, is going to move to address that. And he's going to have a real challenge because he does have to be the opposition. He does have to be not only critical, but often angry at what the government does, while also conveying the message that he's ready to take the job on when the opportunity arises. So

that's it's doing two jobs is always harder than one. So you just said you said a little too late. Are you are you of the mind that that his time as leader is is is over like he's passed his expiration date or you or you just mean too late for the last election. Or it's too late for the last election for sure. And I'm not sure that his leadership is safe. This business of having to go out and get it running the by election is horribly embarrassing for him. And he seems to be going about it

in as dignified a way as possible. But that's going to leave open questions about whether he should stay on as leader. Even though frankly, you know, it turns out that nobody in the caucus is asking those questions in public. I'll believe he's safe, you know, maybe at the end of the year if he's still got the gig,

Paul, and about 30 seconds, just one last question. What'd you make a Justin shoes? I thought Justin shoes were fine. He's not the Prime Minister. You're three hours in a room and you're trapped. You might as well be comfortable. There's a long list of things I would criticize the former prime minister for. His choice of footwear is not one of them. Fair enough, Paul. Hey, thank you very much. I know how busy you are. Really appreciate getting your take on yesterday for the listeners of the show.

Really appreciate you, man. Thanks for having me on, Ben. Welcome back to the show. And every now and then there's's an article that an opinion piece that grabs my attention. And when I read a title that says the real threat to Canada's auto isn't Donald Trump, it's our own government forcing EVs on us. I got to read this and I got to talk to the guy who wrote it. So let's do just that. And welcome to the show, John Turley, John Turley, you're contributing columnist for the Globe and mail. He's also a regulatory compliance consultant and a chorus radio contributor.

John, thank you so much for being here. My pleasure. Happy to be here. Okay. So, uh, you're not suggesting that Donald Trump isn't a threat. You're just saying the real threat is something else. Agreed. Uh, essentially my view based on the reading I've done, the experts I've talked in the auto industry, they feel that a resolution will come with negotiations with Trump. But the real concern for automakers is the zero emission vehicle mandate that came out of California initially in

2022. And that was followed here in Canada under Justin Trudeau, and that Mr. Carney seemed to have doubled down on in the liberal platform. Yeah, you know, we were promised under Justin Trudeau what he called evidence-based policy, and in the face of changing evidence, the policy should change. And I think there was a lot of enthusiasm 10 years ago about the potential of an EV future, but that is not materializing nearly as quickly as, as they would have hoped. And so in the face of a sort of lagging market and a, you know, a slowing interest in adoption rate of EVs. And let's not forget the fact we don't have a national electrified like ability to charge your car wherever you want. Like that evidence, that policy should should change that mandate should change. And my argument is it's going to have to change. And so what you had in the United States, recently was the House of Representatives, both Republican and Democrat, vote down the California

waiver that allowed them to put in place the mandate. The Senate also voted down that that waiver that allowed California to put in the mandate, and the President of the United States will be signing that off. General Motors yesterday announced a near billion dollar investment in a V8 plant in upstate New York. Honda is not producing, you know, had stepped back from zero emission vehicles. Toyota stepped back from zero emission vehicles. Mustang, Ford, who makes an electric Mustang, says that they were losing about 135,000 US per vehicle. What?

And it's just not just me that is saying this. I point to an economist at the University of Guelph who he's written an excellent report in the Journal of Canadian Economics. I know Ben, you probably have that by your nightstand every night. But his modeling shows that without price parity, that means the price between a gas car and a zero-emission vehicle being about the same, you're gonna wipe out the Canadian auto industry.

So I think Canada has no choice. Yeah, well, that's what I was gonna ask. Read the tea leaves for me. Tell me what the future looks like in Canada five years after that 2035, when the mandate that every new car in Canada has to be a zero emission vehicle. What are the knock on negative effects of that

that we will experience? Well, I mean, I think what we're seeing is probably a shift towards hybrid. You see Toyota doing that. A lot of manufacturers are doing that. We feel that they can reach a customer base through a hybrid, but we're not getting rid of anytime soon gas powered vehicles. We've been engineering them for 125 years. Electric vehicles is something we've been building for, you know, the past 20. Uh, you're not going to get that kind of comparability. So when I look down the future, I see more electric vehicles, but remember

they're high end, right? Um, and you know, if someone is willing to, you know, spend $60,000 on a vehicle, they may wish to have a zero emissions vehicle. Nothing against that. Absolutely go for it. But if you need a $20,000 vehicle, it's most likely going to be gas powered. Yeah, no, 100%. Although there is listen, the wild card and all of that could be are those Chinese vehicles that come in at what 15 or 20% cheaper than their North American analogs. Well, even even much cheaper than that. And so here's the thing is you need to really understand the Chinese manufacturing might and prowess and what it's built on, Ben. One of the things that people forget is that China has got a floating population of 300 plus million people who work in factories, just in time, low rights, low wages, working

12, 15 hour days. And they're supporting the high tech engineering that you see in some of the electric vehicles that come out of China. So really, you know, we can have cheap cars from China, but we will have no auto industry here. And of course, what we're really doing is supporting the Chinese takeover of one of our most strategic industries. So what do you think it's going to take then for this government to wake up to the reality

that is clear to people like you? Well, I think General Motors and Ford and Chrysler are going to say if you want us to produce cars in your country, you've got to get rid of that EV. Or, you know, we'll just continue to invest in the United States and we'll make cars there. And you can find, you know they want. They're voting with their wallets and their wallets are can only can only afford internal combustion vehicles at this point. But what's it going to take in your mind for the price of those electric vehicles to eventually more or less fall in line with their internal combustion equivalence? Well, I mean, in part, Canada could play a role in that through its rare earth mineral mining,

if we ever get there, where we can reduce the cost of the batteries. But it might not be electric then. It might be hydrogen. Yeah. And so, you know, I wouldn't put a full-oreation on that. How far off are we on that? How far off are we on a mass-market hydrogen car?

I would say we're well away from that. But just as we're well away from a mass market electric vehicle, unless you use the you know, what China does, and we're not going to do that. So I would say like, we're going to see electric vehicles continue to develop and grow, I would say by 2050, you know, you're gonna have a lot on the road. Yeah. But we may also have hydrogen vehicles, and we should not put all our eggs in one basket. Yeah. Well, I mean, I don't think there's anything wrong with taking like the government should take

the win. The adoption is, is there people enjoy the electric vehicles, they're beautiful cars, by and large, sort of the experience of riding in one, I don't own one. But the experience of being in one, I feel like I'm in the future. All my friends who have one, by the way, all my friends who have one, it's their second car, right? So you're absolutely right. It's a certain type of person who can afford it is adopting it. But for those of us who can only afford one car,

we're not going down the route of the EV. But I don't understand the sort of this single minded, it's all or nothing. It's all EVs or nothing. When the market is clearly telling the government what direction they should be going in. Right. And so it's interesting. You say it's very emotional. I found that I had more than 400 comments on this particular column in the globe. And some people, you know, really

attach environmental stewardship to the zero emission vehicle. I get that. But on the other hand, if we have to be realistic in terms of the technology and the ultimate impact this change will have on the overall global climate. Well, I've also heard like that, that's a rather reductive perspective to have. I've always been told if you truly care about the environment, then what you should do is buy yourself a three or four year old Toyota, because it's already paid for its carbon footprint, and it's been built to the highest emission standards possible.

And meanwhile, we still don't know what to do with the batteries of these electric vehicles. They're just sitting in a depot somewhere collecting dust, and they start with a huge carbon footprint. And they say the worst people for the environment are early adopters of Tesla. Cause as soon as there's a new one out, they get rid of the old one, they get another one. And so anyway, that's my two cents, my friend. Yeah, for sure.

And I, you know, I would say to most regular people are just trying to figure out how to get through their day, how to put, you know, how to afford the insurance for their car, nevermind, you know, the gas and everything else. So, we have to remember there's an affordability crisis right now in Canada, people having a hard time making their mortgage payment. The last thing we want to do is make it harder for them to get to and from work. John Turley, thank you so much. It's a great piece, really thought provoking. I appreciate your time today. Thank you so much, Ben. That was great. So you've always been picky about your produce.

But now you find yourself checking every label to make sure it's Canadian. So be it. At Sobe's, we always pick guaranteed fresh Canadian produce first. Restrictions apply. See in-store or online for details. It won't take long to tell you Neutrol's ingredients. Restrictions apply. See in store or online for details. It won't take long to tell you Neutrol's ingredients. Vodka, soda, natural flavors. So, what should we talk about?

No sugar added? Neutral. Refreshingly simple. backward. No problem too petty and no opinion goes unchallenged. Our panel of overthinkers is here to dissect, deliberate and sometimes derail the conversation entirely. Grab your popcorn. This isn't just advice. It's a front row seat to life's most hilariously relatable train wrecks. Here's your host, Ben Mulrooney. Welcome back to the Ben Mulrooney show. And can I tell you what I think makes an interesting person is somebody who presents as an expert in one field, but then shows an interest and an aptitude in another. And I often use as an example,

besides my dad, who had interest in everything, is a guy like George Will. He's an American libertarian. He's a writer. He wrote for the Pulitzer Prize winner. And he's an adept student of political science and history who also knows absolutely everything about baseball. That to me is an interesting person. And so sometimes on this show, we have people with a depth of knowledge on one thing or another. We have them on the show as experts in that one domain.

And I thought to myself, well, why don't we, why don't we mine them for this fund that we have once a week on the Dilemma Panel? And so I'm bringing on guests that we typically would talk to on issues of taxation and policy and politics. And we're bringing them in to solve your problems on the Dilemma Panel. I would remind you that if you have a dilemma

that you want us to solve, email us at askbenn at chorus and.com. So for the first time on the panel, please welcome Chris Sims, Alberta director of the Canadian taxpayers federation and Tom Korski managing editor of black locks reporter to the both of you. I say welcome for the first time to the Dilemma panel. Oh, thank you, Ben. All right. So here's how it works. I'm going to read out the, thank you, Ben. Thanks, Ben. Awesome. All right. So here's how it works. I'm going to read out the dilemma that someone

has written in for us. And we're going to make their lives better by solving their problems. Sound good? OK, I'll try. Here we go. Dear Ben, I'm in a bit of a dilemma and could use some outside perspective.

My girlfriend is moving in with me next month. And while I'm really excited about this next step in our relationship, there's one issue I'm not sure how to handle. I own the house about this next step in our relationship, there's one issue I'm not sure how to handle. I own the house we'll be living in. The mortgage is fully in my name, and I've been living here alone for the past few years.

Now that she's moving in, I think it's fair for her to contribute financially. And I was planning to ask her to pay a portion of the monthly costs as rent. However, when I brought it up casually, she seemed a little surprised and said she didn't think she would have to pay rent if she's moving into my house. I get her point, she wouldn't be gaining any equity and technically, she'd be paying towards my mortgage. But from my perspective, it feels unfair for me to suddenly absorb all the increased costs of living together. Is it reasonable to ask her to pay rent in my home? Or should I be looking at this more as a shared household rather than a landlord tenant situation? Signed, Jeff.

So Chris, let's start with you. Oh, Jeff, my goodness. Number one, big red flag. If she's looking for something for free, that's kind of weird. So watch that one. But also if she does help you pay the mortgage and you guys do split up later on,

a judge could decide that that's common law and you might lose 50% of your house. So caution there, bro. Interesting. I hadn't even thought about that. Tom, where do you see this? Jeff, what am I trying to accomplish here? Do I want someone to help me pay the water bill or do I want to play house with my girlfriend? By the way, Jeff doesn't explain how this came about. It didn't fall from the sky. Someone must have brought this up. My two cents. People say never do business with family. I say always do business with family.

That's the way you find out who they are. Look, I think Jeff really screwed the pooch on this one. You invite your girlfriend to move in with you. This seems like it was his idea. Come move in with me. You have been perfectly content to pay your mortgage for years, you've been capable of doing so. You're building up equity in this home,

you want her to move in, you don't ask somebody to move in if you think it's gonna end, you want them to move in because you think the relationship is deepening, which means there is the possibility that one day that girlfriend may turn into something more official. So what the hell are you doing here, Jeff? Like what's your end game here? girlfriend may turn into something more official. So what the hell are you doing here, Jeff? What's your end game here? I think we've established, Ben, that we are experts in other people's business. Absolutely. Jeff, figure out what you want here. Are you trying to build a

better relationship with your girlfriend or are you looking for some supplemental income? But if you're looking to be happy and you want this person to share a life with you, you've gone down the wrong path. I would suggest pulling a U-turn saying, I'm sorry, honey, I had a momentary lapse of judgment. Welcome to your home. Enjoy. Maybe you can help pay for groceries every now and then. Chris, I don't know. It establishes a bad princess precedent here. Ben, I don't think so. Well, there are other ways to contribute. Right. And look, because maybe if the end, Well, there are other ways to contribute, right?

And look, cause maybe if the end goal is to get married, right, then she's going to own half the house at some point anyway, right? True. Right. So like play the long game here. You are guaranteeing that this woman, that this relationship is going to end

by starting this out by saying, help me pay for my rent and you don't get a piece of the house. It doesn't make any sense. Better to find out now, Ben. Yeah, good point. Better to find out now. Yeah, good point. Yeah, Jeff. Jeff, I think I think you got to reconsider your tactic here. That's my two cents. All right. Dilemma number two. This is a classic Reddit. Am I the a hole? If I don't change the name of my

unborn baby after my sister gave her baby the same name. I found out I was pregnant and due in July 2025. My sister gave birth to her baby in February, 2025. When I announced my pregnancy to her back in December, 2024, I also announced the gender and the name. I found out then she had chosen the same name for her baby boy. She has had three other children for which she never announced the name.

Since then, she's been pressuring me to change the name because it causes her anxiety. She says two cousins born five months apart with the same name is going to create unnecessary rivalry. My husband and I chosen the name prior to conception and announced it to everyone without knowing her intentions. I'm now eight months pregnant and I've been calling my baby this name since the beginning. I don't want to change the name for context. Her baby was born with some kidney issues and had to have surgery at 10 weeks old. So she's been especially sensitive personally, I feel for her but I don't see this name thing as a major issue.

And I don't want to change the name of my baby because she has anxiety over this. Am I the a hole? Tom, what do you think? Who's the a hole here? Sandra, first of all, you got to wait to see the baby. The baby is the one with the name. It's not I I I. The baby will guide the name by the way. When you pick a name, you should know that the name cannot be the expression of the personality you ascribe to the baby. You have to look at the baby. And remember, the baby will wind up in the workforce in the next cubicle to guys like me. So if you want a special personality laden name, you should know that there are guys out there who may not share your

enthusiasm, but let the baby guide the name choosing. I mean, listen, I didn't do that. When I found out we were having twins, I knew exactly the names I wanted. I want to name one Brian and one John. John named after my dad's brother who passed away on the same day as he was born and we wanted to honor him. And I did. My wife was like, are we sure you want to name them that? I was like, do you want me to go get my dad's memoirs again? Because I start crying every time I read that passage. So I think it can work both ways, but Chris, where do you land on this? We named our children with a lot of thought as well, Ben. I think most people do.

I think in this case, the pregnant lady needs to ask herself, will this matter in five years? Yeah, yeah. Will this matter in five years? Right now, like everything is about naming the baby and what kind of booties they're gonna have and all this stuff. Will this matter in five years?

And also, do you mind if both of them have the same name? You know, if they're cousins and first cousins and they get along, they might like having the same name. This isn't necessarily a guaranteed rivalry thing. So just ask yourself, will this matter in five years? And then go from there. Yeah, I think she's the A-hole, depending on how she proceeds.

And look, she telegraphed that she wanted this name. Her sister ostensibly came in and swooped up and stole it from her. And now she's claiming anxiety. And yes, her child has some childhood illnesses that they're dealing with, but you could be the bigger person here, take a different name or give that name as a middle name.

And then later on in a few years, sit your sister down and say, you know what? You're kind of an a-hole on this. And I just want you to know that you behaved in a way that I would not have behaved to you. And then, then you have the upper hand and you can, you can pull out that guilt card whenever you want. This middle name is a good trick. Yeah. When our youngest was born, I said, he's Ray. Look at him. He's a Ray. Everyone talked me out of it.

Guess what, then to this day, he's a Ray. That said he's Ray. Look at him. He's a ray. Everyone talked me out of it. Guess what, then to this day, he's a ray. That was his personality. I'm telling you, you have to look at the baby. It's my two cents. I don't listen to every every grand kid, every male grand kid named Mulrooney has Brian in their name somehow. My dad's middle name was actually Brian. He was Martin Brian Mulrooney. We named our son Brian. But every other kid has Brian in their name somehow. My dad's middle name was actually Brian. He was Martin Brian Mulrooney. We named our son Brian, but every other kid has Brian as a middle name.

And I don't mind that at all. I think it's fantastic. I think it was a great way to honor my dad. But Tom, I'm gonna take issue. Every kid looks the same when they're born and you're telling me you can, you look at it and say, well, you're definitely a Steve and you're a- Oh no, but you could see the personality. Oh sure.

See the personality. You're the angry raisin? How do you do that? Absolutely. No, well anyway, maybe I have very high emotional IQ. I feel sorry for the rest. That boy was a Ray and I'll tell you, and I never told him until years later when he was in competitive hockey and I said, Hey Ray, you're a ray and no one listened to me. And now it is our secret bond. All right. Well, listen, we're going to continue with Chris and Tom on the dilemma panel after the break right here on the Ben Mulroney show.

This is the Ben Mulroney show. And because it's Wednesday, we like to cleanse the political palette with a fun dip in the dilemma panel and joined this week with by Chris Sims and Tom Korski. Guys welcome back let's jump right into the next dilemma. Dilemma number three, dear Ben my boyfriend and I recently went on a weekend trip up north and something happened that's been bothering me more than I expected. About two hours into the drive I realized I had forgotten my phone at home. I asked him if we could turn around to get it. But he said no, that it wasn't worth losing four hours of our

trip on something we'd only be without for two days. He said I could use his phone if I need to call or check something and that we were going up there to relax and unplug anyway. I get that it wasn't a life or death situation. And yes, I survived the weekend just fine, but I still felt kind of dismissed. I rely on my phone, not just for social stuff, but for other things like photos, directions and staying connected with family case of emergency. It felt like he made the decision unilaterally without really considering how important it was to me. Now I'm wondering, was he being reasonable or am I overreacting signed Sandra Tom is Sandra crazy. This guy's a saint. You didn't notice the phone for two

hours. You're asking him to go back for two hours. You know, I don't even own a mobile device. But if I was in the car, no, this man, whoever he is, I'm telling you, Sandra, don't let him go. This guy's a winner. Yeah, yeah. Chris, I think we're all going to be aligned on this. But I want to hear what you have to say. I still can't believe Tom doesn't own a mobile device. I know.

Not even a phone? What? I know. It's, you know. Are you calling us from a rotary phone right now? No, well, I do have touch push. I mean, I think rotaries are unavailable. You have to get parts on eBay now. Have you always been without a digital device? I have, even going back to Pagers. And the reason is when you're in the newsroom,

people will be after you 24 hours a day. 12 hours a day is plenty. Yeah. Okay. So Chris- This is why he's smarter than most of us. Oh yeah, exactly. He's winning. He's winning. Now, Chris, what do you think? I think he's right. I think she's overreacting. And also you spent two hours not noticing your phone was on. That guy is a keeper. Also the fact that he would just willingly

hand you his cell phone. I know it's a double bonus for her, Chris. Like the fact that he said, we're going up there. He had all of his reasons were valid as to why he didn't want to turn around. And the fact that he is willing to hand over his phone speaks to a willingness, like an openness and like, I'm an open book. You can trust me.

You can go through my phone. I don't care. And so I think Sandra, you have to reevaluate. You are absolutely overreacting. Your boyfriend was being entirely reasonable. And let's be honest, I don't know how, if it's ever happened to you, Chris, I would bring you into this, Tom, but you don't have a phone. So you're going to sit there quietly.

But Chris, when I've forgotten my phone places, there is a moment of panic and there's a moment of adjustment. And then there's a clarity and a calmness that comes from it. You realize I can actually enjoy myself and I can be present in a way I wouldn't have otherwise been. Yeah. Going on a digital cleanse is a real thing. And we're the last generation, Ben, the Gen Xers, who remember what it was like before.

Oh yeah. And are now addicted to them like the rest of us. Sorry, Tom excluded. So yeah, this is very good. Green lights all the way, girl. Yeah, I don't think social first. Like when I'm at an event or I see a nice sunset, I don't whip out my phone first.

I'm still tethered to see a nice sun sunset, I don't whip out my phone first. I'm still I'm still tethered to sort of that the 80s where oh, I'll just enjoy this moment for what it is. Alright, dilemma number four. Dear Ben's panel. I've been with my boyfriend for almost three years. And while our relationship is generally solid, there's one recurring issue that leaves me feeling a little underwhelmed when it comes to birthdays and holidays like Christmas. His gifts to me are always the same. Generic jewelry, perfume, and a

bouquet of flowers. I know he means well. He's not forgetful or dismissive, but it feels like he's putting zero thought into what I actually like or what would be meaningful to me. He's not cheap about it, but somehow the gifts feel impersonal, like he just swung by the department store gift section and grabbed the first girlfriend gift bundle. I've dropped hints about stuff I'd love, books, experiences, handmade stuff, but nothing has changed. I don't want to seem ungrateful. I know a lot of people would be happy to get any gift at all, but I can't help feeling like he doesn't really see me when he shops for me. Am I expecting too much? Signed, Violet. Chris,

what do you think? Yeah, you're three years in. It's only going to get more practical from here. I don't know about you then. I don't know about you, but when you want something now, once you've been married for a long time, you're just like, here, honey, buy me this. Here's the link. Yeah. And Tom, I don't know, there's a book that I never read,

but apparently you can divide people in different categories. Like what is their love language, right? Mine is acts of service. I like doing things for people. But apparently you can divide people in different categories. Like what is their love language, right? Mine is acts of service. I like doing things for people. I want them to see that I care about them by surprising them with like, you know, by doing things. And other people are about giving gifts.

And maybe this is not how he expresses his love, Tom. Well, I'm impressed that he remembers all the dates. I mean, that's a plus. I remember my wife's birthday because she was born on Stalin's birthday and I remind her of that every year. Tom! I will say to Violet, don't do love tests. Yeah. What you see is what you get.

Yeah. If you don't like the way he puts on his rubber boots, if you don't like his favorite song, If you don't like the way he puts on his rubber boots, if you don't like his favorite song, if you don't like what he got you for Christmas, what you see is what you get. If you want to read more into it, if you really loved me, you too would like to listen to George Jones. I'm telling you, you're making a mistake. I mean, your wife loves you despite you comparing her to Stalin. I'm just saying it's an easy date to remember. That is my point. I see. I see. Very, very good. No, but you know, I think you bring up a really good point. You didn't fall in love with him because of the gifts. You fell in love with him for a raft,

hopefully a raft of other things that he does for you or makes you feel. And so, like you got to take the good with the bad. And there's not a lot of other things that he is that he does for you or makes you feel. And so like you gotta take the good with the bad. And, and, and there's not a lot of changing people when they get later in life, as Chris has said, three years in this is, this is who he is. And don't set up little tests based on your own perception. Don't be in your own head and set up little tests for him because he will fail them all the time because he's a different person from you. Yeah, correct. Read Bung Girl. You know, don't do that.

If you want to get, if you want something nice, go buy it for yourself and then say, honey, you just bought me a lovely gift. Thank you very much. And there you go. Everybody's happy. Okay. Next one. Another classic Reddit.

Am I the a-hole? Because I told my wife, she isn't allowed to ground my son. My son is 17 from a previous marriage. My wife and I also have three more boys. My son plans to spend all summer practicing. Yesterday, my wife asked him to tidy up the living room and he said he was already on his way to the gym. She told him that he could go after tidying. He said he would do it when he got back

and left without giving her time to reply. She sent him a text saying he's grounded and then called me to let me know. I told her I would talk to him, but he wasn't grounded. She said he disrespected her. And I said, we could and would have a conversation about that, but there would be no grounding. This is my last summer with my oldest child

and an important summer because he's trying to achieve something that can make or break his future. I'm not going to risk ruining either of those things unless it's something really serious. She was very upset. When he got back, we sat down and talked. He said he didn't mind helping out, but that he was a busy person with a busy schedule and wasn't at our beck and call. He said if he was, if he is asked in advance to

do something, he will, but he isn't available at the drop of a hat. My wife didn't like that. So now we've been in a fight ever since. Am I the a hole for backing up my son? Ooh, the blended families is tricky. So I'm going gonna defer to you guys first before I say anything. Chris, you go first. That's a tough one. In this case, he sounds like a reasonably responsible, almost adult. 17 is right on the edge there.

And expecting somebody to drop something at, if we're taking them at face value, at the drop of a hat to clean up a room that he didn't know about beforehand, that's a little much. Also trying to ground the other person's kid when they're almost ready to go vote or serve in the armed forces. That's a little much. Usually you try to do this behind closed doors and not in front of a kid though. Yeah, now I think you're right. I think I think Tom, I think a little more. I don't know. It seems like there's a lot of rushing to make decisions here.

Yeah, never let the children sense there is some unevenness and their management's opinion like to sense married in New Brunswick, it's not too late, it sounds like there are other activities going on. Get him a job at McDonald's. We did it with all our kids. Why? Why McDonald's? Because you will meet the most entitled person on earth, which is the guy who just got the $1.99 breakfast sandwich and waited 45 seconds in the drive-through. You will never live in your own head again. You will realize the world does not care about your feelings. If you have a 17 year old in the house,

I'm telling you, get them work and all your problems will disappear. Well, it seems like this guy has accepted the fact that his dad has a new wife. And I think the wife needs to take the win and follow suit. All right, guys, thank you so much. I hope we get to do this again soon. Thank you, Ben.

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As a more trusted, more secure payments network, Visa provides scale, expertise, and innovative payment solutions. Learn more at visa.ca slash fintech. You are listening to the Ben Mulroney show on this Wednesday. Thank you so much for joining us. All right. The Toronto district school board is the largest school board in the country comprising a quarter million students in around 600 schools. And the TDSB has now made a decision recognizing something called anti Palestinian racism. To discuss what this is, why it's happening

and what the implications of this could be is somebody who highlighted it very effectively on their Twitter, Casey Babbs, senior fellow with the McDonald Laurier Institute and advisor to secure Canada, Casey, thank you so much for being here today. Thanks for having me. So look, Islamophobia is a thing. It's a scourge. No Muslim students should be made to feel dehumanized, marginalized or unsafe.

I am in full support of protecting, you know, marginalized students of all cultural communities. Yeah. If if there is an valid and recognized definition of Islamophobia, why do we have an exceptional new category of anti Palestinian racism? Well, that's an excellent question. And I mean, you're you're you're you're hitting at the at the very heart of the issue, which is, you know, if we are to assume that Palestinians are unique from other people in the region, that would be based on what? It would be based on nationality, not ethnicity. At least that is how most people that I've spoken with understand it. So why then would we have anti-Palestinian racism

for any other reason really then to not elevate the voices of Palestinians, but to silence the voices of Jews. Okay, so Casey, walk me through that. Tell me how you get there. Absolutely. So conceivably, and I mean, just back to the first point, we wouldn't see anti Egyptian racism, we wouldn't see anti Thai racism.

Well, yeah, and I want to jump in, because I've thought about this a lot, Casey, like I, when they when they when when people talk about racism writ large, they say the problem is with the racist, it's not me, I'm not the problem. I'm the person being targeted is not the issue. It's the person doing the targeting. So you have to look at it from the racist point of view. I don't know. I don't, I don't think I know a whole lot of racists, but if I did, I would humbly suggest that they're not a group of people prone to nuance. If they don't like a Brown person, they don't like all Brown people. They don't care much where, if they

come from this region or that region. Yeah. I think you're, you're right on the money there. And to that point as well, Ben, you know, there's no clear data on this, right? There's no stats can clear data that says, you know, hate crimes targeting Palestinian Canadians, which by the way, who is considered Palestinian? way, who is considered Palestinian? According to UNRWA, you know, generation after generation after generation of individuals who could potentially tether their roots back to the region, they're considered Palestinian refugees. So are they here having never stepped foot in the region? Are they Palestinian? I mean, we get into all of these sort of theoretical scenarios.

The issue in terms of the suppression of Jewish life and the potential for this is that conceivably we could be in a situation where, you know, somebody wearing a kippah, somebody with an Israeli flag pin on their backpack, somebody with a Star of David out, somebody, a student could say, hey, that makes me uncomfortable. I'm Palestinian. Hey, there's no such thing as Israel or Israel is an illegitimate state. The Jewish state is only in existence because of its subjugation of my people. That could very well turn into a situation where you have a teacher, a school principal or superintendent saying, yeah, we've got to stop with this.

Keep the Judaic symbols away. Keep all of that sort of thing. So it's a very dangerous situation. So Casey, let's get into, how did the TDSB come to this conclusion? Because this is coming on the heels of us learning that the erasure of Sir John A's name on a number of schools happened without the consultation

of historians, for example. So what sort of work was done in anticipation in the lead up that led them to adopting this this position? Well, it's not rooted in anything, frankly, then it's not rooted in data. It's not rooted in empirical research. This is a campaign that has been very strategically and aggressively pushed down the throats of individuals on the TDSB, and they voted on this on May 21st. And I want to tell you something else, Ben.

I've been speaking with parents who have children in schools in the Toronto District School Board, Jews and non-Jews alike, and so many of them are appalled, not just by what they're seeing, but the sort of duplicity, the double standards. And an example of this is that Ainsworth Morgan, the TDSB superintendent of education, was offered an invite with extended to bring students to the Nova exhibit, which I believe that you've probably been to-

Not yet, I'm actually going this weekend. There you go. And the superintendent came back, the superintendent of education came back and said, can't do it, it's too political. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, quote, is a deeply divisive and complex geopolitical issue. And yet, it's not too political,

it's not too controversial, it's not too controversial, it's not too hot to now make it to now recognize anti Palestinian racism as a new and distinct form of racism. Well, look, my kids are in the TDSB. And I don't remember getting an email or a letter suggesting this was on the docket. I may have wanted to show up and have my voice heard on something like this. I'm sure there are a number of parents who would have liked to have had this open dialogue with them. And yet it seems that they are they are pursuing a political agenda driven by their own motivations and, you know, parents be damned. This is I mean, they

are there to serve parents and students and, and simply saying something is, is what it is, doesn't make it so. And this is something that should have happened in, in bright daylight and it doesn't feel like it, it did. Absolutely. And, you know, for me at that, you know, the root of this is that so much of, that so much of Palestinianism and Palestinian identity is actually, and this is a, you know, it's a hard truth, it will make people uncomfortable hearing this, it's rooted not in the betterment in the improvement of Palestinian lives and Palestinian identity. So much of it is rooted in the suppression and the erasure of Jewish presence in the land, in the region. And so, with that being said, if we start using the term anti-Palestinian racism, we seriously risk

conflating Palestinian identity and what should be the legitimate pursuit of Palestinian rights and the improvement of life of Palestinians with opposition to the only Jewish state. And so, you know, we could be defining anti-Zionism as anti-racism. And if we get into that space, which we are heading towards rather quickly, it's going to be a very, very dangerous situation for Jews

and non-Jews in the country. I just struggle to see how this does anything but complicate the lives of students across the TDSB. This is a political landmine that didn't need to be deposited into the 600 schools of the TDSB. I mean, most of these kids, whatever their community they come from, whatever religion, they just want to go to school and learn and to be turned into a political football like this is just it's just

it's a circus and these I we don't I'm telling you like the kids that my kids age at school, they just want to go to school and learn. Absolutely. Well, that's it. And I mean, that's sort of, you know, I teach at a university, right? I see the students who are now the product of a lot of these school boards. The learning isn't what it used to be in some respects. Unfortunately, as well, I worry about other Arab immigrants, first generation, second generation and so on,

who are going, well, I'm Lebanese, I've experienced racism and bigotry. I'm from Syria. We it there but I thank you for laying out for us I appreciate it. Absolutely thanks Ben. Thanks for listening to the Ben Mulrady Show podcast we're live every day nationwide on the Chorus Radio Network and you can listen online to the Radio Canada player and the iHeart Radio Canada apps and make sure to follow and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your streaming audio. We release new podcasts every day. Thanks for listening.

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