The Ben Mulroney Show - Camera-gate 2025. Toronto speed cam, Hamilton home cams targeted.

Episode Date: September 8, 2025

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

This podcast is brought to you by the National Payroll Institute, the leader for the payroll profession in Canada, setting the standard of professional excellence, delivering critical expertise, and providing resources that over 45,000 payroll professionals rely on. Hey, thanks, son. What do I owe you? Don't worry about it. It's payday. Payday, huh? I bet you it went straight into your bank account and you didn't even check your pay stuff. My what? Your pay stuff. Back in my day, you had to wait for a physical check. Then, you had to go to the bank. Deposit it, and wait for it to clear.

Your pay really meant something. Payroll is incredibly complex. It's art and the science. It literally keeps the economy moving. Parole professionals do a lot for us. You know, it's about time we do something for them. How about we ask our leaders to name a day in their honor, a national day to recognize payroll professionals?

I got it. This is perfect. Why don't we explain to people just how important the roles are the payroll professionals play in our lives. We can even ask them to sign a petition. We can even ask them to sign a petition to recognize the third Tuesday in September as the National Day to recognize payroll professionals. We'll rally support and bring the payroll party to the nation.

National payroll party? Precisely. Sounds like a plan, you know, just one thing. What's that? I'm choosing the music. What? And I'm sitting in the backseat. The whole way?

The whole way. This show is sponsored by Better Help. Let's be honest. We've all shared our problems in some pretty funny places. the group chat, your barber, maybe even a stranger on a plane. And, hey, sometimes that helps. But when it comes to stuff like stress, anxiety, or relationships, it makes a big difference to talk to somebody who's actually trained to help.

That's what BetterHelp is all about. They connect you with credentialed professional therapists online. And what makes them stand out is their therapist match commitment. After a quick questionnaire, BetterHelp does the hard work of finding someone who fits your needs. Most people get it right the first time. But if it's not a match, you can switch counselors, time at no extra cost. It's flexible, totally online, and you can hit pause whenever you need to. With over 5 million people supported to date globally, BetterHelp is now available

in Canada with a network of counselors who have expertise in a wide range of specialties. With a 4.9 out of 5 rating based on over 1.7 million client reviews, BetterHelp makes counseling affordable and convenient, and you can switch counselors at any time for no cost. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at BetterHelp.com slash Mulrooney. That's Better H-E-L-P.com slash Mulruni You know you make me want to stop, kick my hands up and soft, through my hands up and and soft, throw my head back and soft, come on now, don't forget to say you will.

You're listening to The Ben Mulroney Show. Welcome to the Ben Mulroney Show. show on this Monday, September 8th. Of course, we are starting the show with that song because it is part and parcel of the experience of being part of the Bills Mafia. If you are, a great many people in the GTA feel an affinity, a kinship, an allegiance to the Buffalo Bills. It's the team that we try to attract here. That did not work. And now they're in their final season in their old stadium moving into a billion dollar stadium next year, which means the bills will forever be in Buffalo. But that doesn't matter because there are so many members of the aforementioned

Bill's mafia that call Toronto home. One of those people is our intrepid producer. Mike Droulet, Mike. So the NFL season, at least for the bills, kicked off yesterday at home against the Ravens. From Baltimore, yes? Yes. And a great many people, probably two tuned out with about four minutes left in the game. Because Baltimore was unstoppable had they, bills didn't stop them all night and they were down 15.

With four minutes left. Which has never been done. No team has ever come back from that in a season opener like that. But guess what happened? And so with four minutes left, I was like, ah, this isn't going to happen. I can't watch this anymore. So I went to bed. You went to get up early. You went to bed with only four minutes left.

and the next four minutes were four of the most exciting minutes in Bill's history. Yeah. Coming back from 15 down to win 4140. And I didn't watch, you know, it's been years since I was super passionate about a football. I keep a finger on the pulse, but not too, too much. I always say at the beginning of a year, maybe this is a year I'll get back in whole hog. And I'd love to. I just, uh, lots going on.

So I have to say, though, I must atone. So to Bill's mafia, I feel sure. shame. You feel shame. I need forgiveness. I apologize. It will not happen again. Well, it was a great way for the team to kick off the season, especially because last year they certainly fell short yet again. A lot of potential, a lot of hype, a lot of expectation on that team. And they're starting this year very, very strong, showing what they're capable of. So congratulations to the Buffalo Bills for their come from behind victory in a way that we don't often see in football. And football is known at least the NFL is known for these nail-biting endings this was was right up there and and good

on them uh a story that we we love love to follow in this in this city is the and we've told it a few times we have we have because it just keeps coming back it's the drama around the parkside drive speed camera this is one of the most hated cameras in the city how do we know it's the most hated listen the one in my neighborhood is hated i hate it but i hate it but i deal with it. The people of that neighborhood hate it so much that they find a way to dismantle it under the cover of night. It gets put up and somehow a bunch of people, ninjas, I think, come out and dismantle this thing only for it to be put back up again and again and again. Ninjas is the only possibility. Ninjas or warlocks or someone

who understands the dark arts because none of this makes sense. It has. now been put up for the seventh time. It was installed four years ago. The speed camera has issued, this is one of the reasons hated. In four years, it has produced 66,000 infractions amounting to more than $8 million in fines. It is a cash cow for the city as well as for the company that puts them up. There's not a Canadian company. It's an American company. They get 10%. 10% of all the tickets. Talk about bi-Canadian. And so the company is called Red Flex Traffic Systems.

It's a subsidiary of Arizona-based Verro Mobility. And so they're in charge of them. They own them and maintain them. And look, I guess it makes sense for them. They know that this one particular camera is a cash cow. But here's the thing. After it being dismantled and being put back up a few, few times. I think the people at Vera Mobility or Red Flex traffic systems decided there are cameras

on this thing. There are cameras watching the camera because they couldn't understand why, I guess they couldn't understand how or why people were dismantling it. And they still haven't caught anybody. And it still keeps getting put down, which is why I keep defaulting to either ninja or sort of some sort of magician who has powers beyond what we know and can see in the real world. Toronto police put up a camera. A number of citizens have put up cameras. There has to be more cameras on this camera than it's taking pictures of cars. So it's been put up for the seventh time. I'm sure that within the next month, month and a half, we will be telling you that it was taken down again and put back up for the eighth. It's one of the most interesting, sort of ongoing

soap operas, subplot soap operas that we have in the city. It's Parkside Drive Speed Camera. We love to hate it. We hate to love it. And we don't love it. Nobody loves it. Except for, obviously, the city and red flex traffic systems. Yeah, it doesn't make any sense to me. But let's now cast our regard to Hamilton.

Because there's a story that a lot of us saw over the weekend that just made us ask more questions than it answered. And there's Hamilton homeowner named Dan Miles, who was ordered by the city to remove. 10 security cameras installed outside his home. It's like he sees every angle. He sees every angle. And the city has asked him to take down his cameras because they have they have something there called the fortification bylaw, which prohibits any homeowner from having cameras on their property that have a view of anything beyond the perimeter of their home.

And for that reason, they want him to take down his cameras. Now, the head-scratching part of this is that the cameras that he has have helped. He has passed on that footage to the police for a number of investigations that they have had that that footage has helped them resolve. So he has been part of the solution of a great many problems as it relates to crime in the vicinity of his home. And the city wants him to take down the cameras because they think that he has too much of a view. I guess that's what it comes down to. sees too much. He sees too much and they don't like that. So he's very confused. And his neighbors, by the way, love the fact that he's got these cameras because outside

their home, there are great many people breaking a great many laws and bylaws. And so there are supportive neighbors praising his efforts. There have been privacy concerns. However, like I said, what does that, what do you do with ring cameras? Because I, I I've got a ring camera and I know for a fact I can see the street and that's beyond the perimeter of my house. And I can't tell you how many times we've heard when there's been a crime, you know, in a neighborhood, the police put out the request for people's ring doorbell footage. They say, hey, if you have, if your camera has caught anybody, or you might see the person walking down the street or you might see a car drive by. We can get an idea as to what cars we're driving by.

In that moment, the police know that your ring doorbell extends beyond your perimeter. So what does this fortification bylaw mean for people's ring doorbells? In Hamilton, it means, who knows? Because if they're taking down this guy's cameras, then they, by law, have to get rid of all the rings. But in Toronto. In Toronto, we don't have the same bylaw. That's the thing. Mercifully dot, dot, dot, yet, question mark.

the city does not regulate the same use of residential security cameras per se, but recommends best practices such as ensuring cameras only capture footage within your own property, posting, notice, signage, and limiting retention of footage. Yeah, none of that stuff happens with me. I keep it all. It doesn't happen at all. And by the way, like I said, the police are happy when people like me do that because every now and then they're like, hey, there was a robbery on your street.

We don't know what kind of car drove away. And so if anybody in the neighborhood can help us and give us their doorbell footage, we would be appreciative. So this is a slippery slope that I don't think the city of Toronto wants to go down. Although I'm sure somebody, somebody somewhere is going to find a way to turn ring camera footage into a demonstration of some sort of systemic inequity. And there will be hearings about it. And there you go.

But how will I ever be able to publicly shame those who don't pick up after their dogs? When they go on my line. That's what I got my rink in. Oh, I wake up almost every day to the diatribe of Mike Droulet and the ongoing struggle of people leaving their dog poop on his lawn. All right, hey, coming up, the clock is ticking on Parliament getting back to work. So is Mark Carney hold up in meetings prepping? Not exactly. We'll tell you about that next on the Ben Mulroney show.

Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show. By the way, I want to thank everybody for joining us. we are a show that you can find in lots of different places. You can find us on the Chorus Radio Network. You can find us on 6.40 a.m. specifically, you can find. I listen to us oftentimes on the IHeart Radio streaming app. And there's lots of great stuff there.

And it's a great way to listen to the show wherever you are in the country. But we're also a podcast on all major podcast platforms. And more and more people are finding us on YouTube as well as on social media. I think our social media channel of choice is Instagram at Ben Mulroney's show. We're doing, I think, pretty well there for a fairly new show. And one of the great things about that platform is you can, you know, you can enjoy that little small snippets of the show. You can road test us, if you will.

And if you like us, you can follow us in a more fulsome way elsewhere. And, of course, that's where we love for you to take our content and share it with those who may not have experienced the Ben Mulroney show before. But wherever you enjoy us, I say thank you. We're growing this show, one listener at a time. and we appreciate it. All right. It's Monday, September 15th, 2025 at 11 a.m.

So that's in, you know, one week and just under two hours. That is where Parliament will reconvene. This is following the last election. We, well, they sat for a little bit and then decided to take the summer off. Not that our parliamentarians do not work during the summer months. I'm not one of those people who peddles that that, that, that, that falsehood. It's absolutely not true. However, there is a role for parliament and that is where the laws get passed. And we have not passed a law or we have not changed some of the laws that

probably need changing in a few months. And so a lot of people are anticipating what's it going to look like and what's going to happen on that day. Don't forget Pierre Poliev has won his seat and in a by-election. So he will be back in the House of Commons to hold the government to account as the leader of the opposition. So what has our prime minister been doing? You'll remember last Friday, we spent a great deal of time on this show following a massive announcement by the government,

a hotly anticipated announcement by the government where they were sort of laying out what the future was going to look like in this uncertain economic time because of our good friend Donald Trump, south of the border. And by and large, it feels like the... uh the general consensus is it was an announcement for future announcements some of it was pretty

impactful and some of it seemed to be about punting the ball and for a time where we know that businesses are are facing some massive headwinds uh some of them due to our own mistakes and some of them due to you know the bad actor south of the border it feels like our government had two options, get out of the way and let businesses sort of get out of the way in terms of regulation and taxes and all that stuff, or really inject yourself into every aspect of the economy. And it feels like that's the way the liberal government is airing. At least that's what it sounded like to me. Mike, am I off base with that? Don't at all. No. It felt like it was like the government is going to be there for you

as a friend, ally, whatever, at every stage of your development, if you've got problems, we're there. But what does it mean? Yeah, what does it mean? Because I kind of think I would prefer the government to say, we're going to get out of the way, we're going to lower your taxes, we're going to make it, we're going to speed up regulation. We're going to do this and this and this and this.

And we didn't hear that. So my fear is this is a relaunching of government intervention into the economy. Now, I don't know yet. So anybody who's accusing me of peddling fear, Like, it's a question mark. But we also do know from over the last 10 years and from just historically, and this isn't, this is not a shot specifically at the liberals. It's just the truth is that they are very good at making these announcements, these broad

proclamations. It's, you have to see the follow through. Yeah. And look, a lot of people were hoping to see an end to the EV mandate. You'll remember that the liberals put in a very heavy-handed and also very strict. EV mandate that by a certain date, every single car that was sold in this country was going to have to be an electric vehicle. And the numbers and the enthusiasm and the buy-in by the public does not justify it. And rather than scrap it, it was sort of like, okay, well, we're going to

punt the ball by a year. We're going to push it back by a year. And then we're going to re-examine it. Now, why? I mean, the data tells you we do not have the buy-in yet in this country to make that a reality and to make that feasible. And so that didn't happen. And there was a lot of plans for plans. So how that lands and what happens on day one of Parliament, I think a lot of people are going to be watching and listening for. Meanwhile, our prime minister did something that I think surprised a lot of people.

I mean, he's 60. And he always looks like he's in very good shape. But I didn't know he was in this good shape. He ran, he entered and ran a 26-kilometer event in Halliburton. It was the Halliburton Forest Trail race. And out of 120 runners in the 26 kilometer race, he finished 58th. I mean, like, right in the meat of the order, as George Costanza said, like, not showing off, not falling behind. Like, that's, that's impressive with the time of just over three hours and 45 minutes.

And you have to think he's racing against people that are far younger than him. Yeah, no, I'm, like, there's no trace of, I'm not being mean, I'm not trying to be, not trying to make fun. Like, that's impressive. I couldn't do that. So good on him. Congratulations. But look, he's had the summer to do this sort of thing. When he gets back, I think he was trying to get that run out of the way because the

marathon of the next parliamentary session is going to be upon him. 11 a.m. September 15th, next Monday. And look, I think the question that a lot of us have, and I think is a fair question, especially in the GTA, will the liberals on day one or at least promise on day one to introduce legislation on bail reform? Will they re-examine some of the failed policies on crime and criminal justice that have put us in this place where people in this city and in this region feel unsafe? Let's not forget, I'll give you a violence update because that's what we do now. Three shootings took place in Vaughn over the weekend, targeting houses and vehicles.

Homes and vehicles were damaged, residents were inside, no injuries reported. police a dark-colored sedan fled each scene and they believe the incidents are connected if only there was some ring doorbell footage that could help in the furtherance of this investigation. And it all happened over 24 hours. All over 24 hours. And look, for those of you who think that I'm up here

making stuff up about crime and how people should feel, how about we listen to the mayor of one of these cities whose citizens feel that their lives are not as safe as they used to be, Let's listen to the mayor of Vaughn, Stephen Del Duca. It has been a very tough number of days. People are anxious. They are scared. They are angry.

And they are looking for political leaders at every level to step up and do more to make sure that a clear message is sent to the criminals that this has to stop. That there will be really serious consequences, strong consequences, that those criminals who choose to have no regard for human life or for property that people work hard to own will be behind bars, not out on the streets, not out on bail. revolving door that we've seen for far too long. Yeah. So Stephen Del Duca, pretty sure he's been a card-carrying liberal for the better part of his adult life, seems to be saying things that are said on this show often, but by all means, come after me as opposed to actually looking at the problems, because that'll solve things. There was a poll that came out about the state of play in municipal politics here in the city of Toronto. You'll remember that in the by-election got Olivia Chow, the crown here in the

city. One of the problems that faced the right and center-right was there were too many, too many people competing for two few votes, and that's why she won. In all honesty, I think she won with 30-some-on percent of the vote, and you had three or four or five people competing for on the other side of the political spectrum. She had the left sewn up, and everybody else was fighting it out amongst themselves. Well, in the current poll is that Olivia Chow is sitting at 36%. John Tori at 30, Brad Bradford at 18, and Anabiliol at

8 with undecided is at 13. However, if you look at head-to-heads, Olivia Chow versus John Tori, John Tori wins. Olivia Chow versus Brad Bradford. Bradford wins. But if those people do not get their axe together and pick one horse and back that one horse, it's pretty much guaranteed at least at this point

that Olivia Chow will win again. So the right has to get their act together or the left wins it. That's the key takeaway. of zero stress, zero worries, zero indecision. Hurry in, because once they're gone, there will be zero left. During the Nissan All In Clear Out, get zero percent financing plus up to $500 bonus on some of our best-selling models. You have zero reasons to wait.

Conditions apply. See your local Nissan dealer today.