The Ben Mulroney Show - Colbert's last stand/Flight attendants cannabis-free?/Finance and sport for kids

Episode Date: May 22, 2026

GUEST: Vanessa Bowen / financial empowerment expert  / CPA GUEST: Co-Founder of HERsportsfest Carolyn Jeffs   Guest:   Co-Founder Sherry Lamb 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 Executive Producer:  Mike Drolet Reach out to Mike with story ideas or tips at [e-mail] Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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for delivering the type of outstanding customer experience Canadians have counted on for over 60 years. Right now, don't pay for 12 months on a featured air conditioner or heat pump. Call on the experts that know how to beat the heat. Conditions apply. See website for details. Well, last night, Stephen Colbert, the host of the late show, was signing off for the final time after 11 years as the host of that show. He took over from the legendary David Letterman.

and we were wondering we talked about at the end of yesterday's show and we wondered what the show would bring and I know myself I think Droulet probably did the same thing I did not watch it live I don't I don't really do that anymore I haven't done that in a long long time

we catch those clips after the fact sadly it's more because of bedtime for me yeah no you're right well it's a lot of his bedtime yeah yeah you know it's just I don't stay I mean I have dinner at like six now like I'm that guy well we think we

finished the show at six. Yeah, I have, but all things being equal around six. I'll get home at 6.30, I'll eat. Yeah. Yeah. And that's appropriate, as far as I'm concerned. Not 7.

I like it. Not 8.30. 8.30? I got to digest. Anyway. So that's the world we're living in. I'll think a lot of people did. But a lot of us were wondering what kind of show it was going to be.

And you know what? There was some fun. It was a really, I very much liked what I saw and the analysis that I read. he pulled a good prank on CBS. He pulled a very good prank on CBS. Don't forget, the Stephen Colbert Show, the late show, is gone, but CBS is still there. And this is the prank.

Let's play it. Keynuts is a powerful brand and corporation in and of itself. Anyone illegally using that music is going to have to pay through the nose. Lewis? Lewis. Lewis. Excuse me, Lewis. Is the band?

is the band right now playing the same Peanuts music that I just said people are being sued for for using without permission. Is that what he's doing? Is that what they're doing? Yeah. Oh, no, I hope this doesn't cost CBS any money. I love it. I love it.

One good prank as he exits a stage left. There was a big emphasis yesterday on who was going to, to be the final guest. Who was going to be his last guest of the show? And the big, big, big, big rumor was that it was going to be the Pope, right? One of the reasons Stephen Colbert is a proud and devout Catholic. And he wears his faith on his sleeve. And I believe he when he discusses it, he discusses it with empathy and with love.

There's a lot of love in his faith. and I think that's actually one of the best things about him. But he joked about the Pope being the last guest. It was a hot rumor and they teased it. Apparently the Pope was there, but he didn't come out of his dressing room. So there was that. But they were going back and forth. There were a number of big sort of guests that just popped up,

assuming they were going to be the final guest. He had Brian Cranston of Breaking Bad. He was the first one who popped up during the monologue. and when he wasn't offered to be the final guest, he bolted and, quote, sold his ticket. Then there was Paul Rudd, who had a very silly, almost slapstick sort of thing. Tim Meadows, with whom,

and you'll remember him as the ladeth man, I can tell by this half-drug bottle of cul-va-de-ye that it at the end of the night. Come on, you don't like that? Yeah. I see Tim Meadows in you now. You know, they shot the movie The Ladies' Man in the Masonic.

Temple where I shot my show, my very first show. And they did not include you in the movie? Well, I happened before I got there. I happened before I got there. Anyway, so Tim Mutters was there. He was in, he was in the second, it was not Second City. He was, I don't know, some sort of comedy troupe years ago. It was Second City.

It was Second City with Groundlings. Okay. And he just assumed that he would be the final guest. And when he didn't get it, he screamed at him. He's like, you got what you deserved. It was great. It was great. It turns out the last guest was not those men.

Let's listen. Hey, listen, Paul Rudd. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. It's me, Tim Meadows. Okay, listen, Stephen's a great guy. If he says you're not his last guest, you just got to accept it.

Hey, my old friend, Tim Meadows, Timmy, what are you? It's nice to see you, as always. What are you doing here, buddy? I was just explaining to Paul Rudd that, you know, for your last guest, you wanted someone you go back with so we could talk about the good old days when you and I were doing Second City together.

It's not you either, Tim. Screw you, Colbert! You know what? You've got what you deserve. That's my favorite life. That's my favorite life. Got what you deserve. So as it turns out, it was Paul McCartney. And it was a lot of people might have thought to themselves,

well, that might be a little odd, but it's not odd at all. It's actually probably the most beautiful full circle thing because in that very theater, the Ed Sullivan Theater, that is where the Beatles were first introduced to America. That was their first television appearance on that very stage. And McCartney gave Stephen Colbert a picture of the Beatles performing on that stage, And I think, what was the line when Colbert looked at? He's like, oh my gosh, and you signed it.

Stephen, you're better than the Beatles. McCartney said, that's not what it says. He says, he will say that when my editors are done with it. And so a lot of fun, a lot of fun things going on in the show. And some of it was meta and some of it was sad. Some of it was, there's parts of it that were dragged that I watched. But I think it's a memorable final show. and let's listen to the last words that Stephen Colbert said, his parting words on this final show.

This show has been a joy for us to do for you. In fact, we call the show the joy machine. We call the joy machine because to do this many shows, it has to be a machine. But the thing is, if you choose to do it with joy, it doesn't hurt as much when your fingers get caught in the gears. On night one of the Colbert rapport back in the day, I said, anyone can read the news to you. I promise to feel the news at you. And I realized pretty soon in this job that our job over here was different. We were here to feel the news with you. I'll say to you what I've said to every audience for the last 11 years,

and I have met it every time. Have a good show. Thanks for being here. And let's do it, y'all. I think that's great. I think that's lovely. It wasn't self-important. It was kind, and it was, and I think he struck a really,

really good tone. Now, so there's, that's the feelings, right? Let's talk Colbert facts. His ratings did not crater. The total viewership stayed between 2.5 and 2.7 million for five years. His numbers cratered in the younger demo, which is unsurprising. I think you see a similar trend across all linear television. And well, that kind of lines up with the fact that his last guest was Paul McCartney. Yeah. Which the younger demo doesn't generally care about anymore. Or they ever did. Who's that?

Exactly. Yeah. The law, so people talk about the losses, right? CBS reportedly bleeding millions per show. Some people were suggesting, no, per year on the show. Per year. But some people were suggesting it's 40 million. There's no real number to it. Yeah, there's no real number.

But here's the troubling thing for these types of shows. The staff, he has 200 plus people working on that show, 22 writers. And Conan O'Brien pointed out something, a few years ago. When he did hot takes, the hot wings show, right?

Where celebrities go on that show and they eat hot wings that are progressively hotter. He did that and that interview

went viral over 10 million views online. In that moment, he had a eureka moment. He realized celebrities are clamoring to get on this show

to do something stupid. The interviews are really good. They have a crew of like five people and they make more of an impact through social media and through YouTube, then these shows do with 200 staff. That's the problem.

That's where they're losing. And I don't know how they square that circle. And last thing that people should know, let's finish with some truth about Colbert. They said that he never interviewed Republicans. Not true. Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, and others.

All I know is he's a talented guy. Not all comedy is for everybody. If you didn't like it, that doesn't mean he wasn't funny. He just wasn't funny for you. But I thought that he was a kind and decent man. And, you know, I salute him and I hope that whatever he does next, he's happy and he's at peace. Some crimes are so shocking. They don't just make headlines.

They forever change our society. I'm Katie Ring, host of America's most infamous crimes. Each week, I take on one of the most notorious criminal cases. Each case unfolds across multiple episodes. Release every Tuesday through Thursday. From the first time, that's something. was wrong to the moment the truth came out or didn't listen to and follow america's most infamous crimes on apple podcasts spotify amazon music or wherever you listen to your podcasts

we want to focus on the story of air transat a quebec arbiter just backed the airline's new total cannabis ban for flight attendants even off duty calling it a reasonable safety rule in an industry where no chances it can be taken And there are, there's studies out there that say that cannabis can, um, can alter your cognitive ability, uh, for, for 12 hours, um, approximately prior to, uh, like, going, leaving your system. And so, I want to hear from you is this, is this too much of an onerous thing. This is a legal product in Canada. It is licensed. It is taxed. It is taxed within an inch of his life. This is, we as a country decided. We, we, wanted this as part of our, of our culture, of our lives. And I wonder what you think. 416-870-6400 or 1-3-8-225 talk. I'm of the opinion that if the studies say 12 hours, then 12 hours before your shift starts,

you shouldn't be consuming any cannabis. If it were illegal as it was years ago, then there should be none in your system, right? but this is the world that we had we bought into this is we wanted this uh it is now part of our lives thriving and more or less thriving industry uh and and and i don't know that it is uh the zero tolerance ban is fair to people who enjoy it responsibly uh you know you could say you could say look if you can't take any chances if the argument is no chances can be taken because uh this is because safety is well then do alcohol Right? Do alcohol too.

Because if you're going to work hungover, that is a declined cognitive state because you drank too much. And it's legal and it's licensed and it's regulated and it's taxed just like the cannabis. So the union obviously is going to challenge this. But should airlines be allowed to ban legal cannabis for flight attendance if safety is the reason? Now, I do recognize there is a very serious safety role for these flight attendants to play. And so that's why absolutely. But they're not flying the plane, right? And so I don't know that this ban is commensurate with the responsibilities that flight attendants have.

Let's check in with Matt. Matt, welcome. Hi. Hi. So I was just curious if you've heard anything about what about somebody? that uses it for a medical purpose. Oh, no. I mean, this is all new.

This just came out very, very recently. So all of the medical advice that was sent to convince the arbitrator that no reliable test can distinguish occasional from chronic cannabis use and aviation is an extreme circumstance where no chances can be taken.

Like I said, Matt, I'm of the opinion. If that's your position, that's an extreme circumstance, then explain to me why you are making an exceptional rule for cannabis and not alcohol. extreme to me should be blanket, right? Absolute blanket. And if it's an extreme case,

then we have to do people with anxiety issues, right? If you have anxiety and you're managing it with drugs, well, how are you going to deal with the high-stress environment of a water landing? Right? So, like, I think they've opened a door that we all have to walk down. We've got to see where it leads. But this is a bad position to start from, I think. And does it also include,

THC versus the CBDs. Right, well, exactly. I mean, we don't know. We don't know. Oh, we're hearing. They said no fixed abstinence window was imposed because THC potency varies wildly, and science can't yet guarantee a safe time frame ruling from trucking and transit cases were deemed not comparable to aviation. So I guess their issue is THC.

Okay. Yeah. All right. Yeah, interesting. Thanks. No problem. Have a great weekend, my friend. Who do we have got Jason here.

Jason, thank you so much for calls. How do you, where do you fall on this one? I swear I fall right on the 50 yard line. I honestly was telling your screener. Like, you know, there's a part of me that says the person has a right to do what they want to do and they're not at work. Yeah. And the other hand, if I'm on a 737 over a body of water and there's problems, I want the person that's going to be in charge of opening the door and, et cetera, you know, coordinating things to be.

level-headed as possible. Yeah, well, I think we all want that. Yeah, I think we all want that. But, Jason, like, I mean, to me, the fact that it's a blanket ban, even in their off-duty times, I mean, look, but make it 24 hours, 24 hours. You can't ingest anything 24 hours.

Are you telling me that in 24 hours probably getting on a plane, you're not, listen, it might be in your blood still, but your cognitive function relative to what is required of your job. And let's also not forget. All of a sudden, You're in an emergency situation. What's the first thing that happens?

You get a shot of adrenaline, right? So whatever is stuck in your systems being flushed out by the adrenal gland, and I'm speaking as a doctor, obviously. But no, but you know how it is. Yeah, it is all of a sudden you get a shot of adrenaline. You're not feeling that alcohol that you just had, right? So, yeah, to me, this is trying to solve, you know,

the problem of a fly with a bazooka. I'd have a hell of a time with my employer telling me what to do when I wasn't at work. What happened? Tell me. No, I'm saying I would have a hell of a time. Yeah. You know, I do on-call periods, and we are expected to refrain from drugs and alcohol when

we're on call. Yeah. And, you know. Can I ask you what you do for a living? I work for a municipality and have on-call periods for emergencies, like, you know, down to trees, inclement weather, those types of things that I'd be expected to show up and grab a vehicle

and go and do whatever needs to be done. So I guess, you know, I respect that 100%. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so it's a tough, but it is. It's a tough call. That blanket ban, boy, that's... Yeah, it's a big one.

And like, again, like, again, if this is such an important thing, then do alcohol too. Jason, thank you very much. We got a text. It said 12 hours is nothing. CBSA states 24 hours before shift. Okay, then do 24 hours. But a blanket ban.

What if you're on vacation for a week? What if you have a week off before your next flight? You're saying that the night you get off of your shift, maybe you're not an alcohol person. Maybe you like a gummy to relax. You're saying that you can't have a gummy? That's a problem. That's a problem.

You're depriving this person of something that is entirely legal in this country. You're saying that six days before they get back on a plane, because this is such an extreme thing. But they can drink a bottle of wine the night before? That doesn't. I can't square that circle. I can't square that circle. But I remember a movie that came out called Flight.

And it starred Denzel Washington as a pilot in a Sully Sullenberg sort of situation where the plane was going to go down. And he inverted the plane in order to save almost everybody on board. Some people died. But it was miraculous. what he did. But the fact is, prior to getting on the flight,

he went on a Coke and boozebender the night before. And in order to take the edge off during the flight, he drank a couple of vodkas while he was flying. And then the plane crashed. It was not caused by him. And no one was able to, in the simulators, do better than he did. But justice needed to be done.

And they found that it didn't matter that he, it didn't matter that he survived and so many people survived. He needed to be held to account. Now, this is it. That's extreme, but it reminded me of that when we were talking when we started talking about this. It's a great movie, by the way. You should watch it, Flight. Jason, welcome to the show.

Ben, hi, it's Jason. Yes. How are you? Hi, good. I think I was different than the other Jason. I was just thinking that you wouldn't sit and get stoned or, as you just said, drink at work. Yeah. So if the people at B say that you're still intoxicated,

after 12 hours. It's a no-brainer. But I do know that the government has made mistakes in legislation before, but until proven like, what recourse do we have to fight against the government? Yeah, well, I guess the union can push back. I mean, look, the question,

if this is for T-S, T-HC, what about CBD, right? Which is more body buzz. What if you have a bad back? What if you have your feet are in pain? CBD doesn't make you feel stone, so is this only about the THC? And again, I keep going back to the comparison with alcohol. You're going to deprive somebody of taking a gummy the night they get off of work.

But you can drink a bottle of wine the weekend before you get back on the plane. That doesn't work. The logic doesn't work. It's a situational grasping at your pearls. But Jason, I thank you very much for the call. And, of course, this is an evolving story. We will follow it as it develops. So many times on this show

We talk about how tough the financial times Are for all of us out there Whatever our lives were like A few years ago, it's harder today Like that's pretty much across the board Probably with the exception of the ultra-rich Whatever we had before However easy it was before, it's just a little harder

And you go up and down the sort of the ladder of income And I'm no different And in my case though There was some stuff that was inflicted by external factors in other cases. It's stuff I did to myself. And I have been very honest with my kids because they have found that we're doing less

stuff and we're buying less stuff. And we're, and rather than try to create a fiction around it, I've decided to take the opportunity to like, I want them to learn from me. I was like, dad done messed up. And I want you to learn from me so you don't, you don't mess up. I've created a situation in a lot of cases where I have, I don't have options. I don't have the options I used to have. I don't have the choices I used to have.

And because of that, I feel I've dropped the ball in terms of offering the things to my kids. I always was dreamed of offering them. And so that's the environment that I'm creating in the hopes that they learn from that. Now, is that the right way to go? I don't know. Fortunately, I've got someone here who knows a bit, a little bit about a lot, or a lot about this particular thing. Vanessa Bowen, she's a financial empowerment expert and a CPA.

Vanessa, welcome. Thank you for having me, Ben, excited to be here. Yeah, so we're learning that 90% of parents, like me, are talking to their kids more about financial literacy and issues around managing your finances than ever before, but less than 10% of those very same parents think their kids are ready and are armed with, I mean, maybe they have knowledge, but they don't have wisdom yet in terms of how to take these things on themselves.

Yeah, it's actually so interesting because to your point, we're having the conversations. And I love what you said. We're having these honest and open conversations about the realities of our financial life as parents. But there's a difference. You know, financial confidence isn't built just by knowing what to do with money. It's built by actually using money. And I think that's what's causing that gap that you just explained, the 90% versus the nine, is yes, we're giving them the education

and they're getting the knowledge, but we're lacking this ability of having our kids translate that knowledge into real life, practical money moments. And I think that's the gap that now as a parent, we need to actually step in and support. So how do we do that? I mean, I've heard stories of, you know,

getting your kids a specific type of credit card. I think back in the day, there was something, I think it was like the charm card or something like that. And it was like a very low risk lots of guardrails on it sort of credit cards so that kids could appreciate the notion of buying something on credit, right?

And or getting them an account these days is a with a really good dashboard on an app that allows them to see what they're investing and you see that the circles, the gamification, if you will, of banking and investing is sort of built for their minds right now. Are those the types of tools we should be,

using? 100%. That's truly what I believe because we have to give kids these practical real life money moments to manage money, whether that's earning, spending, saving. I actually personally like the MITO app because it gives kids these abilities to spend their money while allowing us as parents to oversee where those transactions are going. But kids get to make those real life decisions. We can give them money and they can decide. Do I spend it now? Do I save it? Do I watch those savings grow. And so I do think it is using apps like Maito and other resources and tools like that that give the kids the practical experience because then they learn. And then they can make their own mistakes, but they get to understand what it practically means to have money. And that's how

we build that confidence over time. When we say kids, kids is a broad term. I mean, seven years old, heck, my mom still refers to me as her child. And I'm 50. So what's the, what's the right time to start these conversations? And what ages should be expecting certain benchmarks to be achieved? Yeah, such a great question. There is actually this recent research that showed that kids understand money as young as the age of two. And I heard that recently myself at the Mido Resilient Summit. And I was quite shocked because you think, okay, maybe when they're five, six or seven,

but they're actually understanding the concept of money as young as two. Now, that doesn't mean we give them a card, right? But I do think we have these conversations or we give them examples of money as young as possible. But then we give them age-appropriate activities and abilities to manage their money. A seven-year-old obviously needs to manage it differently than a 17-year-old. But the basic concept is the same. You make money. You should save a little.

You shouldn't spend it all. You should decide, you know, have that delayed gratification. but it is using their age as an appropriate mile marker of where they should be and their concept and understanding of money. Well, yeah, you know, my kids, they don't covet anything, right? They don't ask for a bunch of stuff and they don't, they're not looking. At Christmas, they want two things and we get them to those two things and then they're happy.

They don't compare themselves to other people and that's good. But I think I lulled myself into a false sense of security because I think it was four years ago. They went to camp. It's right after the pandemic. They went to camp. They were away for a month. and so excited. And when they came back, we sort of gave them a day to play video games again.

And then I get the bill. These guys were buying robucks like it was going out of style. I could not believe what my credit card statement said. I couldn't believe it. And I will not say the number because it's gag-inducing. I was fortunate I was able to get like 95% of that money back because they had bought these things, but they didn't spend them. And so I was lucky.

But that was a wake-up call for me, that just because I saw responsible behavior in one thing didn't mean they had any conception, no conception whatsoever of the money and how it was spent. They were just clicking on things. Yeah, it's so true. And this is why I think it's so important to give them their own account or their own card because they realize,

like they can see, oh, that's my money. Correct. Do I really want to spend it on this? Do I not? It's not, you know, mommy or daddies. So it does change that perception and that ownership. which then helps them build those more, I'll say create better decisions when they get older

when they're getting that paycheck regularly. You know, and they have more things that they need to worry about spending on. And like are we, do we have to set our, do we have to have different conversations with our kids today with the changing landscape of what the future is offering them? I mean, you know,

we're living in a world where home ownership is increasingly less of an option for the younger generations. Should we be preparing them for? that world? How do you suggest moving forward on that? Like, hey, dad, you have a house. Why can't I have a house? I'd like to be able to explain it to him without just railing against the politicians. So I'm not quite sure what to do there. It's such a great question. And it is the reality of life today, Ben. And I agree. Just like we're having these current casual conversations about how to spend money, how to manage money, I do think

we need to open our kids up to the reality. We're living in a different time. Homeownership might not be the best route for our kids when they're of age. Who knows? Maybe things will change. But I do think, and you said this when you started the show, it's important to have these real conversations with them. Here's what things look like. Here's what it costs to own a home today. Even if they don't understand conceptually, like how much that really is,

here's the numbers. I think it is important to bring them into reality. Because if we don't, we're just literally allowing them to grow and have this financial bias that's going to be more. more detrimental to them in the future. Yeah, yeah. I want, listen, I want them to have, I want them to learn from my mistakes. And that's why I want to be honest with them about them. If I don't, if I sugarcoat them, then, then they're going to think everything's fine.

And, and, and, and, and we're getting out, we're getting out of that, that, that spot now, which is a good thing. I'm coming out of changed person in terms of taking control of my personal finances. I can promise you that of an essay. It's, uh, I'm going to be, I'm going to be taking a lot more control than I used to. I just assume stuff would get done that didn't get done. But anyway, uh, I, I want to thank you very much for joining us.

And I hope you come back. I'd love to have you back to talk about finance and all sorts of stuff. But I really did enjoy this conversation. And I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful weekend. I did as well. Thanks for having me, Ben. I'd love to come back as well. Absolutely.

Take care. Take care. Drolay, what kind of conversations do you have with your daughter? The type where she goes, Dad, I don't want to talk to you. Just give me the money. What's that? No, my daughter's actually pretty good. She's like, you know, I want to save up.

Yeah. I want to get that squishy thing. whatever it is. Yeah, the squishy thing. Sure. Whatever it is, I want to get that toy. Yeah. I'm like, all right, that's good.

I appreciate that. Very, very good. All right, well, listen, when we come back, we're going to be speaking about an organization that is, it's a sports fest for girls. In this day and age, I think something like that's very important. Don't go anywhere. This is the Ben Mulroney show.

My nieces and nephews are, the eldest ones, my sister's kids are four of the most stand-up incredible individuals I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and the fact I'm related to them, I feel very lucky. And the two sons played and still play hockey at a very high level. And at its best, organized sport allows a child to become one of the best versions of themselves. If done properly and if the lessons are imparted properly, you can learn to work as a team.

You can learn to communicate. You can learn discipline. You can learn leadership. you can learn how to fail, how to lose, and how to pick yourself back up. These are all things that are intrinsic to sport. And if we impart those lessons well, those lessons can become part of the kid who becomes the man or the woman. And that man and woman are better for it. And by extension, we all are.

And so I'm very happy to have with us today the two co-founders of the Hur Sports Fest, which is a celebration of girls in sports. And so please welcome to the show, Carolyn Jeff's and Sherry Lamb. Hi, guys. Hi, and thanks for having us. Yeah, and thank you so much for being here. So tell me why did you guys found the Her Sports Fest? Carolyn, we'll start with you.

Well, actually, it's a good question to start with Sherry. All right. Sherry, why don't you tell the origin story? So quite a while ago, I woke up one morning and I had this vision of the event, and I could just see the whole thing so clearly and thought, why isn't there, you know, an opportunity for girls and women

in a really positive, supportive, encouraging environment to try new sports and to celebrate, promote, and support girls and women in sports. And when I had that idea, and it wouldn't let go of me, I called my friend Carolyn and said, what are we both passionate about? And without missing a beat, she said women's sport. and from there it's grown into the festival that's starting tonight.

So if people show up today, if I showed up with my daughter, for example, tonight, what am I in for? Well, tonight is our strong her night out, which is a 19-plus event. So we welcome you and your daughter tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, which is our all ages. Gotcha. But all three of the days kind of mimic each other in that they have the try it, to find it, the learn it, and the amp it. So the try it is where you can just come for fun, participation,

interact with 15 different sports that you can check out, find it, you can find organizations or vendors. Our learn it is kind of like our chalk talk, talk, spend. Like we go sort of behind the scenes a little bit, learn a little bit about sport. And we also have Ask an Athletes. And then our Ampet is all about social, community, celebration. So we've got a lot of just fun activities set up there. So NFL Canada is there. Toronto Scepters will be there. AFC Toronto is there. City of Toronto's there. The list goes on.

And we have our live DJ there too. So there's a lot to be happening up at the hangar, which is all indoors. Because in Toronto, it doesn't look like a great weekend. Sherry was was the horse sports fest? I mean, you had a vision for it, but was that vision a reaction to, I don't know, you looked at the lay of the land and you said we can do this better or there's a problem that we're trying to solve for? I think it's not about doing it better. I think there hasn't really been anything like this before when we've done our research. I think there's been a lot of great movement at the professional level and we're thrilled when you think about three Toronto women's professional sports teams. You think about women's tennis and women's golf and all that's happening.

But we want to move the needle at the grassroots level. So I think it's also about, you know, the girls dropping out of sports, women dropping out of sports. So, you know, when we sort of looked at the whole piece of it, we did think there's a gap because, you know, most of us didn't have these opportunities growing up. I'm really excited to try, you know, myself to try biathlon and, you know, a lot of these sports that are coming sailing and golf and football. And, you know, we didn't have these opportunities. So the idea is really for both, you know, the girls. tomorrow and Sunday and for women tonight to come and fully experience the festival. So you're saying that there is a downward trend in terms of youth participation in sport.

To what do you attribute it? Is it smartphone culture? It feels to me that would be a big driver. There's a lot of research out there about what is. And I think why in particular girls, like you see, you know, after COVID, girls did come back to sport at the same level that boys came back to it. And, you know, there's a number of researchers out there that can speak to it. What we are focused on and what we sort of saw and how we could, you know,

you can't solve everything. So what can you do? And I think for her sports fest, what we saw was let's just create a fun, inclusive, no judgment, like let's just participate rather than focus maybe on the wins and the medals and competition. This is really just about having fun, trying something out, see if it sticks. Sure. And I would say that even if it doesn't stick, you've come out and you've tried new things,

which I heard you at the beginning saying just trying something new can be good for us, right? Yeah. It gives us confidence just to try. Yeah, you try something new and next thing you know, you're not in the place you were. But by the very definition, I'm trying something new, and now I'm finding myself in a different location with a different perspective. Do you... Carolyn, Sherry,

what are your experiences with in organized sport? And do you have kids or family members that have either had good experiences or bad and you're trying to maybe improve it for the next round of girls out there? I always say, Ben, that I was never the best athlete growing up, but, I mean, sports has given me so much over my lifetime, whether it was growing up or even as an adult.

I've tried a number of different sports. sports and stayed with some of them as an adult. And that's been, you know, such a great experience. I think if you speak to almost anybody, they'll say they have had a good experience and a bad experience in sport. So, you know, for me, it's really, as Carolyn said, it's about participation. It's about finding the sport that you like at the level that you're at. It doesn't need to be elite, you know, and super performance driven.

It's really about participation and the things that we get from that, the mental, the physical, the social benefits, and the sense of community. That's huge. I think we can't discount how important it is to learn how to lose. There's how. For years, for years, we never let anybody lose. And I do not think that served anybody. I don't think we're protecting feelings over building strong, resilient kids into

strong, resilient people. What would this, how would you determine success for this inaugural, this inaugural of sports fest? I would say for success, I feel that we've had success without even kicking it off yet. And it's because over the last 15 months when we've been developing this, the amount of collaboration with other organizations, with other leaders, whether it be in the sport or not in the sport industry, I think that's been a great success.

There's a lot of support from many, many different people. And, oh, if you have you talked to this person or you should connect with this person. And I would say that is a success because I think it just shows that on whole that we are really supporting girls and women in this in sport. And I think that in itself has demonstrated success. Yeah. I've got to jump in right there because what you just said, it begs this final question, that this is for girls. We've seen stories about trans kids competing against girls in the news, especially in the States. but this is a this is a this is for biological girls yes no no not at all this is an

inclusive event oh I didn't know that is an inclusive event so this is for anything okay did not know that yeah of course of course I think the history of women's sports is inclusivity yeah and we at her sports fest absolutely are inclusive to all to come we're focused on you know a girls and women to make a safe space but if you're going to come with son, hey, that's okay too. If you want to come with a non-binary child, that's amazing as well. So we're inclusive to all. Fantastic. Please let me know if people have heard this and they want to join you, how can they get involved? They can come at the hangar 10 to 4 Saturday and Sunday.

Her Sportsfest.com.ca. And you can buy your tickets there or buy your tickets at the door. Thank you, guys. Have a wonderful weekend. I wish you the very best of luck with this inaugural. Thanks so much for having us. Thank you.