The Ben Mulroney Show - Minnesota ICE shooting/Harry Potter record crowds in Vancouver

Episode Date: January 7, 2026

Guest: Andy Gibbons, Principal at Walgate Advisory, former VP WestJet Guest: Regan Watts, Founder Fratton Park Inc., former senior aide to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty 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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All across the nation, let's go. Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Ben Mulroney show. It is the 7th of January 2026. New time slot, same team for our midweek political panel, but for those of you who are joining us for the first time on this Wednesday, I'd like to introduce you to our all-star panel. Please say hello to Andy Gibbons. He's the principal at Wallgate Advisory, former VP WestJet.

Hello, Andy. Hey, Ben, how are you? I'm well, thank you. Well, and of course, we've got Regan Watts, the founder of Fratton Park and former senior aide to finance minister Jim Flaherty. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Megwitch, bon anay, bonjour, monchaum. Bonjour, bonjournal. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon. We got to start with a really explosive story out of Minnesota where so much attention has been drawn for so many different reasons for so long. This is a new one. an ICE officer has fatally shot a motorist in Minneapolis during a large scale immigration crackdown. And what was at play and what happened? What conclusions people are coming to? It depends entirely on what they saw in the video.

Here is what Mayor Jacob Fry of Minneapolis said about this interaction and the death of this person. But I do have a message for our community, for our city, and I have a message for us. to ice get the fuck out of Minneapolis okay yeah that's

it's either helpful or unhelpful depending on your perspective but it does speak to the heightened emotion in that area and guys you've watched a video you've read what's going on I love your first assessment

and by the way first assessment we might not be married to it we might change our opinion as we get more facts in this story Regan let's start with you So I'll start with a couple of comments, Ben. First off, I watched the video and was reflecting upon the different cultures between Canada, the United States and how law enforcement, whether it's federal law enforcement or state level or provincial level and municipal level, behave and are taught to discharge their duties.

And, like, I think, you know, thankfully for the community, I never went to police school because I wouldn't have made a very good cop. But I do know enough about law enforcement in that if somebody is using their vehicle in an aggressive manner, that law enforcement are taught to defend the public peace and defend themselves. And the video that I saw was a woman who is using her car as a tool. And, you know, using a vehicle is a very serious thing. And so while I can't speak to what the person who discharged their firearm was thinking at that time, because I haven't read any interviews or reports from that. What I can say is just on the surface of it, you know, the officer had a choice to make,

and that car was directionally headed in that person's direction. So, you know, it's never a good idea or never a good moment when somebody loses their life as a result of the discharge of a firearm. But, you know, it was a very aggressive, intense situation. And, you know, the difference in culture between Canada and the United States, particularly what comes to law enforcement, is at least in the United States, and that includes in the state of Minnesota. You know, officers, federal and state level and local level officers use their firearms

in a much more regular manner than they do in this country. So it didn't surprise me that the guns were drawn. I'll also say that the mayor of Minneapolis is a total zero and not just because of the comments he made in that press conference in the profane language he used. But there's other policies, which I'm sure we could talk about, including daycare centers where he demonstrated his inability to lead his city. Well, Regan, let's listen to another. It's a hot take in that it's hot and immediate.

He might change his mind on this a little bit later. I myself saw a video of the shots being fired as the car was driving away. What I can tell you is the narrative that this was just done in self-defense is a garbage narrative. That is not true. It has no truth. I don't know, Andy. he can say that if all he's seen is a video as we have. I know he can't. He does not have all the information. The cops haven't been interviewed. He has no information to say that. I don't

know that he's being helpful. But what I do know, and this might not be helpful either, but Christy known, the head of DHS, the Department of Homeland Security, they have declared this a, and they don't have all the information yet either. But they've said this is an example of domestic terrorism. So put that into this soup of confusion. Yeah, I think it's, was that, was that the mayor again? That was the mayor, yeah. You know, the, I mean, it's just such a terrible thing. My instinct when I watched it this afternoon was it's going to become one of these instances,

Ben, where even with the information in the public domain, which is a video and all of that, 50% of the people are going to see an innocent lady driving away being murdered, and half of the people are going to see a police officer doing their duty. And they're going to be looking at the same video, just like George Floyd. Half of Americans saw police maneuver and half of the people saw a cold-blooded racist murder. And I think it's going to become one of those. And it could be one of these, this could be a Rodney King, George Floyd type event that just occurred this afternoon. No, in terms of people on the streets, in terms of division, in terms of it being one of these things CNN does a documentary about it.

Which is why I have to say, look, we don't know enough. And I don't know where everyone's going to land. But for the mayor to throw kerosene on this fire was so irresponsible, so irresponsible. But Ben, Ben, that's what liberals and Democrats do. We know that. They do that in this country. So it shouldn't surprise you. Yeah, no, that's a good point.

All right. Let's move to another story. We're still talking Donald Trump. But everyone's great friend, Bob Ray. came out and essentially said, hey, we have to really worry about Donald Trump. Now that you went after Maduro, we could be next.

This is one of the dumbest things I could think I could hear from anybody who's ever served in government, ever. This is idiotic. It's idiotic. But I'll let, I want to hear what you have to say. Andy, we'll start with you. Well, I think it's even a little bit irresponsible. And, you know, he was our ambassador to the United Nations

and should be applauded for his public service and all that. It's dispensed with that for a second. His speech on the floor of the United Nations when he left his job, Ben, was, I mean, it was a three-decade-old polemic about how special Canada is and lecturing the world and, you know, threat, you know, all of these old sort of, you know, what do you call it, tired tropes about Canada. And I think we're seeing this come out of the political class, especially in the liberal, the liberal side or the left wing in Canada there's been this latent anti-americanism and now they've

got a reason to flex it yeah right like mark Carney on your show you know before the show he's off to china he's not off to lansing michigan he's not off to minnesota he's not off to columbus ohio to talk about the relationship in canada the united states and and right yeah so i think there's this comfort level with anti-americanism that no one's really talking about but it's there with people like Bob Ray, it's always been there. So it's not, I think I agree with you. It is dumb, but it is the least surprising quote we could see from Aubrey. At Regan, I know that Mark Carney has you purring like a kitten, but I think we all agree on

this panel that the decision to recognize Palestine was premature. I think that's a polite way of saying it. And Bob Ray took great pride in that. He was on a podcast. I took issue with what he said on that, saying it's Netanyahu's fault that the prime minister, he hasn't talked to the prime minister, never. remind the fact that this Prime Minister, without telling anybody, changed 70 years of foreign policy for our country that he didn't get elected on. They didn't run on. And then he didn't

have anybody debate in the House of Commons. But despite that, he was expecting Netanyahu to come in and put water in his wine. And so I thought it was so condescending on his part. For him to then follow it up with this hot take, I don't know what he's trying to do on his way out of political life or the public sphere. But he's not ending on a high notice. far as I'm concerned. Well, I'm not sure, you know, Mr. Ray is, is attending to leave the stage. He may have left his current role at the United Nations, but career public servant and career politician Bob Ray is demonstrating the qualities that he's had his whole life.

People in Ontario, especially those who are in traffic right now, will remember his period as Premier of Ontario, which was an absolute gong show and has punished the NDP for almost 35 years in Ontario. Look, I'll pick up on something that Andy said, which is the sentiment of anti-Americanism in this country. It has permeated our political class and our ruling class for a very long time. I don't think it's healthy. I think the reason we are seeing challenges with the United States

and have seen challenges with the United States over the last little while is because for 30 years since your father left office, Ben, we as a country have taken the Americans for granted. And, yeah, we love to go travel there and visit. Hold that point. Hold that point. I got to take a break right now, but I'll give you a mic the second we get back. Don't go anywhere more with our political panel next on the Ben Mulroney's show. You are listening to Ben Mulanee's show. I love here next. You are right, Mr. Voiceman. You are listening to the Ben Mulroney's show. I'm so glad.

to be joined yet again by Regan and Andy, guys, thanks so much for sticking around. Regan, I want to let you finish up your point from the last segment. I just want to wrap up with this. I think it's a new year, and Canada has an opportunity under Prime Minister Carney to reset relations, not just with the United States, but around the world. But at the end of the day, the United States is our most important customer, neighbor, and ally. And for too long, the Canadian ruling class have taken the United States for granted. Since your father left office, Ben, we've basically done nothing but let the relationship of the United States atrophy

save for when we had those brave soldiers fighting alongside the Americans in Afghanistan and the war on terror. We need to, as a society and as a country, have a good, hard look at ourselves and think about ways we can contribute in meaningful ways to the world. And successive U.S. presidents, Obama, Biden, Trump, they have all said the same thing, which Canada needs to pull its weight around the world and a more meaningful way. way. And that is a bipartisan consensus in Washington. And if we want to continue to enjoy the standard of living that we have in this country, which is tied whether we like it or not, to our partnership with the United States, we need to lean into that partnership and like any good

relationship, do what we can to try and make it work, strengthen and improve it. All right. Well, before we move on to another hot topic, I wanted to do something that we only do on Wednesdays with this group of guys. We talk about the... The political play of the week. Yeah. Political play of the week. New show. We're trying some new stuff out.

All right. So let's start with you, Regan. So my political play of the week goes to President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio. It's both a good and a bad. I thought what President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio pulled off in Venezuela was extraordinary. It was an extraordinary military operation, and from a diplomatic perspective, you know, Secretary of Rubio continues to distinguish himself as if not the finest Secretary of State in the last hundred years, certainly in the top two, three, or four.

Regan, I completely agree. I completely agree. As a matter of fact, I think he's acquitting himself so well that I, J.D. Vance is going to have a tough time going through him to get the nomination. I really think he's that strong. Well, little Marco no more, Ben, right? I agree. And I think he's done an extraordinary thing.

I will say, though, in the drawback, you know, in politics and in government, it's all about getting your wins and pacing them. And I think President Trump in particular and maybe some of the more aggressive members of his team need to just chill a little bit because after as soon as Venezuela and the capture of Maduro and his wife was complete, they then started talking about Greenland and Colombia. And I just think that they take your wins when you have them and pace yourselves because it's only the seventh day of January and the fifth working day of the year. And they, you know, too much too soon, people don't respond well to that, both the American public and the broader world.

And I think they should be a little bit more mindful in if these are their goals, how they're executing. Because shock and awe is not a diplomatic strategy that can last continually. Good point. Andy, your political play of the week. It's, I'm choosing a misplay this week. And it's Canada's foreign minister, Anita Anand. The reason for that, Ben, is, I don't know if you saw her. statement in reaction to the Maduro. What do I call it? I won't call it a kidnapping year.

This will go crazy. The events in Caracas. The incursion. The incursion. The incursion. The incursion in Venezuela. The liberation. Yeah.

Because the reason it's a misplay is the statement is so vague, so opaque. It could be, it could be on a store shelf and labeled Pablam. It was a statement about nothing. It didn't even talk about what. had occurred, what Canada's position has been. And it's like we're still a country that doesn't have a view on things or values that we're promoting. And I just find it so disappointing because the prime minister clearly has his arms around our economy and him and Hodgson and McKinnon and LeBlanc, all of these people, they clearly have a plan and a vision for what they want to do

with our economy, but on our foreign policy and the fundamental questions, who is Canada? What do we stand for what do we say in these moments we're just nowhere and i hope it's on his new year's resolution list to really get a strong foreign minister for this country and a new foreign minister for this country because i just think that statement is is um uh is just not where a g7 foreign minister can be and that's just one more thing just compare it to her g7 counterparts and what they said well look yeah fantasy it's comparison to reality look i very much appreciated what Mark Carney said. It wasn't that differently, if we're being honest, from what Pierre Poliav said.

Pierre Poliyev said, congratulations on Donald Trump for getting rid of Maduro. And Mark Carney said, we're glad Maduro got gone because he didn't want to mention Donald Trump. But that's the only real difference. They're both rowing in the same direction. And Anita was, in that moment, Minister Anand, I should say, should have been a little more forceful in what successive governments in Canada have been asking for so long. We got it. We got what we wanted. And there should have been a little more elation, positivity, something out there.

Okay, let's get back to something that I think is a problem. You know, Regan, you talked about the ruling class. The ruling class has a real knack of poo-pooing problems that they create. And if anybody else ever did anything remotely like it, they would be up in arms. And this Christia Freeland conflict of interest thing, I got a problem with. I got a problem with because this was an easy thing to do. deal with. She could have resigned and then taken the job. Very simple. And she did none of that stuff. And nobody in the ruling class seems to have a problem with it. Well, I'm not sure that's

the case, Ben. I think I'll speak for all Canadians when I say, I hope that this is the last we hear of this fail forward public intellectual for the rest of our lives. You know, the thing is with Christopher Freeland, her record is finance minister, right? She's being appointed economic advisor to Zelensky in Ukraine. I mean, I assume she'll be better at economic advisement than Hunter Biden was in energy production in Ukraine. But beyond that, what did the Ukrainians see in her record that is any way positive for them to learn from? You know, economic growth in Canada when she was the finance minister was among the worst in the world. Our debt went sky high. Our deficits went sky high and they stayed that way. Interest rates. I remember during COVID, you know,

we were borrowing record amounts in the prime minister and the finance minister, Christopher Finland said, wow, interest rates are at record low. Yeah, but come on. And what they did was they negotiated short-term debt rates and they were a disaster. In her exit, but in her exit letter, she called for fiscal discipline. So there's that. But Ben, the only thing she should be thankful for, or we should be thankful for to Christian Freeland and those who were in Toronto stuck in traffic because Lord knows she wanted

everyone to drive their bikes home, but not watch anything on television because it was also the Disney Plus descriptions. I don't know if there's a big Disney Plus subscriber base in Kiev or in Ukraine. But the fact is the only thing she did that is worth redeeming is the fact that she called the Trudeau government out for the gimmicks and the fakers that they were. And she did that about a year ago, about 14 months ago. And we should all be grateful that the long national nightmare known as Justin Trudeau is no longer around because of her. But other than that, I can't imagine what Zelensky sees in her economic record, because, I mean, look, I'm still struggling to pay my Disney costs.

And that's no thanks to the high tax regime she brought into Canada. All right. Andy, I'm going to give you the last minute. Yeah, you know, most of what Regan said, it's a good thing for Canada that someone that a keen has a prominent global position. I think what bothered me the most unlike you, Ben, is why is it an afterthought that she's a member of parliament? Why does it take a day to get a statement out that she will, in fact, resign her seat?

Why is it three jobs later? She was reconstruction, then she was roads, and now it's this, and is it full-time, half-time, quarter-time? Oh, yeah, and there's the seat she holds in Parliament, and maybe we should say something about that. It's the fact that it was an afterthought that her constituents in that riding should have a representative, and she should first and foremost provide clarity about her current role which taxpayers give her

but I'm with Regan and I'll go one step further for the purposes of this show I just hope it's the last stuff. Well, listen, if she says she's going to take another couple of weeks to resign

we can be talking about it next week. Guys, I got to run. I've got to bounce. Thanks so much. We'll see you next week. Thank you, Ben. All right, don't go anywhere when we come back.

A few months ago, Harry Potter was Wizard Nongrata in parks, Vancouver, but what happened yesterday was magical. cases today that province is British Columbia. And there was some serious news that we talked about earlier with David Eby saying no more pipelines and steady like a refinery. Refinery, great idea. So is a pipeline. And decriminalization, bad idea. We shouldn't have done it. Yeah, okay. Glad you agree with the people that we were demonized for so long saying you're going

down the wrong path. Here's the silliness. You'll remember, maybe you remember, that in October there was an event to be held in Vancouver in a park in Vancouver celebrating the work of Harry Potter, the world of Harry Potter. It was going to be an experience, experience of the forbidden forest. And this did not sit well with the trans community. And the reaction from Tom Digby,

the Vancouver Parks Commissioner, is exactly what you would expect. This part reiterates that we unequivocally support the lives and rights of TGD2S people, it also publicly disavows J.K. Rowling's political activity and recognizes

the harm that that causes globally. You know, I just, in honor of that, let's just do one of these. Avadaka, no! Patrick! I have to say you are using a pen.

not a wand. Yeah, well, I left my wand at home. Okay, so, yeah, so that was it. I mean, they publicly, publicly disavowed JK Rowling and all her work and the ills that she has perpetrated on the world. So why are we bringing it up again today? Why are we bringing it up again today?

Well, because we found out that the forbidden forest experience in Stanley Park has been extended into January, due to unprecedented demand and strong audience response which the attraction will now close on February 1st

the Vancouver stop will be one of the longest runs in the tour's history Ah Wait About a cadaver Okay so what have we learned here What have we learnt?

We've learned that the park chose to listen to a very loud toxic, small group of people who are, I'm going to say it, narcissistic. Everything is about them. This experience that's about kids in a park, no, no, no. It's about the damage that the author causes to me.

Without actually showing any evidence of it, this guy, Tom Digby, bowed to them, bowed to them and said exactly what they wanted. Now, what happened? The people who pay his paycheck. The people whose money goes into the city to keep that park as beautiful as it is, they voted and they said, no, no, no, we want to do this because we deserve it because it's fun. It's fun. It's not damaging.

It's not hurtful. And we can separate. Yes, you might disagree with J.K. Rowling. But disagreeing with her does not, you don't have to disavow her. I mean, how dramatic do you have to be? How dramatic. Tom Digby, have you learned anything? Have you learned that there are activists who claim to speak on behalf of everyone?

And then there's everyone. Because everyone said this was a success and they wanted to be there. But the people who claim to speak for everyone do not speak for everyone. That's a little bit of Rasmataz and hocus, pocus, if you will. And again, I've said it before. if the thought of kids running around the outside, outdoors, enjoying the outdoors and a little magic is so damaging to you that you actually say it's causing people to die, then you are too fragile to go outside. Then you are not strong enough to go outside. And I would urge you

to ask yourself, what can you do? What can you do to be a stronger person? Because shutting down everything that you say you don't like doesn't make you strong. It makes you a bully. It makes you a bully. And it certainly doesn't make you're right because you're loud. It certainly doesn't make you right. And again, like we could talk about J.K. Rowling if we want. We could do that.

For my estimation, she has done nothing but build with her mind and what came out of the ideas in her head as a single mom, turn herself into a billionaire, employ hundreds of thousands of people through all sorts of different projects, gave careers and turned little kids into multi-millionaires made their dreams come true. And the one issue that I think she had,

unless I'm mistaken, is she thought that women should have women's spaces and women should have women's sports. I don't know that she has said anything beyond that. I could be wrong. But I do, I believe those two, things as well. I also fully support the trans community and everything else they want because I believe could there might be a hot take to you. We don't all get everything we want in life. Let me rephrase

nobody gets everything they want in life and you're living in a world today where in Canada you are respected and you are seen and if you are trans you have the support of so many people that you didn't have a few years ago. Heck, a few years ago people didn't know what trans was and now you've got people standing shoulder to shoulder with you. But some of us think, you know what? Kind of want my daughter to have a space for herself. And I kind of want her to play sports on her own. So you got me about 85% ally on your issues.

100% ally in you as a person. 85% on the issues that are important to you. If you want to take my hand of friendship and turn me into an enemy, that is on you. You do not build the world that. You don't build coalitions that way. You don't build community that way. All you do is tear things down.

And the community turned out and say, you know what, we're not listening to this nonsense. You're screaming, you're complaining, you're creating boogeymen out of kids as wizards. It's pathetic. It's pathetic. And I'm so glad you got the public dressing down by the public in Vancouver of all places, the most progressive lefty place we got in the country. And they turned around and said, not on our watch. Today we get to have a little fun with something that we love, with something that we love. with something that we love

And you know, if you do look at what J.K. Rowling spoke about. Rolling, actually. It's pronounced rolling. Yeah, isn't like rolling in the deep. Rolling in the deep. There you go. Well, she has always said that she supports the rights and safety of trans people. She's always said that. She doesn't believe they should be mistreated or excluded from society.

The only thing she talks about, though, is that you have to be able to distinguish biological sex from trans sex. There's a difference. And look, and you may not like it. You can say, you know what, I find this woman morally repugnant. But then to turn around and say this absolute nonsense, and it's so, it's stupid on its face that she is making the world unsafe for you.

You have to turn around and ask yourself, why do you feel that? Like, why do you feel that? Why do you feel persecuted by those words? You are weak-willed. You are weak in the mind if you think that that is an attack on you and it's making the world unsafe. You're not strong enough for the world and you have to, I'm sorry, it just is, you're not strong enough. If words like this make you feel that this person is putting your life in danger, you have to freaking toughen up, put on a helmet, life is tough.

Get used to it. You don't get everything you want. You just don't. I promise you, I'm the embodiment of privilege and I do not have everything I want. I'm according to you, I got a silver spoon up my ass and I can promise you. life is full of disappointment. So strap on a helmet and get in the game or sit on the sideline and shut up. You do have the privilege of good hair. Oh, thank you. Well, it's fiberglass.

It's fiberglass. But this, to me, is rational people coming together and saying, you know what, we're tired of this. Life is too GD hard. This was an opportunity to have fun with our kids outside. And we don't care how much you scream about it. we love it and we're going to do it and if you feel it's made the world too unsafe then go back inside

lock yourself indoors and complain online because that's the world you should be living in the rest of us want to have the rest of us want to build something together want to build something together and we are not afraid to have uncomfortable conversations and if you don't want to be part of that

please by all means excise yourself from the conversation I'm glad everybody had fun and I'm glad it's going on Oh, one more, one, one more. There we go. All right, I've gone too long. We'll be back right after this.

At the Rose with 6.40, Toronto, big trouble traffic. Big trouble traffic spot, the four. For the break, thanks, by the way, for joining us and sticking with us. we can't do this without you, and we know we build this show every day, and we need you to stick around with us and let us know what you like about the show and what you don't. We got a call before the break by somebody who said he's going to stick with the show, but, you know, he hopes that on his drive home when he's a little tired, that he can have something a little lighter every now and then.

And to be fair, what started as a silly segment took on a life of its own, because I think I think somebody put a spell of fed up enoughness on me and I just I just lost it. I did the head blow up at us. Yes, you did the spell. And then your head to explode it. So we want to hear from you at 1-888-225 talk. We were talking about this sort of the activists in Vancouver or anywhere. Getting a reality check from the people.

getting a reality check from people saying no no no no you're not going to ruin our fun just because you don't like something you small minority of people you don't get to tell us how we how we get to act and you do not get to ascribe motivation to why we are doing this

we like Harry Potter you don't get to tell us that oh well that means you like that means you support the violence against the trans community get over yourselves I just like the magic and I just like the books

and I just like the movies you don't get to do that and if you want to do that there's a place for that it's called the deepest darkest holes of the internet because that's where the sour depressed depressing people go

I say depressed not clinically just in terms of attitude and so give us a call 1-3-8-225 talk we'd like to hear from you because I like this this to me is a proper conclusion to that story

you had a group of angry people that didn't like that people were going to have fun and according to their worldview, this meant something to them. And the head of the parks in Vancouver just bowed at their altar. And what happened? The people who pay that guy's bill turned around and said, no, we're going to make this thing one of the most popular events

in Stanley Park in a very long time. And I like that. I like that. Yeah. So we want to hear from you know, like how does this make you feel? I feel that this is the reality check that activists need. They do not represent anyone but themselves. They're not thinking about you.

They're not thinking about your family. They're thinking about their single issue. They are by definition. By definition, activists are single issue. They're laser focused and they're not thinking about you. Let's check. Hey, Frank, welcome the show. Hi, how are you, Ben?

I'm well, thank you. I just want to say, I've been listening to you since that one Saturday there way back in October. when you first started. October 7th, 2023. Yeah, that was a... Absolutely. Wow, what a day.

I think you articulate well. Thank you. Stand up for the truth. You do not bow down to negativity and negative energy that's based on TikTok or Reddit or nonsense. You're well read. And you are highly professional. I'm a fan. Keep doing what you've got to do.

And keep the courage. Thank you, my friend. Thank you very much. Thanks for listening since day one. My goodness. Thank you very much. I appreciate that, Frank. You take care.

Bye-bye. Yeah, for those of you don't know, Frank, remembers my very first day hosting a radio show was Saturday, October 7th, 20203. I didn't know what it was about. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. I was supposed to just be here and tell people about all the great stuff to do in the city of Toronto. Meanwhile, I'm listening to the news reports coming out of Israel. And then as soon as I would hear about the terrible bloody one-day genocide, the only genocide, the only genocide that took place in the Middle East

over the past couple of years and I'd go back to telling people about farmers markets and thank goodness my boss Mike Ben Dixon came down and taught me how to pivot because I did not know that that was something I could do and I was really really I was sort of I realized in that moment that I think I had something to share

about important issues and I'm glad that I now have the platform to do that and at least important issues as I see them And we invite you, by the way, to let us know about issues that might fly under our radar. We might have, there might be stories that are important to you that I won't see. We might have blind spots and we'd like for you to highlight them for us. So by all means, get in touch on all our social media. You can get us on Instagram and Twitter, or X, whatever you want to call it.

We're even on TikTok and you can find us on YouTube. You can send us emails. You can do whatever you want. Like find us wherever you think we will. We've got Amy Siegel is our video producer. She checks all this stuff. And you can let her know, and then we'll, if it's something that we think is, oh, my God, that, that is interesting. We hadn't thought about that.

Or if I have a take that you think is wrong, what it just said about J.K.R. Rolling in Vancouver, if you think I'm wrong, let us, let us know. Do so come in a way that I'm not going to want to delete the email. But I'll read it. I'll read it. And if I think you're right, I'll agree. And I'll say, you've changed my mind. I doubt you will, but you might. Hey, George, welcome to the show. George, you there? Yes. Hi. Yeah, this is George speaking.

Yeah. I'd just like to say that people need to mind their own business and let the world be the way it is. There's too much, I don't know if you can swear online here, but anyways, there's too much of this BS on going on around the world. Well, you know, George, it's actually really funny that you said that because I don't post ever anything on social media, but every now and then on Instagram when I see something funny,

I'll repost like a meme or something like that. And today, I saw this woman who's just rolling her eyes and said, you know, in 2026, I think we need to, we need, people have to stop raising awareness. Like, there's been enough awareness raised. And now it's time to raise other things. How about you raise your kids? How about you raise your standards? But can, for the love of God, for just a little while, can we stop raising awareness?

If you feel that there's awareness that needs to be raised, go back inside. And I thought that was perfect, and I posted that. I think you're saying the same thing. Exactly. Exactly. They need to stop all this BS that's going on. The world is on fire as it is. And we need to put the fire out. Yeah, I don't think, in a lot of cases, I think, I've said before, I think activists by and large, generally speaking, make terrible politicians.

But activists, because they're so focused on possibly a single issue, that by, by, by, definition makes them selfish. And I don't mean selfish in a way, in a bad way. I mean, they're focused on themselves at the exclusion of so many other people. And for that reason, it's, I don't, I don't trust them in moments like that. As a matter of fact, the new anchor on CBS, Tony DeCopal, said he endeavors as the new host of that show to regain the trust of the people watching CBS News. We are going to listen more to the people and less to the activists. He said that. all right and I guess I'm echoing it uh Felix welcome to the show hey how's it going Ben it's going well thank you

I'm just getting tired of this cancel culture Ben I don't like you let's get let's get you canceled oh well but that's the thing about the kid this on this show we we're not going to allow that that's part that's our tagline all conversation no cancellations we do not want that happening here I want people even people I disagree with if they say something that offends me to my core I will be happy that were comfortable enough to feel safe enough

to say it on my show. I'll be thankful that they felt that this was a place where they could say that thing that was important to them. Absolutely. Because that used to be how things were done, Felix. It used to be what I've said before is what makes Western culture the best

culture better than any other place on earth, the place people from around the world flock to Canada, the United States, Western Europe. What makes those things better than the other places is we are not afraid to allow the violent collision of ideas in the public space, or at least we used to be that way.

And until we get back to it, when we get back to it, in a really, in the most authentic way and undistilled way, when we get back to acknowledging that what makes this place magical is the violent collision of ideas in the public space, we will finally rise to where we need to be as a country. Until then, we're just treading water, my friend. Hey, thank you very much for the call. Hoo, that was a doozy.

That was a little chili dipper. We got a nice call from Loren in Winnipeg, not Lorraine McNabb. Yeah, okay. But Lauren, and she was just saying how much she enjoyed the show and happy to call in. She goes, are you live right now? I was like, yeah, she was like, oh my, she was, so yeah, we are live. We will be reminding people of that because some people are not going to get it for a little while. Hey, thanks again for joining us.

And just a reminder, if you want more BMS, we put out a podcast every day. And you can find even more content on X, Instagram, and YouTube. Doc returns this January on Global. My mind is trying to tell me something. With gripping new cases. If it doesn't work, you'll kill him. It will work. They're going to make you the fall guy for this.

I just don't want to fail anyone ever. As her fight moves forward to recover what was lost. You can't undo what was done. Just let it go. Please. No. And rebuild her life. I'll do whatever it takes.

I'm here if you need to me. I know. Doc, all new Wednesday at 9 Eastern 10 Mountain on Global. Stream on Stack TV.