The Ben Mulroney Show - NYC elects a socialist mayor while Canada considers deleting Prince Andrew

Episode Date: November 5, 2025

Guest : Justin Vovk – Adjunct Professor at Redeemer University & Fellow with the institute of the study of the crown in Canada 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

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And today is the day after the federal budget, as well as the day after New York City elected a Democratic socialist, Zoran Mamdani, I believe he's 34 years old, to run the largest city in North America, the largest city economy in the world. And look, when he won, his speech, his acceptance speech was the least magnanimous, least diplomatic, least classy speech I've ever heard from anybody winning. He is a terrible winner. But here's his message to Donald Trump. Since I know you're watching. So Donald Trump, since I know you're watching. I have four words for you. Turn the volume up.

Look, okay, listen, it's going to be exciting to watch, that's for sure. Donald Trump, for all of his failings, and he's got a lot, he doesn't shy away from a fight. And he certainly doesn't shy away from a fight with someone he feels he is ideologically opposed to. so if you're going to if you're going to start a fight you better be prepared to finish it and all things being equal president trump's mayor and i'm not suggesting any pathway to i don't know where this fight is going to play out in the courts in the i hope not in the streets but you know tread carefully zoron uh there could be lessons in this election for like Toronto. Mamdani won with 50% of the vote. Cuomo and Sliwa, Cuomo being the independent. He was running

against, he was running against Mom Dani for the Democratic nomination. Quomo and Slewa, the Republican nominee, got 41.6% and 7.2% respectively. So even combined, they couldn't have beaten Mom Doni. But the voter breakdown is really interesting here. 81% of young women, 81% of young women voted for Mamdani. 61% of young men voted for Mamdani. The socialism is here, and it's certainly in New York City. And what I want to pay attention to is what I believe will happen. I may be wrong, but what I suspect will happen is a flight of capital out of New York City,

the likes of which we haven't seen since Toronto became the financial capital of Canada. practically overnight it wasn't socialism that scared that money it was the threat of separatism and it's but again it's it's it's money go money leaves from places where it is not welcome and uh and i absolutely could see can see a situation where that money leaves and where is it going to go it's going to go to texas and florida Texas as i've already said has set up in 2026 they will be launching the texas stock exchange that's not they didn't do that by accident they're doing that because they believe that that's where people money is going to going to go where money is welcome. And they're setting up high speed rail between their three

largest cities. That is to make sure that people and money can move as quickly as possible. Miami has already been welcoming people since the pandemic. So those are the two places I can see absolutely happening. So we're going to pay attention to that. And all that's going to take is one bank, one bank, one venture capital firm, one large corporation to say that are they're either moving their corporate office or they're going to stop hiring in New York and instead they're going to start hiring elsewhere. And there's a lot of people that have said they're already going to leave. We'll see if they have the courage of their convictions. Why did people vote for Zoran Mondani? Well, this is, I'll get his name right. Mamdani. This tweet might explain it. Quote,

Zoran Mamdani built an anti-lonliness campaign. He met voters who are attached to screens, isolated from the pandemic, spiritually unmoored and got them out of the house because the political to them was personal. Maybe. I mean, that's a very romantic way of putting it. He's a good looking young guy, photogenic. He's good at a soundbite. We've experienced that in this country. We had 10 years of a prime minister who did all of those things well. One thing he didn't do well, run the country. Yeah, but Mondani's social media campaign? Yeah. Everybody's saying it was next generation. Well, look, I had a conversation with, Pierre Poliev years ago about why Trudeau was so good at social media and then he got

in the office and it just kind of stunk. He was tone deaf. It's almost like he'd lost the royal jelly as it came to when it came to social media. I said, and Pierre, yours seems to be very good. And he says, social media is the tool of the insurgency. It is almost designed for guerrilla warfare and and you don't you're not the gorilla uh if you're the government and so uh so he was very we'll have to see what happens when now he's in power like and now that he's the guy who controls the levers of power will that social media campaign resonate of course it will for a while because he's he's because i i believe almost much like donald trump he is going to find an enemy everywhere there's a there's someone who is wronging the people everywhere and donald trump was

always very good at making sure that no matter what he did, there was an enemy that he needed to fight, even if he had to create it out of whole cloth. And, but I think you can, you can, you can tell a lot about somebody by the company they keep and the friends that they have. And I was not surprised today to see that, of all the people supporting Mom Dani and congratulating him on his win, well, he's got ISIS on his side. We, in the Islamic State, would like to express our sincerest excitement and deepest commendation for today's jihad in New York City and its valiant and righteous martyrs. That was from the Islamic State. That was their tweet from their official account. So, you know, I'm sure he didn't want that. I'm sure there's no way that he would have,

even though some of the things he said, there's no way that he would have wanted that. I'm not suggesting he's a member. I'm not suggesting he's a member of a jihadi group. I'm just saying that they thanked him and congratulated him. And I think it's telling about his values and his policies. That's all. So there you go. So welcome. Wait, what was, what did the New York Post put on your marks written M-A-R-X?

On your marks, get set, zo. They are so good at those headlines. On your marks, get set, zo. And look, you know, there's a lot. a lot of people who are optimistic today about him becoming the mayor and they should have their moment to enjoy it. But now comes the tough work of governing and stranger things have happened than somebody being a heck of a campaigner and a terrible leader. So we'll have to wait and see. But I do believe that the reaction could be swift. I think money could leave quickly and

we'll have to see. Somebody who decided that he woke up yesterday and decided he was no longer conservative and instead is now a liberal making it all one vote easier for the liberals to get their budget passed is a gentleman by the name of chris d'antromo and a lot of questions as to why he left why he decided to cross the floor and sit as a liberal well according to rick perkins somebody who ran with him in atlantic canada and who lost in the last election said if an election is held now I will lose my seat I might as well not run

that according to Rick Perkins was said by Chris Dantremont to him this past weekend make no mistake there is nothing in this floor crossing about principles it is all about keeping his job and look

Regan Watts in our previous segment said didn't have very many kind things to say about Rick Perkins I don't see anything unkind here I don't see anything that is a you know is a bellwether for

for Rick Perkins's bedside manner. I see a quote. And if that's, in fact, what happened, then is political opportunism. I will say, again, I have no problem with people becoming jaded by their political party.

You don't want to sit as a conservative. Something happened there. Don't sit as a conservative. But just sit as an independent. As an independent, you can do whatever the heck you want. You can vote liberal if you want. You weren't elected as a liberal. But if you can't sit as a Tory,

sit as an independent. Now, I appreciate joining the liberals has, comes with staffing opportunities and budgets that you don't have as an independent. You have the possibility of joining cabinet. So I get that there are political benefits to it, but it's still not right. I don't subscribe to the belief that anybody should, if you're elected under one banner, I don't believe that you should ever, ever sit as that for another party, especially because you ran against that party. and I don't see anybody coming up with an argument

that's going to change that in my mind. Coming up, Prince Andrea is no longer a prince. Well, what about all the things named after him in Canada? Get you and your crew to the big shows with Go Transit. Go connects to all the main concert venues like TD Coliseum in Hamilton and Scotia Bank Arena in Toronto. And Go makes it affordable with special e-ticket fairs. A one-day weekend pass offers unlimited travel across the network

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and the paths that shape their family's story. This holiday, give more than a gift. Give AncestryDNA. Visit Ancestry.ca for more details. Terms apply. Welcome to the Ben Mulroney show. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show. And if you've been following the show on YouTube,

you might have noticed that I wasn't wearing a poppy this morning. It fell off of my coat this morning. And my producer, Mike Droulet, gave me this beautiful, a poppy that looks different from anybody else's. It's from the 100th anniversary of the remembrance of poppy in Canada. It's absolutely beautiful.

And I urge everybody to go out and support the Legion and get a poppy in this time, especially with this new budget that we have that is recommitting to our armed forces. I think it's incumbent upon all of us. If we love this country, if we take it for granted, we do so because of the sacrifices that were made by generations prior. and they deserve our support and they deserve our respect. And I wanted to show mine and I apologize that my poppy was not on earlier today. But like I said, sometimes you look down and you realize it's not there anymore.

But this one has a fastener on the back so it ain't going anywhere. Listen, we want to talk about what the lay of the land as it is with Prince Andrew. It was no longer Prince Andrew. And there are a number of institutions across this country that bear his name. And what do we do now that he has been stripped of his honorifics and stripped of anything that makes him an active member of the royal family? We're joined now by Justin Vogue, adjunct professor at Redeemer University and fellow with the Institute of the Study of the Crown in Canada. Professor Vogue, welcome to the show. Thank you very much for having me.

So correct me if I'm wrong, but there is a push now to have his name removed from a number of buildings, a number of institutions, including schools. What is the process? I mean, is there, if somebody loses their royal accreditation for lack of a better expression, is the stripping of the name from all of these places, is there a process for that? Is it automatic or is there a debate that needs to be had? Well, I mean, it's really important to keep in mind. This is an unprecedented situation.

We've never had something. in the last 100 years where a member of the royal family has had their titles formally stripped away like this. So there isn't a roadmap exactly on what to do next, but there has been a growing call in Canada really ever since Andrews disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019 about maybe it's time we start rethinking who we have these places named for. And then now with everything that has happened, you've got municipalities, you've got senators, you've got MPs, all calling for names to be changed so that they're not associated with Andrew. And surprisingly, I don't get to say

this very often when it comes to the Royals, it's actually not that complicated to change stuff. Yeah. And look, I want to be clear, you know, we're not, to me, what we're talking about here, and you tell me what you think, Justin, is we're not talking about the cancellation of our Canadian history. We're not talking about, you know, whether or not Sir John A, there should be a building or a school named after him. We're not talking about the renaming of Dundas Square in Toronto. This is different. He was awarded these, these names, these things were named after him because he was a prince. and because of his, what he meant, what he now means is something completely different, and that's due to his own behavior. And he is no longer a prince. And therefore, this is about level setting. This is about course correcting as far as I'm concerned. Absolutely.

This is not, this isn't a situation where we're looking at, you know, removing the sovereign from Canadian politics. This is not a political issue. This is a moral issue. And his moral failings, they didn't happen 150 years ago. There's no, no, this, he had, these things happen relatively, presently, if you will. And so this is not about ascribing modern day social mores to the lives of people who lived centuries ago, which I think is a patently unfair. This is about saying, no, this, this, it was wrong then and it is wrong then, and it is wrong.

now and he should have known better. Absolutely. And it's been this pattern of behavior from him over, particularly the last six years. And I think it's really telling when Buckingham Palace made this statement last week, they made sure to include in there a comment that they are making this decision to legally remove these titles and honorifics, in part because he continues to maintain his innocence in spite of overwhelming evidence that really undermines his relatively hard to believe defenses that he gave a few years ago. So this isn't even a case of somebody who has

owned up to any wrongdoing. But there's just this body of evidence that really saying This is not a person that we want our schools and our neighborhoods connected with. Yeah, and correct me if I'm wrong, but by the crown doing this, by the royal family doing this and stripping him of his titles and his honorifics, they are telegraphing two places like Canada that they would probably would like us to do the same thing on our territory. I mean that that I think that might be a little bit of a stretch I think um but it's definitely sending the message that they as an institution yeah are are wanting to draw that that line in the sand it's important I think for people to keep in mind that that we've got you know we have the sovereign we have you know the Prince of Wales but the the the peers the Dukes the Earl's We don't have that in Canada.

And so that's partly why it's actually relatively easy to start renaming things, because we don't have this system of hereditary titles. Yeah. And it really is up to every different realm in the Commonwealth to decide how they want to respond to this. Yeah. Oh, go on. Sorry, go ahead. No, no, please. Finish your thought.

And it, I mean, it kind of would be the king overstepping his mark a bit. to be telling the different Commonwealth realms, you should be doing this. Oh, yeah, no, I'm not suggesting he would be telling us. It feels to me it's being telegraphed. It's being, it's being sent to us, but we're giving you permission. Like, we, we're cutting ties. So if you want to do it, you're free to do it.

Oh, yes, absolutely. Yeah, so I said last week when this, when the news from the Royals came out, that, you know, my dad used to say that a man's, one of a man's greatest superpowers is to step out of himself and be able to see himself as the world sees him. And it seems to me that Andrew had time after time where had he had that ability, he would have faded into the sweet unknown. He would have found some quiet patch of grass somewhere and made his home there quietly. And I don't know that we would have gotten to this point necessarily today, but this insistence that he could fix

something that was unfixable made it so that when he realized he couldn't fix it and we kept making it worse the the the the rest of the royals had to step in and do what they had to do but i don't know that they would have necessarily done this if in 2018 he would have just gone somewhere quiet and stayed there absolutely and if he wouldn't have given that that news night interview where he just the the list of preposterous defenses Oh, that he doesn't sweat? He doesn't sweat. I'm sorry, no, he didn't sweat because I'm, I guess when he said it, he corrected himself.

He said, I don't, I didn't sweat. In other words, I sweat again, but back then I didn't sweat. It was a momentary time where I didn't sweat, and now I do again. As we all do, I'm sure. Sure, yeah, exactly. We all just stop randomly sweating at some point. Well, I want to thank you, Justin, for being here. I'm sure that, you know, you probably didn't have on your bingo card as somebody who studies the history of the crown in Canada that you would be dealing with something as pressing and as immediate as this.

So I thank you so much for joining us and giving us your insights. My pleasure. Thank you for having me. And just as a for context, there are institutions that have already renamed or severed ties. Prince Andrew High School in Dartmouth renamed Woodlawn High School in 2022. Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough ended its association with Andrew in 2019. So it has happened. It will probably continue to happen.

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