The Ben Mulroney Show - Opposition leader tells Premier to grow a pair

Episode Date: June 6, 2025

Guests and Topics: -Opposition leader tells Premier to grow a pair -Opposition parties slam Ford government for legislature’s long summer break If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! https://globalnews.ca/national/program/the-ben-mulroney-show Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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have your elbows up to use the parlance of our time. Politics is a blood sport and you have to be, you got to have a thick skin and you have to be ready to take some blows and punch punch punch punch. And but that being said, if you can't adhere to the rules of decorum of the legislature, then you're gonna get called out. And yesterday in at Queens Park, the leader of the opposition, Marit Stiles, said something that a lot of people believe crossed a line. Why don't we just listen to a little bit

of what she had to say. Instead of listening, the government silenced First Nations. Instead of working together to strengthen Ontario, they are dividing us and they are forcing our province into a summer of chaos. It is not a question of if, it is a question of when. When will this Premier grow a pair and demand the resignation of his? I will ask the Leader of the Opposition to withdraw.

Withdraw! I can't. I will start warning and naming people. Yeah, look, I know enough about how, how things happen in places like Queens Park and the legislature and question period, that was planned. That line was written. That was, they discussed it, they workshopped it. I'm thinking I'm gonna say this. No, Mrs. Stiles, we think you should say this.

Oh, that's better. Okay, I'll do that, right? So that is 100% what happened. No, nobody's gonna tell me that that was an off the cuff remark. And that is where the problem lies for me, because had Doug Ford said to Marit Stiles, Miss Stiles, I think you should put on a pretty dress and do your makeup. The pitchforks would be out for him.

That he would be a misogynist. He would be he would be named every name in the book. And I don't think Marit Stiles deserves a pass for this. I'm not a pearl clutcher. I just think it was a regressive, terrible thing to say, especially given the respect that the people who are working inside the legislature need to show that space. And I want to hear from you at 416-870-6400 or 1-888-225. Talk. Some people get precious about the use of language. If you follow me on Twitter, you know I don't. But in a space like that, I think it is incumbent upon those representing the people of Ontario to show respect to the space. Had Marzyle said that outside the legislature, that's a different thing.

That's a different thing. But she said it inside the legislature and that's beneath the office that she holds. And so I don't even think it's, do we have to, do we hold people to a higher standard? I don't think that's what it is. The standard is higher in that space and it is incumbent upon all those who are entrusted with the sacred duty of representing the people of Ontario

to behave accordingly. That was not good. That was not good. That was not good. Let's see what Frank has to say. Frank, welcome to the Ben Mulroney Show. Good morning, Ben. Not only was it inappropriate as not being the proper decorum in parliament,

there was no basis in fact for her to even claim that. Doug Ford was elected with the majority mandate to improve, make inroads, and make vast progression on improving the economy. And, you know, by saying what she did, she basically, there's an implication that she's condoning, doesn't care what kind of things could happen if the Native communities engage in protests.

And on that basis alone, you know, Doug Ford was elected on the basis to improve the economy. So he needs to do whatever he needs to do to fulfill that mandate. And I agree with everything you said, I would add the caveat that he has to do everything he needs to do to fulfill his mandate, while respecting the rules and laws as they are the rules and laws as they are put forth in terms of consultation of First Nations. But I agree with you that that she is it seems like the NDP and this is a side conversation. It does seem like the NDP are sort of laying the groundwork for a justification to explain and defend any illegal action by anybody in opposition to this law. And that is not what our leaders should be doing.

Olivia, welcome to the show. It's been, I, if this had been reversed and, Oh, Olivia, listen, Olivia, do me a favor, call back because I think the connection was very bad. But if you do call back, we'll take the call. And yeah, listen, Olivia, do me a favor, call back because I think the connection was very bad. But if you do call back, we'll take the call. And yeah, listen, that's an important aspect of this issue. The NDP is supposed to be the tip of the sword for progressive ideals.

That was gendered language. That was gendered language. On top of that, what's even worse about it, is it implies that masculinity is the gender of bravery. Grow a pair and be brave. That is regressive, Madam Stiles. And I know that the point was to go viral. I get it.

That's why you said the words, but you're going viral for the wrong reasons. And normally, Marit Stiles acquits herself very well. She's a tremendous speaker. She has the courage of her convictions. And in this moment, I thought it was a cheap shortcut to getting sort of some press.

And I think an apology to the house not even to Doug for I don't think he cares. An apology to the house is probably warranted. Robin, welcome to the show. Hey there, Ben. Hi. I'm a former member of provincial parliament didn't run on the January 29 election. But I just wanted to point out that these kinds of things get said in the legislature all the time. And it debases the debate significantly. Oh, I'm sure everybody, I'm sure all parties

are guilty of it, absolutely. Well, yeah, but it's mostly coming from the opposition and targeting Doug Ford. So I remember Terace Nadeszek, who I think was a member for Essex, used to talk about the Premier's pimp mobile and, you know, him pimping out this vehicle. And I was livid and saying to the speaker, this is completely inappropriate language and it makes people disrespect each other. So I think you're right on. Well, Robin, there's something about the self-righteous.

Self-righteous are very inclined to live according to the credo, do as I say, not as I do. My job is so important that I cannot be held to the rules that I require you to live by. that I require you to live by. And we see it. And they don't. No, no. If anybody else had said anything like this, we will be having a different discussion. But thank you very much for that.

And let's welcome Chris into the conversation. Good morning. Good morning. Happy Friday. Happy Friday to you. Great topic. First comment on what happened progressives are going to be progressive, they're going to try to get under your skin and

push the limits. That's what they do. But I had a really fun memory and of your dad actually, big fan, like I told you before. And it's when he was asked to leave because he told someone they were number one. And I just always, I got a smile when I think of memory. My dad loved the House of Commons. He loved the parrying, the feigning. He loved it all.

He loved it all. And he was good at it too. And yeah, sometimes he might've said something that was off color as well, but he respected that space, I promise you. Hey, thank you for bringing him up. I love colliding with my dad's memory on this show. Now that the warm weather is here, is it time to get rid of your old car?

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Learn more at PCExpress.ca. A liberal candidate in central Nova persistently referred to a candidate from Quebec who didn't live in his riding and lived in a million dollar house rent free and I defended you, sir. Regular. Prime Minister announced that he's not a quitter.

I want you to know, sir, that we're behind you all the way. I didn't know you're going to play that. That was, I guess, that was his first day in the house of comments. That was his first day in the house of comms. That was my dad. God, I miss that guy. Welcome back to the show. All right, so we got to talk about something a little tricky for me, because if you follow me on Twitter,

you know that I give it to the liberal government. I gave it to Trudeau's last government, and I've given it to Mark Carney for drafting a narrative during the election campaign, saying this is the most consequential election of our lifetime. We are in a crisis unlike anything else. And then promptly shutting down parliament for the summer. And so I'm critical of the liberals for that.

I have to then be critical of Doug Ford and his government for rising in Queens Park until October. And I wanna hear from you at 416-870-6400 or 1-888-225-TALK. Do you believe that politicians need to be sitting in the legislature for them to be doing the work that they were elected to do? I know that the work does not end. When people say, oh, the House is on summer vacation,

it's an expression. It doesn't mean that nobody is doing any work. The government continues to work. The government operates 24-7, and the elected members of parliament or members of provincial legislature are working all the time. My sister is a member of the Doug Ford government.

I can promise you there isn't a day that goes by, whether she's sitting in the legislature or anywhere else on the planet, she is always working. There is work that needs to be done outside the legislature. However, the legislature isn't just theater. It isn't just for the cameras. It is where a government is held to account. And there is vital work that is done there. And more work could be done, say, in Ottawa,

beyond sitting, rising for the summer. I said it yesterday. I'll say it again. Pierre Poliev said if he was going to be elected prime minister, he would tell every politician, nobody's going home because we got a lot of work to do. Nobody's taking a summer break. And so I want to hear from you because I'm kind of, I'm of both minds. I appreciate the value of being in the house. I also know that there's stuff that needs to be done outside of the house.

So give us a call 416-870-6400 or 1-888-225-TALK. Where do you place their role? Like the priority of what a politician should be doing? 870-6400 or 1-888-225-TALK. Where do you place their role? Like with the priority of what a politician should be doing. Should they always be in the legislature or should they be there more than possibly what we're seeing right now?

I think there's a middle ground. I think, you know, rising now until October, I think that doesn't allow for the other elected officials to hold the government to account. So maybe a shortened summer break, that would be my preference. And the same thing in Ottawa, man, like, look, you told us that this was a big deal. And I get the prime minister has to be all over the place, but the house could be sitting, the rest of the government could be there.

And when they're not there, tough questions cannot be asked of the government, questions that require answers. And so I think to me, it shows that maybe it was a little bit of theater in both places, at Queens Park and Parliament Hill. Maybe the crisis is not as imminent or existential as the governments that got elected led us to believe.

Just my two cents there, but give me a call. 416-870-6400 or 1-888-225-TALK. It does feel like both the break in Ottawa and the break in Queens Park are long. The one in Queens Park is exceptionally long. But their justification, the government's justification is like, look, we just had a heck of a session where we passed a lot of legislation. Now we need to go out into the province and enact it. And I can appreciate that. But two things can be true at once. You got to go out there and do the hard work and your government needs to be held to account. So that's where I land. Let's see where Brad lands. Welcome to the show, Brad. Thank you, Ben. Yeah, it's like anybody working today, where you're physically located could

be relevant. Are you meeting timelines? Like are these politicians getting the job done? And you're right. But the job, Brad, is multifaceted, right? The job of shepherding forth legislation, that's a big part of it. The job of meeting with your constituents, that's a big part of it. The job of going out and being the boots on the ground is also a big part of it. I just think we have the balance off kilter a little bit, especially in the province of Ontario.

To be gone from early June until early October, I'm lacking what I would like to see is a sort of the opposition parties being able to ask those tough questions about that work that's being done on the ground about that legislation that's being enacted. Well, that's that's the accountability piece. So it needs to be done. They just look it's it's not as tight as it could be. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. And I got to wonder, it seems like governments have a lot of latitude as to decide when the House sits and when it doesn't.

And oh, it's a very short parliamentary session. Oh, this one was a very long parliamentary session. I'd love to know more about what goes into the decision as to why the House isn't going to sit longer. I suspect in Ottawa has a lot to do with the fact that there's no budget coming anytime soon, and they don't want to have to answer those questions. But that's my that's just my opinion, Brad. Yeah, well, you've got a good background to understand this kind of stuff. I just when there's no goalposts, there's no guidelines, but there's no accountability or hard due dates.

There's no guidelines, but there's no accountability or hard due dates. People are human beings. They can put things off. Yeah. But I will say this, writ large for every politician, it is a thankless job. It is a hard job. It is a job that keeps people away from their families, keeps them away from their homes. They have to work odd hours and they've got to, and it's thankless. You don't get celebrated when the job gets done but you sure as heck get blamed when something goes wrong

so uh we're gonna take a thank you very much for the call Brad. Whether it's a family member friend or furry companion joining your summer road trip enjoy the peace of mind that comes with Volvo's legendary safety. During Volvo Discover Days, enjoy limited time savings as you make plans to cruise through Muskoka or down Toronto's bustling streets. From now until June 30th, lease a 2025 Volvo XC60 from 1.74% and save up to $4,000. Conditions apply. Visit your GTA Volvo retailer or go to volvocars.ca for full details. Hey, so what did you want to talk about? Well, I want to tell you about Wigovie. Wigovie? supply. Visit your GTA Volvo retailer or go to VolvoCars.ca for full details. Ask for it by name. OK, so why did you bring me to the circus? Oh, I'm really into lion tamers, you know, with the chair and everything.

Ask your doctor for what gov by name. This is what gov.ca for savings. Exclusions may apply. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show, and we're just learning now that there has been an invitation extended to the G7, which is being held, of course, in Kananaskis, Alberta, which means we are the host country. Mark Carney is the host and gets a lot of latitude in terms of who gets invited.

They've decided this year to invite Prime Minister Modi of India, which I think is a very big deal. In my memory, I can't remember a time that the Indian prime minister was invited to the G7. But we were talking about it during the break and I reminded my producer that back in the day they used to invite Vladimir Putin, they called it the G8. That didn't work out so well. And that got me thinking about a story.

It's Friday, it's Friday story time. And my dad had a very good relationship with Boris Yeltsin, the first elected president of Russia. And he was so thankful for what my dad did for him. And there's a whole other story there, I'll tell you one another day, that he invited us as a family to come to Russia as his guests.

And even though dad wasn't in office anymore, we were treated to the equivalent of a state visit. And we saw the whole country and we were treated so well. But you have to remember this was early days in Russia post-communism. And so, you know, it's not the Russia that we know today with the fur coats and the Lamborghinis and you know, the skyscrapers.

There wasn't a lot of refrigeration. There was a lot of air conditioning. And so wherever we would go, and because this was like a state visit, we had an itinerary and we would go visit towns and all the high, the functionaries from the town and the mayor would be there and the school kids would be there

and they would sing for us and we would watch them sing. and then we would go into a room and eat with the mayor and invariably the food almost all of it was cured or salted and it wasn't or smoked this is how they preserved the food and it was and we were eating sometimes five times a day because we had so many stops to go on. This was a lot of salt, a lot of salt. Oh, and vodka, which for some reason as a 16 year old, I was allowed to drink. And so at one point by my parents are in their, their room in the hotel and either my mom says, or my dad says, Jesus, all I really want is like, I like food off a barbecue and an ice cold drink

because there's no ice drinks. That's all I want. That's all I want. And the next day we're on our way to Siberia. We're right to Lake Baikal, which is the largest freshwater lake in the world. It doesn't look like much on a map, but it is the deepest lake in the world,

so much so it's got more water in it than any of the Great Lakes, for example. And when we get there, what do they have planned for us for dinner? They went fishing for us, grilled the fish, and then they took bottles of Coca-Cola and dropped them to the bottom of the lake that is ice cold so that we could have these ice cold drinks. And then it occurred to us.

I think they're bugging our room. We think like I think they're bugging our room and which of course of course they would be bugging our room. This is Russia one year removed two years removed from the Soviet Union. That was business as usual for them. So the kids me my brothers my brothers, and my sister, when we heard this story that they might be bugging our room, whenever we were inside a building, knowing that we were eventually going back to Moscow, we made the point of saying,

my God, do I want McDonald's? My God, do I want McDonald's. And sure enough, they took us to McDonald's when we got off the plane getting back to back to Moscow. And of course, you know, McDonald's for the longest time it was brought to Russia by McDonald's Canada. They're out and somebody else, it's called something else. But anyway, that's the story of Modi going to the G7 ended with me telling you that my room was bugged in Russia. I wanna talk about a piece of legislation that is shepherding its way through the House of Commons. And look, I say all the time, I don't know enough about this government yet. I don't know what their values or priorities. I like the broad strokes of what they say in throne speeches, but what does that actually mean? What does that actually mean in terms of the legislation that we're going to

see? That's when we're going to understand who this government is and what they stand for. And when I read that the liberals are gonna introduce a citizenship by descent piece of legislation, I need to learn more. So if you're a Canadian who lives abroad and you have a baby abroad, that baby can now be Canadian. And if that baby has a baby, Canadian, and so on and so on and so on.

So the only link to Canada for those future generations is that first guy who at some point used to live here. Do you guys think that's as weird as I do? We in this country have been experiencing unchecked immigration to the point that we have broken our national consensus on immigration. And the knock-on effect of that is we are experiencing a lack of social cohesion.

We have too many people here who don't identify with core values that make us all Canadian. It's a hodgepodge of people who came from different places in the world, which is great, used to be great, but they would come here and they would, we would rally under a single banner on a number of key issues, things that bound us all together. The having a stake in this country, for example, that's one.

So these people will be Canadian, potentially never setting foot ever in this country. How does that help with the immediate problem that we are having regarding social cohesion? One of the reasons we're screaming at each other so much in the streets is that. One of the reasons we're screaming at each other so much in the streets is that. One of the reasons we were so short with each other, we can't have proper dialogue is a lack of social cohesion. One of the reasons we're angry with people, one of the reasons the consensus on immigration is broken is a lack of social cohesion.

This act, this piece of legislation, not only does it do nothing to solve that problem, I could be, I think I've just made the argument that it could exacerbate that problem. We can, we're gonna have entire generations of people born outside of the country who are gonna be given the gift, the gift of a Canadian passport. And make no mistake,

it's one of the most sought after documents in the world. A lot of people, a lot of people looking for that document. It's the brass ring for a lot of people. So explain how this makes that better. In my humble opinion it does no such thing. I'd love to hear from you at 416-870-6400 or 1-888-225-TALK. Like, I don't know. This is, nobody asked for this. And by the way, nobody ran on this either. Nobody ran on this. I didn't hear one word about a Mark Carney liberal government will institute citizenship by dissent will institute citizenship by dissent within its first hundred days. I don't know, I don't know who asked for it, but most Canadians not only wouldn't ask for it, but would ask for any government to run away from something like this. I

mean this might be in keeping with Justin Trudeau's a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian as a way to justify not revoking the citizenship of terrorists. But I don't like this, but maybe I'm the only one. Joanne, welcome to the Ben Mulroney Show. Thank you for joining us. Hi, how are you? I'm well.

Good. Yeah, no, actually, my opinion is a little different. Please. It's the same with my daughter. Her grandfather is born in Ireland and she's entitled to an Irish citizenship. But it doesn't go on and on for endless generations. I would have,

I hope that the government will probably limit it to if you have a living grandfather that was born or in Canada. And part of the thing is that we really don't want all these mass immigrations coming over here of people, but we tend to have a better opinion if they have some link to Canada. If I was an immigrant coming here and I said my mom was born in Canada,

we may look more favorably upon that. The other thing is that the laws are still going to apply around criminal , if you have a criminal background, things like that. My daughter can get her EU and her Irish citizenship, but if she has a criminal record here in Canada, she's not going to be entitled to it. Well, listen, Joanne, thank you very much. I appreciate the context and I appreciate the

nuance. And yeah, I'm sure it's not in perpetuity. But again, if that person had a grandfather who was Canadian, they've been living in Bermuda or the Bahamas their whole life. How does that help us here in Canada with this notion of building a national identity that we as citizens can rally around? We've been lacking that for 10 years. We had a government that was beating the drum time after time that we had no core identity and it's time to reassert a Canadian core identity. This legislation flies in the face of that, at least at first blush to me. Mike, welcome to the show. Hey, you're going to get a lot of people right now that are here either illegally or going through the process that

are going to have kids and how hard is it going to be to get these people to either go back to their country or to go through the process. We're just how bad is the debt that we need all this tax money from from from these people coming in like that was the main thing to prop prop up our tax base. Well, yeah, well, I mean, we talked about it on the show yesterday, Mike, and I thank you. We talked about it yesterday. Canadians just aren't having babies, so we do have to bring people in. But this isn't that.

This is giving citizenship to people who have no tie to Canada except for the fact they're related to somebody from here. That, I don't get that. Somebody has to explain it to me. Make it make sense. I've just been to Specsavers and upgraded my lenses to extra thin and light with 50% off. Now, what else can I upgrade?

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