The Ben Mulroney Show - Pro-Pal protesters double down despite peace deal. What does Olivia Chow think?

Episode Date: October 10, 2025

-Guest: Greg Brady/640 Toronto If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://link.chtbl.com/bms⁠⁠⁠⁠���⁠⁠ Also, on youtube -- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BenMulroneyShow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Insta: ⁠⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠⁠ Twitter: ⁠⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠⁠ Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This podcast is brought to you by the National Payroll Institute, the leader for the payroll profession in Canada, setting the standard of professional excellence, delivering critical expertise, and providing resources that over 45,000 payroll professionals rely on. This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. If you've been following the news, like really following it, you know how exhausting it can be. Politics, conflict, uncertainty. It's a lot to carry. And for many men, there's this expectation to stay calm, stay in control. and not talk about how it's affecting you. But the truth is, you're allowed to feel overwhelmed. You're allowed to say, I'm not okay right now. And trust me, I have been there.

Whether it's the state of the world, stress at home, or just feeling like you've got to have it all together and have all the answers. You don't have to hold it in. Better help is here to help with the world's largest network of licensed therapists. They've already supported over 5 million people. You can connect with a therapist online

from wherever you are, no wait list, no office visits. And if it's not the right fit, you can switch any time. It's time to put your mental health on the agenda. Talk it out with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com slash Mulruni today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P.com slash Mulruni. Hey, thanks, son. What do I owe you?

Don't worry about it. It's payday. Payday, huh? I bet you it went straight into your bank account and you didn't even check your pay stuff. My what? Your pay stuff. Back in my day, you had to wait for a physical check. Then you had to go to the bank.

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

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

The payroll party to the nation. A national payroll party? Precisely. Sounds like a plan. You know, just one thing. What's that? I'm choosing the music. What?

And I'm sitting in the back seat. The whole way? The whole way. Happy Friday, everybody. It's the Ben Mulroney show on this. Friday, October 10th. I hope everybody had a good week. I can't be the only one. I had two terrible night sleep, terrible night's sleep, back-to-back nights. And I thought energy-wise, I came in here pretty, pretty on par, right? By the way, welcome to the show, Mike Drolet,

my intrepid producer. Thank you very much. You did. You had a little tap in your step. Then you fell asleep. Yeah, I did. I, in between things, I had some moments where we had some downtime and I I took power naps, but I was able to get back up, right? No problem. And then, and then last night, I got a great night's sleep. A great night's sleep. I think I fell asleep at 10. And today, trying to get going is like trying to start a mower in February. Like, it's just, it's hard. And I cannot be the only one. I'm, I'm, I don't know what it is. Is it that I'm almost 50? Probably. But it's also, how many cups of coffee today? Actually, you know what? The machine is slower than it used to be. Have you noticed this? I don't know.

I've definitely noticed this. It needs to be cleaned. Someone needs to clean that machine because it takes so much longer for a cup. Like 10 ounces? 10 ounces takes forever. That's why I literally knew that where we were coming up. I only made six because I couldn't count on it to make 10 in time to get back on the show. Well, you should do like me and don't drink coffee at all.

Remember, I told you you didn't believe me? I've never had a cup of coffee. I never even tried. I have a no hippie policy on this show, okay? And somehow you fell through the cracks. Okay. Well, I'll tell you, somebody who probably lost some sleep yesterday is President Donald Trump because he really thought and that he had the Nobel Peace Prize sewn up.

Oh, he wanted it bad. He wanted it bad. And it was announced that this year's winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. And she was recognized for her fight against dictatorship and her efforts to promote democracy in Venezuela. Clearly hasn't happened yet. Machado is 58.

She's been living in hiding after being barred from running for president 2024 by Venezuela's courts. And somebody tells me that had she been allowed to run, she probably wouldn't have won because those elections are rigged. I think everybody should be celebrating anybody who promotes democracy in their homeland. You know, the Alexander Navalny's of the world, for example, may be. rest in peace. His widow was the bookie's favorite to win.

Yes, this woman wasn't even in the top 10. Nope. Yeah. And so he was in the top 10. Who was five? But Donald Trump, who, you know, he doesn't need accolades. No. He doesn't need, he doesn't need to praise in any way.

No. Here was him showing humility after, I guess, not winning. I don't know what they're going to do, really. But I know this, that nobody in history has solved eight wars in a period of nine months and I've stopped eight wars so that's never happened before but they'll have to do what they do whatever they do is is fine uh I know this I didn't do it for that I did it because I saved a lot of lives yeah okay my my bad that was that was what he said in advance and I think he was probably trying to show humility for um for when he ultimately won and and look um I

the the it's an award it's an award people give out awards and then people give out awards and people can get stuff wrong. I think if this peace plan holds, he absolutely should be in the conversation for next year's 100%. On the front of the Jerusalem Post, there is a photo of, I mean, sort of a, there's a collage of all of the faces of the hostages that were taken on October 7, 2023, in the shape of Donald Trump's profile. It says he's bringing them home. And that's quite a testament. But it doesn't say they're home. When they're home, then I think the conversation for him getting the Nobel Peace Prize should occur. A hundred percent.

You may not like him, but you sure as, as what's his name? Someone who is close in in his administration. I can't remember who it was, who is religious and he's African American. He said, when people ask him, how can you support this man who lives his life clearly in a way that you would find morally repugnant? And he said, I like where the ball lands. I like where the ball lands on all these issues. I really don't care who's throwing it. But in this case, you should like where the ball's going to land

and you have to recognize who threw it. So if this peace plan holds for a year, I think this time next year, if he doesn't win the Nobel Peace Prize, assuming nobody else comes through and, I don't know, solves world hunger in the interim, he should win. And Hillary Clinton said that if he manages to get a peace with Ukraine and Russia, then she would nominate him herself. But of course, you have to have the courage of your convictions. And if you say you stand up for peace, then you should champion peace,

regardless of who is sort of the engine behind it. If you hate Donald Trump, but he brings peace, you should celebrate that accomplishment. And now we're living in a time where people's real convictions are being tested. because there is, for the first time ever, a real chance of peace in the region. And my contention on the show yesterday, my contention since the protests that have gripped this country took root right after October 7th. My contention was there's a big element of the people protesting who have no interest in peace. They have no interest in coexistence.

They hate Jews. They hate Israel. and they will not stop until they get the end and the destruction of both. And a good friend of the show, Karim Asad, who has made it her mission to chronicle for posterity, for history, for the justice system, what is happening at these coming together in the streets of Toronto and indeed everywhere. She went to two separate protests. There were two separate protests at a liberal MP's office yesterday. Nine people were arrested.

Sorry, eight were arrested, nine arrested a separate rally two days ago. There is a protest today at the Israeli consulate. Now, just think about that. In the country that just recognized a Palestinian state before the consulate that just accepted a peace proposal and has rolled back its presence in Gaza, you are going to protest? Why? Say it with me. Everything will never be enough. everything will never be enough. Let's listen to a little bit of the audio from the occupation of liberal MP Kareem Bardisi's office. We must honor the calls of Palestinians. We must continue to engage with our elected representatives. We know refuse to act. We must continue to call and email them. But we have to move beyond that. And that's why we're here today. We have to take to the streets and we have to keep escalating for Palestine until all of our comrades are free and until Palestine is free.

We have to keep escalating. We have to engage with our elected officials. You occupied his office. You occupied. Do you not see the irony in what you're doing? You're literally using the tactics of your oppressor. I'm talking to the cameras if we're on. Jesus.

But seriously, what sort of respect do you deserve if you offer none in return. We are not in an armed conflict here. You have elected officials who have office hours and you can contact them. And you feel it is your right to occupy their office? Shame on you.

Disgusting behavior. Let's move on to Montreal because it's not just a Toronto thing. Here's some audio of a Montreal protest. I believe that we will win. I believe that we will win. I believe that we will win. Yeah. I mean, does anybody think that if peace takes root, that's the end of this stuff

in Canada? No, because that's what they want. Finally, we have some audio of a Palestinian refugee who came to Canada two years ago. Canada gave this woman refuge, safe harbor. Here's what she had to say. So as long as the occupation stands in Palestine, the fight continues and it has to escalate and it has to go bigger and to be fiercer. So shut up and don't tell me anything about like the joy and celebration of a ceasefire. Have some shame. Have some shame. And do an impactful action than celebrating and maybe it's performative.

I hadn't heard that yet. Get the F out of here. Who the F do you think you are? welcome to Canada you brought your family over to we brought you here we gave you peace and you have the gall the temerity to speak that way in a place where this is not your home lady this is not your home oh that angered me that angered who the hell do you think you are oh god thank god that was the end of the segment or this would a Jesus Christ glad I didn't see that guys now okay don't go anywhere because

Up next, did Olivia Chow actually say Torontoans feel safer on the TTC now than before she was elected? You've got to hear this. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show, and I came into the studio today to find out that our good friend Greg Brady was going to be speaking with Mayor Olivia Chow. And I thought, well, that's great. I said, I was happy to hear that, looking forward to the conversation. Because for a while, I think everybody at this radio station was worried that she thought we had changed our phone number. Because I don't think she's spoken to anybody here since I spoke to her while hosting Greg's show over a year ago. And so I listened with great intent and very happy to have the man, the myth, the legend.

Greg Brady, joining us now. Good morning, Greg. Thanks for sticking around. Hey, thanks for doing our show earlier. I love the cross-pollination, for sure. Yes, absolutely. And I do want to point out, there's some dude who is listening.

He doesn't like it when I correct you. He does not like it. He's very protective of his little Gregi. Very pretty good job. You tell my Uncle Cam listening in Toledo, Ohio, to settle down, simmer down and take your medicine. Brady's aren't always correct.

I get told that regularly. My dad used to say, talk half as much and listen twice as much. And I was like, that doesn't work in radio, dad. But anyway, so congratulations on getting that conversation with Olivia Chow. Very charming woman. She's a very lovely person. Every time I've spent time with her and each interaction quite pleased and happy that I've spent time with her.

She's got that aspect of politics down. But when it comes to answering hard questions, I don't know that she has mastered that yet. She's got a big heart. and I remember thinking two things and I got told this from people who are huge fans of hers. She's got a big heart. She's going to make people feel good when they interact with her like you said. If something huge

happens, their prediction was she wouldn't be great at being front facing and making a really hard decision. And then October 7th happened. So I think this was a hard job for anybody to inherit after John Torrey. I think we'd agree for eight years in a couple months. There was a lot that was let go. Pandemic plays into some of it.

COVID restrictions. Too strict or otherwise play into some of it. But as I said to her, like on a number of fronts, October 7th happens. And I'm like, when do we get our streets back? And I just didn't. Right. I didn't hear what I wanted to hear. And I'm sure a lot of our listeners didn't either.

And none of our political leaders have got this right. None of them have done a great job. Yeah. And listen, and you're very magnanimous and you say that quite often. But we're talking about life in Toronto. There is a lot that can be done by the mayor, almost all of the day-to-day impact that we feel as it relates to those protests is on the shoulders of the mayor and of city council. All the other stuff, yes, of course, we can talk about hate speech and all that. There's tons that can do that isn't being done.

And we're going to get to that. But I want to run through what I saw were sort of three key pillars of the conversation. The first, and this has been something that you have been, I think, really front facing on in a really great way, you know, highlighting where we are with the. the TTC. And, you know, you've, you've spent a lot of time with the new TTC chair. And, and here's what we're going to do. We're going to talk about the question is, what are you going to do about fare evaders? And we'll listen to her answer to that question, and then we'll come back and discuss. We charge them. Straight up, charged them. And it's a provincial offense. They, we hired a good group of them and they are working well. We are recovering money.

And in terms of safety, because that's one of the key reasons people said, I'm a bit scared. When I first became the mayor, there was a survey about 53% of TCC riders few save. 53%. So it's like a D minus. Right now is 64%, 11 points more. It's like a C, not good enough. Okay, a couple of things there, Greg.

I don't think people have been afraid of the TTC because of fair evaders writ large. Like, that's not, the big bad fair evader is not what's scaring people. And secondly, I challenge that number that the mayor brought up. There's no way that number is improving in any market way. I think this, well, the survey I'm looking at, and I looked at it last night before chatting with her, went from October of 23. So she's been mayor about three or four months at that point in time. and that went to September of 24 so close to a year and that's they they talked to 500 TTC customers they asked about overall satisfaction they asked about staff helpfulness and they

did ask about safety and some of those numbers did tick up to to what she said now when she said fair evasion of course somebody might say to me hey well ask her how much money you're recovering she won't know and then I've wasted another 45 seconds to her explaining that really like time is it's precious for her but precious for how long we can get her on but I to your point listen if you don't think you're safe

you will change your habits and and there's no doubt and I think it's important to note that when we get to winter a lot of the people we see in parks yeah we're concerned about their own safety yeah they're on the subway and they're not in the middle of July or August and look you have a two totally

different seasons of TTC environments to me yeah and you're You don't make the TTC more attractive by making other options less attractive, meaning you can throw as many bike lanes as you want on Young Street. People will not jump on the TTC just because if the services make them scared and if it's not reliable, they're just going to sit in their car and they're going to stew. All right, we got to move up. We got lots to lots to get to, including homelessness.

You said, you know, we need all hands on deck. And you referenced drug treatment and the mental health supports and the new Ontario model known as the heart hub. Let's listen to Mayor Chow on homelessness. Well, 500-plus people die from drug overdose. Not only are they, they're hurting themselves, and they're addicted. It's the mental health issues also. So the province and I, about a year and a half ago,

I brought together the federal and provincial government, we said, okay, we need to have all hands on deck, comprehensive approach. We need to put a shelter. like, you know, put these people out of the streets. We have to give them direct treatment program and mental health support. So the province came up with something called Heart Hub. We probably heard of them. Yeah.

Okay. So that really rubbed me the wrong way, Greg, because I've had enough people on this show and we've seen enough evidence by way of, you know, concerned citizens and people working in different action groups, taking pictures, taking videos, sending it to us. coming in here, showing us the paraphernalia that is available. The city is fighting the Heart Hub model. They want supervised consumption sites. It is a stated goal of Progress T.O.

And we know that Progress T.O. Backs Olivia Chow as well as a great many people on City Council. A number of the city staff are part of Progress T.O. It's on their website. And so, you know, when those were taken away, when the actual consumption sites were way. What did they do? The city started giving out these kits at drop-insites. Bathurst and Queen, prime example. I mean, that's happening. And so what did you think when she was talking to? Well, the shelter, yeah, that's a problem. And the hard help model, again,

funding's got to be there. That's got to get got to come through. But when I think about a shelter, Ben, everybody I've spoken to that's ever spent any time in there or worked in there, the chaos is what's driving them out. The chaos is what's what making employees quit. You can't get better when someone's banging away with, or has got a giant scary dog next door or using drugs in the door next to you. It is terribly unsafe in mixed circumstances for men and for women. So I think we got a duty with shelters that the residents don't just have to be protected. So does the broader community. And I just don't see that. I think there's way too many city counselors. And the mayor and I wouldn't disagree, wouldn't agree on that whatsoever.

I'm like, you're only talking about the people going in, attempting to use those substances. You're not talking about the people that aren't, and you sure aren't talking about the broader community where these, you've seen all the people upset about the implantation of these without community consult. It's going to create a level of distrust. All right. Well, Greg is going to stick around with us after the break. We're going to talk about one last thing that they discussed, which was the protests and when are we going to get our city back. And then we turn the mic over to you, the listeners here on the Ben Mulroney show. Don't go anywhere.

We'll be right back. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show. And it's not every day that people at this radio station get to talk to the mayor of Toronto, Olivia, Chow. And Greg Brady, and during his show, was able to do just that. And we thought, rather than just celebrate the get, we would invite Greg on to the show to discuss it a little more and share aspects of that conversation with you, the listeners of the Ben Mulroney show.

Thanks so much for sticking around, Greg. Yeah, man, you know that. By the way, how's your shoulder? Oh, long work ahead. When the surgeon, I met with him Wednesday, and he said that was a very difficult operation, and yet it came out great. And I'd rather he said that,

then that was an easy operation. And this is still a disaster. So I'm hoping the latter part of the sentence ends up working out in the long run. I think it will. It's a lot. Last week was terrible. This week's less terrible. Well, the fact, last week was terrible. This week is less terrible.

That's what we're hoping is sort of definitional of life in Toronto as it relates to these protests. Like stuff's bad and we're hoping it just gets progressively better as it relates to the protest in the hope that now that there is a peace plan that may may take root. Perhaps these people who've been calling for a ceasefire, who've been calling for an end to the war, perhaps they'll just go back to their lives, right? And I don't think it's going to happen, but you took to the airwaves to talk to Olivia Chow about the protests. You said, you know, you asked her about the protest. She talked about the hostages, Palestinian people. And then, of course, she used an expression that I saw coming a mile away. When she started saying hate has no place, I started saying hate has no place.

I knew it was coming. So let's listen to her answer. Look, in November of 2023, I called for immediate release of the hostages and also ceasefire. Okay. Not for nothing. In that same tweet, the tweet right after that one, this is what she wrote. We must also acknowledge Palestinian pain and severe loss of life during this time. Our thoughts are with Toronto citizens, both Jewish and Palestinian, who have lost loved ones back home.

Please share the emergency contact info for Canadians abroad below. She both sidesed it right after October 7th. On October 7th, she both sidesed it. That would be, like me, taken to the airwaves, the day after George Floyd died talking about how blue lives matter. Do you think I'd have a job on the 10th? You think I'd still be here? but it's okay when it's the Jews. So we can't let her just gloss over this

and that that's all she did. And I don't know how you feel, Greg, because at the beginning of our show today, we played some audio of people who are part of that block of protesters who are making it very clear they ain't going nowhere. Yeah, that's a big factor right now. And that's what I've seen is

There's been this creep of moving from criticizing a foreign government, criticizing foreign policy. And it's, I don't even think it's been a small step. It's been a giant step towards not only do I not like whoever's running the country or the foreign policy grievance, especially during armed combat or war, but we've seen this leap that's very clearly about targeting Jews, denying Israel. right to exist and very clearly let's erase a people and a state. And I've had people who started out going to protests and we're like, yeah, I want to do this. I want to, I want to say something about this. And as you know and I know, it's a wonderful thing in democracy that you can criticize your own government. We can. The U.S. can. Tons of European democracies can. They sure can in Gaza. The Gazans that criticize Tumas aren't with us anymore. So there's a

line that there's clear lines that have been crossed on our streets. Well, of course. And the permission structure that we've created. I mean, you just talked about being able to criticize your own government. Well, we had audio right before you joined us of a Palestinian refugee who's been here for two years. She brought her whole family over. Not only is she criticizing a government that is not hers, notably the Canadian government. She's making things up. She's using words that don't mean what she thinks they mean. She's like, we have to escalate until the occupation is done. You mean the occupation that hasn't happened since Hamas took over. You mean the occupation, the military occupation, it's actually, as you are speaking,

the Israeli IDF is moving out of Gaza. Is that the occupation you're talking about? And you're now calling for an increase in chaos in our cities? Who the hell do you think you are? You're a guest in our house. Act accordingly. Get your feet off my couch. This is not your couch.

And so if we're allowing people who are guests here to speak that way, what are we allowing people who live here to say? And on that note, Greg, let's invite people who live here, both citizens and whoever else calls to the Ben Miller initial 416-870-6400 or 1-3-8-225 talk. Let us know what you thought of Greg's conversation with the mayor. These are really big issues that affect all of us. paying for them. We're paying for the TTC. We're paying for the drug kits. We're paying to try to keep our streets safe. So we'd love to hear from you, 416-8-8-2-25 talk. I just went on a whole rant there, buddy. I blacked out for a second. I don't even know what I said. No, no. Listen, I think we just want consistency. I think we want consistency. You criticize leaders and policies all you want. But when it comes to talking about erasing of people, come to harassing certain groups. And by the way, not just the mayor, the police.

I've been terribly disappointed with Chief Meyer and Demkew. They should know the difference between lawful political speech and what's incitement and what's harassment. And they don't seem to from the top down. The rank and file are very frustrated by this. I can assure you of that. Oh, well, listen, we had the organizer of the founder of a group called unapologetically Jewish who joined us. They've launched human rights violations files on the mayors of both Toronto and Montreal, the police chiefs of both Toronto and Montreal, the police services of both those cities and the cities.

themselves, saying that they have created an environment where Jews simply do not feel safe. By action and inaction, they have caused people to feel unsafe. And someone else, a lawyer told me, Greg, that the reason that this is probably the best option, these are, you know, taking cities to task legally is the best option. It's because the only thing they understand is liability. The only thing they understand is risk. And if you don't, if you don't show them. That the gambit that they took, that the gamble that they took did not pay off,

that it's going to cost them more than it saved them, then they're going to keep going. Think of the things, Ben, we would never, never do or say or inflict upon Chinese Canadians based on what their government went to. Or even people of South African origin during the 80s when apartheid was flaming away. We just, and there was a lot that was wrong after 9-11. And you and I and a lot of other people would have said, I'm sorry, that's not quite right.

They've got nothing to do with the dudes flying planes into the World Trade Center. They're here trying to live their life, get along, go to school, go to restaurants, go shot. And so it's just the same thing here. We're not seeing that level of consistency and we're seeing a double standard. We just are. Well, let's invite Mark into the conversation. Mark, you're on with Greg and Ben on the Ben Mulroney show. Yeah, I just want to say, Ben, in order to run a.

city, the size of Toronto. That requires C-level executive skills. The kind of skills, you know, a Fortune 100 company would have, we got to get, we got to do better. We got to have like a minimum standard or minimum level of qualifications and requirements to be a mayor of a major city. It just doesn't work. You can't reduce it to slogans and catchphrases. Yeah, well, listen, I would argue. And Mark, thank you for the call. I appreciate it. Greg, I wonder what think, but I think, listen, one of the most telling stats about Toronto politics is that up until our previous mayor, John Torrey, every single mayor, I think, starting an amalgamation, every single mayor, the one requirement, or the one thing they all had in common is they had

sat on city council prior to winning. They had not, no one, no one from the business world, no one, no titans of industry, no former, you know, former people who had been prime minister or, or, you know, might have been in cabinet somewhere, made the leap and won. And so to me, it speaks to sort of the bureaucratic DNA required to be the mayor of Toronto. Oh, yeah. You'll never get everything accomplished you want to. And I think you and I would have said the same thing in the summer of 23 when,

after John Torrey resigned, a biolition gets called. This is going to be a very fun job for the next three years. It's not. No. You're going to have a spotty record no matter who you are. try and turn some of the problems around. Well, listen, I wish we could keep this conversation going until the end of the hour. But we, the train has arrived at the station.

Have a great weekend. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Thanks very much, Ben. Same to your listeners or my listeners, mine are yours and the whole 640 family. Thanks so much. Thanks so much. And to John, who was waiting on the line, I do apologize. And I hope you have a great Thanksgiving.

Hey, did an Ontario nuclear plant employee post a video on YouTube detailing all the ways terrorists could create destruction? I didn't believe it until I heard it. Come on back. Welcome back to the Ben Mulrooney show. And look, I think that I'm pretty well-versed. I try to stay on top of as many stories in the news as possible. And when my producer tells me a story that I had never heard before, I think to myself, well, if I'm hearing this for the first time,

chances are a great many of the listeners that our show are. So I'm going to do my bit to show. share this story. A former Ontario nuclear plant employee, James Musali, 38 years old, has been found not criminally responsible for posting a YouTube video that detailed, oh, get this, vulnerabilities at his nuclear power plant and how to cause damage. He held the position of nuclear operator.

He had Homer Simpson's job. At the Ontario Power Generation in 2023, he received an annual salary. in excess of $125,000, he live-streamed a video in January 2024. Now, some of the, if you're worried, the video was taken down almost immediately by his family who alerted authority. So his family probably had an alert from his YouTube channel. And so, oh, James has posted something. Well, you certainly have to credit his family.

Yeah, absolutely. They didn't cover it up. They pulled it down. Okay, no evidence that James Musali ever contacted any terrorists or foreign entities. And, yeah, he had been a nuclear operator since 2015. He was charged under the Security of Information Act, which is a rarely used law. It's usually used for spies and traitors and terrorists. And then you get to the court case.

But the court case, we didn't find out any information about this. This happened last year. Yeah, yeah. The only details started coming out. They came out yesterday in court. Yeah. Yeah. So in court, this is, it's not, we tell you that, we tell you the headline.

And then when you hear the story, it, there is nuance, right? So in court, both prosecutors and defense agreed that Musali was in a manic, psychotic state due to his bipolar disorder, unable to grasp the wrongfulness of his actions. And look, we all know people who have, we've all dealt with our own mental health issues, right? And some are, some are manageable and others require. hire help. And if you've ever known anybody who has suffered with bipolar disorder, you can understand what this family was gripped, was, was, was wrestling with. As a matter of fact, I, I would, I would suggest that they probably were alerted when they knew that their, their family

member had a YouTube channel. They probably said, we need to follow this closely because we don't know what he's, what he may or may not say. But there's so many questions here. How, why did they not. Well, that, yes, that, that, that is the question. So what happened was, the court then said, okay, so he was in a manic, he's probably in a manic, he's probably out of his mind. And, and for that reason, he's not criminally responsible. Fine. I take your point on all of that. Why the hell was he a nuclear technician? How did he pass the initial test? How did you get that job? And are you telling me that, oh, well, because we didn't test for it. Why not?

Why aren't you making sure that everybody who is working in a place in which we depend on for energy, for security, for safety? Why the hell aren't you making sure that everybody who works there is buttoned up? And this speaks to what I've said a number of times that we as a nation are very unsurious about the most serious issues. Very unsurious. We do not take the – we do not have follow-through. We do not have dedication. We don't do things with intention. We will take, look, we'll take certain things seriously that are meaningless, performative, nonsense, right?

But when it comes time to build an immigration system that helps us become a better country, when it comes to our security and our safety, when it comes to tracking people within our own country that, and keeping an eye on those people that we have concerns with. We don't do any of that stuff. Why it costs money and it's boring? It's not as fun as having a photo op, right? So this guy in 2015 gets a job. He's bipolar, by definition, unless he is on his medication

and he's going to see a therapist, you don't know what he's going to do. He's a wild card. Do you want a wild card anywhere near a nuclear facility? And that's the question I have. his family clearly was new that at a they had to have known they were they were providing oversight right they were the ones providing oversight why wasn't like he wasn't working at clairs or or at a bookstore he was working at a nuclear generation facility if that doesn't require

the highest level of clearance for a civilian i don't know what does we don't have nuclear missiles in this country. So this is it. This is it. And we allowed a man who, I mean, he got to call it what is. He, his mental health made him compromised. His, his stability was compromised him. Is he a bad person? Probably not. Does he deserve to have, not go to jail? Absolutely. Are we glad that he, they didn't contact any, um, any terrorists or foreign agency? Sure. But that's not germane to the conversation. That's not. The issue is not this guy. The issue is how he got the job.

I think there's more to it. I think they should have an investigation. If they don't, then there is some liability issues here. But they should have an investigation into whether or not anybody at the nuclear plant saw anything happening. Because it's hard to hide that. It's no way that I doubt very much that he had a psychotic break in that moment, in that day, and then he did his video. he must have shown something at work. I agree.

He had to work. So somebody saw this guy acting weird or speaking strangely, having a manic episode, which people do. And then you try to get them help. But if they did, and they didn't say anything or do anything, then that to me is the big. Or did they do and say something? And then somebody in the organization,

because it's 2025 in Canada, decided to air on the side of, oh, it's okay. Everyone can be who they are. There's no right. There's no wrong. There's no better or worse. There's just, we just are who we are and we celebrate that difference. Well, we are absolutely afraid to call out some people because whoever they are.

It doesn't matter who they are. There's people, they are afraid to call out others because they're afraid of being called whatever. Yep, yep. And so I listen, all of that's pure speculation. Exactly. But it's an issue. But also given the fact that we we're only learning about this now. Like, why weren't we told about it after the arrest?

You would think once he was arrested, that is, you know, the facts needed to come to light, that he was in fact not criminally responsible. And that's, I'm glad that feels like the right decision was made. But in that moment, the country got immediately safer because this person who had done something risky was taken off the streets. That is a win that I'm surprised we didn't hear about. And it's likely because he worked for a nuclear plant and there's secrecy around there. So if there's so much secrecy around the information about what this guy is alleged to have done or what he actually did, then how did they not find it within that system? And if you are so, I mean, if you know that you're existing within a sort of a sphere that requires more diligence, more care.

how just to explain how just how this happens because to me unfortunately i am i'm defaulting to it happens because this is canada that's why this happens because we don't take this stuff seriously well uh yeah so this story that this was this the most surprising story of the day for you uh yes it is this is the most surprising story well look it no we have a few coming up we have a few it's not the most surprising story because it fits very well into as i just said a theory of the case that I have and it's my case against my case against uns seriousness

in Canada. And so yeah, this is to just put that on the pile. Well, this is the sort of thing that you see talked about in committees in Ottawa. Yeah. And they sit there and they answer some questions and the opposition asked the questions and they say, oh, how could this possibly happen?

And then we find out something sort of like with the budgetary officer last week. And yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, so there you go. Take that story and live with it and chat with it today because no one's talked about it yet. Fulage, standard. Guy announcing the radio ad now wanting a Subaru? Uh, yeah, standard.

Subaru. Uncommon come standard. Hurry into your local Subaru dealership today for lease rates from 1.99% for 24 months on select models and get great value that, you guessed it, come standard. Conditions apply. See dealer for details. Hey, uh, seriously, can I get one?