The Ben Mulroney Show - Shutting down the Danforth? Difficult cottagers in Muskoka? Let's dig into it.

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

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This podcast is sponsored by Better Help. 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.

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BetterHelp, help.com slash Mulruni. This is a paid advertisement for Better help. These days, it feels like everywhere you turn, someone's got a new theory on how to improve your mental health. From ice baths to meditation apps, there's a lot of noise out there about what's supposed to make you feel better. But the truth is, finding what actually helps you isn't always that simple. When it comes to mental health, there is no one size fits all solution. That's why speaking with someone who is trained to listen and to help, someone who can meet you where you are and help you figure things out can make such a difference. Trust me, I know what I'm talking. about. BetterHelp connects people with mental health professionals from around the world

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gifts that any man has ever been given. I was bestowed two wonderful boys, Brian and John. on. They were born. They were four pounds, four ounces. They were tiny. They were so small that they wore the bracelets that they wore in the, at the hospital were too big for them. We put them on the small. We got the smallest bracelets on the smallest little rung and they kept falling off. And they, when I tell you, they looked like the same kid twice. They looked like the same kid twice. We couldn't tell them apart. So while their bracelets kept falling off, It's entirely possible that Brian became John.

But it's also just as possible that they switched back. And I suspect they did because Brian is a Brian and John is a John. And I don't know if I've ever told this story publicly as to... You know, I've always wondered that about twins. Yeah. Like at what point do we really know which one's which? Yeah, well, they were so... I'm telling you they were tiny.

So interesting. We actually had to stay in the hospital for 10 days because you're not allowed to leaving until your kids can maintain their weight and maintain their body temperature. And once we did that, then they sent us on our way. But the reason they're named Brian and John, Brian obviously my dad, but I read in my dad's memoir on page seven of his memoir. And he wrote his memoir out longhand.

So when I read his memoir, I hear his voice. And I was sitting on a beach in Mexico reading the book. I read it way too late for him. He was very upset with me. He kept calling me asking me if I'd read it. read the book. Anyways, I said, I'm not leaving this trip until I've read the book. And I'm on page seven. And I read a story about him that I had never known, which was that he had actually had a brother, an older brother that he never knew because he was born and he died on the same

day. And his name was John Mulroney. And my dad said as he grew up and he grew older and he became prime minister, he started pulling the levers that were available to him to see if he could do some investigating to find out where his brother was buried because they they didn't my grandmother didn't talk about it and he could never find the grave where his brother died was was buried and he said he wrote in his book it was one of the great sadnesses of his life that he wasn't able to tell his brother that he was remembered and that he was loved and I was bawling my eyes out and so I told my wife his two boys we have to have a bride and a john and I told john it's like listen your name it sounds like a name that a lot of people have but you

our family, it is probably in a lot of ways just as if not more important than your brothers. And so today is a very special day. They have not given me a second of real worry their entire lives. They are the best two kids I could ever have started with. And I'm so proud to be there, Brian and John, I know you're not listening. As a matter of fact, I know you're still asleep and you will be for the next few hours. But I love you. Happy birthday. And I will see when I get done work. Yes, Eric Canada could be experiencing a work stoppage,

but I think it's looking good, right? The 10,000 flight attendants that could be taking to the picket line have promised a 72 hours of notice, which means we're getting close to that already. If they don't let us know anytime soon, then the weekend should look good.

But of course, we here at the radio station will be following that for you. One thing that looks like it will be happening because Toronto is a massive pro-Palestinian protest along the subway line on the Danforth to, oh, that's right. Canada sells arms to Israel. That's what it is. Okay. And so what they want to do is they want to block access to every single TTC station along that line, which is a crime. It's a federal crime. Let's listen to Councilor James Pasternak as to what he things. Well, when there's a public threat to critical municipal infrastructure, it's a very

serious matter. And whether this turns into a hoax or not, it still could be a criminal act to threaten some of our critical infrastructure, including transit. It's a crime. Let's see if anybody does any time. I suspect no, because this is Toronto. That almost rhymed. Let's listen to Councilor Pasternak a little more talking about what I just said, no consequences for upheaval. I mean, we're in this situation because this has been going on for almost two years. And the response has been fairly timid. There's been very little consequences to much of the upheaval that the city has experienced. They've swarmed into critical infrastructure in the past, such as Union Station and CN track lines. And what we're looking at really is a societal thing.

from the federal government all the way in the municipal government in dealing with people who are looking to destabilize the city. Now, they say they have charter rights, but what about the charter rights for the rest of us? What about those who just want to enter the subway and go home? What about their charter rights? And that's what we have to think about. Correct. Correct.

And the way to do this is to push this through the courts. If you show up to this protest today, here's what I would like to see. If anybody shows up to this protest today, they are complicit in this crime because the crime is preventing access to public transit. Anybody who shows up should be arrested. All of them. Back up the paddy wagon. Let the courts figure it out. Let's have your charter rights and my charter rights competing against the charter rights of people breaking the law in the court of law.

Let's see how that works. Because also, not for nothing. I kind of want some of these people to have to hire a lawyer and to, I would say take a day off of work, but by and large, I'm sensing a lot of them don't work or this is their job. And let's let's let the courts figure it out. Later in the show, we're going to be talking about how there seems to be a troubling trend of the courts making policy as opposed to interpreting the law. We've seen it in a number of cases. We saw it with the bike lanes in Toronto. We've seen it on climate policy. We've, we've, there's a, most recently we saw in British Columbia, the massive, the massive property rights ruling by the British Columbia Supreme Court. So we're going to be talking about that. Let's put those judges in a position where they have to tell you the citizen, that the law-abiding, taxpaying citizen, that your charter rights do not matter as much as somebody who consistently breaks the law.

And, and we'll have to say, listen, if this were at the beginning, after October 7th, I might be optimistic that the rule of law would be at the top of the heap. I don't see that happening. I see these people doing whatever the heck they want to do, making life unbearable. Because by the way, the Danforth takeover, they're telling you to bring your pots and pans. Because they want to make life unbearable for everyday Torontoans. And the, again, what I've said before, everything is not enough. for this group. They have in Ottawa the most pro-Palestinian government in the history of Canada.

Our prime minister has made a promise to recognize the state of Palestine. But that's not enough. Now they want no more arms sold to Israel. And once you give them that, they're going to want you to halt diplomatic relations with Israel. They are going to want you to censure them at the UN. It will never be enough until Israel ceases to exist and for some of them until every Jew has left this earth. That is what the leaders of that group have been saying. That is what some of them say quietly. That's what some of them say out loud. Nothing, everything is not enough. Once you start placating them, that's where the new line is. And they jump over that line. And you draw a new line. They jump over that one. And unless, unless at some point, they are smacked

clear in the face with the full force of the law, this will continue ad infinitum. I'm tired of it. Most Torontoians are tired of it. I just wish City Hall was tired of it because, and I wish, I wish the police could be given the right to do their job. And when they see the law being broken, take action. Enough is enough. All right. Ontario's cottage country is known for its lakes and lazy summers, but right now it's a fight against flames,

not fishing lines. We'll tell you how close they are to getting the upper hand. That's next, right here on the Ben Mulroney show. In the 70s, four young women were found dead. For nearly 50 years, their cases went cold. I'm Nancy Hicks. a senior crime reporter for global news.

In the season finale of Crime Beat, I share how investigators uncovered shocking evidence of a serial killer, and hear exclusive interviews with the killer's family. Listen to the full season of Crime Beat early and ad-free on Amazon music by asking Alexa to play the podcast Crime Beat. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show, and it is becoming clearer and clearer every day that summer, is synonymous with wildfire season.

It is, it's an automatic, right? As soon as spring is over, welcome to wildfire season. And the wildfires have been raging across this country. Obviously, this week, the attention has been taken by Nova Scotia for trying to preempt any fires by telling everybody you can't walk in the woods. Some people think that that is the appropriate response. Others think that it's like trying to kill a fly with a bazooka. But in Ontario, right here at home, we've got our own fires to deal with.

And crews are currently fighting to contain dozens of hectares of forest fires. They've been ripping through the burnt river area of the Quartha Lakes since Friday. So here to talk more about that. We are joined by Sean O'Shea of Global News. Sean, thanks for joining us. Good morning, Ben. Thanks for having me on. Okay, so how serious are these fires?

Well, we spent the day, Ben, yesterday up in Cawartha Lakes, and they're pretty severe. We ended up at this one fire in a place called Prospect Road, which is in the western part of Cora, the lakes. This fire had popped up around 1.30 in the afternoon, and it was growing pretty quickly because it is so tender dry, and the wind was blowing. And the water bombers were dispatched. There are two water bombers, and we watched our crew watched as over the course of about three hours, they dumped about 35 to 40 loads of water on that fire. It takes a lot, Ben, to put these fires out. That's, I think, was really noticeable to us. They're dumping 6,000 liters per dump, and it took about 40 dumps.

So they are flying into the lake, they're picking up the water, they're circling back, and they're dumping it on the fire. Correct. It's a pretty amazing scenario to watch. Now, the good news for the perspective of yesterday's fire is the water was close by. So they would dump the load, they would come down, scoop up, come right back. It took two, two and a half minutes, and they were cycling this. But that's in an area where you've got water, of course, not every, part of Ontario where you're going to have fires

is going to be so close, necessarily water where they can land on. And there's only a limited number of water bombers. But it's an example, I think, of what, so fairly close to home, the fires are now doing here in Ontario. So my producer, Mike, was talking with a friend of his up there, who is

a firefighter, and they were complaining, not complaining, they were acknowledging issues with residents who are, they are in the lake, possibly getting in the way of these planes that would be collecting the water.

And they're also flying drones because they want their own visuals, I guess, for the Graham. Yeah, we heard the same thing as what Mike told you up there, firefighters complaining that the drones were in use. And as we all know, drones get in the way of the planes, and that's key.

And the same thing about the cottagers. Some people just want to have a front row seat. The problem is, if you have to land those planes temporarily to get, pick up the water and scoop up, you don't want pontoons and other boats in the middle. So here are the same complaints. Firefighters are pretty tired. It's not a little, these are not little fires.

And given the fact, Ben, that there's so much heat and the wind was bad, you want to put it down as quickly as possible. That's why I've got burned bands on up in New Market and Aurora, places like St. Catharines. Well, there's a total fire ban in Muscoca. and because no fires of any type are permitted at any time. No fireworks, no charcoal barbecue. So they're taking it very, very seriously. And, yeah, listen, Sean, we've been dealing with extreme heat with very little rain.

I think it's been, what, over 20 days since we've had any significant rainfall. And what's the weather outlook for the next few days? From what I understand, we're going to get a couple of days of cooling, but then we're right back into the heat again. Yeah, our chief meteorologist Anthony Parnell was saying we're supposed to get some rain. but yeah, it's going to take a lot of rain to really make a measurable difference here. And you're right, it's going to get hot again, and that doesn't change. You know, the situation is people have to really abide by these bands. And are people always doing that?

No, one of the fellow who lives on a farm beside where this big fire was burning yesterday, he's got some cattle, there's a house behind there, they run a daycare. Fortunately, everybody was okay and out. But the proximity of this fire to the road, while we were out video recording and producing our story, some of that fire hit the road. And so it's not small and it's not remote anymore. Are any homes in danger? There was one we were told by the member of Provincial Parliament,

the one home was destroyed in that area. I can't confirm that. And then this other one where we were yesterday, it was very close to getting hit. That's why they were spending so much attention with those water bombers, trying to douse it and trying to make sure that the fire wouldn't expand to the home. I mean, if they're getting close, right? Yeah.

Sean, if anyone is out of, on the lake and it is preventing one of these water bombers from doing one of their runs. I don't know what the repercussions should be for that person, but if you've been warned and if you're getting in the way of these firemen in the furtherance of their duties, I think there should be some sort of example made of you. I think there's a lot of common sense needed here, Ben. I mean, it just shouldn't take rocket science to tell people, stay back on the shore, keep your boats back.

You can watch from the dock. Sit there in your Miskoka chair and take in the view. Why do you have to get in the way? Look, as journalists, we stay out of the way and you can still get great shots and do your stories. But people sometimes just don't pay attention until it's too late. So, Sean, are we expecting things to get worse before they get better? Because I'm looking at the map of the wild fires that are on right now. There's not a ton in Ontario, but that could change today, tomorrow.

Now, the mayor of course, the lakes was saying yesterday they had 27 hectares burning actively. That's going to probably come down a little bit today. But it does change very quickly. It doesn't take much. It takes one ignition in a place where there's not a fire, and all of a sudden you have a fire. I'm told by people this is one is, you know, this season is so dry that it's so easy for these conditions to change or for fires to come up. So I think everybody who's out in cottage country and it has to be really careful not to ignite. and to abide, as you said, by these rules, which seem to be pretty common sense.

Global news is Sean O'Shea. Thank you very much, my friend. Stay safe. Thank you. Mike Raleigh, tell me about your friend who is the fireperson up in Corth Lakes. Well, the fireperson that I know is just frustrated, very frustrated at hearing these conversations. All they want to do is save people's homes and they want to mitigate the damage. And they're out there working hard, brush fires, trying to contain. what they can and they run into these people who are entitled yeah who uh think that everything revolves

around them and they say oh we're on vacation could you not put your boat in the middle of the lake so the bombers can land yeah well no but we want to see them flying so that's the only place to go there are certain people in this world who truly believe that as they walk through life they are the star of the movie and everyone else and everything else is a device in furtherance of their story. And so these fire people, they're just there to further this person's story that they can go tell that story to their friends. But I tell you what the problem is. Yesterday, and the day before, we're talking about Nova Scotia and how, you know, you got to give people some credit. And you got to, you can't legislate to the lowest common denominator. And then today

we hear these stories, these people representing the lowest common denominator. Like the impulse would be to figure out a way to legislate against idiots like this. But here's the thing. They own multi-million dollar cottages. To be able to get a multi-million dollar cottage, you would just presume you would need some form of intelligence. You would need to be smart enough to be able to make that kind of money. You inherit, but for the most part, you would just, let's just assume you need to have some smarts.

Okay. Okay? So you would have to have some common sense. I mean, dumb people can own homes too. Yeah, but I would hope that if you had that kind of money, that common sense would reign supreme be like yeah you know huh they're trying to save my house save my cottage so maybe i should do what i can to help them this isn't don't go in the forest this isn't you're being restricted this is just don't get in the way of the water bombers although

i really do hope that everybody up there is respecting the no fire rule the no uh charcoal barbecue no fireworks no fire of any type because one spark you're right it's is dry as uh as a as a as a What's it? Dry as a match stick? Dry as a... I don't know, dry as... Dry as a what? Dry as a Saharan Desert.

Dry as a Sahara. Yeah, but that doesn't light on fire. Yeah, well, that's true. All right. No, this is... Watching, watching these things play out from province to province is very interesting. Because on one hand, you've got Nova Scotia. Eh, listen, I don't think it's wrong.

Infantilizing everybody and saying one person is too many in the woods. And look, it's their choice. I'm actually not judging it. But on the other hand, you've got people having more freedom here, showing why maybe they don't deserve the freedom they have. Well said. Yeah. It's very well said.

And you would, again, just hope that the common sense would prevail. But then again, there's also, how much do you think of it as there's an entitlement? Oh, hey, look at me. I've got this massive cottage. I've got this great boat. I'm entitled to this. I know better than you. But what about the drones?

I mean, we... The drones is a problem. So in Canada, we were, we were laughing. We were angry at those people in Los Angeles for their drones colliding with one of the planes we sent down, which put it out of commission for a day. And that now we're seeing is happening in real time here. And it's a huge problem again, because everybody has a drone. All these people have drones.

I mean, they're cheap now. You can get them, they're inexpensive and they fly incredibly high. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, listen, I just hope that, listen, we've just shamed the people. Quartha Lakes enough. Here's hoping they heard us. And now sit on your Muskocha chair, enjoy the sun and wish the fireman good luck as they try to save your homes. Did you know your brain releases the exact same mix of chemicals during orgasm as when you

spot a UFO or break your leg. I'm David Cooper, and on the last show, curiosity is king, and discovering the science behind what makes us all tick is what we're all about. It's where science, sex, and comedy hook up. So prepare to have your mind blown the last show with David Cooper. Subscribe and follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.