The Ben Mulroney Show - The Toronto Cast -- a new shelter. What it's like living behind it.

Episode Date: August 11, 2025

- Diane Chester / Niagara Neighbours for Community Safety 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 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. And trust me, I have been there.

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too you can schedule a session with just a click and you're free to change therapists whenever you need to until you find the right fit talk it out with better help visit betterhelp.com slash Mulruni today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P.com slash Mulruni. Welcome to the Ben Mulruni show. Thank you so much for starting your week with us. According to my phone, because I never remember this on my own. It's Monday, August 11.

And not for nothing. Tomorrow is a very significant day. It just occurred to me as I looked at my phone. I became a father on the 12th of August, 2010. The best thing that ever happened to me in terms of growing as a human being. And, you know, they say that until you have kids, you don't appreciate what it's like to have kids. And the moment I saw those kids, the moment I saw those boys, I became, my heart became twice as big as it was. and they are the two greatest human beings that I've ever encountered,

and I love spending every second I do with them. I cannot wait to celebrate their birthday. And I'm being a terrible father, terrible father, because I'm introducing them to Peacemaker, Season 1, as we get ready for Peacemaker Season 2. Hold on, I would argue that makes you a better father. For those of you who don't know, Peacemaker is a television show that stars John Sina.

It's part of the DC universe. It's an R-rated show. That's why. There's a lot of saucy language in there. Nothing they haven't seen on TikTok, mind you. But anyway, yes. So, yes, today's the 11th. Tomorrow's the 12th.

And I'm going to, I'll download on you what we do for their birthday. But if you're looking, if you were hoping to celebrate the summer, as we typically do with Taste of the Danforth, you know, that open street festival on the Danforth that celebrate sort of the Greek flair. of that neighborhood. It's a little less Greek than it used to be. You're SOL. You are out of luck. They decided not to pursue it this year. And a lot of reasons for that, right? If you talk to the people involved, they'll tell you that it's harder and harder to run a street festival with dinedia or cafe Tio, whatever the program is. It allows for restaurants to push out into the street, taking over some traffic and the parking situation with the with the bike lane situation means

there's a lot less real estate than there used to be. It's also harder to find sponsors and find funding and the city did not come through for taste of Danforth, perhaps the way it did for pride. And it is what is we are going to dig into that over the course of the next few days because that was actually the very first street festival I ever went to in Toronto, and I loved it. I loved it. It was actually a couple of years after I went to that. That's when my big fat Greek wedding came out, which was set. Technically, it was supposed to be Chicago, but it was set at a restaurant right there on the Danforth. And so hopefully this is just another pause. Hopefully somebody comes

with a plan that makes sense and that can make financial sense and that can celebrate the area and the entrepreneurs that make up that area so that we can all be outdoors and enjoy it. Like, I'm not a big fan of walking of parades per se. But if that parade were, you know, three blocks long and you could just mosey up and down with a drink in your hand and enjoy food, that's the kind of parade I get behind.

Taste of the Danforth. But regardless, if it were going on, we would be subject to the heat that we are enjoying right now. I say enjoying because I very much like the heat. And I do not complain about the heat. I only complain about the cold. But it is hot. It is dangerous, especially for the elderly and for people with underlying health conditions. It may also explain some curious behavior by Drake. I'm not suggesting you get in a car and just drive by his house. I used to have reasons to drive by his house. My kids went to summer camp in

the neighborhood. And so I used to drive by his house all the time where I would see dads, like there would be traffic jams in front of his house and there would be fathers looking very annoyed because they had been enlisted by their daughters to hold the camera as these girls did TikToks in front of Drake's house and so we had to deal with the traffic of the dad's double parking as well as just the rubbernecking going by well now people might be rubbernecking for another reason for some reason and again I have no idea what it is if you drive by Drake's house right now you will see a payphone, a Bell payphone right outside of his house. And I don't know what to make of this. There could be a, it could be a promotional thing. Maybe he's doing a partnership with

Bell. Like that, that to me is the first thing I'm thinking. Like, it's a Bell cell phone. It doesn't say, it doesn't say Drake on it. Like, he didn't take the Bell logo and turn it into something else. It doesn't say OVO. It says bell. And unless he wants people stopping there and picking it up and like literally congregating in front of his house, and you know people are going to do that. I mean, I saw those kids doing it with the TikToks. People will show up there and they will take pictures in front of it. And they will make phone calls and they'll pretend they're talking to Drake. Who knows? So there's got to be some bell play involved. And there could be a song on his next album? I don't know. It could be a part of a video. Maybe there's going to be these bell cell phones

put up all or pay phones all over the country. I don't know. In like odd places where you wouldn't expect them. So I think this is a watch this space kind of story because I don't have any answers. Also, you know who doesn't have answers. Drake doesn't have any answers. He was walking. Do we have the audio of this? He was he was walking around the streets of Belgium. And there's nothing interesting about this video Except for the fact that he's walking around And he's all alone There's no security, there's no fans

Now granted it's the middle of the night But if I'm Drake If I'm somebody who can't go anywhere And all of a sudden I'm alone in the streets of Belgium I'm going to savor that moment Brussels, this is that nice spot right here outsideness

Look, so blessed Love taking a walk Love taking a walk Cut down the street right here Shout to the whole Belgium Showed love tonight See you again soon Good

Love it Good for him He deserves to have a little bit of time Where people aren't hounding him all the time But they will be hounding him Outside of his house If you put a pay phone there, Drake People will come

It's the field of dreams axiom So just you know that Again, that's why it's the bell thing. And also he's such a, he and his team, no marketing and branding better than anybody. So don't tell me that you, you put a bell sign there by accident. You're looking at me like you agree with me.

When I look at the picture, it looks like an album cover. Yeah. Just in his garden, a bell pay phone. All you need is just Drake standing there. But the thing, like, I get that. Like, yes, it does. But that is something you can do with Photoshop.

I mean, you don't need to actually physically put a phone outside of your house. You could do that with technology that existed 30 or 40 years ago. So it's got to be more than that. Has it increased the number of pay phones in the city by like 100%? Yes. Well, there are, like they've kept some of the kiosks, like the actual physical structures. They've just taken the phones out. And in some places, you can use it to charge your cell phone in other places.

I'm sure it's used almost exclusively for drug use, which is, I would think, it's got the table that you need and shielded from the wind. It's very considerate of the city to offer those things up. But anyway, yeah, so more to come on that story. We've got, you know what, I went down a rabbit hole there, guys. Once I start talking about my family, oh, why would we do this? Because I don't want to waste, I don't want to start talking about something and not be able to finish. I promise you that on Monday, I would not be wearing a hat. I'm a man of my word. You know, I issued a promise.

That promise delivered. That promise delivered. Let's see the guys in Ottawa do that. All right. Let's see City Hall. Keep their promises the way I said I would. I told you, I would be quaffed for you today. Mission accomplished.

Mission accomplished. Told you, I just needed the hair gel. And I also, I'm not having the best hair day, not really loving what, uh, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what's coming at me today. But it is what it is. Lots to get to on the show today. Uh, I'm sure we'll talk about my hair some more. Yeah, talk about your hair with a couple guys that don't have, you know what? You know what? I don't, come on. I don't see no hair. Okay. I don't see no hair. When I see you, I just see human beings. All right. Uh, listen, when we, when we come back, we've got a very big, uh,

conversation to be had with a woman by the name of Diane Chester. She founded Niagara's Neighbors for Community Safety. She lives behind a shelter that she says the city put up despite her serious concerns to the contrary. So don't go anywhere. This is the Ben Mulroney Show. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney Show. It's Monday and we are kicking this show off with some very important news. You know the expression, you can't fight City Hall.

Well, it's a saying because it's true. When the institutions at City Hall get it in their heads that they are right about something, it's going to happen. It's going to happen. And when you're living in the time that we're living in, where not only are you dealing with right and wrong, but you're dealing with morally just and morally corrupt, the people who feel they are right also feel that they are morally just. And therefore, nothing will stop them. Nothing will stop them in their pursuit of creating the perfect utopia. And come on, guys, that's where we're living. Toronto, 2025. Everything is so much better today than it was 10 years ago because these people have been pursuing their ideological

they're pursuing their ideological pursuit. My God, it's Monday, guys. Anyway, so let's invite onto the show. Now, somebody who has been benefited from this utopia, and I say that with tongue planted firmly in cheek. Please welcome to the show, Diane Chester from Niagara Neighborhoods for Community Safety. Diane, welcome to the show. Hi, Ben. Thank you very much for having me on. Okay, so let's level set with everybody.

I don't want them to get the wrong idea given my sarcasm. So you live in the Niagara area of town, and right across the street from you, who are your new neighbors? Well, St. Felix Center, and it was originally planned two years ago as a 24-hour low-barrier respite site. For some reason, the city of Toronto changed it after we learned about it through a rumor and deputed a committee, and we're fighting because we're extremely concerned because we live near Queen and Bathurst, and they changed it to a 24-hour emergency shelter. So now, two years later, after much fighting, sending letters to our counselor who never gets back to us, Mayor Chow never gets back to us, Gord Tanner rarely gets back to us. In fact, Gord Tanner, in a conversation I had with him two years ago almost now, when I expressed my public safety concerns to him on the phone, he called me a fearmonger.

Can you tell our listeners who Gord Tanner is? Gortaner is the general manager for Toronto Shelter and Support Services with the City of Toronto. And not for nothing, but unelected. Unelected. And so in 2017, what happened was they gave a city council voted to give these delegated authorities to city staff to site shelters anywhere in the city of Toronto. And so what they did was this permissive policy that was approved by counsel. It basically allows shelters in any residential neighborhood. But the other side of that is that they're supposed to do public consultation

because they have these permissive rules. So what happens is. So outwardly, publicly, it looks like, okay, we're giving city staff, again, unelected and based on my limited research, but I know enough. I know the type of people that populate, quote unquote, city staff, and they're typically left leaning. And so, which means they're all going to be, they're all going to subscribe to this. But, okay, so outwardly, yes, we are, we are empowering city staff to make these decisions.

However, we're going to have, in order for the public to feel seen and heard, we're going to have consultations. Right. But they've already leased or purchased the building when they engage in the public consultation. So it's not really public consultation. It's 100% performative. And so there's our shelter, which we experienced this, and there's seven other shelters now.

And I'm sure you've read about it in the newspaper and online. People are upset and concerned and frustrated. And part of the reason is because they have seen what goes on outside these shelters, 545 Lakeshore Boulevard West. you should take a walk down there and just see what's going on in that neighborhood. It's like there's postings on their Facebook page. It's traumatizing what's going on. The neighborhood is upended.

And Diane, who's your city counselor? It's a counselor, Deputy Mayor Malik. Deputy Mayor Malik is our counselor. And so on this front, she has been MIA, despite, that's what you're saying? Oh, completely MIA. And they had their little opening for the shelter a couple of weeks ago, and they only distributed notices to certain people, and I didn't get one. I live right behind the shelter to come to the open house. And neighbors who were, it was an event-bright event, they actually had their invites canceled one hour before they were supposed to go into the actual event. I mean, this is, this is nonsense. Yeah, it's not, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, so, so then when we asked earlier on, if they're handing out harm reduction, which are needles, pipes, and drug paraphernalia, they told us, they wouldn't give us a straight answer.

Oh, but that, and then that means it's a yes. I mean, the work that we've done on this show, highlighting how permissive and how open they are, the city is to giving this stuff out. It's almost as if that's the reason city, city government exists. It's to make sure that every man, woman, and child can smoke, crack if they want to. Yeah, 100%. And so we've been going to the town halls for the other shelters to try and talk to city staff because it's very hard to have a face-to-face conversation with them. So we showed up at the 66 3rd Street town hall, spoke with the city staff person, and asked how, are you handing out drug paraphernalia?

And we were told that, yes, they would be handing out drug paraphernalia. and we said, well, there's no outdoor space where are people going to purchase their drugs and other drugs. And there's a school 54 meters away and another one half a block a block away. And they said, oh, we're going to be giving taxi chits to people and they can go over to

Queen West Parkdale Community Health Center. Hold on. Hold on. So the city, the city puts this up. The province has said that every single safe consumption site within 150 meters of a school or a daycare needs to be shut down.

The city circumvents that by essentially turning homeless shelters into dispensaries for safe supply and for whatever you need to do your drugs. Right. And this one is within 54 meters of a school.

There's no green space. And so the answer that the city has is they are going to subsidize travel via taxi for anybody who wants to drugs to another park or another area. That's what my neighbors were told. I was shocked.

Okay, that's, that is, yeah. Okay, go on, go on. So they've, um, I know, so, so now they've opened the shelter on July 21st, and they have these community safety teams that came into our neighborhood on April 1st, but the shelter wasn't opened. And they started surveilling our neighborhood. So my house backs onto a laneway and is on a cul-de-sac. Now, these are townhouses. So we're all jammed in. It's very, you know, everyone's very respectful and kind. We all know each other. You know, we help each other out. We shovel each other's, you know, walkways. And anyway, they, so these community safety teams

started walking past my house 15 times a day, front and back. And so they looked at me in my bedroom. when I was home and when I wasn't home. And what's, tell our listeners, what is the purpose of a community safety team? Because it feels to me like that's a euphemism. Well, so started in 2020, essentially during COVID.

And there's a story in the Toronto Sun today, or yesterday that came out about them, which is quite interesting to read. But their role is to really essentially pick up needles, look for people who have overdosed. And they're supposed to do de-escalation. Oh, right, yes. Oh, this is the group that asked for the eight,

they got the $8 million raise in their budget. Yes, yeah, yeah. Okay, so you got one of those teams on the ground making sure that everything's okay in your neighborhood. And they are. Yeah, but they have no, they have no ID. If you ask them for their name, they'll give you a first name.

They all know where we live. We have no idea where anyone in this site lives. And then, and then, you know, just a couple of weeks ago, these vile, vulgar posters were put up in our neighborhood that were terrifying, quite frankly. What did they say? They were, it was terrible. They were basically calling us sinners,

and they were swearing and telling us that we should have our eyes plucked out because we were so concerned about the shanked. shelter. Oh, so, so they were, so they were, so they were, so they were, so they were, so they were, so they were, so they were, so they were, so they were. So, let me, let me, let me, let me read it. It says, uh, the shelter at 629 ad light opens in July. Don't like to see homeless people. Pluck your effing eyes out, sinner. God says lazy ass nimbies go to hell. Apparently that's in the Bible at Matthew, 2544 through. Yeah, apparently that's NIMBY's go to hell. Thank you. That's, of course, it's in the Bible. Yeah.

It's in the Bible. Yeah. And that was posted in front of a close neighbor of ours who has two young children. Yeah. Hey, Diane, can you hold on? Because I'd love to keep this conversation going with you if you have a few minutes after the break. I do. Okay.

So don't go anywhere. And we're going to continue this conversation with Diane Chester on the Ben Mulrini show. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show. We've been speaking with Diane Chester, who formed the group Niagara Neighbors for Community Safety in her attempt to dissuade the city of Toronto from putting a homeless shelter. And when you say homeless shelter in 2025,

you know that the city is also handing out drug paraphernalia, making it easier for that to happen. We've been talking about how hard it was to do that, how the group was not successful in that and the impact that it is now had on the neighborhood. Diane, thank you so much for sticking with us on the show. So what is life like now? It's only been a few weeks.

What's life like now in your neighborhood? Well, it hasn't changed dramatically. We have seen a little bit of social chaos around the shelter. It's still early days, though. because they, as of yesterday, you can go on open data and see how many people are in the shelter. So as of yesterday, there were 23 people in the shelter. But if you build it, they will come. Oh, 100%.

It's a magnet, for sure. But I think the problem is just the, what our experience is in trying to understand what the city is doing with the shelter setting process is, We don't understand what the model is. We don't understand what the process is. We don't understand what their goals are. There's no data that shows what their levels of success are. For example, for the community safety teams, what is success for the community safety teams?

It's like they've just, it's a Band-Aid process. And this particular shelter was supposed to open in November 2023. something happened along the way and it was supposed to be a respite site. There were supposed to be minimal renovations. And then it changed to this massive renovation. Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Now, you were able to, through access to information, find out what the cost of this is. Can you let our listeners know?

So what I learned was the lease, it's a 10-year lease. It's $640,000 a year. year for just the lease. The renovations at May 2024, they were about approximately $4 million. I don't know what they have ended up being. I'm sure that there were extra costs. And then with operating for a total of 10 years, it appears to be about $50 million for 50 million for 50 beds. So I don't know. What is the, you know, what is the scope of these projects? I I have, you can't, you have no idea what their plan is. All we know is that Gore-Tanner has a council-approved nearly billion-dollar budget,

and we don't really understand how decisions are made, how contracts are assigned. And it would be nice if the person that was elected by the people of your ward, Osma Malik, would answer these questions as they come up. But as you've said, it's like a game of whack-a-mole. disappears underground and you're not going to see her until until she needs your vote again. And so my last question for you, Diane, is, look, we've been trying to get, we've been trying to get city councilors on this show who've been supportive of this sort of policy, Osama Malik being one of them.

I've got a couple lined up for later this week and the week after. But, you know, these people need to be asked about their record and asked about the results of the record that they support. what are you going to do you've got you now have this organization niagara neighbors for community safety you weren't successful in your primary goal but there is a municipal election in just over a year groups like yours could be very powerful voices and influential voices in that election campaign oh we will be out there working very hard to let our neighborhood know uh and the broader neighborhood what happened and uh that if you support Councillor Malick, it's a very, I would say that would be a very difficult decision. I personally can't support Councillor Malick. She has not reached out to any of us in our neighborhood at all. And we have very serious concerns for public safety.

And as you can see, they're public, and she even said in council two, like just two weeks ago at that debate over the, zoning for the shelters, she said that our neighborhood had legitimate concerns. She stated that in her statements, but she still doesn't come to us to speak to us face-to-face in our neighborhood. She has never come into our neighborhood to see us. And in fact, there was a community walk on May 6th of 2024, and we were all excluded from the community walk. Diane Chester, thank you so much for being here. It's a heck of a story. It's a Toronto Toronto in one story in 2025 and I want to thank you for joining us.

I hope you come back. Thank you very much for having me. I really appreciate it. Thank you. All right. Now I want to open up the phone lines 4168-870-60-400 or 1-3-8-225 talk. If you're a city counselor, call in. If not, and you live near one of these sites anywhere in the province.

Tell us your stories. I'm not expecting every story to be one of people harping against these. these sites and these services we need we need to help those who need our help how the city goes about doing this is an affront to democracy it is it is people who know the system so well that they can leverage it to ensure that they get what they want right so they wanted this they wanted this site uh they made sure that if there was any too much pushback from the community, then you would have to register to join. They sent out information to the public, but only selectively.

If there was a chance to go get face to face with the people who did this, you weren't invited to the walk. This is, and the cost involved, you know, I was talking with my producer before the show about the double-digit property tax raise that we all got. And we asked ourselves when that happened, what are we getting for this money? This is what we're getting for this money. This is what we're getting. We are getting $50 million spent on one, on one shelter,

plus an $8 million additional raise to the budget of the private security for these public safety teams. Let's welcome Frank to the show. Frank, thanks so much for calling into the Ben Mulrundee show. Happy Monday. Hey, good morning, man. Nice to talk to you first time. Yeah.

Listen, these guys, the two guys she was identifying, they were walking around her in a house and checking it out and everything. And plus, they had no ID on them. I would have phoned the cops and had them charged for stocking or checking out my place to see when they could rob me. I don't know who they are. Yeah. I mean, it's a heck of a scam. If you're telling me all I have to do is wear a yellow jacket and walk around and say, I'm a public safety officer or a public safety officer or a public. I don't know what you're doing.

Yeah, it's a heck of a scam. Yeah, where's my idea? I don't have to provide you ID. And I can just give you my first name. And my first name is Norbit. Now let me into your house. Let me in your house. So I can make sure that it's, that there's, I don't know why they would, what they need to know.

Do they go back and let everybody know inside the shelter? Okay, so there's 50 people on the street. Four of them don't lock their doors. I'm kidding. I'm not trying to, not trying to escalate this with a bad joke. Frank, thank you very much for your call. I appreciate it. And hey, the number is 416-870-6400 or one AAA.

2-25 talk. Yeah, this is what we're getting for the money. And when you try to work the system so that you as a taxpayer can have your voices heard and you can let your city councilor know, hey, this is going to negatively impact the community. Hey, even before that, can you tell us what the end goal of this shelter is? What do you deem successful? If you put this in here, what are you expecting?

Can you let us know? Well, you can expect that there's going to be a parade of publicly funded taxis in case anybody wants to go do drugs. You know, it's interesting. Everybody we speak to about this says, you know, their counselors are not talking to them. What is the obligation of a city counselor? You represent the people of your ward. If you don't agree with a certain topic, I mean, I guess the thing is people can just vote you out.

But the fact that they're not actually getting back to them. And even if they disagree talking to them about their problems. Getting yourself elected does not give you carte blanche to then not interface with those who elected you over four years. You don't get to do that. You work for the people of that ward. Chris Moyes is under the impression that he can disparage members of his community and forgetting that he actually works for them and this is the same thing

and you're right, it's a trend, it's a trend we're hearing it all the time. You either believe what you're voting for or you don't and if you believe in it then you have a moral and political obligation to face your critics and face those who are funding your priorities and I guarantee you

if we went back and looked at what was on the ballot in the last election spending $50 million on a shelter in Osama Malik's area, it wasn't on her flyer. I guarantee it. I don't know it, but I guarantee it. When people voted for her, they probably didn't vote for this. And if you are going to do this, you have an obligation to check in with the voters. You are listening to The Ben Mulroney show, and before we jump into our next topic,

we've got somebody patiently waiting on the line to comment on the previous conversation we were having about the city and its do whatever the heck it wants, whenever it wants. And we were talking about shelters. So let's welcome George into the conversation. Hey, good morning, George. I mean, great topics, like always. But listen, Vancouver was the test project pilot for this. And it's failed.

These safe injections, shelter sites, we see what happens. It brings crime, murder, people in the areas, you know, they move out. And what happens? These areas get abandoned instead of revitalizing areas and making them more wonderful. I mean, these politicians, what are they voting on? I don't even think they vote. They're just told what to do. Here's your paycheck.

Here's your pension when you retire. Shut up. We're going to tell you what to do. Citizens have signed up so many petitions against so many things. and they never go through. It's like they ignore them. You know what I mean? Well, an election is the ultimate petition

because it's a petition with actual teeth. Nobody's going to require. Listen, I'll tell you, I'll tell you, George, and I thank you for your call. Thank you very much for your call. Thank you for waiting patiently. Look, I'll tell you what I haven't seen a whole lot of. I've seen a lot of protests in this city

about one issue or another. Primarily, it's about the issues in Gaza. and say what you will about those people. They want their voice heard. I think I've heard it. I think we've all heard it. Now it's time to go away. But we've heard it.

I don't see a lot of regular everyday citizens exercising their constitutional right to protest. When the city levies a new tax or decides to do something like this, I'm not seeing the physical protest in front of City Hall that I would. expect. And it concerns me for this next upcoming election. It concerns me because in the last election, we had an abysmal voter turnout. I think it was in the 20 percent, somewhere in the 20s. That's a disgusting abdication of political responsibility. And if that informs, if the apathy to get out there and protest has informed the voter. turnout. Then I don't know what's going to happen in the next election. Oh, by the way, thank you.

Somebody sent us the flyer. Brassmith sent Osma Malik's flyer in the last election. Let's keep working together for a better Toronto. This is the flyer. You can reach out to me and my team about planning and development, parks and rec, trans and transportation, housing and tenant connection, infrastructure projects, waste management, community events, and more. I guess the and more is supposed to include, I'm going to put a homeless shelter right next door to where you live, and I'm going to make sure that the city hands out as much drug paraphernalia as these people can handle. And if they want to do drugs, I'm going to make sure that they can take a taxi on your tab

somewhere where it doesn't bother you. Yeah. Okay. So I think people like Osama Malik may be getting comfortable where they feel that they can pull a bait and switch. They can give you platitudes and generalities about the Toronto they want to build and then they get your vote. Or rather, they get enough votes from people who go out and vote and other people stay at home. Other people who would be affected stay at home. And then they can get back to City Hall to do what they want to do, which is socially engineer and create a term.

Toronto that is different from the one that we all, that most of us, I think a lot of us want. And so one of the things that I'm going to do on this show is I'm going to beat the drum. It is up to you. Listen, if you want to vote for Osama Malik, go vote for Osamalik. I'm not telling you who to vote for. I'm telling you to get out there, inform yourself, and if decisions are being made in your neighborhood by a city counselor who is MIA on the things are important to you, find another candidate. support that candidate.

Get out and get that candidate elected. Do everything that you can within your constitutional rights to make sure that the city government that you elect represents you. Because if we have another election where 20, 30% of the people show up, that's going to be the 30% that support people like Osama Malik, that support Chris Moyes, that support Olivia Chow. And we will get four more years of this and we will deserve it. We have the power to do something about that.

And if you don't want to do it, if you don't want to do it, then you have to be prepared to live with the consequences. And yeah, so that's, I'm going to get off of my soapbox now. And we don't have a lot of time left. So I'm just going to share this story with you. There's a group that has been doing essentially buffets on the TTC. The images are quite striking. There's literally a buffet table and it's almost like a potluck where you can show up and you can enjoy a party. on the TTC

and I don't know how I feel like I like the idea of this it's supposed to create connection with people

I think it's I think in practice it's a terrible idea I think the fact that this was even allowed to happen

once is a terrible idea the person who does it their heart is in the right place absolutely

but come on man like you're probably violating half a dozen health codes if you if you let people

know there's going to be free food on the TTC. Who do you think is going to show up? And I, you know, it's like the TTC can't even do the one thing it's supposed to do well, which is get people from point A to point B affordably, safely, and reliably. I don't want to throw, bring your own booze buffets to a place that can't even do the one thing it's supposed to do well properly. I don't want to sound like I'm harping on this one person or this one group

because I like that they're trying something. It's just the wrong place to try something. It's the worst place. Do this in a park. You want to do this? Go to a park. Go to Trinity Bellwoods and do this at a park. But on the TTC, if I showed up and I was like after a long day of work and I got onto the TTC

and I couldn't take a seat or I couldn't stand because somebody was throwing a potluck dinner on the TT seat, I think I would have, I think I would be a little upset about that. And this is, but again, like, I can't fault the person for wanting to try something. I just think it's the wrong time and the wrong place. And if I sound like, if I sound like that cloud that follows, who is it, was it, pig pen. If I'm the cloud that follows pig pen, then so be it. I'm going to be that guy. The TTC needs to, come on, let's get out of the TTC's way so they can then help us get to where we need to go.

This is a problem that we don't need on the subway. We got lots of problems on the subway. We don't need to add food health code violations to it. They come from Survivor, they come from Big Brother. They know what they're doing. These vets wrote the playbook, and they have all had to earn their stripes. How did you win Survivor? Manipulating people.

Same thing I'm going to do here. And now, new threats will enter the game. Hungry to forge a new legacy. Once we train on, it's going to be hard to contain. This really, truly is the most even matchup that I've seen in a long time. The challenge, vets and new threats. All new Wednesday on Slice and stream on Stack TV. Thank you.