The Ben Mulroney Show - Why are we allowing gun and drug traffickers out on bail?

Episode Date: May 23, 2025

Guests and Topics: -Why are we allowing gun and drug traffickers out on bail? -Council approves expanded protest-free ‘bubble zones’ with Guest: Brad Bradford, Toronto city councillor for Beaches-East York If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! https://globalnews.ca/national/program/the-ben-mulroney-show Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So you'll remember that there was a month long undercover investigation into illegal firearm and drug trafficking led to the arrest of 10 suspects, more than 100 charges combined. It was a huge story. We went wall to wall on this radio station as as happened in newsrooms around the entire city. Of the 10 people who were arrested. Three of them are still in jail. Seven of them are out on bail. That's the number. That's what I want to talk about.

It is insane how easy it is to get out on bail. Give us a call. 416-870-6400 or 1-888-225. Talk. You know, I've had smart people, well read people. I have, I've had lawyers on the show try to tell me and in their own experience and with their depth of knowledge tell me no no no the issue is not with our bail system the issue is not this or that and and you got to place blame in lots of different places. I don't care. I'm past that point. And as I'm sure most of you are, I don't care.

Fix the damn problem. If you're arrested for breaking a law, and especially a serious one with violent implications, why is it so easy to get out on bail? Can we just, can we agree? Can we like, oh, if you say soft on crime, you're gonna, maple MAGA. You know, if it makes me maple MAGA,

I think that someone who was arrested on firearm and drug charges that could have led to God knows how many deaths later on should spend, I don't know, just a little, just a scotch of time in jail before before his trial, then I'm maple maga. Sure, if it makes you feel better. And if it may, if it likes, if you like to ascribe motivation, if you like to give people nicknames, you go right ahead, call me that. But this is one of those things

that corrodes at our trust in institutions. It does because I feel the, and I don't think I'm making a logical leap here. I'm tired of being held accountable for the low hanging fruit stuff that I do. The, okay, I got caught by a speeding on a speeding camera. Oh, I got caught by burning through a yellow at a red light camera. And I'm held accountable for that each and every time.

Trust me, I know if I don't pay that bill, it's in the mail with an additional fine. So I'm't pay that bill it's in the mail with an additional fine. So I'm responsible for that but when somebody goes out and breaks the law on a massive in a massive campaign add violence and drugs to our street and they can be out lickety split on bail like make it make sense to me. Jim welcome to the show. Good morning. How you doing? I'm well, thank you. That's good. I have a daughter that's a cop in a, in the Northern community.

And they have a group of people there that they probably arrest and release, uh, probably three to four times a month. Some of them have charges dating back five years. Yeah, that just keep getting prolonged and prolonged. Yet. Four of them keep going missing and end up on the rope list. And they just keep getting them back into jail. Yeah, 30 days later, they're they're back out again. Yeah, it's a it's a nifty little cottage industry and it keeps a lot of people busy, but it doesn't keep our streets safe. Hey, Jim, I want to thank you for the call.

I want to keep this going. Darryl, welcome to the show. Thank you for calling in. Happy Friday. Happy Friday to you, Ben. Golden Oreos are for fascists. Um, listen, I don't disagree with you on, I do lean to the left.

I don't disagree with you on, I do lean to the left. I don't disagree with you on crime necessarily and the way that things are working is a problem, but we have a system of laws and checks and balances in place and if those need to be changed, then we need to advocate harder with our MPs. I agree. Now, hey, listen, that's the common ground.

I hope we can all occupy. And thank you very much for that. And Oreos are not, if you don't like an Oreo, regardless, you are a fascist. George, welcome to the show. Hey, good morning. Good morning. Ben, listen, we know the problems that are out there,

this is what keeps society, the courts, the judges, the whole system working. You get rid of the criminals, That's business lost. They're never going to do it. It's good for business. Wait, wait, wait. Take a beat with me. Take a beat and hold on. Walk me. Walk me. What George walk me through this. You're you're you're are you are you exaggerating to make a point or are you actually suggesting that there is a government

incentive to keep criminals doing crimes? Absolutely. That's what I'm saying. You want to walk down the rabbit hole? I'll take you back. Please. Let's take a quick trip down the rabbit hole. I'm not spending too much time. Real quick. Give me high level stuff here. If they really wanted to get rid of criminals, they could. It's just a stroke of a pen. Why don't they? Why are tax payings? Charter challenges, my friend. Charter challenges. Anyways, it's never gonna end.

Okay, thank you, my friend. And you enjoy the weekend. Maybe pop up for air from the rabbit hole to enjoy some weather. Well, the weather's gonna be terrible. Who do we have? Frank, welcome to the show. Good morning, Ben.

You know, loving these people that get out are repeat offenders so that they have that lifestyle that they've grown into. If they don't have a job, it's logical to conclude that for them to make a living, they're going to continue that lifestyle in the underworld. So I would say that if they're going to consider anyone to go on bail,

there's no priors, number one. Number two, they have and get a job. Otherwise, they're going to resort back to that lifestyle. Yeah, I mean, listen, there are lots of problems associated with this. When we talk about bail reform or the issues with the criminal justice system, we are looking through the cacophony,

we're listening through the cacophony of crises that we as a country are going through. So when you look through the keyhole, you only see one part of it. If we open the door up, you would see that they are all intertwined. So yes, you're right. A lot of these people resort to crime

because of a lack of opportunity. So yes, simultaneous to that, we have to create an economy of opportunity. But we also have to make sure if we're looking at it through the lens of cost-benefit analyses, we have to make it so it is less profitable for them. It makes less economic sense for them to do the crime on the off chance that they get caught. Right? If you know that getting caught means that 10 days later,

you can be back on the street doing the exact same thing, not a huge cost to you, huge opportunity on the other hand, to continue doing the crime. But what if you find out that according, if we've changed the law, no bail, no bail for serious crimes, no bail for violent crimes ever.

Now all of a sudden that the opportunity costing at the changes, and now all of a sudden you have to value things differently. So maybe you don't go down that rabbit hole. Maybe you get a job in your community, maybe it may be or maybe you just don't do a crime. So anyway, those are those are conversations that we have to have as as a as a society. Mike, welcome to the Ben Mulroney show. Hey, Ben, how's it going? Love your show. Thank you very much.

Right on. Well, you can stop bad guys with guns by just letting good guys carry them. Somebody think twice, if they know that they're going to get shot back. Yeah, I mean, that's, I heard that line from the NRA years ago, the only good, the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. I mean, there's logic there. But I'm not looking to emulate the Americans in terms of their relationship with with guns. But thank you for that. We've got time for Frank. Welcome to the show. Hey, Ben, how are you? First time caller. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I just wanted to share a story regarding this is that me and my family have been personally affected by individuals that have constantly gotten bail. Sadly, my stepdaughter five years ago passed away too long, the story is explained on the radio, but the ex-boyfriend is a criminal and continuously gets bail. I had to fight in family court to raise my grandson and get custody. And basically had to fight in family court against him while he was in jail.

Oh my God. And you, and it was a, it was a slog to do so. It was a real fight. Oh, and financially a huge crash on the family. Yeah. Let's just put it this way. This individual had 36 charges including carrying fentanyl intent to traffic, cocaine, forcible confinement, trafficking, you name it. And they were dropped because of lack of judges and counters. It made

the Colonel start front page at the one time. So it's a crazy situation that can affect you and it may affect you one day. Yeah. And thank you. I think it's important to talk about this in human terms and individual terms. I want to thank you for sharing your story and I wish you and your granddaughter the very best. I appreciate it. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney Show. And color me surprised. I was genuinely surprised when we knew that the bubble bylaw was coming to a vote at city council. We knew that, well, you've heard me say that it was watered down, it was toothless compared to other municipalities.

It got there faster and took a stronger position. And it was my assumption that you were going to have a debate at city council that led to further dilution of the value of this bylaw. So color me surprised that the 20 meter distance that was proposed was extended to 50 meters. And there's a couple of other things in there that got changed for the better as well, not to say that it's a perfect bylaw in any way. But here to talk about it is one of the spearheads of this initiative, somebody who has been calling for this for a very long time. I'm talking about Brad Bradford, Toronto City Councilor for Beaches East York. Brad, welcome to

the show. Thanks for having me, Ben. Good to chat. Okay, so how did this all come together? Finally, well, I think job number one of local government is to keep our residents in this city safe. That's what people expect and that's what people deserve. Over the past 19 months since October 7th, we've seen just a triple digit increase in hate crimes, incident of hate and people being harassed and intimidated in Toronto. So the idea of bubble zone bylaws or safe access zones around places of worship, faith-based institutions and daycares is really just saying when people are going to practice their faith,

when they're going to worship, regardless of their religion, we are not going to tolerate folks standing on the doorstep of a mosque or a synagogue or a shul harassing and inciting hate. This would set up a perimeter around those spaces and keep the protests outside of that space so that we can protect people's rights to worship. Look, it came here, you know, this was the fourth crack at it that we had brought forward

at Toronto City Council and you pointed out jurisdictions like Vaughan and Brampton were able to do what took Toronto nearly 19 months. They were able to do it in six weeks. But yeah, we were able to find a way forward on council floor that strengthened some of the protections versus what the staff had come up with, which was a very mild, meek, watered down version of a bubble zone bylaw. We made it better. And I think you're right, it's not perfect, but it's important that we got something done,

especially in light of what's happened over the past 48 hours. That's what I was gonna ask you, Brad. If two innocent Israelis aren't gunned down in the street of Washington by somebody screaming free free Palestine. Do you think you have more opposition to this by city by opponents at City Council? You know, part of it was when 20 meters came out, that is one fifth of what every other

municipality is doing. Every other municipality is doing 100 meters. The protections around abortion clinics is 150 meters. So 20 meters was actually really unprecedented in terms of just how weak that was. City staff. I mean, listen, I don't know any city staff personally, but but writ large, I've talked about them enough on this show to know where their where their allegiances are generally. Well, and I would say honestly, like that that's done in

collaboration with the mayor's office. They wanted to be able to do something to say that they're doing something, but it seems to me, based on the mayor's actions, she actually wanted something so ineffective that it would never actually work. So how did the vote shift yesterday? Well, you know, Councillor Pasternak, to his credit, he moved the motion for 100 meters.

And I think that almost created a permission structure for people to say, all right, I'm not going to support 100 meters, but I could support 50. That's just the brass tacks of how the politics were playing out on the floor. We were able to get that done. The mayor, of course, voted against that. She voted against every single thing that we did to strengthen this bylaw. But then at the end of the day, she voted for it as amended because I think she wants to be able to say, she want to be on the winning side. Yeah. Even though, even though she tried to undermine it, you know,

right from day one, but the most important thing is that this was put in place. We made it less bad is how I'm characterizing it. And honestly, it's a win for these communities that have been under attack here in Toronto. The common sense thing to do, and it's long overdue to flex some leadership in the council chamber and actually stand up for people who are under attack. But Brad, there are over 3,000 locations in this city

that would fit the description that would allow for this bylaw, the bubble zone to take place around them. Explain to me how it's gonna work because unlike other municipalities, other jurisdictions, you have to prove that you have been protested against or that somebody has perpetrated hate on you in the past nine months just to be eligible for this.

So walk me through what, let's say I'm the principal at a Jewish school on Bathurst in this city. And how do I get the protection if, like to walk me through it? Well, that's a good point. And for everybody's understanding, the way this was originally drafted was basically

the city was saying, you are gonna have to provide an attestation that you've been victimized, which is just insane. It's insane. It's insane. It's insulting. It's backwards. It's regressive. And you have to be, you have to be victimized before the city of Toronto is going to take

you seriously. Yesterday, we actually removed that clause. Okay. That is no longer a requirement. Okay. Institutions that want to participate, places of worship, they will just fill out a form saying that they want to be a part of it and they will be approved. Okay, well that is good.

That is good. Yeah, it's better. And we also extended what was originally drafted as a 180-day safe access zone. We extended that to a year. So it's an annual renewal versus a six month renewal. And again, these are, these are some of the steps that we were able to get passed to make it less bureaucratic, less onerous on these institutions that we're trying to protect. Because the way staff and the mayor's office had sort of put this together, there was a tremendous burden on people who are

already under duress. Okay. lastly, on this particular issue, is there not a fear that this lets the police off the hook? I mean, the do nothing leadership that has seen our streets to get taken over for 19 months, but now there are bubble zones. And if everyone that wants to be protected can be protected, isn't that like a, for lack of a better expression, a get out of jail free card for the cops who

haven't done anything on this front, because now you're just gonna have bylaw officials writing tickets. Well, the reality is when you need to clear a sidewalk, it's not the bylaw officers that are writing the tickets that they just don't, you know, have the ability to do that in the same way law enforcement and police officers do. So I think this is again, it's not a panacea, but it's an additional tool. We will now effectively be able to have these safe access zone perimeters that make it pretty clear, like literally with a line, you got to be 50 meters back. And so bylaw will be there, I think, you know, first and

foremost, identifying the issues, but then it's, it's the police that are going to come in and be able to effectively move in almost like a trespass to clear these people out. So it's not going to be perfect, not at all. And this is still one of the weaker examples of this type of bylaw in the country, but it is what we were able to get done under Mayor Chao at the City of Toronto, where, you know, frankly, most of my colleagues have been fighting this every step of the way for the past 19 months. Okay. So lastly, Brad, if somebody wants to take advantage of this, when does it become an option? By second. So it comes into effect on July 2nd. There will be information up on city

websites shortly about, you know about how you get into the program. I don't anticipate that all potentially 3,000 sites in the City of Toronto will participate, but there are definitely communities that have been targeted and attacked and harassed, and I think this will come as some relief for those folks. I actually, you know what, I was at the CJPAC last night, which is a Canadian Jewish Political Action Committee, and I had a woman come up to me and she was actually in tears, and she just said, this feels like the first time the City of Toronto has done anything to protect the Jewish community over the past 19 months. And despite all the squabbling and sort of toxicity

of the council chamber and the heavy lifting to get there. That reminds you of what's at stake, what's on the line and why you fight to protect people in the city. Hey, Brad, thank you so much. Congratulations. It is a win. And it should be a feather in your cap. Still a lot of work to be done by appreciate your time today. You betcha. We'll see you soon. All right. This is the Ben Mulroney show, but it's also your show,

our listeners, we can't do the show without you. I love hearing from you in a lot of ways. You help inform my positions on so many issues. So we're gonna open up the phone lines in just a moment. But I think that the question I have for you on the Canada Post job situation about whether or not they're gonna go on strike, as know, right? So they're already in the red and have been for years.

And now we're being told that with 55,000 employees working an eight hour shift each, they can't do the job required. So with that as the, I mean, to me, that's a logical deduction, very logical. So like, uh, now it's time to put some other stuff on the table. Like if you can't do the job with an eight hour shift with 55,000 people, you can't do the job. So let's change the job. I don't need everyday delivery. You don't need unless you're a business or unless you depend on vital medicine coming to you through the mail. You don't need unless you're a business or unless you depend on vital medicine coming to you through through the mail. You don't need it either. So so let's let's figure something out. Do we need 55,000 people? I don't know how many of

those are actual mail mail carriers. And I am not trying to be heartless. But when when taxi drivers are losing their jobs because Uber came in, we allowed it to happen. When bookstores started shutting down because Amazon started encroaching on their business, we let it happen. And in this case, look, let's be honest, you're either accepting a paycheck or you're gonna be a transitioned out of your job,

in which case the taxpayers on the hook for both. So it's 601 for the taxpayer. But the very least you got an option and opportunity at that point to transition into something else. I don't think I'm being heartless. I think I'm being realistic. Take the world as it is not as we want it to be. George, welcome to the Ben Mulroney show. Hey, thanks for taking my call. They're in great show. Thank you. I'm in business and last year,

10 years ago, I spent about five to $6,000 on postage stamps. Okay. And last year, 2024, I spent $15. So it's less and less of value. Can I ask what kind of work you do? It's less and less of value. Can I ask what kind of work you do? I own a number of companies and everybody that we pay, we pay via e-transfer or an ETF. We have the occasional company, old school, that still sends us a company check. Okay, but you don't rely on Canada Post to make vital deliveries for your business.

No. No. All right. Well, thank you very much for that. Yeah, there there is there's less of a need for certain types of businesses. But there are still businesses that depend on it for their deliveries. I think say everyday pickups for for businesses across the country. Sure. But do we need it for residential? I mean, I remember 15 years ago, Canada Post was talking about how they didn't want to deliver to every house anymore. It was too time consuming. They wanted community mailboxes at the top of

every street. People were up in arms over that. But who cares? gets out of the house, go pick up your your mail. What's the problem with that? Things change. Things change. The world changes and we have to change with it. And to simply say there and say, Oh, no, no, no, no, we want our 13% pay increase, and we want our benefits. Like, come on, man. Come on, we like you got to get paid from somebody. And people like me have run out of money. We've given everything we can to various levels of government. So I don't have a whole lot of

patience for this. And a whole lot of goodwill either. Tom, welcome to the Ben Mulroney show. Morning, Ben. This is a great topic. And I'll turn your screen. There's multiple onions, multiple layers to this. So let's peel, let's peel away. No problem. You got a hard on for the postal workers. I get it. I get number one, let me tell you, I've worked full disclosure. I've worked with a unionized company before I worked with the logistic unionized company before Canada post is going to wear the dodo bird. As you guys say, you know what UPS FedEx peer is owned by the gas FedEx and DHL could easily take over wherever they're doing a number one

full stop. They I've seen it. Two, two, what really upsets me is my mom is 76 years old. My dad used to do the internet banking. He's no longer well. So now I have to call all the providers, Toronto Hydro, Consumers Gara, Enbridge, you name it. I got to call them all and see when the bills are coming, when the due dates are. So that's a pain in the arse for me. Yeah. Right. But the problem with the Canada Post is

I think it's failed management, number one. Number two, the union, no, what they're asking for a rate in today's standards isn't, how can I put it to you, isn't over exaggerated. But at the same point too, you're in a dying like industry. You have to revamp.

And I think that this falls solely on the management. Yeah. Because you gotta shave off the redundancy, I hate to say it, shave it off and reinvent this this industry for yourself. Yeah. Yes, look at FedEx. Well, yeah. And thanks for the call. And I do wonder that if, if, for example, they went the drastic way of cutting a number of people in the like the frontline workers, I wonder how many of those people would be picked up by private competition by the ups is by the FedEx is they have the skills, they know the job. They know

the roots. It seems to me like that would be a really interesting pivot getting absorbed by those by the private competition. But I don't know how that that I don't know how that works. Tina, welcome to the show. Hi, there. Hi. You know why? Um, years ago, many, many years ago, was the union not established to help with better working conditions with, you know, people being abused and taking advantage of that's what the union was for. Now I find, you know, fast forward to 2025, they are a little on the greedy side. We're in financial turmoil in Canada. Everybody's suffering with every last penny and some of their needs are outrageous. They're lucky to get that 13%.

19.5 plus plus plus plus is a little greedy. I say privatize it. Everybody emails anyways. You know, it's sad to see where it's gotten to. Yeah. And I listen, I think there there is and will forever be the need for unions to push back against sort of corporate pressure. Without that counterbalance, you're not going to have you're not going to have a certain type of worker who feels respected and protected. And so I completely respect the right of a union to operate. But you got to know your audience. And right now the audience is saying hard pass. John, welcome to the show.

I'm a senior. I've set up everything on auto banking. I don't really care if it comes once a week, once a month. It really doesn't matter. There's very little I need from them. Well, listen, and John, thank you very much. I mean, I wish I was as technologically savvy as John. That's a wonderful thing to hear. The fact of the matter is the world

is different today than it was even five years ago. And Canada Post wants its workers to enjoy the heyday of 50, 60, 70 years ago. We don't have a time machine. And absent a time machine, that is not on the table. You've got to look forward. And the look forward is a leaner, meaner, more efficient and optimized Canada Post. And if you're not going to be part of the solution, you are the problem. To celebrate the Days of Our Lives 60th anniversary, W Network and Stack TV invite you to enter for a chance to win the ultimate fan experience. By watching new episodes of Days of Our Lives, you and a guest could win a three-night stay

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