EXCLUSIVE: MPs blast CBC’s coverage of Kirk assassination

MPs Jamil Jivani and Aaron Gunn provided their thoughts on the assassination of Charlie Kirk, what it means for free speech, and how the legacy media have covered the news.

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEWS WITH GUNN & JIVANI BELOW

Conservative MPs Jamil Jivani and Aaron Gunn are calling for unity in denouncing political violence and blasted the CBC’s partisan reporting a day after the assassination of U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Jivani, Gunn, and radio host Greg Brady, held a panel discussion in a bar in downtown Bowmanville, Ontario, on Thursday evening. They mourned Kirk’s murder and spoke about the importance of freedom of speech.

Jivani expressed his hope that young people aren’t discouraged from standing up for what they believe in, but are instead inspired to get politically involved in the wake of Kirk’s death. He told True North in an interview that he’s been speaking with young people who grew up listening to Kirk’s talks and worry that they will be afraid to engage in political life due to an increasingly polarized political climate.

“I felt it was important to kind of point out that you know not to take that lesson from this, but rather to really look at the impact he had, and remind ourselves that having debates and taking strong positions and standing up for what you believe in, but also being open minded to talk to people who don’t agree with you,” Jivani said. “This is an important part of politics, and I hope that’s what people remember him for, and that is his legacy.”

Gunn and Jivani also responded to the CBC’s reporting on Kirk’s death, highlighting the Conservative party’s call to defund the organization.

“I’m not surprised by how CBC has reported on this story, in part because I think CBC has a hard time humanizing people they don’t agree with and I think that’s a really huge problem in Canadian media,” Jivani said. “We have a diverse country with people with all sorts of different perspectives, and we should be able to share that with peace and understanding of one another.”

He said that for an outlet that “loves to espouse the virtues of diversity, equity, and inclusion,” they “fail to show that they appreciate and respect” different points of view.

“I think at minimum, they should be able to say without equivocation, that violence is never acceptable, regardless of whether you like what someone said or not,” he said. “When you publish an article outlining someone’s controversial views, it almost has this hint of suggestion that that somehow justifies what happened or should be taken into consideration when you grieve a young man’s death.”

He said this is an opportunity for people to “check their own humanity,” and have empathy for a grieving family who lost a loved one over his opinions.

“When (the CBC) clutch their pearls, when Conservatives say that they’re biased,” Jivani said. “I hope they remember how they reported on this, and remember why people call them bias, because time and time again, when they’ve had an opportunity to show they respect people across the political spectrum, they have shown that they don’t.”

Jivani said he’s been speaking with young people who grew up listening to Kirk’s talks and worry they will be afraid to engage in politics due to an increasingly polarized climate.

“I felt it was important to kind of point out that you know not to take that lesson from this, but rather to really look at the impact he had, and remind ourselves that having debates and taking strong positions and standing up for what you believe in, but also being open minded to talk to people who don’t agree with you,” Jivani said. “This is an important part of politics, and I hope that’s what people remember him for, and that is his legacy.”

Gunn told True North he believes Kirk’s assassination should rally Canadians from across the political spectrum, especially elected officials, to make it clear that political violence is never acceptable.

“We can never allow free speech and free expression to be intimidated in our country, and we have to make sure and do everything in our power to make sure some of the violence that we’re seeing south of the border in the United States doesn’t make its way up to Canada,” Gunn said.

“We have our share of issues, of course, but we have to make sure that those are always debated and resolved peacefully through the democratic process.”

He added that defending the values of free and open discourse and democratic principles, which were protected through two world wars, should be every person in the Western world’s “ultimate responsibility.”

“It was just very shocking to see what happened. You see someone who was assassinated, who was murdered essentially for the views that he held and the speech that he was engaging in,” Gunn said. “Now is the time to grieve, first and foremost, to reflect back on what society and the state of public discourse has become, and to most importantly, reinforce that this is completely unacceptable, that we can never allow or justify in any way, shape or form, political violence.”

He advocated for free speech, expression, and the exchange of ideas, particularly on university and college campuses, which was a hallmark of Charlie Kirk’s work.