An Open Letter to Premier Danielle Smith - Time's Up!
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
156.65968
Summary
In this video, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks directly to Prime Minister Mark Carney about the lack of a pipeline from Alberta to Kitimat, British Columbia, and her concerns about it. She also addresses the Prime Minister's new major projects list, which does not include a pipeline for Alberta.
Transcript
00:00:00.000
Hi, it's John, and welcome to the channel, 9.06 a.m., Friday, November the 14th. I hope
00:00:08.120
you're having a great Friday. I've got my big blue mug of coffee with me. Raining here
00:00:13.020
in Calgary today. Actually, it's kind of wet snow. I like to call it white, lumpy rain.
00:00:17.220
Not a pleasant day here, but I hope you're having a great day wherever you may be watching
00:00:21.780
this. What I want to do in this video, it's going to be short and sweet, is I want to
00:00:27.140
do something a little different than you may be hearing from people across Canada today,
00:00:31.760
in particular, people here in Alberta. And this is to address Mark Carney's latest major
00:00:38.180
projects list announced yesterday, which does not include a pipeline for Alberta, as you
00:00:44.060
know. So how do I address this differently? Well, I thought I would take this opportunity
00:00:48.500
to talk directly to Premier Danielle Smith in this video. So feel free to move on. I'm
00:00:53.700
talking directly to Danielle Smith here. Madam Premier, John here in Calgary, thank you
00:01:00.120
very much for your time. As you know, Madam Premier, yesterday Mark Carney basically gave
00:01:05.660
Alberta the finger and did not grant a pipeline to our province. You're well aware of this.
00:01:11.420
Now, what I would like to do is I would like to take you back to a time many months ago, back
00:01:17.340
to March. I believe it was right around March 20th when you laid out some demands regarding
00:01:23.220
the next government that was elected. And that government was elected on April the 28th. And
00:01:28.280
your demands were get rid of nine bad laws that were getting in the way of Alberta getting its
00:01:34.320
resources, mainly oil and gas, to market. And you gave a six-month timeline. Now, as you
00:01:42.400
know, that timeline passed, but you provided an additional timeline. You extended it until this
00:01:48.900
weekend, more specifically to the Grey Cup, which is this weekend. And so far, we've got no pipeline.
00:01:58.280
From what I understand, you're in discussions with the government regarding this, talking about
00:02:02.500
something called a memorandum of understanding or something like that, whatever that is.
00:02:06.960
But you have to know, and I know, and the people of Alberta know, and the people of Canada know,
00:02:12.440
anybody who's in the know knows, Mark Carney does not want Alberta to have a pipeline.
00:02:21.160
You've said it yourself. Mark Carney wants to keep our oil in the ground. And he's put up barriers
00:02:27.560
to ensure it stays there. And David Eby, who is the premier of the next province over in British
00:02:35.800
Columbia, has said quite clearly, since this list was announced yesterday, there will be no pipeline.
00:02:43.720
You know, as well as I know, Mark Carney has an opportunity to make that pipeline happen, but he
00:02:49.480
won't. So what are you waiting for? Are you going to give him more time? And even more importantly,
00:02:57.000
we're waiting on one pipeline to be granted by the prime minister of this country to give you
00:03:03.160
and the people of Alberta permission to enrich ourselves. Why are we doing this? And is one
00:03:09.400
pipeline enough? It isn't enough. And you know, it isn't enough. So back in March, when you gave,
00:03:17.960
it seemed like a threat. It did. You have six months to do this, or we'll have a national unity crisis.
00:03:27.000
What is a national unity crisis, Madam Premier? Surely when you said it, you must have had something
00:03:32.920
in mind. We would all like to know, because we're getting a little impatient with you here.
00:03:38.920
Is a national unity crisis granting the people of Alberta the opportunity to vote
00:03:44.200
on whether they want to remain in Canada, meaning a referendum on independence? Because if that's what it is,
00:03:50.680
do it. Time's up. In all due respect, Madam Premier.
00:04:00.600
I've had the opportunity, Madam Premier, on this channel to speak to a number of
00:04:04.840
people in the independence movement here. And I've had an opportunity to meet a lot of people
00:04:10.200
at rallies on the Alberta legislature steps, one back in October. A lot of people admire you.
00:04:16.840
We think you're the best Premier in the country. We think you're a strong woman. We're glad you're
00:04:24.280
our Premier. I feel that way, Madam Premier. But I'm starting to lose my admiration for you because,
00:04:31.480
pardon the expression, you need to show some cojones here. We need your or else.
00:04:40.920
Weeding out Mark Carney and the Liberal government and the people in the East and David Eby to allow
00:04:47.240
us to have a pipeline is a losing game for you. In the long run. I don't know what your aspirations
00:04:55.800
are. I've been told that you're waiting it out. You're hoping one day you can lead a federal party
00:05:01.000
and become the Prime Minister of this country. Well, let me just put this to you. If we have an
00:05:05.640
independence vote and we vote to leave, how does President of the Republic of Alberta sound to you?
00:05:13.080
Madam Premier, what is your or else? And what does a national unity crisis mean? Because again,
00:05:22.520
I'm starting to lose my patience with you and I'm starting to lose my admiration as are many more
00:05:28.280
people. And don't forget the United Conservative Party annual general meeting is coming up
00:05:36.920
and who knows what's going to happen there. Madam Premier, thank you very much for your time. I do
00:05:42.920
appreciate it. All the best. If you like this video, give it a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel,
00:05:50.440
ring the bell for notifications. I'll see you in the next one.