Juno News - February 01, 2025


Alberta COVID report draws ire of “experts” and media

Topics
tariffs and border czar proposal
Mentioned
Danielle Smith Justin Trudeau Donald Trump Greenline LRT Devin Drieschen Isaac Lamoureux X. Gondek COVID-19 Pfizer Stacey Levitt-Wright Jonathan Wilkinson Jay Bhattacharya Pierre Poilievre Peter McCaffrey Gary Davidson Paul Winnick Byron Bridal Nahid Nenshi Tom Homan JC Nealon and 2 more
Trudeau’s disastrous policies are BLOWING up in our faces EMERGENCY LIVESTREAM： Trump launches ECONOMIC WARFARE on Canada

Episode Stats


Length

16 minutes

Words per minute

167.53

Word count

2,812

Sentence count

149

Harmful content

Misogyny

2

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

This week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has once again placed herself at the forefront of protecting the country from tariffs, this time saying that Canada should appoint a border czar to work with U.S. counterpart Tom Homan. The province s 300-kilometre shared border with the United States would be monitored for drug smuggling, gun trafficking, and illegal immigration. The final report on Alberta s COVID-19 response that Smith commissioned in 2022 was published and recommends halting the use of COVID vaccines in healthy children and teenagers.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has once again placed herself at the forefront of protecting
00:00:15.440 the country from tariffs, this time saying that Canada appointing a border czar would
00:00:19.920 be the best way to avoid President Donald Trump's proposed 25% tariffs, which are expected today.
00:00:25.240 The final report on Alberta's COVID-19 response that Smith commissioned in 2022 was published
00:00:31.120 and recommends halting the use of COVID-19 vaccines in healthy children and teenagers,
00:00:36.140 among other recommendations that oppose the mainstream narrative.
00:00:39.580 Alberta's junior high students will soon learn more about anti-Semitism with an updated curriculum
00:00:44.460 that the provincial government said was a result of the rise in anti-Jewish hatred worldwide
00:00:49.600 following Hamas' brutal October 7th attack on Israeli citizens.
00:00:53.760 Calgary's Green Line LRT project got the green light, following City Council voting to proceed
00:00:59.220 with the province's proposed alignment.
00:01:01.240 All of this and more in this week's episode of the Alberta Roundup.
00:01:04.400 I'm your host, Isaac Lamoureux, and I'm super excited to be here with you again.
00:01:08.140 Let's hop into the first story now.
00:01:10.060 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is calling on Ottawa to appoint a border czar to work with
00:01:14.620 U.S. counterpart Tom Homan and avoid the incoming tariffs proposed by the Trump administration.
00:01:19.460 The tariffs are expected to come the same day this video is published, February 1st,
00:01:24.020 but I am recording the day prior, so if anything changes between then and now, buyer beware.
00:01:29.000 Following a meeting with the country's premiers, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other federal
00:01:33.280 ministers on Wednesday, Smith revealed that she told them that a border czar was the best answer
00:01:38.520 to the incoming tariffs.
00:01:39.920 Smith said, quote,
00:01:40.980 Holman previously raised concerns about Canada's border security shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump's
00:02:05.320 2024 election victory.
00:02:08.040 Smith made the request for a czar after speaking with dozens of U.S. representatives,
00:02:12.540 administrative officials, and Trump himself.
00:02:15.540 She said this was clearly the most important first step to take.
00:02:19.360 She also invited a Fox News team to the Coutts border to showcase the work already underway to prevent
00:02:24.880 illegal immigration and trafficking.
00:02:27.120 Alberta previously unveiled enhanced border security measures, including a patrol team of 51 officers,
00:02:32.940 10 support staff, 4 patrol dogs, 10 surveillance drones, and 4 narcotics analyzers.
00:02:39.280 The province's 300-kilometer shared border with the U.S. would be monitored for drug smuggling,
00:02:44.060 gun trafficking, and illegal immigration.
00:02:46.820 While Alberta was the first province to introduce such measures, which they were able to do because
00:02:51.160 the measures were in work for 18 months at the time, other provinces followed suit.
00:02:57.180 Smith also thanked the federal government for allowing Alberta to send a Black Hawk helicopter
00:03:01.660 to the border on Wednesday.
00:03:03.560 As for who should be the border czar, Smith had a pretty good idea.
00:03:07.180 She said she believed somebody with a high-ranking military background would be the best option
00:03:11.380 to become the border czar.
00:03:13.040 She said she had already recommended that her deputy minister, Paul Winnick, a former lieutenant
00:03:17.740 general who served in the army for 38 years, become the czar.
00:03:21.640 The federal government is aware of her recommendation, as she said,
00:03:25.060 Jonathan Wilkinson was present when she made it.
00:03:27.580 Smith said, quote,
00:03:29.060 That's the kind of person we need, someone who understands military operations, who understands
00:03:33.460 deployment, who understands the seriousness with which we have to take this issue.
00:03:38.040 She added that the czar would serve as a consistent voice at the table for Canada,
00:03:42.280 considering Trudeau's soon-to-be resignation and the subsequent election shortly thereafter
00:03:46.580 provides Canada with no consistent voice at the negotiating table with the United States.
00:03:51.780 The liberals have been considering pandemic-style payouts to businesses harmed by the tariffs.
00:03:56.540 Again, Smith wouldn't even entertain the thought.
00:03:59.920 She wouldn't even begin to discuss the package and her opinion of it because she said it was
00:04:03.840 her goal to do everything she could to ensure that the tariffs never come to be.
00:04:08.160 The Trump administration hinted that the 25% tariffs on Canadian imports would begin
00:04:13.040 February 1st today, with another round coming in April.
00:04:16.760 The latter tariffs will be determined after Trump receives a study he requested that is
00:04:20.980 set to be delivered to him on April 1st.
00:04:23.120 On top of the border czar, Smith also proposed that Canada and the U.S. collaborate to establish
00:04:28.000 a joint military base in the Arctic.
00:04:30.420 You guys may already know if the tariffs came to be.
00:04:32.840 I hope that they did not.
00:04:34.300 And let me know what you think about Smith leading these negotiation tactics.
00:04:38.920 Would Canada have been better off if she were actually at the helm of these negotiations and
00:04:43.580 had the power to do as she pleased?
00:04:45.340 The final report on Alberta's COVID-19 response was released.
00:04:49.680 It recommends that the provincial government stop providing vaccines for healthy children
00:04:53.800 and teenagers as the risks outweigh the reward.
00:04:57.260 Following months of interviews, research and analysis, the report claimed that halting the
00:05:02.040 use of COVID-19 vaccines in healthy children and teenagers would follow what some other jurisdictions
00:05:07.140 have already done, such as Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and the UK.
00:05:11.620 The report called for the cessation of the vaccine for teenagers and children because
00:05:16.380 the risk of COVID-19 in the two groups is, quote, exceptionally low.
00:05:20.660 The report asked a question, which was, quote,
00:05:23.860 The tagline, safe and affected, was repeatedly used to assure the population and encourage
00:05:28.240 vaccination against COVID-19.
00:05:30.160 Based on the evidence that has emerged to date, it cannot be concluded that these COVID-19
00:05:34.180 vaccines are safe.
00:05:35.680 Were they at least effective?
00:05:37.060 The report revealed evidence to suggest that it was not effective.
00:05:41.040 For example, it highlighted that the original Pfizer vaccines did not prevent death compared
00:05:45.800 to the placebo in their clinical trials in any age group.
00:05:49.360 The report alleged that Alberta Health Services removed a dashboard from its website after it
00:05:54.540 showed higher hospitalization rates among the vaccinated than the unvaccinated.
00:05:58.980 It also said there is a lack of reliable data proving that COVID-19 vaccines protect
00:06:03.560 children from severe COVID-19.
00:06:05.640 The task force that published the research said COVID-19 vaccines were not designed to
00:06:10.380 stop transmission.
00:06:11.940 The report also highlighted risks to taking the vaccine.
00:06:15.480 It reads, quote,
00:06:16.880 There is reliable evidence of harm following vaccination, and the COVID-19 vaccine trials
00:06:21.900 were not designed to detect rare or long-term adverse effects.
00:06:25.500 There is a known risk for myocarditis, especially in young males.
00:06:29.160 The task force also referenced Pfizer's own safety data from three months after authorization,
00:06:33.920 which reported 1,223 deaths attributed to the vaccine and 42,086 injured within four days
00:06:41.720 of vaccination.
00:06:42.800 Almost half, 45% of these were from individuals between the ages of 18 to 50 who had a negligible
00:06:49.220 risk from infection.
00:06:50.440 The report claimed that, quote,
00:06:52.180 There is no long-term safety data for these novel mRNA vaccines.
00:06:57.240 It called for various other conclusions and recommendations that oppose the mainstream narrative.
00:07:02.560 One recommendation was to research the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines more before
00:07:07.380 widespread use in adults and children.
00:07:09.620 The task force also said that infection-acquired immunity should be explored and communicated
00:07:14.620 more in a future pandemic, considering there was little to no evidence to suggest that vaccine-acquired
00:07:20.080 immunity was superior to infection-acquired immunity.
00:07:23.440 The report also called for constructing a website and or call-in center for the vaccine injured
00:07:28.380 in Alberta.
00:07:29.380 It also called for a mechanism to opt out of federal health policy when due process has not
00:07:34.300 been satisfied at the provincial level.
00:07:36.100 True North previously reported that only 6% of vaccine injury claimants had been paid.
00:07:41.760 The Alberta Medical Association issued an initial statement on the report that was getting
00:07:45.620 many negative replies and was since deleted.
00:07:48.760 The statement was issued again, with comments turned off this time.
00:07:52.580 The association called the report, quote, anti-science and anti-evidence.
00:07:57.260 The Canadian Medical Association went on to support the AMA's comments.
00:08:01.340 You can guess the reaction that they received on X.
00:08:03.680 They are getting blasted in the comments.
00:08:06.320 I asked the AMA how it deemed a 269-page report filled with data and evidence from esteemed
00:08:11.980 medical professionals anti-science and anti-evidence, but received no reply.
00:08:16.740 The report examined ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, and other treatments, but noted public health
00:08:22.800 authorities largely opposed them despite early research showing promising benefits.
00:08:26.920 The report reads, quote,
00:08:28.280 The restrictive approach taken by Alberta health authorities towards alternate COVID-19
00:08:33.120 therapeutics is concerning and further investigation is required into the restriction of treatment
00:08:38.060 options for COVID-19.
00:08:39.620 The researchers recommended legislative amendments allowing medical professionals to use approved
00:08:44.160 medications for off-labeled treatments and explore alternative therapies.
00:08:47.840 The report was commissioned by Alberta Premier Daniel Smith in 2022 with a mandate to explore the
00:08:53.400 province's response to COVID-19.
00:08:55.400 The task force included prominent medical professionals including Drs. Gary Davidson,
00:09:00.500 Jay Bhattacharya, and Byron Bridal.
00:09:03.000 The Albertan government announced upcoming curriculum on Monday, which was International Holocaust
00:09:08.180 Remembrance Day.
00:09:09.220 The updated curriculum will mean Alberta's junior high students will soon learn more about
00:09:13.320 anti-Semitism influenced by the rise in anti-Jewish hatred worldwide following Hamas's
00:09:18.080 brutal attack on Israeli citizens on October 7th.
00:09:21.380 Alberta's Education Minister Demetrios Nikolaides said, quote,
00:09:24.980 I firmly believe we must do everything possible to combat rising anti-Semitism and educate
00:09:30.160 young Albertans about the realities of anti-Semitism.
00:09:33.160 He added, quote,
00:09:34.220 Ensuring all students learn about the injustices faced by those who historically were and continue
00:09:39.080 to be marginalized or who have experienced discrimination will help us confront hate and
00:09:43.600 build stronger communities.
00:09:45.180 The Jewish Federation of Edmonton and the Calgary Jewish Federation applauded the provincial government's
00:09:49.880 announcement, which the organizations said proved the government was taking a stance
00:09:54.080 against anti-Semitism.
00:09:56.200 The CEO of the Jewish Federation of Edmonton, Stacey Levitt-Wright, said, quote,
00:10:01.660 By ensuring these critical lessons are part of the learning experience for students,
00:10:05.820 we are fostering empathy, understanding, and resilience in future generations.
00:10:10.800 We look forward to further collaborating with Alberta Education in making sure these
00:10:14.740 important teachings are delivered effectively across all grades.
00:10:18.060 In 2023, Jewish people were subject to 70% of all religiously motivated hate crimes
00:10:23.960 despite accounting for less than 1% of Canada's total population.
00:10:28.420 Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre called for the deportation of temporary residents carrying
00:10:32.860 out violent or hate crimes in Canada on the same day Alberta unveiled the updated curriculum.
00:10:38.220 He said that, quote,
00:10:39.080 Woke ideologies had already caused hate crimes inspired by anti-Semitism to increase by over 100%
00:10:45.040 before October 7th. Since then, he said they increased by 251%, primarily targeting Jews.
00:10:52.800 Alberta's government previously introduced mandatory Holocaust education in elementary schools in
00:10:57.520 November 2023. The draft K-6 social studies curriculum released in April 2024 also includes lessons on
00:11:04.720 anti-Semitism. It is currently being piloted and will be fully introduced in the 2025-26 school year.
00:11:11.060 As the draft curriculum continues to be developed, the provincial government aims to continue working
00:11:15.920 with provincial Jewish organizations to determine when and where students should learn about anti-Semitism.
00:11:21.720 The Greenline LRT project has reached its next development after Calgary City Council voted to proceed
00:11:27.120 with a better Greenline alignment that the province said will be 76% longer and serve 60% more Calgarians.
00:11:33.060 The new project will incorporate an elevated alignment and will save over $1 billion compared
00:11:38.620 to if it were tunneled downtown. The Alberta government said that the savings will be reinvested
00:11:43.160 into the project to extend the line further south. The province said, quote,
00:11:47.320 By increasing ridership and expanding access, we are ensuring that taxpayer dollars deliver maximum
00:11:52.000 value while building a stronger, more connected city. The province said it looks forward to working
00:11:57.000 with the city and the federal government going forward to get this project completed and that the
00:12:01.260 project will be a win for Calgary, the province, and the future of public transit in Alberta.
00:12:05.640 You may remember that the province previously called the Greenline LRT a, quote,
00:12:09.840 multi-billion dollar boondoggle. However, now, Transport Minister Devin Drishan celebrated the council vote
00:12:15.540 in a post to X. He said, quote,
00:12:17.820 After a decade of delay caused by Nahid Nenshi, the Greenline is finally being built.
00:12:23.300 Back in 2015 when he was a mayor, he refused to do the proper planning needed to build this
00:12:27.780 megaproject and costs skyrocketed. Nenshi has a track record of over-promising with taxpayers'
00:12:33.280 money and this was his biggest boondoggle. Drishan said that as the provincial government
00:12:37.820 continues to build projects province-wide, it will always respect hardworking taxpayers.
00:12:43.540 Nenshi responded on X trying to defend himself, claiming that Drishan, quote,
00:12:47.400 doesn't understand this file or his job very well. Unsurprisingly, Drishan struck back,
00:12:53.340 calling Nenshi's plan in 2015 a, quote, taxpayer-funded dumpster fire. He said, quote,
00:12:59.000 As mayor, you over-promised a 46-kilometer Greenline from 160th Ave to Seton for $4.5 billion
00:13:06.180 and never delivered. Then, while you were still mayor, you cut off the North Calgary alignment,
00:13:11.360 quit gaslighting Calgarians, they remember your incompetence.
00:13:15.080 Various other Albertans took aim at Nenshi as well on X. Gondek joined in on the fund too,
00:13:19.940 explaining why she voted against the motions that passed in council. Peter McCaffrey,
00:13:25.080 founder and CEO of the Alberta Institute, a provincial think tank, criticized Gondek's
00:13:29.620 response. He said, quote,
00:13:32.000 Even when Jyoti is right, she manages to be right for the wrong reasons. Remember,
00:13:36.760 she's opposed to the current plan because it doesn't waste enough money. I'm opposed to it 0.69
00:13:40.820 because it wastes too much money. The whole Greenline needs to be scrapped. Yeah, let me know in the
00:13:45.600 comments what you guys think about the Greenline and your opinion on the province keeping the
00:13:49.700 project alive. So that wraps up our stories for this week. Let's hop in to the comment roundup.
00:13:54.540 The first comment comes from at US Lanja, or us Lanja, who said, quote,
00:13:59.900 Well, you cannot hold Trudeau solely responsible. Every elected NDP and Liberal MP supported him.
00:14:05.580 Never forget people. Yeah, so this comment reflected a broad theme of comments that came
00:14:10.340 from most of you in the last video. You answered the title of the previous episode, confirming that
00:14:14.960 the tariff dispute was 100% Trudeau's fault. I like what you said here, though,
00:14:19.680 US Lanja, because Trudeau did not act alone, and he alone is not the problem with Canada or the
00:14:27.080 Liberal Party. Let's remember the Conservatives' new slogan, which is just like Justin, because the
00:14:33.820 party is arguing that everyone in the Liberals is just like Justin, and that if Canadians were to vote
00:14:39.220 Liberals in the next election, they'd be in for much of the same, irrespective of who governs the
00:14:44.180 party. The next comment comes from at Parker KE, who said, quote, Alberta saves Canada. Thanks.
00:14:50.840 Then somebody commented on their comment. That was at JC Nealon, who said, quote, again and again.
00:14:57.020 Yeah, this seems to be the belief held by many, and was certainly exemplified during these tariff
00:15:01.540 disputes. As Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, despite not being the Prime Minister nor the leader of the
00:15:07.020 Premiers, was in the US consistently negotiating on the country's behalf, and one of the only leaders
00:15:12.600 who was trying to make the tariffs never come to be through collaboration. Of course, you'll all know
00:15:17.840 that the other Premiers and the Prime Minister at one point, or even still, wanted to use retaliation
00:15:23.640 instead of collaboration, but that would mean, of course, that the tariffs do exist to retaliate.
00:15:29.180 And Smith seemed to be the only one trying to avoid that altogether. With our lame duck Prime
00:15:34.060 Minister, it really seems that Smith has stepped up to the table and become the pseudo PM in regard
00:15:39.940 to the tariff negotiation, because she's the one holding all the cards by controlling most of the 1.00
00:15:44.980 country's most valuable commodity, which is, of course, oil and gas. I'm curious to ask, though,
00:15:50.320 do you guys think if Smith were PM, would we be in the same situation? And if not, how would the
00:15:55.440 country look instead? The last comment I'll highlight today comes from at Blasheep, who said, quote,
00:16:00.900 Gondek makes more than Smith? Over $200,000? That's insanity. Wow. Yeah, I couldn't agree
00:16:07.040 more, Blasheep. I mean, here we are talking about a woman who is standing up for Alberta and the
00:16:11.980 entirety of the country, and perhaps the only chance we have to avoid the tariffs, compared to
00:16:16.100 the mayor, who has the worst approval ratings in the country, and was even subject to a recall
00:16:21.420 legislation, although, of course, the impossible standards made that a no-go, but still. How in the
00:16:26.200 world can a mayor be making more than our premier? It doesn't seem to make sense to me,
00:16:30.900 at all. And we wonder why these mayors and councillors might cling to power. Where else
00:16:34.800 could Gondek make this kind of money? So that wraps up our comment roundup in this
00:16:38.840 week's show. My name's Isaac Lamoureux, your host of the Alberta Roundup. Have a great
00:16:43.480 weekend. Thank you and God bless. May Alberta prosper strong and free.