Juno News - Alberta cracks down on unsafe trucker schools

00:00:00.000 Alberta's government has launched a major crackdown on unsafe commercial truck driving

00:00:15.060 schools and is planning to elevate trucking to a certified national Red Seal trade. Meanwhile,

00:00:21.180 Calgary's mayoral hopefuls traded blows over crime, city spending, and public safety in a fiery debate

00:00:26.940 ahead of this month's election. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and BC Premier David Eby have gone

00:00:32.160 back and forth countless times, as Smith is warning that if Canada won't cooperate with pipelines,

00:00:37.800 the US will. Classrooms remain empty after teachers walked off the job, but their demands remain

00:00:43.260 completely unclear, as the ATA's press conference focused mostly on buzzwords. I'm your host,

00:00:49.380 Isaac Lamoureux, and let's get into that first story right away. So Alberta has rolled out its

00:00:53.660 toughest enforcement to date against unsafe commercial trucking schools and carriers,

00:00:59.120 closing five driver training schools, issuing 39 disciplinary letters and more than $100,000 in

00:01:05.840 administrative penalties, while imposing six corrective action plans, revoking 12 instructor

00:01:11.500 licenses, and sending four warning letters to driver examiners. Thirteen commercial trucking

00:01:17.720 companies were removed from Alberta's roads for poor on-road performance, unsafe equipment,

00:01:22.320 or failure to meet mandatory safety standards. Seven of these companies were chameleon characters,

00:01:28.980 meaning they had been shut down elsewhere, but attempted to operate in Alberta under new names,

00:01:33.840 entities, or locations. And Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Drieschen said the trend of chameleon

00:01:38.780 carriers is growing. He said, quote, they are essentially the same company moving to Alberta,

00:01:44.420 changing the name and hoping they can start up without anybody noticing. And the fact that our guys did

00:01:49.280 notice and shut them down obviously shows that our enforcement is working. He added that it is a

00:01:54.720 disturbing trend that you see these trucking companies trying to get away with, obviously

00:01:58.920 papering over their bad actions that they've done for a myriad of reasons, of why they got their

00:02:04.640 licenses revoked in another province, and then hoping just to uproot and set up shop in a different

00:02:09.140 province. It's disturbing, but I'm glad we shut them down here in the province. Alberta previously rolled

00:02:14.260 out an initiative to catch companies that were misclassifying drivers as independent contractors

00:02:18.940 to avoid payroll taxes and benefits. In July, 20% of the drivers stopped were misclassified,

00:02:25.140 including some temporary foreign workers. Drieschen said the province is also driving toward a national

00:02:30.740 red seal path for truck drivers and five provinces need to sign off. But he said Alberta is almost there

00:02:36.360 in getting five to support the program. Drieschen said, quote, I think that will go a long way of having

00:02:41.400 additional training for certain aspects of the trucking industry as well as a higher degree of

00:02:45.740 professionalism for people to see trucking as a lifelong career and something that they'd be proud

00:02:50.840 to get into. He said, in fact, that he was surprised this hadn't happened already. The province is also

00:02:56.040 tightening training and tracking. Some rules implemented last year means that Alberta requires more training

00:03:02.600 hours than any other province for a class one license. Drieschen said, quote, a trucker's life, a trucker's

00:03:08.680 workplace is on the road behind the wheel of a vehicle. So to be able to have more in-truck hours

00:03:14.220 of training obviously creates a better driver. But now with the newest change, driver experience

00:03:19.360 records will follow the driver instead of remaining with the company. Drieschen said, quote, we have seen

00:03:25.460 certain bad drivers have accidents, have instances where they are then moving from company to company

00:03:30.840 and their bad driving record actually never follows them. And so the new company that's hiring them

00:03:35.880 doesn't know the previous accident or previous issues that they've had. So that's something that

00:03:40.740 we think will add more accountability into the industry so that a trucking company will easily

00:03:45.160 be able to identify a bad truck driver that maybe needs more training or just plainly shouldn't be

00:03:50.480 on our roads. And on labor, Drieschen said that the province is short roughly 4,500 truckers and

00:03:56.280 encouraged experienced class one drivers who left the industry to return. He explained that trucking is

00:04:01.840 integral to the country's economy and despite being critical of bad actors, Drieschen explained that

00:04:07.120 the industry was not in disarray. He commended drivers in the industry who he said do an amazing

00:04:12.300 job, adding that it is a very challenging job that requires many to be away from their families.

00:04:18.020 He said, quote, there are amazing truck companies, amazing truck training schools across the province

00:04:23.200 that are world leading. I don't want to give off the impression that the trucking industry is somehow

00:04:27.720 doing bad because I think they have a very good reputation of being the best drivers and the most

00:04:32.200 train drivers on our roads. Finally, he said, quote, my hat goes off to the men and women in the

00:04:37.900 industry because they do a great job. It is a tough profession, but someone's got to do it. But our next

00:04:42.880 story, we'll look into the recent Calgary municipal debate that took place on Wednesday. Calgary's top

00:04:48.500 mayoral candidates faced off in a Wednesday night forum, clashing over public safety, city spending,

00:04:53.680 and Alberta's political future, with some even taking aim at Premier Smith, separatism and demanding

00:04:59.000 stronger local leadership. Public safety dominated the start of the evening with Councillor Sonia

00:05:03.980 Sharp touting her plan to hire 500 new police officers and open a 24-7 downtown station, a proposal

00:05:10.500 that has been endorsed by the Calgary Police Association. She said, quote, if you don't have a

00:05:15.380 safe city, you have nothing. People won't move here. People will leave here. Incumbent Mayor G.L.T.

00:05:20.120 Gondek defended her record, pointing to an integrated response model and the new bylaw banning

00:05:25.720 open drug use. She said, quote, we will not make open drug use something that is normalized. We are

00:05:31.020 banning it, adding that offenders will be referred to community court to access supports. Former

00:05:36.320 Councillor Jeremy Farkas called to combine enforcement with Compassion, noting that a core

00:05:40.580 50 to 200 people drive most of the repeat violent offenses. He said, quote, we need to crack down on

00:05:47.760 those individuals through sentencing and bail reforms. He later warned that separatist rhetoric

00:05:52.600 creates uncertainty and pledged to keep partisan politics out of City Hall, saying he'd push back

00:05:57.880 as a part of Team Canada. Former Councillor Jeff Davison accused the current council of an action.

00:06:03.500 He asked the audience, quote, do you feel safer today than you felt four years ago? He said that

00:06:08.680 Calgarians have demanded safer transit, new police officers and cleaner streets for four years.

00:06:13.380 He again asked, quote, how come it's only an election year that we suddenly have plans?

00:06:18.820 Lawyer Brian Thiessen, former chair of the Calgary Police Commission, proposed a housing first model

00:06:23.580 citing Finland as an example. He also suggested 24-7 integrated mental health units to reduce strain

00:06:29.900 on police. He said, quote, you cannot police your way out of these issues, citing police organizations

00:06:35.200 from his time with the commission. And the debate grew more political as candidates discussed Calgary's

00:06:40.260 relationship with the provincial government. Thiessen even attacked Premier Daniel Smith. He said,

00:06:45.300 quote, our autonomy is under attack from a premier who treats Calgary like her personal ATM,

00:06:51.040 citing Smith's arena deal, green line revisions and reduced photo radar revenues. Farkas warned

00:06:56.380 against political polarization, pledging to keep partisan politics out of City Hall. He also opposed

00:07:01.380 rhetoric around Alberta's separatism, framing Calgary as a key part of Team Canada. He said, quote,

00:07:06.860 I hear from businesses every single day who talk about the lack of certainty from the regulatory

00:07:11.840 environment in terms of a lot of the talk and the rhetoric around Alberta separatism. I'm seeking

00:07:17.200 a mandate to very strongly push back against that to lean in a leadership role as part of Team Canada.

00:07:23.640 Immigration and population growth were also concerns tied to housing and workforce shortages.

00:07:28.280 Farkas highlighted Calgary's diversity. He said that a third of Calgarians today weren't even born in

00:07:33.540 North America, which he called a strength due to Calgarians' youth and education. And Thiessen argued

00:07:39.720 that Calgary could attract skilled workers priced out of the US market, suggesting that Canada accept

00:07:45.340 immigrants on the H-1B visa, which the US recently opposed. He even called for more support for

00:07:51.460 newcomers. And the forum closed with contrasting appeals. Of course, Davison framed the election as a

00:07:57.700 choice about trust and leadership. Sharp promised real change and stronger control of City Hall

00:08:02.900 administration. Thiessen cast himself as an independent reformer who would fight for Calgary

00:08:07.520 without partisan loyalty. Gondek urged voters to reject empty rhetoric, while Farkas, acknowledging

00:08:13.820 his past mistakes, said he sought to serve with humility and keep political parties out of City

00:08:19.220 Hall. Calgarians head to the polls on October 20th for the municipal election there with advance

00:08:24.100 voting already underway. But for our next story, we'll bring it back more provincially because

00:08:29.020 BC Premier David Eby has repeatedly dismissed Alberta's proposed West Coast pipeline as fictional,

00:08:34.720 political, and lacking a proponent, root, or private funding. He argued that it would cost

00:08:38.960 taxpayers tens of billions of dollars, and he repeatedly called the pipeline non-existent,

00:08:43.720 despite his many attacks against it. And he's repeated that claim, that lie, that taxpayers will

00:08:48.740 be burdened with the cost. Because from the start, Alberta has said it will commit only $14 million,

00:08:53.120 which will essentially just cover early planning with Indigenous partners. And it 100% expects private

00:09:00.680 industry to take over once the application is approved. The Alberta government has said it's

00:09:05.200 only involved in the first place because policies like Bill C-48, the tanker ban, have destroyed past

00:09:09.880 projects and scared off private investment. But the Alberta government and its energy officials have

00:09:14.480 been upfront from the moment the project was announced, ensuring that taxpayers will not be on the hook

00:09:19.760 for construction or ownership costs. And Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said that the pipeline needs

00:09:25.920 federal cooperation and warned Ottawa that national unity is at stake. She told CTV, quote,

00:09:31.980 Albertans are questioning whether Canada works. I suppose I could just go down to the United States

00:09:36.720 and start working with American counterparts to see if we can build more pipelines. They've expressed

00:09:41.840 interest in restarting the Keystone XL, and I suppose we could maybe sell another 2 million barrels a day

00:09:47.300 additional to the United States. And Smith has called Eby's approach un-Canadian and unconstitutional,

00:09:52.960 arguing that courts have affirmed interprovincial infrastructure falls under federal jurisdiction.

00:09:57.780 And while Eby has repeated rhetoric about Team Canada and anti-America, anti-Trump, his actions are

00:10:03.040 working in contrast with his comments because Smith has explained that projects like this is how Canada

00:10:07.840 would become less reliant on the US. So of course, if her counterparts fail to work with her,

00:10:13.280 Smith said, the US would be happy to. But she said that would be a failure. Smith said, quote,

00:10:19.860 the whole reason why we've had this recalibration in Canada in the last eight months is because people

00:10:25.160 are nervous that we are far too reliant on the United States. So changing that so that we become

00:10:30.800 even more reliant on the United States seems to be a failure. She added, quote, that the Supreme Court

00:10:37.120 has determined that the reason we have a country and have been given trade and commerce power and control

00:10:42.860 over ports and interprovincial infrastructure to the federal government is for exactly this reason,

00:10:47.900 so that a parochial premier isn't able to block nation-building projects. And Smith's partner on

00:10:54.260 the other side of the province there, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, took her side very, very strongly.

00:10:59.980 He said, quote, the Premier of Alberta is right. The NDP Premier of British Columbia is wrong.

00:11:06.060 As for timelines, Smith expects this to be settled by the Grey Cup in November, along with two other

00:11:11.520 things, which she is calling her grand bargain. Those other things being repealing the nine bad 0.99

00:11:16.820 laws and moving forward on the Pathways Project. But for our next story, we're going to get to this

00:11:22.440 teacher strike that is, of course, ongoing because Alberta classrooms remain empty after the Alberta

00:11:28.800 Teachers Association launched what it calls the largest labor disruption in Alberta history with 51,000

00:11:34.940 teachers on strike. But ATA President Jason Schilling held a Monday press conference where he did not

00:11:40.220 provide any numbers or facts on what would end the strike, sticking to buzzwords like chronic

00:11:45.520 underfunding, complex classrooms, and fair pay. He said, quote, this strike is not just about wages.

00:11:51.500 This strike is about the state of public education in Alberta. His remarks, of course, followed the

00:11:56.020 teachers overwhelmingly rejecting two settlements from the provincial government after one was

00:12:00.760 recommended by a mediator and another was negotiated and actually agreed upon by the Teachers

00:12:05.520 Employers Bargaining Association and the Alberta Teachers Association. The deal

00:12:10.120 of course included hiring 3,000 new teachers and 1,500 educational assistants over three years,

00:12:16.320 plus a 12% salary increase, which was actually more so a 17% salary increase for more than 95%

00:12:22.340 of the teachers. Premier Daniel Smith explained that by 2027, a top category teacher would earn $114,800

00:12:30.080 a year, but nearly nine in 10 teachers voted against the deal. And despite weeks of negotiations,

00:12:36.100 Schilling offered no details on the ATA's latest proposal to the province or what monetary figure

00:12:42.080 could resolve the impasse. When asked about how long the strike might even last, Schilling really

00:12:47.880 didn't say anything. He said exploratory talks between the ATA and the province would continue

00:12:51.920 this week, but offered no clear timeline or terms. And the Alberta government has announced further

00:12:57.520 support for families and students. This is from last Friday, but Schilling criticized the province's

00:13:03.180 recently introduced family support programs, including $150 weekly payments to parents and a

00:13:08.140 free education toolkit, arguing that the government should invest the funding into schools. He also

00:13:13.900 claimed the toolkit contained American-based curriculum, but when he was asked to provide a single example,

00:13:19.800 a single example, he was of course unable. Schilling also attacked the government's home education

00:13:24.860 option, which provides up to $450 per student to parents who withdraw their children from public

00:13:29.300 schools during the strike. He said, quote, it makes me question the seriousness of this process and

00:13:34.920 negotiations. If we're willing to do what government has indicated there, is this a way to further

00:13:39.500 undermine and erode public education in the province? But despite, and this is crazy, despite collecting

00:13:45.880 millions, millions in union dues, Schilling confirmed teachers would not be receiving strike pay. He said

00:13:52.080 teachers were aware of this when they voted, but added that the ATA would be paying health benefits

00:13:56.880 throughout the strike. An ex-post surfaced last Saturday, showing the Alberta teachers' association

00:14:01.380 living quite lavishly at the Kananaskis Nordic Spa, which charges hundreds of dollars for massages,

00:14:07.400 hydrotherapy, and more. But that wraps up this week's Alberta Roundup. My name's Isaac Lameru.

00:14:11.840 Have a great weekend. Thank you, and God bless.

Juno News - October 12, 2025

Alberta cracks down on unsafe trucker schools

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