00:00:00.000This week, the Alberta government has finalized new province-wide rules banning sexually explicit content in school libraries,
00:00:18.000with Education Minister Dimitrios Nikolaides saying the change is about protecting children, not banning books.
00:00:25.000Meanwhile, Alberta separatists have filed their official petition to trigger an independence referendum
00:00:30.000and unveiled a costed fiscal plan predicting a multi-trillion dollar windfall if the province leaves Canada.
00:00:36.000Alberta Premier Daniel Smith and Conservative leader Pierre Poliev kicked off the Calgary Stampede this weekend,
00:00:42.000alongside Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was holding high-priced donor events for his Stampede tour.
00:00:48.000The province is also launching public consultations on small modular nuclear reactors as a long-term power source,
00:00:54.000particularly for oil sands developments and AI centres.
00:00:58.000And Christian leaders have launched a 12-city tour aimed at electing municipal candidates who align with Biblical values
00:01:04.000and feel sidelined in an increasingly secular system.
00:01:08.000All that and more on this week's Alberta Roundup.
00:01:10.000I'm your host, Isaac Lamoureux, and let's get into that first story right away.
00:01:13.000Alberta's Education Ministry has finalized new standards to protect children from sexually explicit content in all K-12 school libraries.
00:01:22.000Under a ministerial order issued Thursday, school boards have until October 1st to remove all materials that contain a detailed and clear depiction of a sexual act,
00:01:32.000including masturbation, genital contact, and penetration.
00:01:36.000By January 1st, 2026, boards must also adopt internal policies that restrict access to even non-explicit sexual content for younger students
00:01:46.000to establish new transparency rules for parents.
00:01:48.000The provincial government said in a press release,
00:01:52.000School libraries should be safe and supportive places where students can learn and explore without being exposed to inappropriate sexual content.
00:02:00.000Education Minister Dimitrios Nikolaides emphasized that the changes were not about censorship.
00:02:06.000Our actions to ensure that materials in school libraries don't expose children to sexual content were never about banning books.
00:02:12.000These new standards are to ensure that school boards have clear guidance to ensure age-appropriate access to school library materials while reflecting the values and priorities of Albertans.
00:02:22.000The rules apply to all public, separate, charter, francophone, and independent schools.
00:02:28.000They do not apply to classroom-assigned materials, municipal libraries, or religious scriptures.
00:02:34.000Also, Nikolaides added that the provincial government does not have the direct authority to direct a school board to remove any particular book.
00:02:42.000The government says the move follows overwhelming public feedback, with an online survey drawing nearly 80,000 responses between May 26th and June 6th.
00:02:52.00041% of parents said sexually explicit content should never be available in school libraries, and another 22% said access should be limited to grades 10 to 12.
00:03:03.000Books with non-explicit sexual content will also face limits.
00:03:07.000Students in grade 9 or below cannot access them at all, while older students may only do so if the material is developmentally appropriate.
00:03:15.000LGBT advocate and transgender Blaine Badiuk supported the new rules, saying, quote,
00:03:20.000LGBTQ youth, like all children, deserve to see themselves in stories that are age-appropriate, supportive, and affirming, not in material that sexualizes or confuses them.
00:03:30.000Badiuk added that any claims that this was anti-LGBT legislation distracted from the real needs of youth.
00:03:36.000Nicole Buchanan, chair of Red Deer Public Schools, echoed that sentiment.
00:03:41.000If a passage or image isn't appropriate for the front page of a newspaper or a billboard on the side of the highway, then it shouldn't be available to students in K-12 learning environments.
00:03:52.000The updated rules come after the province first started pushing back against books containing pornographic imagery in May.
00:03:58.000The Alberta UCP also blasted the provincial NDP for defending pornographic content in Alberta's school libraries.
00:04:05.000School authorities will be required to list accessible materials, create parental review procedures, and supervise student library access.
00:04:12.000Full compliance will be phased in over the next six months.
00:04:15.000For our next story, we'll take a look at recent developments in Alberta's bid for separation.
00:04:20.000The Alberta Prosperity Project filed its long-anticipated referendum petition last Friday, seeking to trigger a province-wide vote on Alberta's independence from Canada.
00:04:29.000You might have thought that already happened in May, however, the project only filed a placeholder petition back then.
00:04:34.000The group specifically requested that Elections Alberta hold the application until Bill 54 was officially proclaimed, which just recently happened.
00:04:43.000As a reminder, the official question previously unveiled was, quote,
00:04:47.000Do you agree that the province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province of Canada?
00:04:53.000Under the newly enacted Bill 54, organizers now have 120 days to collect roughly 176,000 signatures in person, based on 10% of ballots cast in the last provincial election.
00:05:04.000The rival petition will not be so lucky, as they couldn't hold their nerve.
00:05:08.000A rival petition from Thomas Lukasik, which asks Albertans whether the province should remain in Canada, was submitted prematurely and is subject to a much higher threshold, 293,976 signatures in 90 days.
00:05:22.000And I know people have cited the 600,000 number.
00:05:25.000But Elections Alberta confirmed to me that this is the number of signatures required based on 10% of provincial electors on the post-election day list of electors.
00:05:34.000As you can see from their website, the numbers are right there.
00:05:37.000However, it does also say that petitions for a constitutional referendum require signatures from 20% of provincial electors, which is 587,952,
00:05:47.000with the 20% threshold reached in at least two thirds of electoral divisions.
00:05:52.000So I guess Lukasik's petition is deemed to be a petition for a legislative or policy proposal, which requires signatures from 10% of provincial electors, or as I said, 293,976, which is why it falls under that other threshold.
00:06:06.000The APP's lawyer, Geoffrey Rath, called Lukasik's move a quote mischief application designed to confuse voters and said his question isn't suitable for a constitutional referendum.
00:06:16.000Although based on election Alberta's definition there, I don't know that it is.
00:06:20.000Alongside the petition, the APP released a 44-page fiscal plan projecting enormous surpluses and economic gains under independence.
00:06:28.000According to their modelling, Alberta currently sends $68 to $75 billion to Ottawa each year and receives just $22 to $26 billion back, resulting in a net loss of up to $47 billion.
00:06:41.000The group claims that a sovereign Alberta could generate $4.71 trillion in revenue by 2045, save $678 billion, and create up to 450,000 new jobs.
00:06:53.000Some proposed measures include eliminating both provincial income tax and the GST, creating an Alberta dollar backed by oil, gold, and bitcoin,
00:07:02.000replacing the RCMP with a provincial police force, transferring $167 billion in CPP assets to form an Alberta pension plan,
00:07:11.000and adopting a points-based immigration system with automatic deportation for non-citizens convicted of crimes.
00:07:18.000Based on detailed line item calculations, it estimates an annual surplus ranging from $29.4 billion to $48.3 billion, excluding the one-time setup costs.
00:07:29.000The plan outlines major one-time startup costs for creating a defense force, border services, and regulatory agencies, which would total up to $5.7 billion.
00:07:40.000The plan also proposes strict constitutional fiscal rules, including balanced budgets, spending caps, and mandatory referenda before any new taxes can be imposed.
00:07:51.000The tax reductions proposed would reduce the annual tax rate by up to 46% and save Albertans an average of $18,000 annually.
00:07:59.000The report, as I briefly mentioned, proposes a points-based immigration system, admitting 18,000 to 27,000 newcomers annually, prioritizing skilled workers in sectors like energy, agriculture, and technology.
00:08:13.000However, the proposed immigration plan also consisted of a deportation plan that is even stricter than Canada's 2005 Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
00:08:23.000Any non-citizen, work permit holder, PR, temporary resident, convicted of a criminal offense, like theft, assault, DUI, drug possession,
00:08:31.000for which the sentence imposed included a jail sentence, faces automatic deportation regardless of sentence length.
00:08:38.000The total economic activity between 2025 and 2045 is estimated to be around $8.2 trillion.
00:08:45.000We're thrilled to host the 16th annual Canada Strong and Free Regional Conference on September 5th and 6th at the Westin Calgary Airport.
00:08:55.000Connect with fellow conservatives to discuss the priorities shaping Western Canada, including resource development, agricultural resilience, trade, and national unity.
00:09:04.000Plus, we are pleased to be joined by guest speakers such as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, Conrad Black, and Tristan Hopper.
00:09:10.000Visit CanadaStrongYanFree.network to reserve your tickets now.
00:09:19.000The Calgary Stampede also kicked off last Friday, and a headliner, like Shania Twain, might not have been the biggest name at the event as Canadian politicians flocked to it.
00:09:28.000Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative leader Pierre Poliev both made the rounds last weekend.
00:09:33.000Carney hosted a Stampede-themed liberal fundraiser downtown where donors must commit at least $1,750 annually to attend.
00:09:42.000Poliev held his own barbecue ahead of the August 18th by-election in Battle River Crowfoot in Alberta, where he's aiming to return to Parliament after narrowly losing his seat in Carleton during April's federal election.
00:09:54.000Alberta Premier Danielle Smith hosted the ceremonial First Flip Pancake Breakfast, joined by Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek and throngs of Stampede-goers.
00:10:02.000Alberta NDP leader Nahid Nenshi told Legacy Media that the Stampede was a, quote, political petting zoo, and he told his caucus to visit all the church pancake breakfasts they could.
00:10:12.000But despite these claims, Nenshi posted his own video to X, flipping pancakes, the day before the Stampede began.
00:10:19.000The Stampede runs from July 4th to 13th, so it should be wrapping up here, and political attendance has been high, likely due to Parliament being on its summer recess after sitting for just 20 days following the extended prorogation from the Liberal Party leadership race and general election.
00:10:35.000Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Alberta is preparing to introduce nuclear power into its energy mix, beginning with public consultations this fall.
00:10:43.000Speaking at the Calgary Stampede alongside Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Smith said that small modular reactors are a strong fit for Alberta's industrial energy needs, especially the oil sands.
00:10:55.000She said, quote, our oil sands projects are perfect for it, if you can get both the power and steam, power and heat.
00:11:02.000Ontario already gets 60% of its electricity from nuclear.
00:11:05.000The province is actually currently building Canada's first grid-connected small modular reactor at Darlington, with three more units planned.
00:11:12.000Smith said the Alberta grid would benefit from modular units that can be prefabricated and shipped to remote industrial sites.
00:11:19.000She added that Alberta's power demand is set to skyrocket with the expansion of AI data centres and industrial electrification.
00:11:26.000The province is also backing a proposed Peace River nuclear site, which could host two to four can-do reactors with a combined capacity of 4,800 megawatts.
00:11:35.000That project is currently undergoing a federal review.
00:11:38.000Parliamentary Secretary for Affordability and Utilities, Chantal Dijon, will host the public consultation sessions later this year.
00:11:45.000For our last story today, we'll look quickly at something coming up for the municipal elections.
00:11:50.000A coalition of Alberta Christian leaders is hitting the road for a 12-city, 18-day tour aimed at boosting faith-driven candidates in the upcoming October 30th municipal elections.
00:12:01.000The Alberta Christian Municipal Rally kicked off last weekend in Westlock and will run through cities like Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer and Lethbridge.
00:12:09.000Organizers include former MPs, mayors, school trustees and leaders from groups like the Wilberforce Project and Parents for Choice in Education.
00:12:17.000Former MP Stockwell Day and key political strategists like Cam Wilson and John Hilton O'Brien are among the speakers.
00:12:24.000The tour is led by Michael Clark, head of the Christian Impact Network.
00:12:28.000Clark, who previously sought the federal liberal leadership, told True North, quote,
00:12:32.000Instead of just whining about all the problems, it's time for Christians to take responsibility and be part of the solution.