Juno News - September 07, 2024


Alberta pulls funding for THIS “multibillion-dollar boondoggle”


Episode Stats

Length

7 minutes

Words per Minute

173.91489

Word Count

1,369

Sentence Count

85


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 We all know that governments are quick to pull out their wallets and slow-terrain spending in,
00:00:04.860 so naturally it caught my attention this week when the province of Alberta
00:00:08.080 announced that it was pulling $1.5 billion in funding for Calgary's LRT Green Line,
00:00:15.760 in which costs are exploding out of control. Some of you don't like when I criticize Alberta
00:00:21.740 Premier Daniel Smith's governments. I'll continue to do that where appropriate,
00:00:25.800 but I'll also give credit where credit is due. If the City of Calgary wants to expand public transit,
00:00:32.080 they should find a feasible way to do so. And maybe, dare I say, they should even find a way
00:00:37.720 to pay for it themselves. I know, some of us are still dreamers. I'm Rachel Parker and you're
00:00:43.700 watching the Alberta Roundup.
00:00:45.040 Okay everyone, taking a look at our first story here, Calgary Mayor Jody Gonnick said this week
00:00:59.000 that for all intents and purposes, Calgary's Green Line LRT project is scrapped, at least for the
00:01:05.600 foreseeable future. Her comments come after Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Drishan
00:01:10.420 sent a letter on Tuesday in which he said the province would pull its portion of the funding,
00:01:15.380 which totals $1.53 billion. Drishan said the city's recently revised Calgary Line LRT plan
00:01:22.740 was unacceptable and that was fast becoming a multi-billion dollar boondoggle. In a statement
00:01:29.860 on X, Drishan also wrote, this new Green Line alignment is billions over budget and serves too
00:01:35.620 few Calgarians. There has to be a better way to invest $6.2 billion of taxpayers' money to improve
00:01:41.700 Calgary's transit system for the needs of many more commuters. We look forward to seeing a new
00:01:46.840 alignment from an independent third party, separate from the city of Calgary, before determining the
00:01:51.760 next steps for the Green Line. Gondick said the latest provincial move now significantly changes
00:01:57.100 the prospect of the project. She added, quote, as a result of that, we are no longer as a city able
00:02:03.060 to afford the cost of this project. Here's what else she had to say. The reality is the local
00:02:08.200 government can no longer fund and finance the costs of delays on this project. It's now in the hands of
00:02:14.600 the province to understand how they will deliver it and we will see what they come back with. Moving
00:02:19.360 into the controversy of the week, a new rapport is warning the Alberta government against expanding
00:02:24.160 online gambling in the province. On Thursday, the non-partisan think tank Cardist released a study
00:02:29.700 on online sports betting in Ontario, outlining the harms associated with the increase of online
00:02:34.740 gambling in that province. Cardist president for Canada, Brian Dykema, said that Alberta should
00:02:40.000 learn from Ontario and not move forward with this, adding, quote, there is going to be more harm than
00:02:46.120 good done. Single game sports betting was legalized in Canada in 2021 and a year later, Ontario allowed
00:02:52.060 private operators to offer online gambling, also known as iGaming. Dykema said that the market has seen
00:02:58.040 significant growth, both in the number of accounts and in the amounts being bet, with the current
00:03:03.440 average monthly spend per player account at $283. He said, quote, when you get to the point where
00:03:08.940 people are spending 3.2% of their average income on betting, you've got real demonstrable harm that is
00:03:14.500 being done. Gambling losses of 1% of household income are associated with harms like depression,
00:03:19.960 substance abuse, and divorce, he added. Moving into what we're watching in the weeks to come,
00:03:24.420 Alberta officials are warning residents of a hamlet to be villagin following a recent grizzly
00:03:29.980 bear attack by an animal they say killed a person three years ago. The province says Alberta Fish
00:03:35.640 and Wildlife Enforcement Services received a report on Sunday from the RCMP about a person being attacked
00:03:41.640 by a female grizzly near Madden, about 45 kilometres northwest of Calgary. The victim, who was in a forested
00:03:48.720 area at the time, sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries. In a statement to CBC News, Alberta Fish and
00:03:55.320 Wildlife Enforcement Services said the man was hunting when the attack happened. The province
00:03:59.940 said the bear remains at large and was with what it described as sub-adult bears during the time of the
00:04:04.760 attack. DNA samples have determined that the bear was also responsible for a fatal attack that occurred
00:04:11.020 in 2021 near the village of Walporas, the province says. I apologize to the good people of the village,
00:04:16.740 I probably mispronounced that. That attack happened in early May of that year and killed a man who was
00:04:22.180 out for a run. A statement from the province said that fish and wildlife officers are actively working
00:04:27.000 to locate the bear, including setting numerous traps and deploying low-flying aircraft. Okay guys,
00:04:32.340 and now just before we get into our comet roundup, friendly reminder to you all that this is my last
00:04:37.720 week doing the Alberta Roundup. My colleague Isaac Lamoureux is going to be taking over. He does so
00:04:43.940 much of the Alberta coverage already. I'm sure you guys have read lots of his work and he's been on
00:04:48.620 this show a couple of times so I'm sure you've got to meet him and I'm really looking forward to where
00:04:53.680 he takes the show. I know he's going to be a great fit but before I move on I just wanted to give
00:04:58.440 a sincere thank you to all of you who have been watching the show. We've been doing it for over two
00:05:03.000 years now which is pretty crazy to believe and I've learned so much. It's been really an amazing
00:05:07.760 opportunity for me here at True North to sort of foray into the world of video podcasting and there's
00:05:13.960 been a couple you know rough moments and bumps along the road but you guys have been patient
00:05:18.340 with me and I feel like we've really learned and grown in this process. But I'm excited to take
00:05:23.080 everything that I've learned for my next challenge and opportunity at the Rachel Parker show
00:05:29.860 and which I'll be covering still lots of Alberta news as of course I live in Alberta and know the
00:05:35.760 ins and outs of the province there very well and there's always so many big news stories coming out
00:05:38.940 of the province but also to be covering federal politics as well as some culture maybe some health
00:05:43.380 stories. So that show will be launching about two weeks time and I hope that you guys will give it a
00:05:48.440 watch. I know that some of my viewers are just exclusively interested in Alberta news but I promise if you watch
00:05:54.600 the show there'll probably be something in it for you as well. And before we dive into our
00:05:58.880 weekly comment roundup, here's a little taste of what that show is going to look like.
00:06:02.240 Okay everyone and great job to my producers who put that trailer together. I love it and I'm so
00:06:28.640 excited for the show. And finally on to our weekly comment roundup. User Bonnie, Bonnie's a good friend
00:06:34.140 of mine, says welcome Isaac and congrats to Rachel. I'm looking forward to both shows. User Wayne Nodal
00:06:40.060 said as long as we get to hear from you in the future it will be great to hear from both of you even more.
00:06:44.580 Keep up the great work. Alberta needs you more than ever. And finally user Atlanchador said Rachel
00:06:50.620 are you going to continue with Rachel and the Republic? Yes, we will be continuing that show till at least
00:06:55.120 November till we know the results of the American election. For those of you who aren't familiar
00:06:59.660 with that show that is our American politics podcast. Okay everyone thank you so much for the
00:07:04.980 kind words and as I said before for all the support over the last two years I look forward to seeing
00:07:10.860 you guys on the Rachel Parker show. Have a great weekend and God bless.
00:07:25.120 beautiful.
00:07:26.860 תודה רבה.
00:07:27.580 תודה רבה.
00:07:29.160 תודה רבה.
00:07:30.780 תודה רבה.
00:07:31.160 תודה רבה.
00:07:32.420 תודה רבה.
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00:07:41.620 תודה רבה.
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00:07:47.080 John.
00:07:47.440 תודה רבה.
00:07:49.420 תודה רבה.
00:07:51.260 אתה yn with you.