Juno News - Alberta vows to fight EV mandate with all legal powers

00:00:00.000 Alberta's government is vowing to use every legal power at its disposal to stop Ottawa's

00:00:15.840 electric vehicle mandate. Meanwhile, Edmonton residents are calling out City Hall for misleading

00:00:22.360 consultations on bike lanes and new candidates for mayor say they'll tear them out if elected.

00:00:27.560 Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has secured his seat in Parliament, winning the Battle River Crowfoot

00:00:32.740 by-election by a landslide. And Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has backtracked on expense receipt

00:00:38.660 rules after backlash from taxpayers. Lastly, housing starts are falling behind immigration,

00:00:45.060 with Ontario dragging national numbers down, but Alberta among the provinces leading the pack.

00:00:50.080 My name's Isaac Lamoureux and this is the Alberta Roundup. Let's hop into that first story now.

00:00:54.360 Alberta's Ministry of Environment told True North that it will use every legal tool to stop Ottawa's

00:01:00.220 electric vehicle mandate, escalating a jurisdictional fight with Prime Minister Mark Carney's

00:01:04.980 government. A ministry spokesperson said, quote,

00:01:08.420 We are calling on Ottawa to listen to Albertans, Canadians, and industry experts across the country

00:01:14.260 and scrap this ridiculous policy before it drives Canada off the road. Alberta's government will do 0.81

00:01:20.260 everything within its legal jurisdiction to thwart implementation of these unconstitutional

00:01:25.080 regulations in our province. The statement followed a post from Alberta's Environment Minister,

00:01:29.680 Rebecca Schultz, opposing the mandate on Friday, saying the Liberals need to abandon it before it

00:01:35.120 kicks in next year. She said, quote, This is another failed Trudeau policy, just like the carbon tax,

00:01:41.200 which hurt Canadians from coast to coast. The EV mandate requires 20% of all new car sales to be

00:01:47.020 zero emission vehicles by next year, ramping up to 100% by 2035. And Schultz warned that production

00:01:54.260 capacity is nowhere near sufficient, citing 223,000 new vehicles purchased in Alberta last year,

00:02:01.840 compared to only 25,000 EVs produced nationwide. This means the entire country's production could not

00:02:08.280 come close to meeting Alberta's needs, let alone other provinces. And despite having limited production in

00:02:14.460 Canada, the Liberals imposed a 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles last year as a

00:02:20.060 consequence, the Chinese has slapped a 75.8% tariff on Canadian canola, which is of course almost a $44

00:02:27.740 billion annual industry. China has instead turned to Australia for its canola, abandoning the import of

00:02:34.420 7.9 million metric tons in 2024. Schultz said, quote, These tariffs have a devastating impact on hard-working

00:02:42.280 Albertan farmers, ranchers, and food processors who are caught up in political posturing they want

00:02:47.520 no part in. She added that automakers like Ford, GM, Toyota, and Honda have already warned the mandate

00:02:53.560 will kill jobs and investment. And a new Leger poll shows that 71% of Canadians agree that the policy

00:03:00.580 should be rolled back. Polyev also announced a nationwide campaign against what he calls the

00:03:05.840 carny tax. He said the quota would force dealerships to pay $20,000 for every gas-powered vehicle sold

00:03:13.000 above the threshold. Remember, the sale of electric vehicles has struggled to stay on the road without

00:03:18.440 federal subsidies. After the Liberals' EV program was paused after running out of funding, EV sales fell

00:03:25.680 off a cliff, a 41.6% decrease between December 2024 and the new year. Conversely, other type of vehicles

00:03:33.560 sold rose 60% between 2024's final month and March 2025. And Schultz concluded by saying, quote,

00:03:41.700 For a decade, the Trudeau government ignored the wishes of Canadians and pursued unrealistic and

00:03:46.960 ideological policies like this. If the carny government is serious about listening to Canadians

00:03:51.800 and making life better, it needs to scrap this mandate immediately. Swapping over to another form of

00:03:57.300 transportation for our next story, communities in Edmonton are pushing back against the city for

00:04:02.560 forcing them to adopt bike lanes despite a clear majority opposition in the community, opposition

00:04:07.500 from the provincial transportation minister, and even opposition for mayors in the major cities.

00:04:12.740 Alberta Avenue residents say Edmonton City Hall misled the public on consultations for a bike lane

00:04:18.220 expansion. Resident Margarita Gosselin wrote toward Métis councillor Ashley Salvador on Tuesday,

00:04:24.200 copying Premier Daniel Smith and a suite of other ministers, MLAs, and MPs. Gosselin said, quote,

00:04:29.900 What is especially troubling is the city's repeated misrepresentation, both in correspondence and

00:04:35.440 through media statements, claiming that all residents of the neighbourhood were consulted.

00:04:39.900 This assertion is demonstrably false and contradicted by the city's notices and engagement documents.

00:04:46.420 Alberta Avenue was not consulted, nor were its residents given proper notice or a chance to

00:04:51.560 participate. Ward Métis is a large area in Edmonton that spans from Yellowhead Trail to South Edmonton,

00:04:56.820 and residents in Delton recently expressed renewed frustration after the city pressed forward with

00:05:02.580 its bike lane plan, highlighting some changes in a pamphlet given to residents. The recent push to

00:05:07.920 complete the project just around this year's municipal election comes despite councillors,

00:05:12.120 mayors, and, as I said, the transportation minister publicly objecting to such changes.

00:05:16.980 Delton residents cited impeded emergency vehicle access as one of the biggest concerns. The network map

00:05:22.900 given to residents showcases new speed bumps, curb extensions, centre medians, converting two-way

00:05:28.680 streets into one-ways to accommodate bike lanes, and removing parking and driving altogether.

00:05:34.060 Gosselin said that unlike Delton residents, Alberta Avenue residents were not consulted,

00:05:39.340 engaged, or given notice of the changes. However, Jeremiah Rawling, the leader of the petition that

00:05:45.060 the majority of residents in Delton signed and submitted to the city, says his community was not

00:05:50.200 consulted either. But in her letter to the city, Gosselin cited the city's own website, which claimed

00:05:55.760 that an online survey was completed by 50 people between June 4th and 25th, where traffic safety

00:06:01.740 concerns were highlighted, along with an alleged in-person event that occurred on June 17th, 2024,

00:06:07.340 where 11 participants gave feedback. Conversely, of course, though, a community hall was held by Rawling,

00:06:12.940 and it was attended by around 75 people, and the petition submitted to the city clerk had 292

00:06:18.360 valid signatures. Also, the city's public engagement said nothing about bike lanes. Gosselin said,

00:06:25.020 quote, the feedback that was received did not ask whether the residents wanted bike lanes. They were

00:06:29.420 asked what they wanted to see regarding the issues with traffic in the neighbourhood. Some of the

00:06:33.960 consultations included speeding, short-cutting, illegal U-turns, and vehicles not coming to complete

00:06:38.620 stops at intersections, but nothing about bike lanes. She said, quote, this situation is profoundly

00:06:44.620 disappointing, particularly given our prior opposition to the bike lanes project via my petition

00:06:49.740 in 2019, which was halted after significant community effort. To now see Alberta Avenue excluded

00:06:55.800 from recent engagement, yet publicly claimed as being included, is a further disregard for our voices.

00:07:01.620 She called on the city to immediately clarify why Alberta Avenue was overlooked, and why inaccurate

00:07:06.720 information has been put forward. Gosselin concluded by saying, quote,

00:07:10.880 quote, with this lack of consultation, I urge you to stop this project or at a minimum postpone it until

00:07:16.360 after the election in October, where this can be addressed fairly and equitably for all members of

00:07:21.860 both neighbourhoods to be heard and represented before wasting any more tax money and resources on

00:07:27.360 this unnecessary project. Of course, a response has yet to come, and Gosselin's letter followed residents

00:07:33.220 in Delton receiving pamphlets saying their neighbourhood bike lanes will be completed by the end of 2025.

00:07:39.580 Petition leader Jeremiah Rawling warned that emergency response times will suffer. He said, quote,

00:07:46.320 it actually has the potential to put lives at risk due to delayed response times for emergency services,

00:07:52.180 which is way worse than losing parking. Several Edmonton mayoral candidates have promised to halt or

00:07:58.440 move the bike lanes if elected. Of course, this is no small claim, considering Edmonton's bike lane

00:08:04.620 infrastructure will cost $100 million between 2023 and 2026, with an $11 million annual maintenance

00:08:12.260 cost. And removal will, of course, not be free either. And remember, it is solely taxpayers who

00:08:18.440 pay for this through property tax increases. Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation,

00:08:23.280 Chris Sims said, quote, this is a huge waste of money. The vast majority of the time, very few

00:08:28.580 cyclists actually use these lanes, and it's going to cost a ton of money to remove these lanes,

00:08:33.680 because it's not as if these are a couple of pylons and some green paint. In most cases,

00:08:38.820 these are cement barriers that they're going to have to get crews with trucks out to remove them. 0.85

00:08:42.900 And nine Edmonton mayoral candidates recently attended an online forum where bike lanes were brought up.

00:08:48.120 Raheem Jaffer promised a moratorium, citing cases where bike lanes blocked access to housing

00:08:53.020 developments. Tim Cartmel opposed removing road lanes from arterial roads, arguing Edmonton remains

00:08:58.880 heavily car-dependent, while Andrew Nack said bike lanes should only move forward if context-sensitive,

00:09:04.880 such as multi-use trails that do not disrupt traffic. Michael Walters backed dedicating a small

00:09:10.900 portion of the budget to bike infrastructure, provided it is separated from vehicles in transit.

00:09:15.400 Other candidates expressed more direct opposition. Olney Tugwell said he would review or remove bike

00:09:21.800 lanes where neighborhoods reject them. Vanessa Denman admitted she had no bike lane policy,

00:09:26.300 but believes council should step back if residents object. And Omar Mohamed said the spending is wildly

00:09:32.120 disproportionate to actual usage and should be redirected to roads and transit, while Abdul-Malik

00:09:37.800 Chukwudi criticized the projects as poorly planned and costly. And Andy-Andrez Gudunowski

00:09:44.340 suggested projects of this scale should go to a referendum so residents, not politicians, make the

00:09:50.580 final decisions. Sims previously described a similar sentiment, estimating that a referendum would see

00:09:56.620 80% of residents province-wide vote against bike lanes. But the city is trying to jam Delton's project

00:10:03.020 through so that it's completed by the end of the year, just after the municipal election in October.

00:10:07.820 Considering some residents have cited foundational and structural damage to their homes during the

00:10:13.360 constructions of previous projects, it may already be too late to turn back by the time a new city

00:10:19.320 council is determined. But stretching the map a bit for our next story, Conservative leader Pierre

00:10:24.460 Poliev has officially returned to the House of Commons after winning the Alberta by-election in

00:10:29.180 Battle River Crowfoot. He captured 80.4% of the vote, defeating independent Bonnie Critchley, who came

00:10:34.720 in second place with 9.9% of the vote. And Critchley was one of the legitimate independent candidates

00:10:39.640 due to the longest ballot committee. There were 214 total candidates in the riding, 201 of whom were

00:10:45.660 registered under the group. But Elections Canada issuing special write-in ballots clearly didn't hamper

00:10:50.540 Poliev. And the legacy media actually propped up Critchley quite a bit, allowing her to actually

00:10:55.180 outperform the Liberal and NDP candidates, having more votes than both of them combined. In fact,

00:11:00.480 she actually had more votes than all of the other legitimate candidates besides Poliev combined.

00:11:05.080 But still, of course, she paled in comparison to Poliev, who almost did as good as former Conservative

00:11:09.680 MP Damian Couric, who won the riding in April's general election with 82.8% of the vote.

00:11:15.340 In his victory speech, Poliev blasted Carney's record. In fact, just take a quick listen of what he had to say.

00:11:20.920 Now, they promised recently that things would be different. But under Mr. Carney and his 157 days

00:11:27.500 in office, they've only gotten worse. There have been many announcements and meetings,

00:11:32.960 many photo ops, and a lot of jazz, but not a lot of results. He sent everyone home for a summer vacation.

00:11:40.980 He sent them home even though the deficit is spiraling out of control. Inflation is up.

00:11:45.440 Elbows are down. No resource projects are underway. And the housing crisis worsens as builders can't

00:11:53.260 afford to build and buyers can't afford to buy. That's why us Conservatives have our work cut out

00:11:58.020 for us. This fall, as Parliament returns, we will not only oppose out-of-control Liberal inflation,

00:12:06.900 crime, immigration, cost of living, and housing prices. But we will propose real solutions for safe streets,

00:12:18.520 secure borders, a stronger and sovereign country with bigger take-home pay for our people.

00:12:25.560 We will put Canada first, and we will do so in a way that will make our country self-reliant

00:12:31.140 and make our people capable of earning paychecks that buy affordable food and homes in safe

00:12:37.360 neighborhoods. One other thing I'll highlight from Paliyev's victory speech was his never-give-up

00:12:41.920 mentality. He said getting to know voters in the region had been the privilege of his life,

00:12:46.620 and he said that the recurring theme that they taught him was to never give up. Paliyev said,

00:12:51.760 quote, they also reminded me that the road to success is never a straight line. And most of all,

00:12:56.540 you should never give up in hard times. Whenever hardship strikes, you need to stand up and keep

00:13:01.700 on going. And that if you care about something, you don't give up on it. He cited various people

00:13:07.120 he had met in the writing, some by name, who had suffered extreme hardships in life like cancer,

00:13:11.840 assault, and more, but who didn't give up. He said, quote, they never gave up, so I will never give up.

00:13:16.940 Because as my mother, who's here today, taught me, when you get knocked down, you get up and you keep

00:13:22.000 on going. If you believe in what you're doing, you march forward. He said to anyone in the

00:13:26.360 country who had been knocked down and gotten back up, that they inspired his resolve. In fact,

00:13:31.460 take a quick listen to his close. You haven't given up, so I won't give up. Together, we will

00:13:37.260 work together. We will fight together. We will sacrifice together to restore the opportunity that

00:13:44.320 our grandparents left for us so that we can leave it for our grandchildren, so that we can once again

00:13:49.620 restore a country that is strong, self-reliant, and sovereign. That is the country we're in this

00:13:56.540 for. That is why we stay united. That is why we go forward. May God keep our land glorious and free.

00:14:03.520 Thank you very much. Thank you.

00:14:05.520 Taking it back provincially for our next story, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she would

00:14:09.760 reverse a recent change that removed requirements for senior officials to post receipts

00:14:14.200 for expenses over $100, and she followed through. Smith previously admitted she was confused by the

00:14:20.120 change herself when asked at a recent Alberta Next town hall. The change was made while she was on a

00:14:25.460 trip to Mexico, and she said the changes were intended to redact hotel names of where her ministers

00:14:30.520 were traveling, because people were tracking them down and following them. She said, quote,

00:14:35.580 that was what the policy was supposed to be. It turned out to be something quite different. So we're going

00:14:41.100 to see if we can try and track down how that happened and do a reversal on that. Canadian

00:14:45.180 Taxpayers Federation Alberta Director Chris Sims said, quote, Smith is doing the right thing by taking

00:14:50.700 the bull by the horns. Alberta taxpayers need to know if government officials are renting Corollas

00:14:56.060 or Corvettes on their dime. And then Smith said the cabinet would review the change on Tuesday,

00:15:00.880 which they did, and they reversed it, leading to further praise from the Taxpayers Federation.

00:15:05.920 Sims did confirm that they haven't yet uploaded the historical data, because that's a huge document,

00:15:10.820 but she said that they'd give them until Monday to do so. In fact, take a quick listen of what Sims

00:15:15.580 had to say. Yeah, just happy to see this change. It's really important to encourage government when

00:15:20.780 it does do the right thing. And they did listen here, and they are reversing course, and they're

00:15:25.480 fixing it. A lot of governments don't bother doing that. So good on the government for recognizing

00:15:30.980 that this is a problem, okay? And then they need to go back to the way it was. So we're really happy

00:15:35.880 to see this. Now, looking quickly at housing starts for our last story today, Canada's housing

00:15:40.840 starts rose slightly in July, but Ontario dragged national numbers down with a 25% plunge between

00:15:46.800 July 2024 and 2025. But conversely, Alberta saw housing starts climb by 25%, which was the third

00:15:54.500 strongest gain in the province, trailing only Quebec at 38% and Saskatchewan at 50%. Still,

00:16:01.560 Canada admitted over 817,000 newcomers in just the first four months of 2025, an annual pace of over

00:16:08.460 3.268 million. The housing starts being annualized to 294,085 nationwide. July's housing starts suggests

00:16:16.500 that if every new home this year that was built went to new arrivals, more than 11 immigrants would have

00:16:21.640 to compete for each home. In this scenario, no new houses would be left for Canadians.

00:16:26.060 Concerted leader Pierre Pelleuve recently blasted liberal immigration and housing policies. He said,

00:16:30.660 quote, more spending, more photo ops, and more promises with no action. More of the same from

00:16:35.680 these liberals, he said. So we'll have to wait and see when all these immigrants come to Alberta for 1.00

00:16:40.060 work. We'll have to see if the 32,000 houses built over the last year will be enough. That wraps up

00:16:45.060 this week's Alberta Roundup. My name's Isaac Lamoureux. Have a great weekend. Thank you, and God bless.

00:16:51.640 Thank you.

Juno News - August 24, 2025

Alberta vows to fight EV mandate with all legal powers

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