Juno News - BC Conservatives fire Lindsay Shepherd for Expressing her Opinion

00:00:00.000 Baseball is an insanely long season.

00:00:02.260 It's 162 games, I think.

00:00:04.540 All year round, right?

00:00:05.280 It's like you've got to just be hot at the right time, right?

00:00:07.520 Like, are you hot going into the playoffs?

00:00:09.480 The Jays aren't that hot right now,

00:00:11.280 but they could become hot tomorrow, you know?

00:00:14.100 So it's like you've got to hit that streak.

00:00:16.640 That's why I've always appreciated hockey

00:00:18.180 because I think hockey is the most unpredictable sport

00:00:20.540 in terms of results.

00:00:21.700 Like, it's the only American sport

00:00:23.220 where a team has come down from a 3-0 deficit, you know?

00:00:27.640 Reverse sweep, yeah.

00:00:28.620 Yeah, you just don't know.

00:00:32.340 You never...

00:00:32.980 Yeah, well, you rarely see it happen still,

00:00:35.520 but I guess it's possible.

00:00:36.920 You think hockey is the most unpredictable?

00:00:39.840 I think so.

00:00:40.580 I think so compared to basketball.

00:00:41.800 Basketball has been very consistent

00:00:43.400 when it comes to certain logic

00:00:44.540 because when you play like seven times,

00:00:46.520 you really get to see what team is superior in most cases.

00:00:50.940 Yeah, but hockey series are seven games as well.

00:00:53.620 Yeah, so looking side by side,

00:00:55.480 you can kind of see many more instances of a team

00:00:58.820 with, let's say, an inferior regular season record

00:01:03.200 go over to, you know, the seeding, for example.

00:01:07.040 The seeding results have less weight than, for example, the NBA.

00:01:10.640 If you're the first seeder, 0.73

00:01:11.580 probably getting to the conference final.

00:01:13.760 In the NHL, the guarantee is much less statistically backed,

00:01:17.760 I would argue, without even looking at the numbers.

00:01:19.680 I've seen that happen in enough examples

00:01:22.420 that feel confident all throughout.

00:01:24.940 I mean, the ice is much more unpredictable

00:01:26.820 than, you know, the hard court.

00:01:29.280 It really is.

00:01:30.580 Yeah, we'll have to get a True North hockey party going

00:01:34.740 and we'll see what happens on the ice there.

00:01:35.980 We're going to have the sports reporting.

00:01:37.380 I'm sorry, but I feel like there's more stories

00:01:39.440 in sports than meets the eye.

00:01:40.720 I'm telling you...

00:01:41.340 Yeah, I'm always on the beat

00:01:43.640 looking for politically motivated sports stories

00:01:48.860 that they happen, definitely,

00:01:50.640 but obviously the hockey season's about to start again,

00:01:52.840 so we'll see what comes of that.

00:01:55.320 Yeah, it'd be great to get, like, a designated

00:01:56.520 kind of sports show that we start to put out

00:01:58.420 or something like that,

00:01:59.140 because I think we have, you know,

00:02:00.100 a lot of our audience wants to hear

00:02:01.500 about these types of things,

00:02:03.000 and, like, the only thing we're really covering is,

00:02:05.140 I guess, was, like, the, like,

00:02:06.440 trans and women's sports angle,

00:02:08.640 and so it'd be nice to dig a little deeper into that.

00:02:12.140 Yeah, like I said, I'm always open to it,

00:02:14.700 but I think the stories are too sporadic.

00:02:18.120 It's, like, hard to do it on a weekly basis,

00:02:19.900 you know, because it's, like...

00:02:21.180 That's true.

00:02:21.580 Obviously, the hockey can and stuff is a crazy story,

00:02:23.820 but it's, like, that's, like, an anomaly, right?

00:02:25.480 Not the norm.

00:02:26.700 My name's Isaac Lamer.

00:02:27.600 I'm here with my True North colleagues.

00:02:29.020 We'll lead Tam-Tam and Jeff Knight.

00:02:30.660 Let's hop into that first story right away.

00:02:32.560 So, yeah, just for our first story,

00:02:35.300 we obviously have a pretty big one

00:02:38.020 that touches close to home

00:02:40.240 for a lot of us at True North

00:02:41.480 because any older fans of the organization

00:02:45.680 and of the shows will remember, of course,

00:02:48.880 former True North journalist, Lindsay Shepard,

00:02:52.080 who is, of course, married to our managing editor,

00:02:56.040 Cosmin Gerja,

00:02:57.200 who, by the way, had no role in pitching, editing,

00:03:02.420 signing, anything to do with this article.

00:03:04.360 But the big news came out there

00:03:07.340 that Shepard was fired for telling the truth.

00:03:10.980 I mean, absolute insanity.

00:03:12.740 I don't know how else to word it.

00:03:14.120 She was fired for telling the truth in a tweet

00:03:16.320 by John Rustad there

00:03:18.560 because she tweeted on Truth and Reconciliation Day.

00:03:23.540 I'll just read the tweet.

00:03:25.980 The orange shirt and the orange flag

00:03:28.020 perpetuate untruths about Canadian history,

00:03:31.260 such as the grandest lie of all

00:03:33.460 that 215 children's graves were unearthed in Kamloops.

00:03:38.020 It is a disgrace that this fake flag

00:03:40.560 flies in front of the provincial parliament buildings,

00:03:43.600 and it is a disgrace to see the shirt of lies

00:03:46.640 framed prominently and permanently

00:03:48.840 beside the coat of arms

00:03:50.440 so that locals and tourists cannot view our insignia

00:03:53.220 without having their eyes drawn

00:03:55.360 and redirected to the orange shirt.

00:03:57.440 So this was deemed unacceptable, I guess, by Rustad.

00:04:02.940 As I know, or as I understand,

00:04:05.360 Shepard faced very minimal backlash against this.

00:04:08.640 The CBC wrote a hit piece on her, basically,

00:04:12.740 but I think it was actually authored by a chief

00:04:16.400 who was married to an NDP MLA in BC.

00:04:20.040 So, surprise, surprise.

00:04:22.160 And then two NDP MLAs in BC, I think that's it.

00:04:25.480 Two people apparently talked bad about Lindsay

00:04:29.920 saying that she should be fired,

00:04:31.340 and that's all it took for Rustad to fire her

00:04:33.260 for telling truths.

00:04:34.620 I mean, this is absolutely insane,

00:04:36.700 and it gets worse because, of course,

00:04:39.500 Lindsay said she's a mother of two children

00:04:41.060 and 32 weeks pregnant,

00:04:42.720 so she was about to go on maternity leave, 0.51

00:04:44.620 and then Rustad shows her the door.

00:04:47.720 So, yeah, if either of you guys want to answer,

00:04:50.560 I mean, what is the irony here

00:04:52.700 where we're talking about Truth and Reconciliation Day,

00:04:55.500 that's the title of this so-called holiday,

00:04:58.280 and then Shepard is fired from the BC Conservative Party

00:05:01.880 for telling the truth.

00:05:03.000 I mean, literally, it's insane to me.

00:05:06.460 I think...

00:05:06.920 Oh, sorry, go ahead, Will.

00:05:08.220 I think the lack of backlash is actually a sign

00:05:10.880 that, frankly, Rustad's move is a very poor one

00:05:15.060 in terms of a reward.

00:05:16.800 I mean, because I think, frankly,

00:05:17.980 the reason why there might be a lack of media coverage,

00:05:20.780 specifically from more liberal-oriented

00:05:22.460 or mainstream media,

00:05:24.180 would be the fact is they don't want to give credit

00:05:25.920 to Rustad for being politically correct.

00:05:28.600 I guess that's maybe the case here

00:05:30.160 because, essentially, here,

00:05:31.940 you have a very, you know, low-level...

00:05:34.140 You know, because, again,

00:05:35.120 not many people are paying attention

00:05:36.200 to what this individual was tweeting,

00:05:38.340 but, of course, there's always going to be

00:05:39.580 a few progressive exceptions

00:05:40.940 of people that will be looking for every opportunity

00:05:43.020 to snap onto a narrative

00:05:45.440 that, you know, conservatives are hateful,

00:05:47.380 and then the staffer is leading this campaign

00:05:50.940 to say this and that.

00:05:52.780 I just think it's, you know,

00:05:54.800 if the media is not covering that much,

00:05:56.180 if there's not that much talk about it,

00:05:57.920 then I guess the potential impact

00:05:59.940 of him shielding his image

00:06:02.180 to a certain audience

00:06:03.480 is just really there, you know.

00:06:05.960 He's not getting the reward.

00:06:06.820 He's not getting the, you know,

00:06:07.880 the daytime news coverage

00:06:10.300 that's kind of, you know,

00:06:11.580 showing him that he doesn't tolerate

00:06:13.540 whatever it is that he's firing Lindsay for.

00:06:16.940 So I guess this is the challenging

00:06:19.440 of the mainstream narrative in this case,

00:06:21.220 which I'm surprised that the BSC Conservative Party

00:06:23.520 is so strong on upholding to the point

00:06:26.180 of, you know, squashing internal dissent.

00:06:29.380 But off to you, Jeff.

00:06:31.000 Well, yeah, and, I mean,

00:06:31.920 it just seems like there's probably

00:06:32.960 a lot of conversations happening

00:06:34.360 behind the scenes

00:06:35.020 that we're not privy to, right?

00:06:36.340 Because it's, like you said,

00:06:37.440 it's very confusing

00:06:38.080 as to why the BSC Conservatives

00:06:39.580 would push this.

00:06:40.500 And like Isaac said,

00:06:41.640 especially, you know,

00:06:42.560 with the name Truth and Reconciliation,

00:06:45.320 and now so much of the focus

00:06:46.600 of the day is on a falsehood

00:06:49.260 that, you know,

00:06:51.560 is basically designed

00:06:52.700 to separate the First Nations communities 0.99

00:06:54.920 with, I guess, European descent Canadians.

00:06:57.920 And I think a lot of people

00:06:58.660 are seeing that and being like,

00:07:00.380 well, what's the roadmap

00:07:01.440 to actually getting

00:07:02.180 to a place of reconciliation?

00:07:04.020 Because so much of the efforts

00:07:06.400 seem to be just in dividing us

00:07:08.140 and really being like,

00:07:09.020 well, look how horrible

00:07:09.660 we were to First Nations.

00:07:10.900 And it just doesn't seem to me

00:07:12.500 to be a path

00:07:13.220 that's going to create unity

00:07:15.040 and create, you know,

00:07:16.340 there's been a lot of great things

00:07:17.960 Canada's done with First Nations, 1.00

00:07:19.500 like, you know,

00:07:20.440 like the establishment of Nunavut,

00:07:21.620 which happened within my lifetime.

00:07:22.940 And I would love for the focus

00:07:26.940 to be on some more positive stories

00:07:28.800 like that,

00:07:29.400 the type of things

00:07:30.240 that could bring Canadians together

00:07:31.240 rather than, you know,

00:07:33.120 here we are still four years out

00:07:34.720 from the Kamloops story

00:07:37.500 and people still believe it.

00:07:38.940 People still think it's true

00:07:40.200 despite the fact that, you know,

00:07:41.580 there's been years of research

00:07:43.300 into it and millions of dollars spent

00:07:44.940 and they haven't found any bodies.

00:07:47.160 True North has put out a whole,

00:07:49.820 has published a book on this

00:07:51.020 called Grave Error

00:07:51.920 that has all the facts

00:07:52.900 laid out for people.

00:07:54.160 So, you know,

00:07:54.480 I encourage anyone

00:07:55.200 who doesn't really know

00:07:56.160 too much of the details

00:07:58.440 to check that book out

00:07:59.520 because right now

00:08:01.960 what we're seeing

00:08:02.440 is just a lot of effort

00:08:04.000 put into the feelings

00:08:06.020 around the emotional impact

00:08:07.300 around that story

00:08:08.340 that it had on people.

00:08:09.240 And so many people

00:08:09.820 did have such a strong

00:08:10.760 emotional impact to it

00:08:11.800 that now we're finding out

00:08:13.920 that it's not necessarily accurate.

00:08:15.560 It's very hard to let go

00:08:16.600 of those feelings, I think.

00:08:19.100 And it's something

00:08:19.780 we definitely need to do

00:08:20.560 as a nation.

00:08:22.000 Yeah, well,

00:08:22.760 just jumping on that, Jeff,

00:08:24.340 it is something

00:08:25.000 we're sort of doing.

00:08:27.220 Well, and this might,

00:08:28.600 this covers a few things

00:08:29.580 because we were,

00:08:30.680 Waleed was talking there

00:08:31.500 about mainstream coverage a bit.

00:08:32.900 And this may be why

00:08:34.160 it's not as prevalent

00:08:35.340 as we've seen

00:08:35.900 because a recent Leger poll

00:08:38.080 showed that only 44%

00:08:39.700 of Canadians,

00:08:40.460 so less than the majority,

00:08:41.780 want more government action

00:08:43.200 on reconciliation.

00:08:44.460 So Canadians are kind of 0.99

00:08:46.300 turning away from that.

00:08:47.960 And this was,

00:08:49.220 of course,

00:08:49.620 compared to 88%

00:08:50.680 who wanted the government

00:08:51.740 to improve on health care

00:08:52.700 and 86% who wanted the Liberals

00:08:55.080 to work on the cost of living.

00:08:56.220 So obviously,

00:08:57.160 while Canadians are 1.00

00:08:58.640 caring less about reconciliation,

00:09:01.560 they care about,

00:09:03.100 more about things

00:09:03.900 that are really affecting

00:09:04.880 their lives,

00:09:05.400 which is,

00:09:06.020 unsurprisingly,

00:09:06.680 health care

00:09:07.120 and the cost of living.

00:09:09.120 But just touching on

00:09:10.280 the book there,

00:09:11.240 Jeff,

00:09:11.440 that you mentioned,

00:09:11.940 Grave Error,

00:09:12.420 of course,

00:09:13.080 published by True North.

00:09:14.900 Recently,

00:09:15.660 the Toronto Star

00:09:16.580 published an op-ed

00:09:18.080 with various false claims

00:09:21.840 about True North.

00:09:24.220 This was an op-ed

00:09:25.560 written by Michelle Good,

00:09:27.960 who she advocated

00:09:29.900 for a federal ban

00:09:30.820 on residential school denialism

00:09:33.380 in a book that she wrote

00:09:35.000 called Five Little Indians.

00:09:37.440 And she said various things

00:09:38.920 about Grave Error

00:09:40.120 that were just not true.

00:09:41.040 Like, one thing

00:09:42.360 that would take two seconds

00:09:43.460 to disprove.

00:09:44.180 She claimed it was self-published,

00:09:46.620 which is not true, obviously.

00:09:48.560 True North helped

00:09:49.360 publish the book,

00:09:50.120 so it's not self-published.

00:09:52.740 Yeah, no,

00:09:53.420 there was a lot of things

00:09:54.840 in there that she

00:09:56.240 claimed weren't...

00:09:59.160 I mean, look,

00:10:00.100 Grave Error is essentially

00:10:01.000 a research study.

00:10:02.220 There's 800 footnotes

00:10:03.420 in the book.

00:10:03.900 It's all research-based.

00:10:05.240 It's all cited information.

00:10:07.320 It's not fictional

00:10:08.260 in any way, shape, or form.

00:10:09.680 It's essentially

00:10:10.380 a detailed research study,

00:10:11.960 in my opinion.

00:10:13.120 So to refute

00:10:15.420 the research is...

00:10:17.700 I mean,

00:10:18.640 to use a word

00:10:21.080 that the lefty

00:10:22.440 loves to use,

00:10:23.300 anti-science, really.

00:10:24.380 You're saying,

00:10:25.060 oh, yeah,

00:10:25.940 it's anti-science.

00:10:27.060 Because it's like,

00:10:27.620 oh, yeah,

00:10:27.920 I don't trust your research.

00:10:28.960 It's like,

00:10:29.480 what don't you trust

00:10:30.120 from the 800 citations

00:10:31.920 in the footnotes?

00:10:32.740 What do you mean?

00:10:33.120 It's not really trust

00:10:34.980 when we're talking

00:10:35.720 about facts here.

00:10:37.240 And, of course,

00:10:37.700 the book had

00:10:38.320 Grave Error.

00:10:39.640 It's kind of a

00:10:40.620 multi-author book

00:10:43.400 because there was

00:10:45.000 13 authors,

00:10:46.020 including retired judge,

00:10:47.300 lawyers,

00:10:47.800 journalists,

00:10:48.300 and university professors

00:10:49.700 across several disciplines.

00:10:53.000 So, yeah.

00:10:55.140 Were you guys surprised

00:10:56.640 that the Toronto Star

00:10:57.660 published an op-ed

00:10:59.280 ironically claiming

00:11:01.380 that Grave Error

00:11:02.400 was full of lies

00:11:03.700 when the op-ed itself was?

00:11:07.140 I mean, no.

00:11:07.860 It's kind of like

00:11:08.480 part of the course

00:11:09.220 for Toronto Star

00:11:09.940 at this point, right?

00:11:11.420 To, you know,

00:11:12.640 just be very hard-headed

00:11:15.060 about it.

00:11:16.960 And it's funny that,

00:11:18.060 you know,

00:11:18.280 there's no repercussions

00:11:19.200 for them to kind of

00:11:20.020 be pushing forward lies

00:11:22.440 and stuff like that.

00:11:23.120 But, you know,

00:11:23.820 they're very adamant

00:11:25.120 that, you know,

00:11:26.020 people who would suggest

00:11:28.320 that the Kamloops thing

00:11:29.500 wasn't true

00:11:30.520 face, like,

00:11:31.720 criminal prosecution

00:11:32.720 or outright firing

00:11:35.180 from their jobs

00:11:35.860 or anything like that.

00:11:36.760 And it's just,

00:11:37.160 it all seems very ironic

00:11:38.040 to me.

00:11:39.720 Yeah.

00:11:40.200 And Tom Flanagan,

00:11:41.300 who, of course,

00:11:41.920 co-edited the book,

00:11:43.320 he told us that

00:11:44.460 the author of this op-ed

00:11:45.920 didn't even reach out

00:11:47.040 to him for comments.

00:11:48.740 So, not exactly

00:11:50.300 journalism there.

00:11:52.620 And we know

00:11:53.380 that Leah Gazzin,

00:11:54.480 the NDP MLA,

00:11:55.820 she wanted to

00:11:56.800 have that bill

00:11:57.920 to criminalize

00:11:59.040 residential school denialism.

00:12:00.420 So, essentially,

00:12:02.160 who knows

00:12:03.420 what would have happened

00:12:04.000 if that bill passed

00:12:04.920 because what does

00:12:06.900 that mean?

00:12:07.380 You're telling the truth

00:12:08.480 and you go to jail

00:12:09.920 for telling the truth.

00:12:11.340 We're seeing other

00:12:12.320 similar bills

00:12:13.280 be debated

00:12:14.760 in Parliament

00:12:15.300 right now,

00:12:16.100 essentially,

00:12:16.560 about online censorship,

00:12:17.980 the Online Harms Act,

00:12:19.460 which could criminalize

00:12:22.140 people for telling

00:12:22.780 the truth.

00:12:23.220 We're seeing what's

00:12:23.800 happening in the UK.

00:12:24.860 People are going to jail

00:12:26.940 for tweets

00:12:27.980 and Facebook posts.

00:12:29.000 I mean,

00:12:29.220 it's absolute insanity.

00:12:30.240 We're just liking

00:12:31.000 the Facebook posts.

00:12:32.100 You know,

00:12:32.260 it sounds like

00:12:32.860 Leah Gazzin

00:12:33.640 and perhaps

00:12:34.280 other progressive

00:12:35.520 NDPers 0.98

00:12:36.160 that supported

00:12:36.640 that whole bill

00:12:38.540 were trying to

00:12:39.500 criminalize

00:12:40.140 what they call

00:12:41.680 genocide denial

00:12:42.720 in the case

00:12:43.360 of indigenous peoples

00:12:44.560 in Canada.

00:12:45.780 It sounds to me

00:12:46.240 that that's a path

00:12:47.800 for a book ban.

00:12:48.540 And I know

00:12:48.860 they've been screaming

00:12:49.480 about free speech

00:12:50.700 and book bans

00:12:51.240 because they want

00:12:51.920 essentially pornography,

00:12:55.820 graphic pornography

00:12:56.560 on children's books

00:12:57.820 to be in libraries

00:12:59.440 because otherwise,

00:13:00.440 if premieres

00:13:01.360 are moving

00:13:02.020 to change laws

00:13:03.540 and change regulations

00:13:04.400 to remove those books

00:13:05.340 from libraries,

00:13:06.020 well,

00:13:06.140 then they're banning books

00:13:06.920 and they're censoring.

00:13:08.240 This is the traditional

00:13:09.280 medieval censorship,

00:13:10.340 banning of books.

00:13:11.580 I guess that would be

00:13:12.580 a path to ban a book

00:13:13.660 like the ones

00:13:14.280 that True North

00:13:14.900 have produced.

00:13:15.680 So, definitely

00:13:16.580 very concerning to me

00:13:17.880 if we continue

00:13:19.320 that in that path,

00:13:20.120 whether digital

00:13:21.220 or even physical material

00:13:22.700 to be potentially

00:13:24.180 criminalized

00:13:24.640 because of its content

00:13:25.480 of argument

00:13:26.180 or content

00:13:26.800 of nature.

00:13:28.460 It's insane.

00:13:30.960 Yeah,

00:13:31.620 and we obviously

00:13:32.180 talked at length

00:13:33.080 over the last

00:13:33.860 several months,

00:13:35.220 I guess,

00:13:35.540 about the book ban

00:13:36.320 in Alberta

00:13:37.320 and the whole

00:13:38.040 controversy there.

00:13:39.280 But moving to a different

00:13:40.500 Alberta story,

00:13:42.160 this one about pipelines.

00:13:44.720 Alberta is leading the way

00:13:47.260 on getting a pipeline

00:13:49.600 to BC.

00:13:50.140 and to be fair,

00:13:53.520 it's not as simple

00:13:54.380 as you might think.

00:13:55.960 There's a lot of controversy

00:13:56.900 already around this

00:13:57.920 because essentially

00:13:59.040 Alberta is just

00:14:01.300 starting an advisory group

00:14:03.700 to get this thing

00:14:04.720 to the starting line

00:14:05.820 because they're saying

00:14:07.660 that, look,

00:14:08.880 private investors,

00:14:10.700 private companies

00:14:11.280 are not going

00:14:12.020 to put money forward

00:14:12.860 with the federal

00:14:13.620 regulatory hurdles

00:14:15.880 and burdens in place

00:14:17.040 because,

00:14:18.140 well,

00:14:18.660 take your pick

00:14:19.480 of past billions

00:14:20.780 of dollars

00:14:21.220 of loss

00:14:21.640 by private industry

00:14:22.620 because of

00:14:23.460 anti-energy laws

00:14:25.460 like Bill C-69,

00:14:26.540 Bill C-48,

00:14:27.340 the tanker ban.

00:14:28.460 The list is lengthy,

00:14:30.040 but essentially

00:14:30.600 Alberta is going

00:14:32.540 to do some consultations

00:14:35.660 on this pipeline,

00:14:36.660 kind of get all

00:14:37.160 the details,

00:14:38.020 and then pitch it

00:14:38.820 to the new

00:14:39.920 federal major

00:14:41.240 projects office.

00:14:42.220 And they're hoping

00:14:43.040 to get that application

00:14:43.860 done by spring 2026.

00:14:47.160 So Smith was,

00:14:49.000 I have to say,

00:14:49.720 I watched the press conference

00:14:51.140 in its entirety

00:14:52.080 and one of the first

00:14:53.560 things I noticed

00:14:54.020 was I was like,

00:14:54.540 Smith looks elated,

00:14:55.800 really.

00:14:56.320 She was very joyful,

00:14:58.020 which is surprising.

00:14:59.440 I don't know.

00:15:00.120 She's very more,

00:15:01.400 she's a lot more hopeful

00:15:02.360 that this project

00:15:03.300 will succeed,

00:15:04.240 I think,

00:15:04.600 just based on even

00:15:05.560 analyzing her emotions

00:15:07.860 and how she was

00:15:08.940 presenting herself

00:15:09.740 than I would be,

00:15:10.700 especially because

00:15:12.780 BC NDP Premier

00:15:14.160 David Eby,

00:15:15.160 the very same day,

00:15:16.160 was saying that

00:15:17.320 we're not going

00:15:17.860 to do this.

00:15:18.780 And to be fair,

00:15:19.740 his press conference,

00:15:20.740 which I think you

00:15:21.240 watched,

00:15:21.560 Waleed,

00:15:21.860 was filled with lies,

00:15:23.980 pretty much.

00:15:24.920 He was saying that

00:15:25.980 taxpayers are going

00:15:27.200 to pay for this,

00:15:28.000 but look,

00:15:28.980 I was in the media

00:15:29.620 briefing with the

00:15:30.260 Alberta energy officials

00:15:31.440 and watched the

00:15:32.180 press conference,

00:15:32.860 and they repeated

00:15:34.040 over and over

00:15:34.860 and over and over

00:15:35.580 again,

00:15:36.300 in no way,

00:15:36.880 shape or form

00:15:37.340 will taxpayers

00:15:37.840 be paying for this.

00:15:39.140 They're just trying

00:15:39.880 to get it

00:15:40.420 to that office.

00:15:41.800 Alberta has

00:15:42.440 announced $14 million

00:15:46.480 for the application,

00:15:47.460 so taxpayers are

00:15:48.060 paying for it in a sense,

00:15:48.920 but I mean for the

00:15:49.440 actual pipeline.

00:15:50.480 They're just trying

00:15:51.120 to essentially get it

00:15:52.000 to the major

00:15:53.720 federal office there

00:15:55.440 that does the projects,

00:15:56.740 and then

00:15:57.640 taxpayers will not

00:15:59.360 be on the hook for it

00:15:59.940 because they expect

00:16:00.620 private investors

00:16:01.300 to step in

00:16:01.980 once it gets to that stage.

00:16:03.800 And in fact,

00:16:04.360 Smith said that

00:16:05.600 she expects

00:16:06.340 this project

00:16:07.380 to be on the list,

00:16:10.440 the second wave

00:16:11.060 of projects

00:16:11.640 that Carney's

00:16:12.500 expected to announce

00:16:14.120 in November there

00:16:14.880 at the Grey Cup.

00:16:16.920 And then I'll just

00:16:17.600 give a few data points

00:16:18.700 that are interesting

00:16:19.640 because while we're

00:16:20.460 talking about pipelines,

00:16:21.360 of course,

00:16:22.580 I referenced

00:16:23.480 earlier failed projects

00:16:25.320 a few minutes ago,

00:16:27.200 and some of them

00:16:28.200 include Energy East,

00:16:29.120 Northern Gateway,

00:16:30.260 Keystone XL.

00:16:31.380 Smith said

00:16:32.120 Canada's GDP

00:16:32.920 would be $55 billion

00:16:34.700 higher every single year

00:16:36.740 if these projects

00:16:37.920 went forward.

00:16:38.660 So if the federal government

00:16:39.920 didn't get in the way

00:16:40.720 on these projects,

00:16:41.660 our GDP would be

00:16:42.360 $55 billion higher

00:16:43.900 every single year.

00:16:45.280 And then

00:16:46.420 energy officials

00:16:47.460 in the media briefing,

00:16:48.500 they said

00:16:48.940 that $11.5 billion

00:16:50.920 of capital

00:16:51.720 has moved

00:16:52.700 from Canada

00:16:53.460 to the U.S.

00:16:54.320 over the last three months.

00:16:55.480 Three months,

00:16:55.940 $11.5 billion.

00:16:56.800 It's insane

00:16:57.220 because

00:16:58.000 unsurprisingly,

00:16:59.620 U.S. President Donald Trump

00:17:01.020 is making

00:17:02.520 a positive

00:17:03.680 investment environment

00:17:04.800 where projects

00:17:05.540 can be pitched

00:17:06.320 and built

00:17:06.860 and progress

00:17:08.180 quickly,

00:17:09.280 whereas in Canada

00:17:10.260 it takes years.

00:17:11.960 But I guess

00:17:12.740 I'll start with you,

00:17:13.380 Waleed,

00:17:13.600 because you kind of

00:17:14.580 watched EB here.

00:17:15.500 Yeah,

00:17:15.780 do you think

00:17:16.540 Smith was right 1.00

00:17:18.240 to be enthusiastic,

00:17:19.860 I guess,

00:17:20.200 about this project

00:17:20.920 going forward,

00:17:21.560 or do you think

00:17:22.080 that it may not

00:17:23.440 even make it

00:17:23.940 to the starting line

00:17:24.760 as the Alberta

00:17:25.320 government wants it to?

00:17:26.520 Well,

00:17:26.800 I'll be very critical

00:17:28.080 in asking these questions

00:17:29.300 when Smith comes

00:17:30.540 to Ottawa this week,

00:17:32.000 a coming week,

00:17:32.540 actually,

00:17:33.000 he should be here.

00:17:33.680 for sure on Tuesday

00:17:34.840 and I'll be looking

00:17:35.520 at if I can catch up

00:17:37.040 with her

00:17:37.300 and ask her questions

00:17:38.120 about this,

00:17:39.260 this kind of

00:17:40.160 this triangular

00:17:40.980 dynamic of

00:17:42.320 BC, Alberta,

00:17:43.600 and Ottawa

00:17:44.080 and Ottawa

00:17:44.540 somehow being

00:17:45.400 in between.

00:17:46.600 I actually spoke

00:17:47.320 to Pierre Paliyev

00:17:48.260 and I got

00:17:49.540 a different question

00:17:50.200 out,

00:17:50.540 but before

00:17:51.080 having my question

00:17:52.460 asked,

00:17:53.180 I probably have

00:17:54.360 spoke about

00:17:54.780 this issue

00:17:55.400 on the BC,

00:17:56.540 Alberta conflict

00:17:57.300 journeys,

00:17:58.320 talking about

00:17:58.760 how Ottawa

00:17:59.160 itself should be

00:18:00.680 getting out of the way.

00:18:01.220 now,

00:18:02.020 in this case,

00:18:03.000 I think

00:18:03.440 Smith,

00:18:06.140 and I'm not sure

00:18:07.000 why,

00:18:07.800 has shown

00:18:08.320 some sort of

00:18:09.220 hopeful feeling

00:18:11.220 after a meeting

00:18:12.560 she had with Connie

00:18:13.320 at some point

00:18:13.820 in time.

00:18:14.280 I think she

00:18:14.860 had her hopes up.

00:18:16.380 I think she's trying

00:18:16.980 to, you know,

00:18:17.860 give some optimism

00:18:19.060 to her base

00:18:19.820 that something

00:18:20.400 will be moving forward

00:18:21.340 because, look,

00:18:21.960 whether it's Ottawa's

00:18:22.880 fault or her fault,

00:18:23.780 no pipeline means

00:18:24.560 no jobs,

00:18:25.380 no means,

00:18:25.980 no economic growth.

00:18:27.560 It simply

00:18:28.620 just demoralizes

00:18:29.980 Albertans further.

00:18:31.220 Essentially,

00:18:32.240 what I'm seeing

00:18:33.060 is this dynamic

00:18:33.840 of BC versus

00:18:34.660 Alberta.

00:18:35.220 I'm looking at,

00:18:36.160 you know,

00:18:36.500 Ottawa essentially

00:18:37.180 has a referee

00:18:37.720 position in this case.

00:18:39.620 Ottawa will lean

00:18:40.340 towards Alberta

00:18:40.940 because she's been

00:18:41.920 more optimistic.

00:18:43.000 I mean,

00:18:43.160 you remember

00:18:43.380 the whole first

00:18:44.280 ministers meeting

00:18:46.020 back, I think,

00:18:46.900 over the summer

00:18:47.400 in June?

00:18:48.380 You had

00:18:48.880 Eby in Tokyo

00:18:49.820 promoting, like,

00:18:52.140 BC-made chips

00:18:53.400 and snacks

00:18:54.540 in some random

00:18:55.540 grocery store

00:18:56.100 in Japan

00:18:57.420 while the first

00:18:59.120 ministers,

00:18:59.700 every other premier

00:19:00.300 was meeting

00:19:00.880 with Carney

00:19:01.780 on the roundtable

00:19:02.800 talking about everything.

00:19:03.760 So I guess

00:19:04.460 what I'm trying to say

00:19:05.060 is somehow

00:19:06.280 Smith might just

00:19:07.800 have a better

00:19:08.460 phone with Carney

00:19:09.580 than even

00:19:10.800 Eby is concerned.

00:19:12.600 And perhaps

00:19:13.320 there might be

00:19:13.780 something there,

00:19:14.260 but for now

00:19:14.680 there is no evidence

00:19:15.440 of that.

00:19:15.920 So I'm going to be

00:19:16.520 catching up

00:19:17.260 with Smith's thing.

00:19:18.380 She's a bit optimistic

00:19:19.300 about Ottawa recently,

00:19:20.360 even though the track

00:19:21.220 record has been

00:19:21.700 very bad on oil

00:19:22.900 and natural resource

00:19:23.560 investment

00:19:23.980 and exactly what

00:19:25.500 she's seen

00:19:28.280 from Carney

00:19:28.780 that leads her 0.89

00:19:29.600 to believe

00:19:29.980 that Ottawa

00:19:30.400 will have her back

00:19:31.160 when it comes

00:19:31.580 to this specific

00:19:32.240 project proposal

00:19:33.080 of the West Coast

00:19:34.100 Pipeline.

00:19:34.620 It has to go

00:19:35.200 through the NDP

00:19:36.400 province.

00:19:38.240 Yeah, and Jeff,

00:19:38.800 something I forgot

00:19:39.560 to mention

00:19:40.840 about this announcement

00:19:42.880 and this project

00:19:44.200 was Alberta

00:19:45.700 had a lot of focus

00:19:47.780 on the Indigenous

00:19:48.960 aspect of this project,

00:19:50.720 how Indigenous

00:19:51.760 will be co-owners

00:19:52.880 and they're basically

00:19:54.140 trying to partner

00:19:54.820 with them

00:19:55.140 from the start

00:19:56.020 because essentially

00:19:58.100 this pipeline

00:19:59.100 will have to run

00:19:59.660 through various

00:20:00.460 reserves.

00:20:01.940 So they basically

00:20:02.520 need the Indigenous 1.00

00:20:03.680 leaders to

00:20:04.640 approve it basically

00:20:06.160 because they could,

00:20:07.340 not just the federal

00:20:08.100 government being a hurdle,

00:20:09.460 but the Indigenous

00:20:10.460 tribes could similarly

00:20:11.540 be a hurdle.

00:20:12.200 So do you think

00:20:12.920 that that is cause

00:20:14.920 for concern, Jeff?

00:20:15.840 Because obviously

00:20:16.640 Smith, as I said,

00:20:18.060 was very enthusiastic

00:20:19.120 and some of the chiefs

00:20:20.340 have already pledged

00:20:22.440 their support

00:20:22.980 for this pipeline,

00:20:23.700 but of course

00:20:24.200 we don't know

00:20:25.080 the exact route yet,

00:20:26.960 so it's hard to say

00:20:28.720 which tribes

00:20:29.960 will be involved

00:20:31.020 and whether they'll

00:20:33.100 all have to approve it.

00:20:33.840 Do you think that's

00:20:34.360 something that's likely

00:20:35.300 in your eyes?

00:20:37.100 Well, I mean,

00:20:37.960 I don't know

00:20:39.020 exactly what they're

00:20:41.620 talking about

00:20:41.960 behind the scenes

00:20:42.580 and stuff like that,

00:20:43.340 but it kind of ties

00:20:44.500 into what I was saying

00:20:45.040 before earlier

00:20:45.640 where I'd love to see

00:20:47.240 more focus on projects

00:20:48.740 where the Canadian

00:20:49.240 government worked

00:20:49.780 with First Nations

00:20:50.440 to achieve a positive result.

00:20:52.340 And in my opinion,

00:20:53.760 what would be

00:20:54.040 a more positive result

00:20:54.860 than making all Canadians 0.95

00:20:56.220 a little bit richer, right?

00:20:57.280 Because whatever

00:20:59.160 your opposition is

00:21:00.020 to the pipeline,

00:21:00.720 if it's like an environmental

00:21:01.520 one or something like that,

00:21:02.700 if you are richer,

00:21:04.600 if you have more wealth,

00:21:05.660 you can put that wealth

00:21:06.660 towards environmental causes.

00:21:08.020 You can put it towards

00:21:08.940 whatever you believe in

00:21:10.160 that you think

00:21:10.540 is going to strengthen

00:21:12.120 the country

00:21:12.600 and make the world

00:21:13.520 a better place

00:21:14.000 and all that kind of stuff.

00:21:15.540 And also,

00:21:16.100 I know a couple guys

00:21:17.940 up in the oil pipelines

00:21:19.260 up in like Fort McMurray

00:21:20.260 and stuff like that.

00:21:20.980 And they've shown me

00:21:22.060 the pictures of these sites

00:21:23.420 once they've laid pipelines

00:21:24.540 and stuff like that.

00:21:24.980 It's like pristine.

00:21:26.200 There's so much red tape

00:21:26.940 that they have to go through

00:21:27.680 to actually get this stuff done

00:21:28.880 that they can't leave behind

00:21:30.800 this kind of like,

00:21:31.980 you know,

00:21:32.200 what you'd imagine

00:21:33.440 based off of the way

00:21:34.980 that these things

00:21:35.420 are talked about,

00:21:35.980 like this wasteland

00:21:37.540 of like oil,

00:21:38.520 you know,

00:21:38.760 like wildlife,

00:21:40.140 you know,

00:21:40.540 struggling to get out

00:21:41.440 of pools of raw oil

00:21:43.000 and stuff like that.

00:21:43.780 No,

00:21:43.940 it's like this beautiful green

00:21:45.600 scene that's left behind

00:21:48.040 once they're done.

00:21:48.820 So,

00:21:49.520 you know,

00:21:49.760 again,

00:21:50.260 I am always in favor

00:21:52.480 of Canadians

00:21:53.180 being more rich.

00:21:54.340 I'm always in favor

00:21:55.080 of Canadians

00:21:55.640 accomplishing projects

00:21:57.520 that is going to

00:21:58.620 improve our bottom line.

00:22:00.600 And this is good

00:22:01.520 for Canadians.

00:22:02.040 This is good

00:22:02.340 for the Indigenous

00:22:03.300 First Nations.

00:22:04.240 So,

00:22:04.580 you know,

00:22:04.940 I know there have

00:22:06.020 historically been

00:22:07.040 a lot of pushback

00:22:08.800 on these types of projects,

00:22:09.760 but I certainly hope

00:22:11.400 that with Daniel Smith's

00:22:13.600 enthusiasm that

00:22:15.420 indicates that

00:22:17.760 these First Nations

00:22:18.620 groups are on board

00:22:20.660 and that this can be

00:22:22.220 looked back on

00:22:23.140 as a successful

00:22:23.960 operation between

00:22:25.100 the Canadian government

00:22:25.820 and First Nations groups

00:22:27.020 to,

00:22:27.800 like I said,

00:22:28.280 make all Canadians

00:22:28.960 wealthier.

00:22:30.340 Yeah,

00:22:30.880 at the root of the

00:22:31.820 environmental concerns,

00:22:33.720 let's say,

00:22:34.240 is a lie,

00:22:34.940 of course,

00:22:35.220 and to be fair,

00:22:37.180 at the root of many

00:22:37.940 left-wing,

00:22:39.060 even most left-wing

00:22:40.140 arguments,

00:22:40.720 are lies

00:22:41.360 because,

00:22:41.900 of course,

00:22:42.160 this oil has to

00:22:43.020 come from somewhere.

00:22:44.080 We have the cleanest

00:22:45.060 oil in the world,

00:22:45.840 so if you build

00:22:46.420 this pipeline,

00:22:47.500 you are helping

00:22:48.260 the world

00:22:48.720 on an energy

00:22:50.740 perspective.

00:22:51.960 Emissions will go down

00:22:52.860 because the alternative

00:22:53.880 is getting coal

00:22:54.680 from China.

00:22:55.620 I mean,

00:22:55.880 what are we talking

00:22:56.460 about,

00:22:56.740 right?

00:22:57.540 So,

00:22:58.140 you know,

00:22:58.640 the oil has to

00:22:59.380 come from somewhere.

00:23:01.000 The left's,

00:23:01.900 like,

00:23:01.920 whole MO

00:23:02.280 is kind of being,

00:23:03.740 you know,

00:23:04.000 having grievances

00:23:04.700 and being victims

00:23:05.520 of this or that,

00:23:06.340 right?

00:23:06.540 And so,

00:23:07.120 you know,

00:23:07.380 a lot of their careers

00:23:08.140 are tied in with it

00:23:08.820 as well.

00:23:09.160 So,

00:23:09.340 of course,

00:23:09.580 they're going to keep

00:23:10.120 kind of pushing

00:23:10.660 those types of narratives

00:23:11.560 because it literally

00:23:12.680 puts food on their place.

00:23:14.440 And that's something

00:23:15.100 that I,

00:23:15.520 you know,

00:23:16.660 I worry about

00:23:17.600 with the future

00:23:18.120 where it is,

00:23:18.840 you know,

00:23:19.040 how I was saying earlier

00:23:19.880 is there going to be

00:23:20.440 an end game

00:23:21.080 to this truth

00:23:21.900 and reconciliation?

00:23:22.420 Like,

00:23:22.760 are we actually

00:23:23.140 going to reconcile

00:23:23.860 at the end of it?

00:23:25.080 And it's hard to kind

00:23:25.620 of see it going

00:23:26.900 in that direction

00:23:27.480 when people are

00:23:28.100 literally making

00:23:28.560 their livings

00:23:29.320 based off of it

00:23:30.200 not going in that direction.

00:23:32.720 Yeah,

00:23:33.120 it makes sense.

00:23:33.760 A lot of people

00:23:34.280 would be out of work

00:23:35.940 if these issues

00:23:37.460 were resolved,

00:23:38.140 right?

00:23:38.420 So,

00:23:39.600 then you have to

00:23:40.240 keep the issues going.

00:23:41.180 Otherwise,

00:23:41.680 you literally

00:23:42.240 don't have a job

00:23:43.000 or even a career

00:23:44.580 in some senses,

00:23:46.480 especially when it comes

00:23:47.100 to environmentalism.

00:23:48.560 Yeah,

00:23:48.760 it's like how some people

00:23:49.500 say that,

00:23:50.060 you know,

00:23:50.480 they won't cure cancer

00:23:51.440 because the money's

00:23:52.180 in the treatment

00:23:52.640 rather than the cure,

00:23:53.520 right?

00:23:54.100 It's kind of the same

00:23:55.060 idea here.

00:23:55.600 speaking of jobs,

00:23:59.040 we'll move over to

00:24:00.920 the Alberta teachers.

00:24:02.980 Just,

00:24:03.960 I'll try and get through

00:24:05.880 this without getting

00:24:07.000 too angry,

00:24:07.900 but this is

00:24:08.540 absolute insanity

00:24:10.060 coming out of Alberta

00:24:11.640 because Alberta

00:24:12.700 teachers are going

00:24:13.780 to walk off the job

00:24:15.220 on October 6th

00:24:16.500 after almost 90%,

00:24:18.180 89.5% of teachers

00:24:20.500 voted against

00:24:21.560 the settlement

00:24:22.880 with Alberta

00:24:23.520 despite the government

00:24:24.920 not only giving them

00:24:26.220 everything they asked for

00:24:27.160 but more.

00:24:28.280 I mean,

00:24:28.540 this is absolutely

00:24:29.280 insanity.

00:24:30.340 I can't even

00:24:31.120 just,

00:24:32.580 I've been going

00:24:33.160 through this for a while,

00:24:33.860 but I just can't even

00:24:34.720 comprehend the level

00:24:35.700 of indoctrination

00:24:36.420 happening with the unions

00:24:37.680 to these teachers

00:24:38.620 because they all seem

00:24:39.560 to have completely

00:24:40.760 lost the plot.

00:24:42.260 just getting into

00:24:43.960 what they were offered,

00:24:46.520 I mean,

00:24:47.740 it's insane.

00:24:49.760 So yeah,

00:24:50.160 of course,

00:24:50.560 the Alberta government

00:24:51.200 offered to hire

00:24:52.060 3,000 new teachers,

00:24:53.980 1,500 new educational

00:24:55.280 assistants,

00:24:55.960 a 12% wage increase

00:24:57.340 over four years,

00:24:58.220 but it's actually

00:24:58.900 a 17% wage increase

00:25:01.340 for more than 95%

00:25:02.860 of the teachers.

00:25:04.660 And the CTF,

00:25:06.220 they've done a really

00:25:07.040 good job

00:25:07.620 breaking it down.

00:25:09.780 They had a Facebook

00:25:10.540 post there and it kind

00:25:12.020 of broke it down.

00:25:13.340 I mean,

00:25:13.500 look,

00:25:14.220 I'm going off memory

00:25:16.200 because I don't have

00:25:16.600 the post in front of me,

00:25:17.260 but a first year teacher

00:25:18.140 is making like 70 grand.

00:25:19.660 Then less than 10 years,

00:25:20.780 it was,

00:25:21.120 you're up to like 110 grand.

00:25:23.320 The top scale teacher

00:25:24.860 is making like 115 grand

00:25:26.460 a year.

00:25:27.200 This is healthcare,

00:25:28.820 defined pension,

00:25:30.500 benefits,

00:25:31.780 summer's off.

00:25:32.760 I mean,

00:25:33.020 the list goes on.

00:25:34.000 It's hardly

00:25:34.700 that they're struggling here.

00:25:36.320 And the premier

00:25:37.700 and the officials

00:25:39.060 at the Alberta government

00:25:39.820 were saying,

00:25:40.540 this raise

00:25:41.100 would have made them

00:25:41.720 the highest paid teacher

00:25:42.800 in Western Canada,

00:25:43.780 saying,

00:25:44.160 of course,

00:25:44.520 that it's higher

00:25:45.040 than even in BC

00:25:45.980 where the cost of living

00:25:48.100 is like five times higher.

00:25:49.500 So you're getting paid more.

00:25:51.340 And I don't,

00:25:53.060 I don't really,

00:25:53.660 I just,

00:25:55.200 it's hard.

00:25:55.880 Yeah.

00:25:56.380 Have you guys been paying

00:25:57.660 attention to the teacher strike?

00:25:59.680 Waleed,

00:25:59.880 I know you want to move

00:26:01.320 to Alberta.

00:26:01.880 Have you been looking

00:26:03.280 at that news at all?

00:26:04.660 Well,

00:26:04.820 I know viewers always

00:26:06.120 see the flag behind my head,

00:26:07.080 but it's typically

00:26:07.800 more of a symbolic gesture

00:26:08.980 from a distance.

00:26:10.620 I'm not really looking

00:26:11.300 at moving Alberta

00:26:11.900 in the immediate future

00:26:12.980 because honestly,

00:26:13.820 it's such a big move

00:26:14.860 and,

00:26:15.040 you know,

00:26:15.860 to the hour difference

00:26:16.540 time zone.

00:26:17.160 I think Eastern Time

00:26:17.860 is what rules the world.

00:26:19.360 And obviously,

00:26:20.320 Ontario still has,

00:26:21.400 you know,

00:26:22.420 something interesting about it.

00:26:23.700 But I will say

00:26:24.920 on the terms

00:26:25.520 of the teacher strikes,

00:26:27.280 I find teacher unions 0.85

00:26:28.220 to be some of the most

00:26:29.360 hostile to the public

00:26:32.760 interest unions

00:26:34.760 that we have out there

00:26:35.680 because they really are

00:26:36.640 just leveraging the fact

00:26:37.780 that they're providing

00:26:39.440 some form of daycare

00:26:40.480 for children

00:26:41.360 and they're providing

00:26:42.140 some sort of education

00:26:43.200 that's something

00:26:43.800 that our society

00:26:44.500 values very much.

00:26:45.960 I don't think

00:26:46.360 there's ever been

00:26:46.820 this argument

00:26:47.300 of defunding education

00:26:48.500 at effectively any level

00:26:49.760 for at least

00:26:51.200 mainstream society.

00:26:52.080 people really buy

00:26:53.320 into the fact

00:26:53.840 they want to have

00:26:54.360 their kids in schools

00:26:55.700 and public schools

00:26:56.480 for the most part.

00:26:58.320 And I just find

00:26:58.900 the fact that,

00:26:59.660 you know,

00:27:00.700 the students keep asking

00:27:01.680 for more and more money,

00:27:02.780 more and more salary

00:27:03.580 while leaving our kids

00:27:05.120 behind day after day

00:27:06.340 because I'm assuming

00:27:06.980 the strike will,

00:27:07.780 you know,

00:27:08.080 essentially cease operations.

00:27:09.560 I remember in our school

00:27:10.280 as well,

00:27:11.320 when I was growing up

00:27:11.900 in Ontario,

00:27:12.500 that, you know,

00:27:13.200 that meant we lost

00:27:14.380 some of our sports seasons

00:27:15.500 because teachers

00:27:16.080 were complaining about

00:27:16.960 how they were spending

00:27:17.540 an extra hour or two

00:27:18.580 after school

00:27:19.680 without paying

00:27:20.620 to coach that sport

00:27:22.720 or whatever.

00:27:23.520 So, I mean,

00:27:23.900 I guess the spirit

00:27:24.740 of volunteerism

00:27:25.460 is kind of gone

00:27:26.820 out of the window

00:27:27.440 there as well.

00:27:28.220 But I find

00:27:29.640 that teacher unions

00:27:30.480 are really just weaponizing

00:27:32.080 the vulnerable situation

00:27:34.260 that parents have

00:27:35.200 where they just need

00:27:36.500 child care

00:27:37.040 for the eight to two

00:27:38.980 or eight to three

00:27:39.860 and a little bit before,

00:27:41.960 a little bit after.

00:27:42.980 And then, of course,

00:27:43.740 hopefully a half-decent education.

00:27:46.560 I don't know,

00:27:46.940 maybe the school,

00:27:47.700 maybe they should just

00:27:48.280 contract the drag queens 1.00

00:27:49.360 to cover up a bit more

00:27:50.400 because, I mean,

00:27:51.760 that's already a big element

00:27:53.720 of education these days.

00:27:54.940 You just can't get rid

00:27:55.780 of the drag queens 0.85

00:27:56.660 story hour scenes

00:27:57.540 anywhere,

00:27:58.340 let alone even

00:27:59.260 in the most conservative

00:28:00.000 province of Alberta.

00:28:01.800 So, it's quite interesting,

00:28:03.160 frankly.

00:28:03.620 But I hope that they can get

00:28:05.420 a resolution to the table

00:28:06.840 and hopefully,

00:28:07.960 let's just say,

00:28:08.860 for the future outlook,

00:28:10.160 we can have a system

00:28:11.500 where the unions

00:28:12.720 have a little bit less power

00:28:13.880 over the public

00:28:14.900 because it's a little bit

00:28:16.160 too much.

00:28:17.340 Yeah, Jeff,

00:28:17.800 obviously hard to deny

00:28:20.360 that the unions

00:28:20.940 don't really care

00:28:21.600 about what happens

00:28:22.200 to kids at this point.

00:28:24.400 They're pretty much

00:28:25.380 just being selfish.

00:28:26.460 But the Alberta government

00:28:27.780 does and, in fact,

00:28:29.600 will provide $150

00:28:30.720 per week to students

00:28:32.740 with, sorry,

00:28:34.720 to parents of students

00:28:35.820 with that being students

00:28:38.180 aged 12 or less

00:28:39.460 that go to public,

00:28:41.020 separate,

00:28:41.340 or Francophone schools

00:28:42.300 and are affected

00:28:43.060 by the strike.

00:28:43.800 And then they also,

00:28:46.160 the Alberta government,

00:28:47.460 they released a parent toolkit

00:28:50.120 in both French and English.

00:28:52.140 So, it's basically

00:28:52.880 just online learning

00:28:53.900 because it will go

00:28:54.820 through the curriculum

00:28:55.600 for them.

00:28:56.380 So, what do you think

00:28:58.260 of the package

00:28:59.080 that the Alberta government

00:29:00.400 is giving here?

00:29:01.440 Is it enough?

00:29:02.660 And, I mean,

00:29:04.520 unsurprisingly,

00:29:05.400 the teachers in the union

00:29:06.260 aren't doing this.

00:29:07.440 The government

00:29:08.000 is literally stepping in

00:29:09.260 to teach kids here.

00:29:11.200 So, yeah,

00:29:11.720 what do you think?

00:29:13.420 I mean,

00:29:13.960 I've got pretty

00:29:14.540 complicated feelings

00:29:15.500 about the teachers union

00:29:16.400 and their relationship

00:29:17.120 with students in general.

00:29:18.860 Like, it seems like

00:29:20.100 over the last few years

00:29:21.380 there's this weird

00:29:21.980 culture of secrecy

00:29:23.060 between parents

00:29:24.000 and teachers.

00:29:25.260 As for whether

00:29:25.920 the money is enough

00:29:27.260 or not,

00:29:27.700 I mean,

00:29:28.400 I think the real issue

00:29:29.420 for parents

00:29:30.340 is going to be

00:29:31.100 daycare

00:29:32.280 for having,

00:29:34.260 you know,

00:29:34.520 now they have to

00:29:35.140 take care of these kids

00:29:35.940 who can't be left

00:29:36.500 at home alone

00:29:37.180 and a lot of parents

00:29:38.240 aren't able to be

00:29:38.940 home all day.

00:29:40.660 So, you know,

00:29:41.760 I don't think

00:29:42.400 $150 a week

00:29:43.300 does cover daycare.

00:29:44.180 From what I've heard,

00:29:44.740 daycare expenses

00:29:45.320 are quite high.

00:29:46.960 And so I think

00:29:47.600 this is going to create

00:29:48.460 a financial issue

00:29:49.220 for a lot of parents

00:29:49.880 for sure.

00:29:51.680 Yeah,

00:29:52.100 and just getting

00:29:52.560 into a few more things,

00:29:54.620 you touched on one of them,

00:29:55.720 but the premier did say

00:29:57.320 that the province

00:29:58.460 is spending

00:29:59.460 $8.6 billion

00:30:00.680 in new school construction

00:30:02.900 to build 130 new schools,

00:30:04.780 which would add

00:30:05.320 200,000 spaces

00:30:06.580 for students

00:30:07.240 by 2030.

00:30:07.960 because,

00:30:09.780 look,

00:30:10.100 the issue here

00:30:10.700 is obvious.

00:30:11.380 There's way too many

00:30:12.460 people immigrating

00:30:14.240 to Alberta.

00:30:15.420 Smith said

00:30:15.940 that over the last

00:30:17.000 three years,

00:30:17.560 80,000 new students.

00:30:19.020 So this is the problem.

00:30:19.820 The teachers are complaining

00:30:21.000 that their classes

00:30:22.080 are too big.

00:30:22.900 Well,

00:30:23.100 it's like,

00:30:23.480 what do you think

00:30:24.200 caused that?

00:30:25.320 It's not from

00:30:26.220 Albertans having children.

00:30:28.080 We've seen the birth rates.

00:30:29.240 It definitely is not that.

00:30:30.880 It's because

00:30:31.440 people are immigrating here,

00:30:32.780 not just from

00:30:33.440 other countries

00:30:35.520 and continents,

00:30:36.260 but from Canada

00:30:37.680 because Alberta

00:30:38.740 has led the country

00:30:40.160 in interprovincial migration

00:30:41.420 time and again

00:30:42.340 because our cost of living

00:30:43.640 is so low

00:30:44.420 and you can actually

00:30:45.160 make money here

00:30:45.920 that you can live with.

00:30:50.960 And then,

00:30:51.320 I don't know if I said this,

00:30:52.220 but again,

00:30:53.120 the two agreements

00:30:57.800 that the unions denied,

00:31:00.000 like,

00:31:00.200 they were literally accepted

00:31:01.560 among the Alberta

00:31:02.760 Teachers Association

00:31:03.640 and the TEBA.

00:31:04.580 I mean,

00:31:05.020 I don't understand this at all.

00:31:06.720 They got everything

00:31:07.500 they asked for

00:31:08.140 and then the teachers

00:31:08.780 voted against it.

00:31:09.740 So like I said,

00:31:10.520 the indoctrination going on,

00:31:11.660 I can't imagine

00:31:12.940 what it is.

00:31:13.840 But look,

00:31:15.060 some of the teachers

00:31:15.640 are really close

00:31:16.400 to figuring out

00:31:17.000 what the real problem is

00:31:17.840 because they're talking

00:31:18.360 about how big,

00:31:19.120 how overflowed

00:31:20.180 their classrooms are

00:31:20.920 and it's like,

00:31:21.340 hmm,

00:31:21.860 I don't think it's funding

00:31:23.280 that's the issue here.

00:31:24.600 I think it's the fact

00:31:25.320 that 100,000 kids

00:31:26.440 came in three years.

00:31:28.400 That's what Smith said.

00:31:29.480 Look,

00:31:30.360 you can't build new schools

00:31:31.840 out of thin air.

00:31:32.620 They don't just appear

00:31:33.360 out of nowhere.

00:31:33.900 Even when you're investing

00:31:35.580 billions into them,

00:31:36.460 which the province is,

00:31:37.840 it takes time

00:31:38.780 to build schools.

00:31:40.180 Obviously,

00:31:41.080 you can't just

00:31:41.700 3D print a school.

00:31:44.400 That's what we need, eh?

00:31:45.340 If you could 3D print schools,

00:31:46.840 we wouldn't have this problem,

00:31:47.860 eh, guys?

00:31:48.220 There's such a focus

00:31:50.560 on how we need

00:31:51.220 so much more immigration

00:31:52.020 to, like,

00:31:52.840 replace our dwindling population,

00:31:54.780 I guess,

00:31:55.040 as it ages,

00:31:56.020 but no focus on

00:31:57.160 if we actually have

00:31:58.260 the facilities able

00:31:59.060 to support

00:31:59.640 this many people coming in,

00:32:01.280 which we clearly don't.

00:32:03.200 So,

00:32:03.540 it's kind of a mess

00:32:04.840 in more areas

00:32:05.680 than just the school system,

00:32:07.120 that's for sure.

00:32:07.660 Yeah,

00:32:07.880 no,

00:32:08.080 we always focus on that

00:32:09.120 with healthcare,

00:32:09.920 but then we forget about,

00:32:11.180 oh,

00:32:11.300 the schools are overflowing,

00:32:12.500 too.

00:32:12.860 Well,

00:32:13.460 surprise,

00:32:13.880 surprise,

00:32:14.280 especially when we have

00:32:15.420 some families

00:32:16.920 coming in here

00:32:17.840 where they don't have,

00:32:19.780 they're from countries

00:32:20.440 without birth rates

00:32:21.260 of 1.2

00:32:22.160 or whatever ours is,

00:32:23.240 and they have actually

00:32:24.120 eight kids,

00:32:24.740 and it's like,

00:32:25.260 oh,

00:32:25.560 where do you think

00:32:26.300 school, right?

00:32:29.120 Absolutely.

00:32:30.500 I think it was back

00:32:31.460 in my class

00:32:32.060 when I was in the,

00:32:33.820 well,

00:32:34.060 frankly,

00:32:34.420 from the 6th

00:32:35.040 to the 8th grade,

00:32:35.900 so my end of my

00:32:36.800 elementary school career

00:32:37.960 was when we had

00:32:38.820 about five students,

00:32:40.720 and this was back

00:32:41.360 in the,

00:32:42.700 you know,

00:32:42.980 this was after

00:32:43.680 the war

00:32:44.600 in Afghanistan,

00:32:46.120 so this was

00:32:47.040 around the time

00:32:47.600 when we were receiving

00:32:48.080 a lot of Afghan refugees

00:32:49.120 in Canada.

00:32:50.440 Five kids came up

00:32:51.840 in,

00:32:52.520 like,

00:32:52.760 just into my class

00:32:53.980 from 24 the previous year

00:32:56.200 to about almost 30,

00:32:57.920 adding two exchange students

00:32:59.520 from Colombia as well,

00:33:00.900 so it's a very interesting

00:33:02.200 situation

00:33:02.620 where we see

00:33:03.700 the population growth,

00:33:05.100 even in areas

00:33:06.200 where there haven't been

00:33:07.100 that massive population growth.

00:33:09.120 I mean,

00:33:09.240 I feel like there's been

00:33:09.960 probably be

00:33:10.460 greater rates of mass migration

00:33:12.000 in Canada's

00:33:12.900 other major cities

00:33:13.720 and urban areas

00:33:14.440 besides just the east

00:33:15.440 end of Ottawa

00:33:16.000 where I was at the time,

00:33:17.160 but when you're seeing

00:33:18.440 classrooms get to the size

00:33:19.760 30,

00:33:20.200 31,

00:33:20.640 32 kids,

00:33:22.200 you know,

00:33:22.420 with the same amount

00:33:22.900 of teachers,

00:33:23.340 same amount of resources,

00:33:24.160 same amount of textbooks,

00:33:25.080 and you're having to share

00:33:25.860 more and more

00:33:26.600 across the table,

00:33:27.980 we also had a lot of,

00:33:29.000 I think we had a total

00:33:29.820 of about 14 or 15 portables,

00:33:33.260 portable classrooms

00:33:34.160 on the outdoors

00:33:34.820 because we had displaced

00:33:35.980 some of the younger kids,

00:33:37.160 3,

00:33:38.640 4,

00:33:39.100 5th,

00:33:39.600 6th grade,

00:33:40.480 and put them in portables

00:33:41.760 so that we had more

00:33:43.040 classroom space

00:33:43.880 because of that increase

00:33:45.420 of size as well.

00:33:46.420 So,

00:33:47.020 you know,

00:33:47.500 I mean,

00:33:48.300 I wasn't personally

00:33:49.340 that much against portables.

00:33:51.240 I kind of think it was

00:33:51.860 a pretty good idea

00:33:53.000 in terms of expanding

00:33:53.880 the school without having

00:33:54.600 to build a new one,

00:33:55.400 but with 14,

00:33:57.040 15 different portables,

00:33:58.440 it kind of becomes

00:33:59.840 a bit of an absurd scene

00:34:00.960 where a lot of what was

00:34:02.200 formerly outdoor yard space

00:34:04.000 for us to play

00:34:04.860 and get active

00:34:05.460 and play tag

00:34:06.280 now became a bunch

00:34:07.480 of these,

00:34:08.120 you know,

00:34:08.600 buildings propped

00:34:09.320 onto the ground

00:34:09.840 and,

00:34:10.640 you know,

00:34:10.900 the whole school

00:34:12.580 becomes,

00:34:13.400 you know,

00:34:14.000 a mess

00:34:15.020 when that many kids,

00:34:17.220 you know,

00:34:17.480 it's not meant

00:34:18.580 to be a university.

00:34:19.840 It's meant to be

00:34:20.380 a elementary school

00:34:21.120 to serve its local community

00:34:22.600 and not meant

00:34:23.260 to serve the globe,

00:34:24.680 unfortunately,

00:34:25.580 although,

00:34:26.180 of course,

00:34:26.480 immigration is a big part

00:34:27.900 of our legacy.

00:34:28.620 I just think we've gone

00:34:30.180 beyond the means

00:34:31.700 of what we can afford.

00:34:34.620 Well beyond.

00:34:36.020 And yeah,

00:34:36.660 I mean,

00:34:37.260 look,

00:34:37.660 we'll see how long

00:34:38.180 this strike lasts for.

00:34:39.700 I'm generally in favor

00:34:41.120 of privatizing everything.

00:34:42.520 It's not so simple

00:34:44.040 with schools,

00:34:45.540 especially elementary schools

00:34:47.200 and stuff.

00:34:47.860 It's a topic

00:34:49.400 we could probably talk

00:34:50.300 for hours alone on.

00:34:52.800 But instead of doing that,

00:34:54.460 I think it's best

00:34:55.540 to just wrap up the show

00:34:56.640 and remember,

00:34:57.420 everything you heard today

00:34:58.220 was off the record.

00:34:59.040 I was there

00:35:04.020 yesterday morning

00:35:04.800 on the hill

00:35:05.420 on the outside.

00:35:06.420 I got in

00:35:07.280 past deployment security

00:35:08.340 when they stopped me

00:35:09.600 for a few minutes

00:35:10.200 and then former colleague

00:35:11.480 MP,

00:35:12.760 Andrew Lawton,

00:35:13.320 helped me up

00:35:13.780 to the stairs

00:35:14.860 so I can get past

00:35:15.660 that blockade

00:35:16.880 of the potential

00:35:18.740 censorship,

00:35:19.320 frankly.

00:35:19.780 But anyhow,

00:35:20.680 not to be petty about it

00:35:21.720 because all the guys

00:35:22.480 were pretty nice

00:35:23.620 with me

00:35:23.880 and as per usual,

00:35:27.260 I asked a question

00:35:28.480 at the PRS press conference

00:35:30.280 that was on originally,

00:35:32.520 crime.

00:35:33.600 The question I asked

00:35:34.660 was his stance

00:35:35.720 on the canola China

00:35:38.660 EV tariff situation.

00:35:40.360 Now,

00:35:40.520 I've heard that he's

00:35:41.900 vouched for support

00:35:43.440 to support the government

00:35:45.080 to support the farmers,

00:35:46.580 help them brace

00:35:47.420 the period of time

00:35:48.200 that they have to deal

00:35:48.880 with these China tariffs

00:35:49.720 and in fact,

00:35:50.500 that we will try not

00:35:51.020 not going to be purchasing

00:35:51.760 nearly as much canola.

00:35:53.620 You know,

00:35:54.160 you see big losses

00:35:54.960 in their very key industry

00:35:56.180 and that industry

00:35:57.600 is primarily key

00:35:58.420 in the West.

00:35:59.640 So you're talking

00:36:00.300 about Saskatchewan,

00:36:01.140 Alberta,

00:36:01.880 even Manitoba

00:36:02.600 and British Columbia

00:36:03.300 and so of course

00:36:04.540 those premiers

00:36:05.020 were advocating

00:36:05.620 and Premier Scott Moe

00:36:07.220 actually over the course

00:36:08.480 of the summer

00:36:08.920 was talking about,

00:36:10.100 you know,

00:36:10.780 urging the government

00:36:11.500 to drop those EV tariffs

00:36:13.180 because,

00:36:14.040 well,

00:36:14.240 in his view at the time,

00:36:15.400 well,

00:36:15.920 you know,

00:36:16.120 if we're going all

00:36:16.760 on this EV game

00:36:18.100 and we're tariffing

00:36:19.180 these EVs

00:36:20.060 that could possibly serve

00:36:21.140 at the marketplace

00:36:21.860 while also

00:36:23.240 causing some strain

00:36:25.400 with our relationship

00:36:26.160 with Beijing

00:36:26.660 to the point

00:36:27.280 where we wouldn't

00:36:27.880 be able to be

00:36:29.220 selling our canola,

00:36:30.360 well,

00:36:30.560 then it seems

00:36:31.280 like an easy trade-off.

00:36:32.260 Now,

00:36:32.760 since September,

00:36:34.100 I think mid last month,

00:36:35.900 he changed his posture

00:36:37.660 on that scenario.

00:36:39.220 He kind of explained

00:36:40.120 how it was a bit

00:36:40.900 more complicated

00:36:41.580 than what he previously thought.

00:36:43.400 so I guess

00:36:44.500 he's adjusted his tone.

00:36:46.080 Smith as well

00:36:46.820 previously

00:36:47.220 held the same view

00:36:47.960 as Moe

00:36:48.480 where she felt

00:36:49.980 that those tariffs

00:36:51.060 should be dropped

00:36:52.020 on Chinese EVs

00:36:53.100 allowing China 1.00

00:36:54.040 to flood the market

00:36:54.640 with cheap EVs

00:36:55.900 like BYD

00:36:56.720 and their models.

00:36:58.440 Very cheap devices,

00:36:59.680 by the way,

00:37:00.040 of course,

00:37:00.420 because they have

00:37:01.020 a completely unfair

00:37:01.780 practice of business.

00:37:03.600 And I guess

00:37:04.880 I wanted to know

00:37:05.560 what Polly Offsense 0.56

00:37:06.300 was on the,

00:37:07.580 first of all,

00:37:08.380 the EV tariffs themselves,

00:37:10.140 but then hear about

00:37:11.460 what he had to say

00:37:12.120 on trade

00:37:12.520 and he told me

00:37:14.080 that he wouldn't want

00:37:15.020 to drop the EV tariffs

00:37:17.040 that he would look

00:37:17.840 for alternative means

00:37:18.860 to support the canola farmers

00:37:20.340 but he just went on

00:37:21.340 on this rampage

00:37:22.120 on Cardi's trade record

00:37:23.700 where he just said

00:37:25.440 that Cardi should

00:37:26.200 lock himself

00:37:26.840 in a room somewhere

00:37:27.940 in Ottawa

00:37:28.620 and not leave

00:37:29.860 and not travel

00:37:30.380 not because he has

00:37:31.180 an issue with the travel

00:37:31.940 but because he has

00:37:32.820 an issue with the result.

00:37:33.700 Every time he gets

00:37:34.540 on a plane,

00:37:35.860 he went to London

00:37:36.760 or the UK twice

00:37:38.260 and the marketplace

00:37:40.600 is still blockaded

00:37:42.480 from Canadian meat production.

00:37:44.560 He went to Europe

00:37:45.620 and he got all these

00:37:46.700 MOIs,

00:37:50.280 no real deal,

00:37:51.800 no real legally binding deal.

00:37:54.740 So wherever he travels,

00:37:56.060 it seems that his results

00:37:57.240 according to Polly Off

00:37:58.400 are lackluster at best.

00:38:00.360 So I guess Polly Off's message

00:38:02.000 is to ground the plane,

00:38:03.800 stay at home

00:38:04.420 and better nothing

00:38:06.400 than what he's been giving

00:38:07.620 thus far.

00:38:09.080 Yeah, every time

00:38:09.900 he travels too,

00:38:10.660 he gives hundreds of millions

00:38:11.760 to some foreign agency

00:38:13.500 or government.

00:38:15.400 That's where we're at

00:38:16.440 in Canada.

00:38:17.700 No prime minister,

00:38:18.960 literally if we had

00:38:19.660 no prime minister,

00:38:20.640 we'd be better off

00:38:21.500 than with the one

00:38:22.580 we do have,

00:38:23.540 which every time

00:38:24.400 he leaves the office

00:38:25.200 basically puts us

00:38:26.720 in a worse position

00:38:27.520 than we were in,

00:38:28.340 which is essentially

00:38:28.860 what Polly Off

00:38:29.320 was saying there.

Juno News - October 04, 2025

BC Conservatives fire Lindsay Shepherd for Expressing her Opinion

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