Juno News - “Common sense legislation” forthcoming

00:00:00.000 a lot of what Alberta deemed common-sense legislation is soon to be introduced in

00:00:15.600 this instance of the province's legislative session when the province was introducing the

00:00:19.940 session they spent half the time talking about the legislation and the other half

00:00:23.620 smack-talking the liberals and the void they've left by suspending parliament of course they

00:00:28.580 also talked about the budget which was released on thursday an albertan minister has resigned due

00:00:34.440 to the ongoing controversy between alberta premier danielle smith and the alberta health services

00:00:39.040 regarding their procurement practices a different minister warned that the liberals risked having a

00:00:44.040 similar failure with a much greater magnitude to the green line lrt with their planned high-speed

00:00:49.260 rail between toronto and quebec city you may have seen the billboard urging albertans to tell the

00:00:54.060 premier to join the usa all that and more on today's episode my name is isaac lamoureux your

00:00:59.360 host of the show and let's hop into that first story now alberta's legislature reconvened on

00:01:04.060 tuesday focusing on introducing what the province is calling common sense legislation while working

00:01:09.380 to fill the void left by the federal government grinding to a halt due to prorogation while the

00:01:14.320 legislation has been trickling in slowly beginning with the budget of course introduced on thursday

00:01:19.220 and will continue to be introduced throughout the session we'll discuss the press conference of

00:01:23.420 government house leader joseph scow introducing the session where he took aim at the feds

00:01:27.440 while scow avoided discussing details of specific bills deferring to upcoming announcements from

00:01:32.620 respective ministers he did hint that the budget would feature amendments to the alberta personal

00:01:37.280 income tax and it did considering one of the ucp government's key campaign promises a tax cut

00:01:42.840 will be implemented in 2025 two years ahead of schedule the provincial government is implementing a new

00:01:48.660 eight percent personal tax bracket for income up to sixty thousand dollars the tax cut is expected to

00:01:54.740 save individual albertans up to 750 in 2025 albertans earning less than sixty thousand dollars per year

00:02:02.280 will see their personal income taxes fall by 20 percent albertans are expected to collectively save

00:02:08.020 1.2 billion dollars in 2025 due to this measure yeah let me know your thoughts about the budget uh in the

00:02:14.320 comments especially considering the baseline values provided in the budget assume a 15 tariff on all

00:02:20.740 goods with 10 tariff on energy and forecast the deficit of 5.2 billion dollars in 2025 26 falling in

00:02:28.240 subsequent years in the low scenario in the budget signaling a decline in revenue 25 tariff would be

00:02:34.640 put on all canadian goods except for energy products which would see 10 tariffs if this were to occur

00:02:40.180 the alberta government projects a deficit of 8.7 billion dollars in 2025 26 which would still fall

00:02:46.140 in the next two years the high scenario assumes no tariffs but the looming uncertainty would come with

00:02:51.380 a higher exchange rate volatility a swing in energy proxies and disruption to the supply chain the high

00:02:57.720 scenario also assumes no retaliatory tariffs from canada resulting in lower inflation growth in spending

00:03:03.360 and more in this scenario the province still predicts a deficit of 2.9 billion dollars in 2025 2026

00:03:10.720 but would almost balance the budget by 2027 28 which would see a deficit of 200 million dollars

00:03:17.200 but now getting back into our other story scow said the legislation will help albertans cope with the

00:03:21.840 rising cost of living he emphasized that this upcoming session is extra significant amid global

00:03:27.760 economic uncertainty he said quote we are in the midst of global uncertainty with geopolitical

00:03:33.280 change and shifting markets and we are saddled with a federal government that's so focused on

00:03:38.120 internal party politics that they seem to have forgotten their duty to canadians forcing provinces

00:03:43.620 to fill the gaps where they have failed while much of the legislation is focused on directly

00:03:48.440 improving albertans living standards scow said that alberta's government will continue to try to ease

00:03:54.140 border and trade tensions with the united states the province will also work to break down

00:03:58.860 inter-provincial trade barriers he said quote we will continue to enact business-friendly policies

00:04:04.660 that attract investment continue our work to refocus the health care system and as wildfire season

00:04:09.300 inches closer we will continue our preparations to protect albertans and communities from the

00:04:14.000 impacts of wildfires scow added that some liberal cabinet members are finally realizing the importance

00:04:19.200 of an east-west pipeline after denying it for years the house leader said quote we have a federal government

00:04:25.160 that has been missing in action for quite some time who has failed to understand or at least fail to

00:04:29.500 respond to the needs of our province as we see the turmoil and the self-interest happening within

00:04:34.420 the liberal party we're not going to let that distract us from defending alberta's best interests

00:04:39.380 alberta's government unveiled nine of the approximately 20 pieces of legislation expected in the spring

00:04:44.840 session the upcoming legislation includes the automobile insurance act the financial statutes amendment act

00:04:50.120 and the red tape reduction statutes amendment act alberta minister of mental health and addiction

00:04:54.900 dan williams said that legislation for involuntary treatment for drug addicts is forthcoming let's

00:05:00.300 watch that clip here as the premier laid out our government has done significant work to build a

00:05:04.320 recovery model now leading the decrease in opioid fatalities across the country with year over

00:05:09.720 year of 39 percent decrease a 300 percent higher decrease than any other jurisdiction in canada but

00:05:16.080 this is not enough for those who are not able or willing to voluntarily find their way into treatment we had

00:05:22.180 one individual last year who overdosed 186 times as was reported by the provincial health care numbers

00:05:27.580 we believe it's likely more often than that because not every single overdose is reported and tracked for

00:05:33.460 an individual the last thing that I want to see or anybody wants to see is that be one of our family members

00:05:39.580 or friends and it be 187th time that takes that individual's life we will not sit back while we watch this happen to Albertans to our loved ones in our communities and to loved ones in our family who are suffering from this deadly disease of addiction

00:05:53.860 our government has made a commitment to bring forward compassionate intervention and that legislation is coming soon it would create a process and a path for a family member guardian for health care professionals and for law enforcement or peace officers to intervene

00:06:02.980 and request treatment for somebody who's an addiction of their or because of their substance use has become a danger to themselves or others with the highest civil standards we will move forward with legislation that allows society to care for and intervene for those who are most affected the previous legislative session saw lawmakers focus on protecting personal autonomy property rights and legal firearm ownership for Albertans the province of

00:06:32.960 also introduced sweeping changes to local election laws last spring one of the changes will be piloted in the upcoming municipal elections in Edmonton and Calgary which will introduce political parties at the municipal level so hopping into our next story here Alberta's Minister of Infrastructure Peter Guthrie resigned from cabinet Tuesday morning citing concerns over the provincial government's procurement practices and a lack of accountability within Premier Daniel Smith's government Guthrie announced his resignation in a letter addressed to constituents stating he had taken steps to address procurement

00:07:02.840 inconsistencies across government departments but found little support from cabinet

00:07:07.280 he wrote quote in recent months I have voiced concerns regarding the government of Alberta's procurement practices across all departments as infrastructure minister Guthrie said he had insight into procurement processes and had recommended creating a financial oversight committee to review and advise on all major government contracts he said quote if implemented such a committee could have been instrumental in preventing some of the issues we are now seeing in Alberta Health

00:07:32.780 adding adding unfortunately the majority of cabinet does not appear to share my concern Guthrie said his resignation would allow him to continue holding the government accountable as a private member emphasizing that Albertans expect fiscal responsibility and transparency

00:07:39.780 another thing he wrote was quote it is essential that the public has confidence in its government and its processes we were elected to be open transparent fiscally responsible and above all honest with Albertans Alberta Premier Daniel Smith told True North that she had accepted Guthrie's resignation despite resigning as the province's infrastructure minister Guthrie will remain a UCP MLL

00:08:09.760 for Airdrie Cochran he said he looks forward to continuing serving Albertans his resignation comes amid heightened scrutiny over Alberta Health Services procurement which has led to an investigation by Auditor General Doug Wiley former AHS CEO Athana Mensa Paulus who was dismissed in January has launched a $1.7 million wrongful dismissal lawsuit alleging political interference in health contracts Mensa Paulus claims that government officials pressured her to approve contracts for private surgical facilities and that

00:08:39.520 Smith's former chief of staff Marshal Smith was involved in the process the lawsuit also raises concerns over the province's $70 million contract with MH Care Medical a company that secured a deal to import pain medication from Turkey

00:08:46.520 Danielle Smith denied any wrongdoing stating earlier this month that the allegations should be reviewed transparently and expeditiously she confirmed that her government had requested both an internal AHS review and an independent audit by the Auditor General while pausing all new surgical facility contracts until the findings are released and

00:09:09.520 She previously said quote as premier I was not involved in any wrongdoing any insinuation to the contrary is false baseless and defamatory

00:09:18.520 Smith told True North this week that she has also directed her senior civil service to find a third party to investigate what happened with the AHS procurement process independently from the provincial government

00:09:28.520 She said that she also hopes to determine why AHS never brought any substantive evidence or documentation to the provincial government despite months of requests

00:09:35.520 She said quote I want to reiterate that I was not involved in these procurement decisions nor am I aware of any wrongdoing with regards to the issues raised by the former CEO my actions were straightforward the government made a policy decision to expand surgical facilities to tackle the critical issue of wait times and we all trusted that direction would be acted upon and implemented by AHS

00:09:47.520 Auditor General Doug Wiley previously confirmed that he had begun reviewing the procurement and contracting process at the AHS his reports will be publicly available after they are tabled in the legislative assembly

00:10:06.520 Let me know in the comments how you think that might unfold also on Thursday Daniel Smith named a new infrastructure minister that being Martin Long now hopping into a story that came out at the end of last week Alberta's Minister of Transportation Devin Dreschen warned that the federal government could be running headfirst into a failure akin to Calgary's green line LRT with the new high-speed rail plan between Toronto and Quebec City Dreschen had previously called the Calgary project a quote multi-billion dollar

00:10:36.520 He blamed that project on former Calgary mayor and current provincial NDP leader Naheed Nenshi

00:10:42.520 Dreschen wrote in a letter on September 3rd quote

00:10:44.520 To be clear we recognize your and the current council's efforts to try and salvage the untenable position you've been placed in by the former mayor and his utter failure to competently oversee the planning design and implementation of a cost-effective transit plan that could have served hundreds of thousands of Calgarians in the city's southern and northern communities

00:11:04.520 He said it was encouraging to see the Liberals supporting mega infrastructure projects between provinces but warned that not enough preparatory work had been done in advance of the announcements

00:11:13.520 Dreschen told True North quote the federal government doesn't seem to have done the proper homework for this 80 billion dollar high-speed rail project

00:11:21.520 When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the project he said Canada would only invest 3.9 billion dollars over six years on top of the 371.8 million provided in budget 2024

00:11:31.520 However according to CBC Transport Canada said that a high-speed rail between Toronto and Quebec City could actually cost up to 80 billion dollars

00:11:38.520 Franco Terrizano federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation said quote

00:11:43.520 Trudeau just put taxpayers on the hook for 4 billion dollars for the planning of this boondoggle

00:11:48.520 How much will this actually cost taxpayers?

00:11:50.520 Transport Minister Anita Anad couldn't even say how much it would cost she said the following

00:11:55.520 But do you have a rough estimate as to the price tag? I mean are we talking 15 billion, 100 billion, 200 billion?

00:12:02.520 Like I think if you want to get buy-in from people they need to understand just how much this is going to cost

00:12:07.520 Don't you?

00:12:08.520 Those figures will come JP remember we have just announced the winning bidder

00:12:12.520 Right now that bidder is negotiating a contract with the Crown Corporation Alto

00:12:18.520 And once that contract is negotiated and finalized

00:12:22.520 And the plans for building and laying that track have been drawn up

00:12:28.520 We will have more to say on the price tag

00:12:31.520 But again the option that we're choosing is to proceed prudently

00:12:37.520 And to ensure that we're using taxpayer dollars efficiently

00:12:42.520 And if we were not doing that we would not be doing right by the Canadian public

00:12:47.520 So 3.9 billion dollars to undertake the co-development phase is the right process to take

00:12:54.520 And then we will come out with how much the building of this project is going to take in the long term

00:13:02.520 Let's not forget 35 billion dollars added to the Canadian economy annually as a result of high speed rail

00:13:09.520 Is going to be the finished product and the consequence of undertaking this process overall

00:13:16.520 The high speed rail network named Alto claims on its website that it will save money in 5 key areas

00:13:21.520 These include reducing greenhouse gas emissions in cars on the road

00:13:24.520 Even under the best case scenario the claimed savings total only 49 billion dollars roughly half of the projected cost

00:13:31.520 Trudeau claimed Alto the largest infrastructure project ever in Canada

00:13:36.520 Will boost GDP by up to 35 billion dollars annually and create over 51,000 jobs

00:13:42.520 The 1,000 kilometer rail network between Toronto and Quebec City is currently in the consultation phase

00:13:47.520 The subsequent development phase is expected to last around 5 years

00:13:51.520 Alto will be made up of different phases forming a rail network

00:13:54.520 Each phase is expected to take between 5 and 7 years to build

00:13:58.520 Let me know in the comments if you think we'll ever actually see this train built

00:14:01.520 Calgary's Green Line LRT project was initially promised to be a 46 kilometer line with 29 stations costing 4.65 billion dollars

00:14:09.520 The project's distance was cut numerous times following that

00:14:12.520 And it ended up being slashed by 78 percent

00:14:16.520 The number of stations fell by more than 75 percent

00:14:19.520 Despite these significant reductions in size, the project's costs skyrocketed

00:14:23.520 Dreeshan said the cuts came because the city council failed to do any of the proper costing, engineering, or planning

00:14:29.520 At best, it was drawn up on a napkin, he told True North

00:14:33.520 Dreeshan then had some advice for the feds

00:14:34.520 He said, quote,

00:14:35.520 Properly planning first and building quickly after is the key for these type of projects

00:14:40.520 Despite the problems with Calgary's LRT project, the province has big plans province-wide for passenger rail

00:14:46.520 The province proposed a commuter rail at the end of April 2024 to connect the province

00:14:51.520 The rail plan aims to be completed by summer 2025

00:14:54.520 A 15-year delivery plan will be presented and the project aims to be completed by 2040

00:14:59.520 Hopping into our last story today with a quickie

00:15:01.520 A provocative sign reignited the debate over Alberta's future and fueled backlash from local officials

00:15:07.520 A bold new billboard in Bowdoin, Alberta is turning heads and stirring controversy

00:15:11.520 The sign reads, Tell Danielle, let join the USA

00:15:14.520 And features a photo of Premier Daniel Smith with US President Donald Trump

00:15:18.520 The photo was taken during a recent visit to President Trump's Florida residence in Mar-a-Lago earlier this year

00:15:24.520 Funded by the America Fund, a group linked to former WEG-SIT Alberta members, the billboard pushes the idea of Alberta breaking away from Canada

00:15:31.520 Yeah, I thought I saw the billboard in person, but I must have confused it for when I saw it on X because I wasn't around Bowdoin recently

00:15:38.520 Let me know if you saw the sign though

00:15:40.520 Local leaders aren't having it

00:15:41.520 Bowdoin's mayor swiftly distracted the town from the message saying, quote

00:15:45.520 The community is not happy about it in any way, shape or form

00:15:48.520 The America Fund argues Alberta would be better off as an American state

00:15:52.520 Blaming Ottawa's policies of blocking pipelines and printing money, causing inflation, and the cost of living crisis

00:15:58.520 Smith said the following about the sign

00:16:01.520 I see no enthusiasm for that notion

00:16:04.520 What I have seen is the opposite

00:16:06.520 I have seen so many Canadians and Albertans in particular reaching out and saying, we've got to put Canada first

00:16:15.520 We've got to tear down inter-provincial trade barriers, we've got to find new markets, we've got to support each other in building new pipeline infrastructure

00:16:21.520 I've seen a sea change in attitudes across the entire country

00:16:25.520 I'm very, very encouraged by that

00:16:27.520 So I don't think there's a lot of enthusiasm for what the billboard says or what the president has been talking about

00:16:34.520 And that's why I say, let's continue to be the US's best trading partner

00:16:39.520 Let's continue to be a sovereign nation

00:16:41.520 And let's get to talking about the things that are going to make us both stronger

00:16:44.520 I think that there's a real opportunity for us to talk about a North American fortress

00:16:50.520 That Canada and the US together, we can make sure that we've got energy security, national security, international security, food security

00:16:57.520 And working in partnership together with the building on the kind of trade relationships we've had in the past

00:17:03.520 I think that that's the pathway forward

00:17:05.520 Economic union like the EU?

00:17:07.520 Well, you know, talk to anybody in the EU, they don't much love Brussels

00:17:12.520 So I think that what I do like is that we have built through various phases

00:17:18.520 Whether it was the Auto Pact, followed by Free Trade Agreement, followed by NAFTA, followed by CUSMA

00:17:22.520 We have a virtually tax, tariff-free relationship with the United States

00:17:27.520 I think it's something like 99% tariff-free

00:17:30.520 And so are there ways that we can improve that mobility, buy more goods from the US, have them buy more goods from us

00:17:36.520 I'm open to talking about that

00:17:38.520 And I hope we can get onto that part of the conversation very soon, because that's a lot more constructive

00:17:42.520 Tell me if you agree with Smith, or whether she's burying her head in the sand here

00:17:46.520 The sign has reignited long-standing frustrations over federal control, energy regulations, and equalization payments

00:17:52.520 Separateist political movements have existed in Alberta since the 1930s

00:17:56.520 And spiked during the 70s when Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau imposed his devastating national energy plan

00:18:02.520 The movement picked up steam again when Pierre's son Justin Trudeau was elected in 2015

00:18:07.520 In 2017, he stated that he wanted to phase out the use of Alberta oil sands

00:18:13.520 And since then has introduced anti-energy legislation, including Bill C-69

00:18:19.520 Professor Jordan B. Peterson recently wrote in the National Post that Canada has to offer Alberta a better deal than what President Trump is offering

00:18:27.520 He also said the following

00:18:29.520 Enough pathetic celebrity wannabe pandering to the international elites of Davos

00:18:35.520 And for good measure the utterly degenerate UN

00:18:39.520 Enough overt and covert attempt to destroy the basis of the economy of my fair and hard-working province

00:18:46.520 Enough delaying critical infrastructure development and rejection of international trade offers for natural gas, oil, and coal

00:18:55.520 Enough treatment of the resource economy upon which Quebec in particular so unacceptably depends as a moral pariah

00:19:04.520 Enough idiot green moralizing 1.00

00:19:08.520 Enough carbon tax

00:19:09.520 Enough bloody net zero

00:19:12.520 And how about this?

00:19:14.520 Enough multiculturalism and destruction of the Canadian identity 1.00

00:19:18.520 Why belong so expensively to a country that despises its own history, economy, and people?

00:19:28.520 Make us a better offer and quickly, my Canadian friends, or Trump's tariffs will be the least of your problems

00:19:35.520 Are Peterson's concerns more accurate of Albertans' residents' feelings? Let me know in the comments

00:19:41.520 That wraps up this week's show

00:19:42.520 My name's Isaac Lameru, your host of the Alberta Roundup

00:19:45.520 Have a great weekend

00:19:46.520 Thank you and God bless

00:19:47.520 May Alberta prosper, strong and free

00:19:49.520 Welcome, my son of quelques Wortes

00:19:55.520 Thank you and God bless

00:19:57.520 My name's Greg

00:19:58.520 You can tell us that this was a great question

00:19:59.520 I was born in меня

00:20:00.520 I'm

Juno News - March 02, 2025

“Common sense legislation” forthcoming

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