Juno News - December 23, 2025


EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW： Dreeshen lays out Alberta’s transportation reset for 2026

Topics
bike lanes and speed limits truck safety and training changes
Mentioned
Dresen Isaac Nahid Nenshi Bill C-63 Dushin Farkas Smith Merry
Smith demands apology over Skate Canada’s “disgraceful” Alberta ban True North's Daily Brief Christmas special

Episode Stats


Length

11 minutes

Words per minute

189.69

Word count

2,191

Sentence count

103

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode, I sit down with Transportation Minister Shannon Dushin to talk about the past year, the upcoming year, and what's in store for the new year. We talk about bike lanes, lane reductions, and speed limits in Alberta's big cities, as well as the trucking industry.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.480 So, Minister Dushin, thanks for joining me today.
00:00:02.700 It's a great pleasure to get a year-end interview with you,
00:00:05.380 especially considering how active the Transportation Ministry was this year
00:00:10.860 and potentially going into the next few years.
00:00:13.560 So we'll just get started right away here.
00:00:15.920 I was curious, Minister, we've seen a lot of major debates this year
00:00:19.160 about bike lanes, lane reductions, and speed limits in Alberta's big cities.
00:00:22.860 So do you believe that municipalities are catching on,
00:00:25.560 or is the province preparing further legislation to set clearer standards
00:00:29.360 for road use and traffic flow?
00:00:32.060 Yeah, well, first off, I'd just like to thank you, Isaac,
00:00:34.220 and obviously year-end, getting close to Christmas.
00:00:36.320 Merry Christmas to you and your family.
00:00:38.440 And I think with the municipal elections that happened in Alberta,
00:00:41.020 I think there's a lot better conversations going on
00:00:44.400 when it regards to bike lanes and obviously speed limit increases.
00:00:49.180 We did a survey across the province that actually wraps up on December 12th.
00:00:53.680 We've had over 60,000 respondents already talk about rural divided highways
00:00:58.100 that are engineered for 120 to be set at 120.
00:01:01.560 And the preliminary results showed really strong support across the province
00:01:05.640 for an increase in speed limits.
00:01:07.540 And regarding bike lanes, I've had really good conversations
00:01:10.700 with Mayor Farkas in Calgary about looking at the outrageous bike lanes
00:01:15.180 that just really don't make any sense.
00:01:17.120 They're congesting certain roads and having negative impacts for adjacent roads,
00:01:21.380 and they're just not being used by cyclists in the city.
00:01:24.600 So I think there's a lot of good movement on both of those fronts in 2026.
00:01:31.180 And I guess just taking it a step further on bike lanes,
00:01:33.960 given how much we've reported on them at True North,
00:01:35.960 obviously several municipalities, as you mentioned,
00:01:38.220 have reduced vehicle lanes or added bike lanes and other measures,
00:01:41.780 affecting traffic without broad public support.
00:01:44.980 Like, for example, where I live in Delton,
00:01:46.660 there was a clear majority support in opposition.
00:01:49.320 So should the province have more authority
00:01:51.600 over general transportation in the cities?
00:01:54.420 Well, we've seen over 400,000 new drivers in Alberta in the last six years.
00:02:00.460 And something that we are going to be looking at in the new year
00:02:03.060 of introducing legislation and to be regarding bike lanes
00:02:07.320 and looking at traffic impact assessments,
00:02:10.600 more details that go in.
00:02:12.600 Obviously, to your argument, where you live might have went by your house
00:02:15.960 when we toured up there a few months ago,
00:02:18.820 that the municipalities aren't having that local impact consultation.
00:02:23.580 The City of Edmonton back in the day said,
00:02:25.500 well, they in a previous budget had talked about X amount of dollars
00:02:28.840 being put into bike lanes,
00:02:30.500 but it wasn't actually at the community level
00:02:32.520 and actually at the street level.
00:02:34.240 So I hope that that is a process that changes municipally.
00:02:37.920 But we are looking as a province to have legislation
00:02:41.400 so that bike lanes are put in logical places
00:02:43.980 and that you can just do proper city planning going forward.
00:02:47.720 And moving over to truckers,
00:02:49.260 which you've done immense work on this year,
00:02:51.800 obviously Alberta cracked down on questionable class one driving schools. 1.00
00:02:55.940 And so what further reforms are coming to ensure
00:02:58.660 commercial trucking training is safe, credible and consistent?
00:03:02.820 Yeah, well, you're right.
00:03:03.720 And hats off to my department for going in and auditing
00:03:07.280 the truck driving training schools and trucking companies.
00:03:10.880 We shut down five truck training schools here,
00:03:14.940 driver training schools in the province.
00:03:16.400 We shut down 13 trucking companies that were fraudulent
00:03:20.600 and just were unsafe.
00:03:22.600 So that, I think, is a good start to try to rebuild confidence
00:03:25.320 in the trucking industry.
00:03:27.560 And we also just recently made a change
00:03:30.180 that if you are a truck driver and you get into an accident
00:03:32.880 and you get fired from your job,
00:03:35.480 you could kind of hide through the cracks
00:03:37.660 of having that accident not show up on your driver's abstract.
00:03:40.700 So we've changed that rule now
00:03:41.980 so that if a truck driver, say, runs into a provincial bridge,
00:03:46.500 that that accident lasts with them
00:03:49.280 and moves on to the next trucking company
00:03:51.700 that would pick them up
00:03:52.380 so they know the type of driver that's getting behind their wheel.
00:03:55.720 And are you planning any further changes to the trucking industry
00:03:59.340 or do you feel that you've kind of done what needed to be done?
00:04:02.000 We are looking at stricter penalties and fines,
00:04:05.980 something that we're working with other ministries in the new year.
00:04:09.840 It could be part of our Traffic Safety Act changes
00:04:12.900 to clamp down further on the trucking industry.
00:04:15.440 And we're also looking at jurisdictions around North America,
00:04:18.520 what they're doing to make sure that their roads are safer.
00:04:21.260 And again, truckers, they're amazing drivers out there
00:04:24.360 and they used to be the best drivers on the road.
00:04:27.880 But, and there are still great truck drivers out there,
00:04:30.760 but it's these bad ones that are giving the industry a bad look.
00:04:35.720 Yeah, and you mentioned briefly the recent survey that you did,
00:04:39.020 which obviously had tremendous success
00:04:40.860 on potential highway and trucking changes.
00:04:43.140 So is there anything you'd want to highlight from that survey?
00:04:45.560 And more specifically, do you have any future surveys planned
00:04:48.680 and what would they address or potentially change?
00:04:50.940 Yeah, well, we're encouraging Albertans.
00:04:53.280 There's still time to go out and do the survey.
00:04:55.860 Go run until December 12th.
00:04:57.660 Some preliminary results, though,
00:04:59.420 about 60,000 Albertans had signed on one of the larger surveys
00:05:03.300 that the government's done.
00:05:04.720 And over 70% supported or supportive of 120 on rural divided highways
00:05:09.460 that were engineered to be that speed,
00:05:11.600 as well as extreme support for having a dedicated passing lane.
00:05:16.680 So if there's three lanes or more, having trucks, large trucks,
00:05:19.720 not being able to pass in the far left lane.
00:05:21.740 I think the last time I saw it was like 96%.
00:05:24.060 So it's good to see that Albertans are obviously validating this type of work
00:05:29.600 and looking forward to enacting those changes
00:05:32.200 and giving Alberta drivers what they expect and want out on the roads.
00:05:36.840 Yeah, did you have any future surveys planned and address?
00:05:41.100 We're always open for new ideas.
00:05:43.580 We don't sit on our hands here in transportation economic corridors.
00:05:46.940 We're always trying to improve the driving experience for Albertans.
00:05:50.420 And I think with the possibility of changes to the Traffic Safety Act,
00:05:54.180 there'll be a lot of measures that just improve the driving experience
00:05:56.720 here in the province.
00:05:58.280 And shifting it over to federal policy,
00:06:00.560 I'm curious whether any environmental approvals, emission mandates,
00:06:03.700 or other regulations have slowed or complicated
00:06:06.100 any transportation projects this year or even going forward.
00:06:09.500 Well, it's interesting.
00:06:10.440 When you look at Highway 686 in northern Alberta,
00:06:13.760 we have proposed and worked with the three First Nations
00:06:16.160 just west of Fort McMurray to extend Highway 686 essentially all the way
00:06:21.120 to Grand Prairie to Peerless Trout Lake and cross to the west.
00:06:25.080 And the Federal Impact Assessment Act, Bill C-69 from the federal government,
00:06:29.360 that road would have had to gone through that malaise of approvals
00:06:34.320 that would just never, ever happen.
00:06:35.380 So it's good to see that the federal government is stepping down.
00:06:39.460 Premier Smith's done an amazing job to have the federal liberal government
00:06:42.820 almost erase the entire Trudeau decade of nine bad laws.
00:06:47.780 We've got seven out of nine, which is great.
00:06:49.740 And the Federal Impact Assessment Act is one of them.
00:06:51.960 So we think that project now, obviously, with that being gone,
00:06:55.360 is something that we can see construction on real soon.
00:06:58.820 And obviously, this legislative session is just wrapping up.
00:07:01.700 But looking at forthcoming legislations in the future sessions,
00:07:05.280 are there any or what are the most key transportation-related bills
00:07:09.100 that could be coming forward?
00:07:10.500 Well, the Transportation Safety Act hasn't been changed in quite some time.
00:07:14.200 So we're doing lots of draft work to introduce something,
00:07:17.900 hopefully in the spring.
00:07:19.240 But obviously, we're doing budget deliberations as well.
00:07:21.680 Our budget is going to come in the end of February.
00:07:24.160 So pretty much right now until February is budget time, budget deliberations,
00:07:28.620 going through Treasury Board, trying to make sure that all departments
00:07:31.920 have the right capital funding as well as operating funding.
00:07:36.140 And in transportation, that results into plows out in the winter
00:07:39.900 to new bridges and roads that Albertans can see and enjoy
00:07:44.320 and just have a safer driving experience.
00:07:46.240 So there's a lot of work leading up to the budget.
00:07:48.660 And in the next legislative session, that will start in February.
00:07:51.260 And looking back on this year, Minister, I'm curious what maybe
00:07:55.120 the single biggest transportation challenge was
00:07:57.680 and whether that changed your approach in any way heading into the new year.
00:08:01.140 Well, I think the biggest challenge was keeping track of all the projects.
00:08:04.460 We have over 876 projects across the province.
00:08:08.500 And that's everything from roads to bridges to water infrastructure
00:08:11.880 to grants going out to municipalities.
00:08:14.200 So there was a tremendous amount of construction all across the province.
00:08:19.060 And making sure that we have a close eye to make sure that the engineering is done
00:08:22.860 in the proper time, the construction was on time and on budget.
00:08:26.500 That always seems to be a big challenge.
00:08:30.780 But, you know, like I said before, hats off to the department and my team
00:08:34.140 to make sure that we could get all these construction projects done.
00:08:37.940 And I guess if you had one clear message for Albertans going into the new year,
00:08:42.180 what would it be?
00:08:42.820 It would be that, obviously, this government is investing in Alberta,
00:08:46.700 not just in urban centres with the large LRT projects
00:08:50.300 and the possibility, obviously, of a new passenger rail system.
00:08:55.140 The passenger rail plan is going to be out in the new year
00:08:57.720 of how LRTs in Edmonton and Calgary can connect to one another
00:09:00.880 and have the private sector build that infrastructure.
00:09:03.860 But to know that rural Alberta is something that we obviously care about.
00:09:07.980 The resource wealth in Alberta, the $15 billion in royalties
00:09:11.360 that we collect as a province, comes from rural Alberta.
00:09:14.340 But that then means we have to be investing in rural Alberta
00:09:16.940 to make sure that we can get those products to market,
00:09:19.220 as well as make sure that the people that live in rural Alberta
00:09:22.000 have a safe road network to live, play, and make sure that their families are safe.
00:09:28.080 So that, I think, is the big challenge going into 2026,
00:09:30.840 is make sure that we can keep up with the growth,
00:09:33.280 as well as expand and get ready for an Alberta everybody can be proud of.
00:09:37.600 Yeah, and speaking quickly on LRT projects, Minister,
00:09:39.920 it feels like we haven't talked about the green line in a few months,
00:09:43.000 which is kind of funny considering how much or how big it was in the news a few months ago.
00:09:48.580 So I'm just curious where that's at
00:09:50.080 and if the province is maybe going to support the next phases of the green line
00:09:54.620 and anything else about, I guess, LRT transportation province-wide.
00:09:58.940 Yeah, it's amazing.
00:10:00.040 All the politics of the green line when Nahid Nenshi, now the NDP leader,
00:10:03.720 when he was mayor, he had this big grandiose plan,
00:10:06.580 got federal and provincial funding,
00:10:08.200 but then obviously couldn't design it or get it built.
00:10:10.640 And it was just years and years and years of failure from Nahid Nenshi when he was mayor.
00:10:15.240 And it took this government to actually look at the project,
00:10:18.600 to find out what was realistic,
00:10:20.280 and to actually get shelves in the ground and to get it built.
00:10:22.600 And I'm just, I'm so glad to see,
00:10:24.860 I think there's about a half a dozen contracts out right now.
00:10:26.920 Construction is underway.
00:10:29.220 The green line is actually being built finally after 10 years of delay.
00:10:32.740 So it's, that is nice to see.
00:10:34.300 That's probably why it's not in the media enough anymore,
00:10:37.760 because obviously there's good news on the green line
00:10:40.620 and this government working with the city of Calgary
00:10:42.740 to get it built for Calgary commuters.
00:10:45.280 Yeah, Minister Dresen, was there anything else
00:10:46.760 I haven't asked or covered that you'd like to say?
00:10:48.840 No, I just say, you know, overall, it's, you know,
00:10:52.460 the capital plan is always a tricky part of the budget
00:10:55.260 because obviously with a huge population, population surge,
00:10:58.920 we're seeing new schools being built at record numbers,
00:11:02.120 obviously investments in healthcare and new hospital towers.
00:11:05.540 So those are obviously big, expensive capital projects
00:11:08.420 that, that do dip out of the same pool
00:11:11.440 as, as transportation capital projects.
00:11:13.260 So it's always a bit of an arm wrestle and treasure board
00:11:15.620 to make sure that transportation can get
00:11:17.560 its capital infrastructure funding.
00:11:19.440 But that's, that's something that we'll be hammering out
00:11:21.940 over the next few months.
00:11:23.300 All right.
00:11:23.500 Thank you so much, Minister Dresen,
00:11:24.680 for the work you've done this year
00:11:26.040 and best of luck going into 2026.
00:11:28.160 Awesome.
00:11:28.500 Well, I appreciate it.
00:11:29.160 And I'll need it.
00:11:29.640 And thank you so much, Isaac.
00:11:30.820 And Merry Christmas to you.
00:11:32.260 You as well.
00:11:32.680 Thank you.