Juno News - First North American Pope Leo XIV elected to lead the Catholic Church

00:00:00.000 After a two-day conclave, the first-ever North American Pope, Leo XIV, has emerged as the

00:00:11.280 leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Experts in constitutional law have affirmed that First

00:00:16.800 Nations treaty rights would be respected if Alberta separated from Canada, but added that

00:00:21.540 they have no veto power over the province's decision. Elections Canada revealed that over

00:00:26.760 800 ballots went uncounted after a returning officer mistakenly left them behind in a Metro

00:00:33.160 Vancouver office. Hello candidates, Friday May 9th, and this is the True North Daily Brief. I'm

00:00:38.940 Kosman Jirja. And I'm Noah Jarvis. We've got you covered with all the news you need to know.

00:00:44.940 Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.

00:00:50.160 In a historic occasion for the Catholic Church, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was named the

00:01:00.480 next Bishop of Rome after Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church gathered for a two-day conclave.

00:01:07.520 Cardinal Robert Prevost took the papal name of Leo XIV. He served as Prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops

00:01:15.800 and has become the first U.S. and North American Pope in history. Prevost is 69 years old and was

00:01:23.360 born in Chicago, Illinois, who also served as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin

00:01:29.840 America since 2023. The announcement of Pope Leo XIV was made from the Logia of Blessings of St. Peter's

00:01:38.480 Basilica by Cardinal Proto-Deacon Dominique Mamberti, who declared the Latin phrase,

00:01:45.020 quote, Habemus Papam, we have a Pope. The conclave featured 133 cardinal electors and concluded

00:01:53.420 swiftly with the College of Cardinals reaching the required two-thirds majority for a new Bishop of

00:01:59.340 Rome. The decision was confirmed as white smoke billowed from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel

00:02:05.300 in Vatican City on Thursday. Pope Leo XIV appeared through the window of St. Peter's Basilica to speak

00:02:13.180 to the faithful public and deliver his first apostolic blessing. Pope Leo XIV is a member

00:02:19.040 of the Order of St. Augustine. Pope Leo XIV will lead over 1.3 billion Catholics globally, including

00:02:27.380 nearly 11 million Catholics in Canada, according to the 2021 census. Catholic pilgrims and onlookers

00:02:35.400 gathered in St. Peter's Square, many of whom waited in anticipation and prayer since the conclave began.

00:02:41.640 The quick election of the new Pope follows two Popes in a row who have been elected on the second day

00:02:47.540 of the conclave, the previous Pope being Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Francis was Pope for nearly

00:02:56.920 12 years and passed away on April 21, 2025. So the last few Popes have been elected in quick succession.

00:03:05.840 We saw only a two-day conclave before a new Pope was settled, and it truly is a momentous historical

00:03:15.740 occasion with the first Pope from North America and the United States ever being elected. But we also know

00:03:23.740 that Pope Leo XIV does have ties to Latin America, where, as we all know, Pope Francis originated from

00:03:32.760 as the first Pope from that continent. But Noah, what else do we know about Pope Leo XIV by this point?

00:03:40.940 Yeah, so as you said, Pope Leo XIV, formerly Robert Prevost, is an American who did a lot of work in Latin America,

00:03:50.320 specifically in Peru. And it seems as if, like Francis, who also did a lot of work in that area of the world,

00:03:57.280 Prevost is going to continue the legacy of Pope Francis. Pope Francis is really known for being a bit less

00:04:06.960 of a traditionalist Pope and more of a reforming type of Pope. He decided to show more deference toward

00:04:13.920 the LGBTQ community, inviting a group of transgender people to have lunch with him in the Vatican.

00:04:23.880 And he also decided that same-sex relationships could be blessed, so long as it was not within 1.00

00:04:32.060 a liturgical sense. And he also decided during his time as Pope that he would show greater deference,

00:04:40.800 greater respect to those who are migrating, and to criticize right-wing populist leaders

00:04:47.400 for their anti-migration policies. So it seems as if Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, will continue

00:04:57.180 on with this legacy. And it was speculated that certain other candidates for Pope might be chosen

00:05:04.160 who would take on a different direction with the papacy. For example, Peter Turkson, Ghanaian cardinal,

00:05:11.220 who would have been the first black pope, was considered to be much more on the conservative

00:05:17.220 side, especially with his views toward the LGBTQ community. And there was also a Canadian candidate

00:05:26.100 for the papacy named Mark Uwe, who was also considered to be more on the conservative side,

00:05:33.360 although he did have some more modern beliefs. So I think this is going to be a day that many Catholics 0.99

00:05:40.780 will remember for years. It is certainly one of the first selections of the pope that I will

00:05:46.500 remember. I think I kind of remember when Francis was chosen to be the next pope, although I was a

00:05:52.240 bit too young to understand the details and the inner workings of how that happened. But this is

00:05:57.740 definitely a momentous day and occasion for Catholics worldwide. And I think that Catholics are going to

00:06:05.080 be celebrating that a new pope has been chosen and that this thousand years long tradition and institution

00:06:13.720 remains to be as solid, as strong as it seems that it has been ever before.

00:06:23.080 Despite loud opposition from First Nations leaders and the Alberta NDP, legal experts say Indigenous

00:06:29.080 communities would not have the power to veto an Alberta independence referendum even if treaties

00:06:34.500 remain intact. Canadian Constitutional Foundation legal counsel Josh DeHaas told True North that while

00:06:40.360 Alberta cannot unilaterally secede from Canada, First Nations do not possess veto power over a

00:06:45.900 referendum or subsequent negotiations. DeHaas said, quote, there is nothing I'm aware of that would

00:06:51.780 suggest that First Nations people could prevent those discussions from taking place. Even where

00:06:56.320 treaties exist within Canada, the law is clear that it is the crown that is sovereign and holds

00:07:01.640 underlying title to all of the land. He said the crown acts through the Alberta and federal

00:07:06.680 governments, meaning those two parties would be the ones at the negotiating table. DeHaas cited

00:07:11.560 the Supreme Court of Canada's 1998 Quebec secession reference, noting that a successful referendum

00:07:17.580 on a clear question would trigger a constitutional obligation for Ottawa and the provinces to negotiate

00:07:23.020 the terms of separation. The legal clarity comes after an emergency meeting of Treaty 6, 7, and 8

00:07:29.060 chiefs on Tuesday where Indigenous leaders denounced Alberta Premier Daniel Smith and Bill 54,

00:07:34.420 the legislation that lowers the bar for citizen-initiated referendums, potentially enabling a 2026 vote

00:07:40.700 on Alberta's independence. Chief Kelsey Jocko of Cold Lake First Nations said, quote, she has no right

00:07:47.300 talking the way she is because we are treaty people. We're not going anywhere. Our treaties predate the

00:07:52.340 province. Other chiefs accused Smith of stoking separatist flames and ignoring Indigenous rights.

00:07:57.820 However, Smith said her government is still many steps away from any potential vote and would not

00:08:02.920 support any referendum question that infringes on treaty rights. Smith said, quote, you can't vote away

00:08:08.600 treaty rights. You can't vote away Indigenous rights. You can't have a referendum on things that are

00:08:13.900 enshrined in our various constitutional conventions and laws and court decisions. While Smith stated

00:08:18.980 that her government would not be responsible for bringing forward an independence vote, she emphasized

00:08:23.740 that she would respect a citizen-led initiative if it met the 177,000 signature threshold under the

00:08:30.240 new legislation. So, Cosmin, there's still a lot of legal questions that remain unanswered if Alberta were

00:08:37.880 to separate from Canada. But if it happens, how would Alberta nationhood affect First Nations? Would they

00:08:43.540 have to negotiate new treaties? Well, yeah, I think constitutional lawyer Keith Wilson laid it out

00:08:50.140 best, and he's been explaining this both on social media and various shows, including Juno News' Candace

00:08:56.600 Malcolm show. But essentially, First Nations do not have any legal authority to block Alberta from holding

00:09:05.280 a referendum on independence. And if that referendum succeeds and meets the legal threshold to initiate

00:09:13.340 a separation process, there are laws on the books which detail how separation would work, how a province

00:09:23.980 could separate from Confederation. Now, it is to be added that they must be included in any post-referendum

00:09:32.660 negotiations as a party that is participating in that, because First Nations, with their treaty rights,

00:09:41.540 do have to negotiate how the relationship with a new state would go, whether they decide to remain

00:09:49.580 a part of Canada. There's different avenues they could take. But despite that, they would not receive

00:09:56.720 special privileges in that negotiation. They would negotiate as individual bodies, as individual First

00:10:04.780 nations and treaty rights groups. So essentially, Wilson laid out three options, right? So the First

00:10:13.860 Nations in Alberta could either remain within Canada, join Alberta under existing treaties, or they have the

00:10:23.420 route of negotiating entirely new treaties with a sovereign Alberta, alongside with the existing ones they have

00:10:31.380 with the nation of Canada. So it's quite a complicated thing. And it would set a totally new precedent, because this has

00:10:41.000 never happened before. But of course, this only takes place if that happens. And first thing that needs to happen is

00:10:50.040 that a petition reaches the required amount of signatures before a referendum is even triggered. And then that referendum needs to

00:11:01.040 to get support from the population enough to pass another threshold before separation takes place.

00:11:12.660 Over 800 special ballots were left uncounted in an Elections Canada office in Metro Vancouver, raising questions about how the

00:11:20.460 independent agency handles ballots. On Wednesday, Elections Canada informed all registered political parties that 822 national special

00:11:29.300 ballots had mistakenly been left in the office of the returning officer of Coquitlam Port Coquitlam. The

00:11:36.320 collection of special ballots contain votes cast for 74 electoral districts across the country, primarily in the

00:11:43.980 riding of Port Moody Coquitlam, which accounted for 530 of the votes. Dozens of ballots were cast for races and

00:11:51.380 surrounding British Columbia ridings, including 33 ballots in New Westminster, Burnaby,

00:11:56.820 Maillardville, 26 in Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, 22 in Burnaby Central, and 12 ballots in both Burnaby North Seymour and

00:12:06.400 Vancouver Centre. While a significant number of voters were disenfranchised by this mistake, there were not

00:12:12.780 enough ballots cast in any given riding to affect the election outcomes. In Port Moody, Coquitlam, the liberal

00:12:19.740 candidate Zoe Royer won by a margin of 1,948 votes, while the liberal candidate in New Westminster, Burnaby,

00:12:28.760 Maillardville won by 1,973 votes. Elections Canada said that the ballots kept in the returning officer's

00:12:36.760 office should have been returned to the Elections Canada headquarters by 6 p.m. Eastern time on election

00:12:43.380 day in order to legally count the ballots. The independent agency says that human error and a

00:12:49.960 failure to comply with their policies caused the mishap. Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault

00:12:56.080 has ordered a complete review into the matter and the controls in place to ensure failures similar

00:13:02.120 to this do not happen in future elections. So Noah, looking back, what other issues did Elections

00:13:08.240 Canada encounter this last general election? So as you described, the Elections Canada office in

00:13:15.040 Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, definitely messed up in not delivering the special ballots to the Elections

00:13:21.480 Canada headquarters. However, this is not the only mishap that Elections Canada had made in this

00:13:27.820 election. For example, in the riding of Milton East, Halton Hills South, there was a riding in which the

00:13:35.680 Conservative candidate Parm Gill was declared the winner after election day and a few and in subsequent

00:13:41.940 days after election day. However, after Elections Canada conducted their validation process, they

00:13:49.140 realized that there were certain polling locations in which the polls gave wrong vote totals for the

00:13:56.760 candidates. And after retallying all of the correct vote totals, they found that the Liberal candidate,

00:14:03.360 Christina Tesser Dirksen, had actually won. So for several days, the Conservative candidate and

00:14:10.080 their team and, you know, his family thought that he was going to be sent to Ottawa to serve

00:14:16.360 his constituents when, in fact, the Liberal candidate had won. Elections Canada told me that in one of the

00:14:24.260 polling locations, the original polling location told the Elections Canada head office that the Liberal

00:14:32.220 candidate Dirksen had only received 193 votes at that location when, in fact, she had received 493 votes.

00:14:42.460 These are the sorts of mishaps that create distrust in our election system. We already have a poll showing

00:14:49.980 that a significant amount of Canadians, about 29 percent of Canadians, do not trust the 2025 Canadian election

00:14:58.220 results. And about 50 percent of those were Conservative voters who indicated that they do not trust the

00:15:05.100 election results. When there is a gap in trust in our institutions, especially our electoral institutions,

00:15:12.620 bodies like Elections Canada need to be on their A-game. They need to ensure that votes are Canada properly, that when

00:15:20.460 the Elections Canada head office asked the polling locations for their vote tallies, that those are

00:15:27.180 delivered accurately, and that any mistakes that need to be corrected are done so in a transparent manner,

00:15:34.140 that respect the voters and their enfranchisement. The fact that 800 ballots were just left in some office in

00:15:41.740 Metro Vancouver, disenfranchising the people that actually cast their ballot, is really a shame. It is a

00:15:49.260 mockery of our democracy, and those people who cast those ballots probably have no way of knowing

00:15:55.820 that they were disenfranchised. There need to be more vigorous checks to ensure that incidents like

00:16:01.900 this doesn't happen again, so that people can have greater trust in their democratic institutions,

00:16:07.660 greater trust in the outcome of elections, because we don't want to live in a country that is supposed

00:16:13.660 to be a democracy, but whose democratic exercises are not trusted by a great deal of the voting public.

00:16:23.260 That's it for today, folks. Thanks for tuning in. You can stay on top of new episodes every weekday by

00:16:28.540 subscribing to The Daily Brief on iTunes and Spotify. Also, while you're at it,

00:16:33.180 make sure to hit us with a five-star rating and please leave a review.

Juno News - May 09, 2025

First North American Pope Leo XIV elected to lead the Catholic Church

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript