Juno News - April 24, 2026


Jason Kenney tells Trump to STAY OUT of Alberta politics


Episode Stats


Length

21 minutes

Words per minute

171.09239

Word count

3,737

Sentence count

165

Harmful content

Misogyny

6

sentences flagged

Toxicity

14

sentences flagged

Hate speech

5

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 former premier jason kenny wants ottawa to tell the americans to butt out of alberta's
00:00:10.280 independence fight kenny says he's worried alberta's push for independence will gain
00:00:15.560 traction in the united states media and president trump would then interfere on the side of the
00:00:21.840 separatists i am concerned that if this gets on the ballot and it ends up on fox news every day
00:00:27.340 the president is going to see this and want just he will have a hard time resisting the temptation
00:00:34.540 to create mischief on this leaning into it i can see him making offers of
00:00:40.980 absolving alberta's debt i hope the prime minister raises it with him directly and says look
00:00:45.480 i i'm not going to advocate that alaska be annexed by canada or there should be a referendum for
00:00:52.140 Like, this is just, you cannot do this. It goes too far.
00:00:55.720 Meantime liberal Stephen Gilboa claims the Americans are already interfering in Canada's national unity battle.
00:01:04.400 He offered no proof, but says pro-independence forces in the United States are quietly fanning the flames of Alberta separatism.
00:01:12.980 I think there are things we should be doing regarding separatism.
00:01:16.360 we know that there's clearly demonstrated outside interference by some agents in the
00:01:21.640 United States on the separatist movement in Alberta and perhaps elsewhere in the country.
00:01:30.040 A group spearheading the referendum this fall admits meeting with American interests but denies
00:01:35.240 receiving foreign funding to aid in their cause. A U.S. trade representative is drawing a clear
00:01:43.160 and stark contrast between his dealings with Mexico and those with Canada.
00:01:48.340 Rick Switzer accuses Prime Minister Carney of turning the trade issue into a personal matter,
00:01:53.960 while he says the Mexicans behave like the adults in the room.
00:01:57.900 And I'll say President Scheinbaum is a serious leader in Mexico.
00:02:00.940 When we came in and we were talking, Ambassador Greer was just there,
00:02:03.820 we're talking to Mexico about this, and the president has spoken directly about this.
00:02:09.340 They have been very serious.
00:02:10.440 Look, we know the United States is our most important economic partner, that it is the
00:02:16.460 policy of President Scheinbaum that the United States and Mexico will have a positive economic
00:02:21.080 relationship, and that we know that we'll have some friction and we'll have to figure
00:02:24.340 it out, but we're going to figure it out, right?
00:02:26.740 This is the bottom line.
00:02:28.460 There are other economies who decided to make it personal, and I think Carney has made
00:02:34.780 it personal.
00:02:35.780 I think it's political malpractice for the prime minister of a Canadian, you know, of Canada to pit politically himself against any president.
00:02:46.160 I don't care what the president is, who the president is, what party they represent.
00:02:49.340 It's political malpractice.
00:02:50.940 Canada is dependent upon the U.S. economy.
00:02:53.600 That's just a fact.
00:02:54.500 For his part, Prime Minister Carney says Canada is not as reliant on the United States economy as some people think.
00:03:01.700 He says he's not preoccupied with America as he is in trying to make Canada stronger.
00:03:08.260 I do not get up first thing in the morning to think about the United States.
00:03:11.680 I think about Canadians. That's the difference. 0.99
00:03:14.400 We have more than enough to do in this country.
00:03:16.680 We're building this place strong.
00:03:18.620 There is a misimpression by some of the degree to which we are reliant on the United States.
00:03:27.620 okay yes it is our biggest trading partner by far we are also their second biggest trading partner
00:03:35.500 there is a symbiosis between the two there's a reason why 85 percent of our trade is tariff free
00:03:41.840 still and that's that's maintained um our destiny is first and foremost going to be determined by
00:03:49.840 what we do here how we build here canadians get that canadians get that i'm not sure
00:03:55.180 everyone south of the border understands that to the extent it is true.
00:03:59.940 Some suggest the Carney government is deliberately slow-walking trade negotiations
00:04:04.360 with the United States in the hopes of a Democrat Party win in the upcoming midterm elections.
00:04:10.980 Canada's ambassador to Washington, Mark Wiseman,
00:04:14.360 declined to speculate on how long he expects negotiations to last.
00:04:18.120 Can Canadian businesses and consumer bear the cost, the heavy weight on them before you say enough of that negotiation tactics, we have to call the shot, we have to do something, and we have to be clear among Canadians, in front of Canadians, to tell them otherwise what's going on?
00:04:39.300 Mr. Chair, I can't speculate on the views of Canadian business.
00:04:45.320 I can only reiterate that we are ready, willing, and able to commence the review process,
00:04:51.760 and we are in active dialogue to reduce the 232 tariffs that have been imposed on Canadian industry by the United States.
00:05:00.720 My question, how long you cannot continue negotiating?
00:05:04.640 Give me time.
00:05:06.100 mr chair i i can't answer that question our guest today is the council for the alberta
00:05:14.460 dependence petition group jeff rath welcome jeff hey mark thanks for having me on again
00:05:20.860 coming to us from the calgary area i believe that's where you are
00:05:25.120 you're getting a lot of you're getting a lot of pushback now all of a sudden from
00:05:31.700 people like former Premier Jason Kenney and Stephen
00:05:35.520 Gilbo federally, and they're saying that it's the Americans now who are interfering
00:05:39.840 in the process. What do you make of that?
00:05:44.940 Well, coming from Stephen Jibo, who's a 0.83
00:05:47.560 former activist for Greenpeace, funded by Communist China 0.89
00:05:51.440 and George Soros, it kind of seems to be the height of hypocrisy.
00:05:55.680 As counsel for the Stay Free Alberta Petition Process and the
00:05:59.460 Alberta Prosperity Society. I know where all of our money comes from. It's all from grassroots
00:06:04.640 donations. So there's, you know, there's zero American, you know, American government support
00:06:09.920 for what we're doing. And then I don't know if you saw it or not, but there's that ridiculous 0.75
00:06:14.660 McGill University study that came out this week of all these phony AI accounts talking about,
00:06:21.540 oh, Alberta independence is going to lead to US annexation. And they're saying that's evidence
00:06:26.280 of foreign interference? Well, you look at the bottom of the study, there's the big government
00:06:30.480 of Canada logo. They funded that study. And of course, it's just so guys like Jibo can now use
00:06:36.760 this talking point about American interference. All those phony AI sites have nothing to do with
00:06:43.200 us. Do you think any of us in the independence movement are accepting or asking the Americans
00:06:49.060 to set up phony sites saying that Alberta independence is going to lead to US annexation?
00:06:54.440 Of course not. This is all Government of Canada propaganda, you know, Stephen Givaud propaganda. You know, it's exactly, you know, we're winning. So we expect these types of attacks to ramp up and it's going to get worse.
00:07:08.940 The funny thing, though, about Kenny, getting back to my friend Jason, you know, he was in Toronto and he's gone from saying that we're five drunks in a Didsbury bar that can't organize a two-car funeral procession to saying that we're now a permanent force in Alberta politics to be reckoned with.
00:07:24.840 And he's actually acknowledging that they could lose the referendum this fall, you know, saying that we're over 40 percent support in the polls and that people need to understand that even if we get close to a referendum, that Alberta independence is going to become a permanent feature of Alberta politics.
00:07:41.660 And this is just so horrible and blah, blah, blah. So I think it's pretty funny that, you know, that Jason Kenney's done a 180 on this and has now decided to start hysterically trying to take us seriously, you know, in his little speeches, you know, to various Easterners that pay his bills.
00:07:58.760 Well, he's involved in some debates. He'll be taking part in a debate with Keith Wilson shortly on the whole question. But he thinks that President Trump will weigh in, for instance, if the whole issue around Alberta independence starts to catch fire and becomes an issue for the American media, for instance, Fox News, to jump all over that story.
00:08:25.580 You know, he thinks that if that happens, that the president may seize the opportunity to offer Albertans some incentive to vote yes in a independence vote.
00:08:39.060 He thinks that Trump won't be able to resist getting involved.
00:08:44.900 What do you think of that?
00:08:45.880 Well, as you probably know, I'm in touch with the U.S. government on a fairly regular basis, just updating them on our progress. There's no need for the U.S. government to get involved. There's no need for President Trump to offer any incentives.
00:09:03.560 I mean, just getting rid of federal income tax and drastically reducing Alberta corporate tax, getting rid of the industrial carbon tax, capital gains tax, GST, etc., that's enough incentive for Albertans to vote for independence without anything being offered by the United States of America.
00:09:22.920 So this is just Jason Kenney fear mongering. It's that whole, you know, narrative of US interference. You know, that's their next thing because they know that it's, you know, that there's lots of Albertans that feel really negatively about that.
00:09:36.540 So it's, you know, it's all orchestrated. It's part of a campaign. You know, it's time to go with the release of that ridiculous McGill University study, you know, about, you know, AI YouTube channels likely funded or organized by the Government of Canada, ATCO, you know, all of the people that Jason Kenney supports and who support Jason Kenney.
00:09:58.840 You know, if you want to see who's responsible for misinformation, don't look any further than Jason Kenney, right?
00:10:05.100 My favorite thing about that whole little speech of his was just saying, oh, well, and how would they like it if, you know, if Mark Carney went to Alaskans and, you know, offered incentives to Alaskans to join Canada?
00:10:19.040 And, of course, I posted it. 0.99
00:10:20.320 It's like, is Jason Kenney really proving what a dumbass he really is? 0.97
00:10:23.940 Like, does he actually think that anybody in Alaska would want to join the failing state of Canada when they're all when they're part of the United States of America? 0.99
00:10:34.880 I mean, it was one of the most ludicrous things that I've ever heard come out of Jason Kenney's mouth.
00:10:40.080 But I mean, that's how desperate they are. 0.75
00:10:41.740 They know that they're losing.
00:10:43.560 They're really worried about it.
00:10:45.340 And they're now ramping up their misinformation game.
00:10:48.720 I mean, we've expected this from, you know, from day one that that's where they're going with this.
00:10:53.400 Yeah, I think the Alaskans are pro drill baby drill.
00:10:57.300 And, you know, they know it means prosperity for Alaska.
00:11:00.260 So the idea that that state would then throw in with Canada, given its treatment of the
00:11:06.300 resource sector and its preoccupation with net zero, that doesn't ring like it's going
00:11:13.060 to have a whole lot of credibility.
00:11:14.840 Sure.
00:11:15.500 I mean, look how do you think Alaskans would vote to join a country that would then slap
00:11:19.360 a West Coast tanker pen on them?
00:11:21.360 Like, I mean, how realistic is that?
00:11:24.600 He thinks that the prime minister needs to tell Trump to back off and not interfere with Canada's national unity issues involving Alberta.
00:11:34.540 You know, is that legitimate?
00:11:37.040 Well, of course not.
00:11:38.400 I mean, you know, Mark Carney's been sticking his nose in U.S. foreign policy and the U.S.'s business ever since he was elected.
00:11:46.420 Unilateral recognition of the Palestinian state while the United States was engaged in very fraught negotiations with Israel and the Hamas terrorists to release the remaining hostages.
00:11:59.000 Mark Carney decided to jump in the middle of that. 0.79
00:12:01.680 Then the whole Greenland fiasco, where that idiot flies back from communist China after proclaiming the New World Order and his strategic alliance with China to effectively threaten the U.S. with war over Greenland under Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. 0.94
00:12:18.960 I mean, you know, nobody in the United States takes Mark Carney seriously. 0.99
00:12:22.520 They all think that he's a joke, right?
00:12:24.920 And I get this from the highest levels of the U.S. administration.
00:12:28.480 Everybody in the U.S. thinks that Mark Carney is a complete joke.
00:12:32.040 Nobody takes him seriously.
00:12:33.440 But, you know, all of these elbows uppers in Canada, you know, think he's the bee's knees.
00:12:38.860 I mean, it's really sad. 0.87
00:12:41.080 It's really sad.
00:12:42.760 Is the ongoing issues around trade and our inability, Canada's inability to cut a trade deal with the United States,
00:12:50.120 Is that feeding, spanning the flames of the pro-independence side who maybe believe that Alberta would have a much easier time negotiating its own trade deal with the United States rather than part of America?
00:13:05.680 We know we would. We know we would. I mean, you know, let's face it.
00:13:10.500 I mean, one of the big barriers to getting a trade deal done is supply management.
00:13:14.520 I mean, no federal politician in Canada, you know, will give up the Quebec dairy mafia's dairy monopoly, you know, so would, you know, would Alberta care about that? No, we have compared to Quebec, we have one 10th of the dairy licenses in Quebec that they have in Quebec.
00:13:31.300 If you do it on a population basis, you know, on a per capita basis, you know, we're, you know, they outnumber us on a five to one basis on population in terms of dairy licenses. It's completely unfair. So why would Alberta want to maintain some sort of dairy license? You know, if we could, you know, dairy monopoly, if we could have complete free trade with the US with zero tariffs on both sides of the Alberta border, which is completely on the table, we're Alberta to become an independent country.
00:13:59.720 So, you know, but again, you know, that doesn't have a lot to do with Carney. We know that he's intentionally tanking the USMCA deal. Every insult that he throws at the United States, all of his posturing with China, you know, his, you know, a trade, Dominic LeBlanc the other day saying, we're not going to be making any concessions. And, you know, they think that, you know, the low tariff deal we have with the United States somehow is Canada's as of right, like we have a right to that agreement.
00:14:27.020 You know, the Americans are just looking at these people like they're fools. 0.91
00:14:30.760 And I mean, just look at the way Donald Trump's negotiating with the Iranians. 0.98
00:14:34.080 It's like, oh, OK, that's your position. 0.81
00:14:36.020 OK, we'll double down.
00:14:37.020 I'll just send another six warships to the Gulf and, you know, we'll blockade you harder.
00:14:41.660 So, you know, this, you know, this foolishness on the part of the Canadian government, you know, is just driving Albertans further and further away from Canada because we know that it's a failing strategy. 0.98
00:14:53.140 We're not idiots in this province, not like Ontario and Quebec. 0.98
00:14:56.020 we've seen the Enbridge expansion get the go-ahead. 0.98
00:15:02.780 And so I'm wondering if the feds now are changing their stance,
00:15:09.540 given the possibility, the acknowledged possibility,
00:15:13.440 that the referendum vote could go with the yes side on independence.
00:15:19.700 Do you anticipate that maybe leading up to the fall referendum
00:15:24.400 of that things may ramp up big time in the resource sector as a way for the feds to try
00:15:31.200 and head off independence? Oh, it won't surprise me. Needless to say, we won't be getting a thank
00:15:37.140 you note from Danielle. But the reality of it is, we'll know that there's been a major change in
00:15:46.680 federal policy when they actually pass a bill to eliminate the West Coast tanker ban. But I don't
00:15:52.440 see that coming anytime soon they're still trying to force all of alberta's oil through the port of
00:15:57.220 vancouver i mean i've taken a fishing boat underneath the second narrow bridge second
00:16:02.860 narrows bridge i mean if you're on the wrong tide you've got to be pretty careful because you'll even
00:16:07.000 run a shallow draft boat aground you know in you know in those waters uh let alone a tanker i mean
00:16:13.760 you know the terminal that they have in the port of vancouver is not set up for super tankers
00:16:18.620 right so this whole idea that uh you know we're going to run all of alberta's oil through a
00:16:23.640 shallow effectively what amounts to a shallow water port is completely um asinine i think is
00:16:29.560 the best word for it um so you know we'll see i mean i'll believe that you know there's a shift
00:16:34.240 in policy in ottawa you know once i see them pass a bill to uh eliminate the west coast tanker band
00:16:39.480 but i you know i understand that they're they're actually passing a you know a maritime
00:16:44.220 spaceport bill before they're going to get rid of the tanker band.
00:16:48.540 So, you know, that'll tell you what the priorities are.
00:16:50.840 Liberal graft and corruption and giving, you know, laundering hundreds of millions of Ukrainian
00:16:55.800 rocket dollars, you know, through Nova Scotia takes, you know, takes far priority over,
00:17:00.780 you know, eliminating the West Coast tanker band. 0.96
00:17:03.240 Speaking of Premier Smith, what should her role be?
00:17:07.400 And there are different perspectives here.
00:17:09.500 So we've had one from Keith Wilson.
00:17:11.840 I'd like yours.
00:17:12.480 what should her role be in the event of a yes vote for independence on the day after the
00:17:19.100 referendum, do you think? Well, I personally think that it depends. If she does the right thing
00:17:26.480 and stays on the sideline and remains neutral, then I think she's got an argument that she
00:17:32.560 could stay on as premier and negotiate Alberta independence from that position. But if she's
00:17:38.420 actively campaigning against us which yesterday's press conference indicates that she's going to be
00:17:43.700 you know she came out as a tommy lukasic girl yesterday and said i'm a remain in canada girl
00:17:48.780 so she got her little forever canadian pom-poms again um you know if that's what she's going to
00:17:53.640 do and she's going to spend alberta government money campaigning against independence then i
00:17:58.220 think you know if you know when we win the referendum her only course is going to be to 1.00
00:18:03.160 resign. And I think, quite frankly, you know, a lot of us, you know, a lot of Albertans, even
00:18:09.100 though Danielle is a fantastic communicator, probably the best retail politician that this
00:18:13.660 province has ever seen, you know, you know, maybe even better than Ralph Klein, you know,
00:18:18.780 given her popularity in this province, but nobody in their right mind would want her negotiating.
00:18:23.840 She likes being liked too much. I mean, just look at, you know, her with Mark Carney, right,
00:18:28.720 And that disastrous MOU deal that she saddled Alberta with, right? 0.98
00:18:33.600 She is no negotiator. 1.00
00:18:35.400 You know, she issues ultimatums. 1.00
00:18:36.820 She doesn't stick by her ultimatums when she issues them. 1.00
00:18:40.020 She ends up looking extremely weak because of her constant need to compromise.
00:18:44.860 We do not want her negotiating independence with the government of Canada.
00:18:49.840 So, you know, hopefully, you know, we hope that she comes on board with Alberta independence
00:18:55.060 or at the very least stays neutral.
00:18:56.800 But, you know, if she's going to be campaigning against independents, you know, I think there's a lot of people that are saying, well, you know, look, if you're the leader of a political party where 65% or more of your members disagree with you on such an important issue and that you're actively campaigning against the people that elected you leader of your party, you no longer have a moral or democratic mandate to lead that party.
00:19:24.300 and don't don't forget that danielle was elected by separatists she courted the separatist vote
00:19:30.240 during the leadership um you know they were accessing the wexit party list to sell memberships
00:19:35.460 to get her elected leader um you know there's no you know i would i would say having been involved
00:19:40.560 in that campaign with todd lowen that at least 80 to 90 percent of the people that supported danielle
00:19:45.980 supported her on the basis that she supported in independence and then she did a complete bait and
00:19:51.660 switch after she was elected leader and it went from being I'm for Alberta sovereignty to I'm for
00:19:57.480 Alberta sovereignty within the United Canada so there's a lot of us that don't trust her let's be
00:20:02.780 let's be blunt about it we don't trust her we like her but we don't we like her but we don't trust
00:20:06.920 her that's the best way to you know 10 second response if if a referendum were held today
00:20:11.880 what would be the percentage of people voting yes I think right now we're over 50 percent because
00:20:19.000 Because don't forget that Mark Carney terrorized this entire country when he had, you know, even prior to the Emergencies Act being invoked, was illegally seizing bank accounts across the country and was urging the chartered banks in Canada to literally freeze the bank accounts of single moms with kids and putting them in food bank lines and all the rest of it.
00:20:41.820 that was done for a reason that was a huge psychological warfare campaign directed by
00:20:47.400 mark carney at the people of canada so you know there's a lot of people in this country like even
00:20:52.080 you know we've heard i've seen thousands of people that would not sign the petition because they did
00:20:57.220 not want their name on a list for fear of repercussions and retribution by the government
00:21:02.000 of canada right on top of it because of that you know that terror campaign that was being
00:21:07.220 orchestrated by mark carney lots of people won't answer polls right because they don't want their
00:21:12.540 names on a list so if we've got 41 percent of albertans you know that are you know that are
00:21:17.520 willing to tell a pollster on the record that they favor independence i suspect the number is you know
00:21:22.880 more than you know higher than 55 percent i think that's you know that's i think that's where we're
00:21:28.660 at for sure okay i appreciate that sir appreciate you coming on the show thanks always a pleasure
00:21:34.000 Mark. Thank you very much. Jeff Rath. If you enjoyed this show, consider supporting great
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00:21:48.360 tuning in. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye for now.