Juno News - Smith announces arson investigation

00:00:00.000 Hey everyone, welcome back to the Alberta Roundup. I'm your host Rachel Emanuel.

00:00:03.920 I hope that you guys are having a great week. It's been a bit of a quieter week in Alberta

00:00:08.720 politics. There has of course been a lot of backroom discussions and speculations about who

00:00:15.100 would be in the new cabinet and that was unveiled on Friday so we'll dive into that a little later

00:00:20.640 in the show. Today we're going to be looking at Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's announcement

00:00:24.640 that she will be investigating the arsons. We're going to dive into the cabinet announcement as

00:00:29.600 I mentioned. We're also going to be taking a look at the recounts in two close ridings.

00:00:35.120 A new Calgary bylaw has restricted pro-life material and finally we'll have a discussion

00:00:40.600 on affordable housing. All that and more happening now on the Alberta Roundup.

00:00:44.900 Okay guys, my first story for you here today is Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she will hire

00:01:01.360 arson investigators from outside the provinces following an unprecedented wildfire season.

00:01:07.800 You guys know that this year the wildfires started unseasonably early, about a month earlier than

00:01:12.660 usual and have been extremely destructive. Here's what Smith had to say about it on a podcast earlier

00:01:18.380 this week. Well, I think you're watching as I am the number of stories about arson and I'm very

00:01:24.880 concerned that there are arsonists and there have been stories as well that we're investigating and

00:01:30.260 we're bringing in arson investigators from outside the province. We have almost 175 fires with no known

00:01:36.380 cause at the moment. Sometimes they're very easy to trace. When you have lightning storms,

00:01:40.320 that's easy to trace. When you have a train derailment, that's easy to trace. Campfire.

00:01:45.080 But to have 175 fires that we don't know the cause of, that's unusual. If we take a closer look

00:01:50.520 at her comments on arson, we know that Mounties in Grand Prairie are currently searching for a

00:01:56.760 suspect after a fire was started in an alley. Officers said witnesses reported seeing a man wearing

00:02:02.320 all black with a white shirt around his shoulders leaving the scene and they are now looking for that

00:02:07.480 suspect. As well, there was a May 3rd post from Parkland County's Twitter account which really

00:02:13.540 made the rounds online. In this post, Parkland County said their fire department had responded

00:02:19.120 to four suspicious fires in the preceding five days on Highway 16, less than a 40-minute drive from

00:02:25.960 Alberta's capital city of Edmonton. Parkland County wrote, quote, we are asking residents to report any

00:02:31.520 suspicious behavior to RCMP by calling 911. And as I just mentioned, we have had our first look at

00:02:38.680 Alberta's new cabinet. Let's take a look at some of the interesting names here. Demetrius Nicolaitis is

00:02:44.120 the new education minister. He has been the advanced education minister for some time now. This is

00:02:49.140 definitely a promotion for him. Adriana LaGrange was of course the former education minister. Most notably,

00:02:55.360 she was responsible for the new curriculum that conservatives have largely lauded. We know the

00:02:59.920 Alberta Teachers Association wasn't the biggest fan of it. She's been moved over. She's been given a

00:03:04.640 promotion as well. She is now the health minister. Brian Jean has been given the energy and minerals

00:03:10.220 portfolio. Rebecca Schultz, she is the new minister of environment and protected areas. Todd Lowen stays

00:03:16.040 on as the ministry of forestry and parks. These individuals were all contenders in the UCP leadership

00:03:21.360 race, which of course was ultimately won by Danielle Smith. Pete Guthrie is the new minister of

00:03:26.420 infrastructure. He is moving to that role from the energy portfolio. Some looks at some new

00:03:32.220 individuals who are in cabinet include Dan Williams. He's the new minister of mental health and

00:03:36.500 addictions. And Jason Nixon is back in cabinet. He is the new minister of social services. That role

00:03:43.480 was actually held by his brother, Jeremy Nixon, before the election. Jeremy lost his seat. That was in a

00:03:49.160 Calgary riding in the recent provincial election. I suspect Nixon's appointment will be seen as very

00:03:55.220 controversial by Smith space, including those who were very supportive of her leadership bed.

00:04:00.960 Jason Nixon was Jason Kenney's right hand man. Well, Kenny was premier. And that includes during

00:04:06.880 the COVID-19 pandemic when we saw many restrictions, including a vaccine passport in Alberta, but I'm sure

00:04:13.800 you guys have some thoughts. Comment on the video below and let me know what you think of Nixon's

00:04:17.800 appointment in cabinet. Does he deserve a second chance under Danielle Smith, or would you have

00:04:23.220 preferred to see him left off the list? We also know that he had an independent challenger during

00:04:28.940 the recent provincial election. That was of course, Tim Hoven, who was barred from running by the United

00:04:33.720 Conservative Party. He was disqualified to even be a candidate in a nomination race. While Tim Hoven did

00:04:39.960 have quite a strong showing in the recent provincial election, it is very, very difficult to win as an

00:04:46.580 independent candidate. Moving into our next story here, Elections Alberta has released the official

00:04:52.040 election results. Those were published on Thursday. I explained to you guys last week that following an

00:04:57.660 election, Elections Alberta undergoes an audit of all the ridings before they announce the official

00:05:02.700 results. This year, that audit included two recounts in two close ridings. That was Calgary Acadia,

00:05:09.340 Tyler Shandro's former riding. And there was also a recount in the riding of Calgary Glenmore that was

00:05:14.420 previously held by Whitney Isick. The recounts determined that the NDP did win in both those

00:05:19.880 ridings. In fact, the recount even solidified their victory with an increased margin. Initially,

00:05:25.640 UCP incumbent Tyler Shandro had lost Calgary Acadia by just seven votes. But following the recount,

00:05:32.420 that margin widened by 18 ballots for MLA-elect Diana Batten, who now won with a total of 25 votes

00:05:41.080 in comparison to the seven that were first reported. There was a similar situation over

00:05:46.240 in Calgary Glenmore. Whitney Isick had originally lost that riding by 30 votes. But following the

00:05:52.980 recount, that margin widened to 42 votes, an increase of 12 ballots. Candidates have until June 16th to

00:06:00.520 decide if they would like to request a judicial recount. A judicial recount is when a candidate goes

00:06:06.540 before a judge and argues the specific of each ballot in hopes of maybe turning the tide in their

00:06:11.900 favor. UCP spokesperson Dave Prisco told me the party is working with affected candidates to decide

00:06:18.480 if a recount is warranted. So I'm sure I'll have an update for you guys on that one next week.

00:06:24.260 We're also going to take a quick look at some of the voter turnout, which did drop significantly

00:06:28.140 compared to 2019. There was a voter turnout of just under 60% this year. That's compared to 2019 when

00:06:35.880 67.5% of the population turned out to vote. Although it is worth noting that the 2019 numbers

00:06:41.860 were record breaking. That was the largest voter turnout since 1971. So it's not particularly

00:06:49.020 surprising that we didn't surpass those numbers again this year. Moving into the controversy of the

00:06:55.500 week here, Calgary City Council has amended a bylaw to restrict pro-life material. Specifically,

00:07:01.640 the bylaw would give a fine of $1,000 to those who hand out images of aborted babies unless that image

00:07:09.060 is first hidden within an envelope. The envelope must also contain a warning about the contents

00:07:15.480 and show the name and address of the sender. Richard Durr, Executive Director of the Political Pro-Life

00:07:22.920 Party, Pro-Life Alberta, says the bylaw indicates that abortion itself should be outlawed.

00:07:28.960 He said, quote, if the images are too graphic for public consumption, then perhaps the act of abortion,

00:07:35.400 which brings out these horrific images in the first place, ought itself to be further regulated or

00:07:40.760 outlawed. Canada is the only democracy in the world which provides no legal protection for pre-born 1.00

00:07:47.120 humans. In March, the Canadian Institute for Health Information revealed that there were over 87,000

00:07:54.300 induced abortions in 2021. Calgary City Council says reported incidents will be investigated and

00:08:01.340 enforced based on, quote, education, voluntary compliance, and officer discretion. Calgary Councillor

00:08:08.280 Jennifer Wynes said images of aborted babies can be, quote, deeply traumatizing and harmful,

00:08:13.520 end quote, for some people. She added, quote, while we want to uphold the freedom of advocacy groups to

00:08:19.080 express their opinions, we need to also balance our responsibility to protect communities. As a

00:08:24.860 society, we accept that not all content is appropriate for everyone, which is why we have

00:08:30.200 our ratings for disturbing or mature films, for example. These pamphlets fall under that same category,

00:08:36.600 and it's reasonable to ask that they come with a content warning.

00:08:39.580 Durst said counsel is intent on protecting, even promoting, graphic expression through drag queen

00:08:46.580 story hour at public libraries, but restricts it and prohibits free speech to those decrying the

00:08:52.300 horror of abortion. I think it's very challenging that this counselor decided to compare the act of

00:08:56.980 abortion to R-rated films, which are designed to horrify watchers, but I'm just going to let you guys

00:09:04.800 think with that one for a little bit on your own. Moving into what we're watching in the weeks to come,

00:09:08.980 I'm really curious to hear what you guys think about this story. MPs across party lines are

00:09:14.460 criticizing Calgary City Council's move to reject an expert task force recommendations to increase

00:09:20.740 affordable housing. The task force brought forward six main recommendations, which included 33 actions.

00:09:27.500 The main six recommendations sought to make it easier to build housing across the city and make more

00:09:33.600 city land available for construction. The 33 specific actions called on council to take action like

00:09:40.300 removing all minimum parking requirements in residential areas, and to establish financial

00:09:46.160 incentive programs that would drive the production of more secondary suites.

00:09:51.320 Counselors took issue with a zoning recommendation, which would allow for the construction of row houses,

00:09:56.140 townhouses, duplexes, semi-detached, and cottage housing clusters in more areas.

00:10:02.780 Counselor Andre Chabot said, quote, I think there's absolutely no way that I could convince my

00:10:08.000 communities to support that major of a change. While counselor Sonia Sharp said, it's a leap to think

00:10:14.500 that we should just accept the expert recommendations with no further debate on what it all means on whether

00:10:20.680 Calgarians support those recommendations. It's not about the money, and it's not disagreeing that we

00:10:27.020 should do something. Very interestingly, conservative and liberal MPs weighed in on this. It's not too

00:10:32.940 often that we see federal politicians weigh in on municipal issues, but we've definitely seen them

00:10:37.880 take a step forward when it comes to housing issues all across the country. Federal conservative

00:10:42.980 housing critic Scott Acheson said the recommendations would have made it easier to build the homes that people

00:10:48.540 need, but, quote, gatekeepers stood in the way. The conservative MP for Calgary Nose Hill, Michelle

00:10:54.860 Rempel-Garner, said she represents the same suburban constituents as counselors who voted against the

00:11:00.280 proposal. She said, quote, we need to build support for more housing, not vote against it. Courage and

00:11:06.140 leadership is needed. This vote result is not that. I'm disappointed in you. And the liberal MP for

00:11:12.520 Calgary Skyview, that's Georgia Hall, also weighed in. He said it's disheartening that city council

00:11:17.540 rejected the recommendations. He said it's made worse by the fact that eight counselors voted against

00:11:23.500 the proposal while voting in favor of the costly arena deal, which, of course, we've discussed on

00:11:28.420 this show before. On Friday, my colleague Noah Jarvis asked Pierre Polyev if he was supporting anyone

00:11:33.680 for the Toronto mayorship. That race is currently ongoing. But I would say to Torontonians, vote for

00:11:40.220 someone who will fire the city hall gatekeepers so that we can speed up housing construction. The 0.81

00:11:46.760 exclusionary policies of the gatekeepers at city hall, who Trudeau's been funding, are driving our

00:11:54.580 immigrants, our working class, and our working poor into the streets. Polyev said his government would

00:12:01.080 force cities to build more homes or they would remove federal infrastructure spending. So I'm curious

00:12:07.040 what you guys think about this story. Are you worried that these new types of homes, especially

00:12:11.800 row houses and townhouses, are going to shape the look and the feel of the communities that you

00:12:17.040 currently live in and that you really enjoy? Or perhaps you're on the other side of things and

00:12:21.380 you're a young person who's saying, I can't afford anything that's a detached home with a yard.

00:12:26.280 I just want to have a property at this point. Okay guys, and now let's move into my weekly comment

00:12:30.840 roundup. User Pat B said, congratulations on finding a place in Calgary. It's like winning the lotto

00:12:36.520 nowadays. I think Daniel will turn those losses around and will win a bigger majority next time.

00:12:41.720 Make no mistake, Kenny is the author of these losses. User Richard M. Messiah, I'm sorry if I

00:12:46.880 mispronounced your name, said, thanks Rachel. We love your sincere, honest, and great reporting.

00:12:52.160 We the people. Thank you so much for your kind compliment. I do really appreciate it. I actually

00:12:57.420 appreciate all the comments I get under my show. You guys are very complimentary and when you have a

00:13:02.520 criticism, you say it in a very fair and reasonable way. So I do appreciate that and I take your

00:13:07.400 criticisms under consideration as well. I think it speaks to my viewers and our base at True North

00:13:13.480 just that people are still able to have respectful dialogue and discussion online. We definitely don't

00:13:19.000 see that in terms of our broader societal trends online. And you know, the election was very personal

00:13:26.300 and divisive. I couldn't believe how angry people would get just because I was showing up to NDP press

00:13:31.220 conferences to ask questions. I wasn't even there to provide commentary simply to ask questions and

00:13:37.220 some people just could not handle that. It definitely makes you scratch your head and wonder

00:13:41.040 what they're so afraid of. So thanks again. I do appreciate the support. Okay guys, that's all that

00:13:46.540 we have time for today. As always, if you're able, please consider supporting our work. You can do that

00:13:51.380 over at donate.tnc.news. I will see you guys next weekend. Have a great week and God bless.

00:14:01.440 take care.

00:14:02.220 Let's take care.

00:14:03.220 Take care.

00:14:04.220 Take care.

00:14:05.220 In you for the next week.

00:14:06.220 Take care.

00:14:07.220 Take care.

00:14:08.220 You

Juno News - June 10, 2023

Smith announces arson investigation

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