Juno News - Smith challenges Notley to stand up to Trudeau

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

00:00:18.480 an amazing Christmas break. I was back in Ontario visiting family and friends and I was surprised

00:00:23.640 at the number of people who came up to me and told me they watched the Alberta Roundup every

00:00:27.020 week. So there you have it. Conservative Canadians across the country are paying attention to what's

00:00:31.920 going on in Alberta right now. Now, let's take a look at what we're going to be talking about on

00:00:36.740 today's show. Alberta Premier Daniel Smith is challenging Rachel Notley to stand up to Ottawa.

00:00:42.540 Alberta is the first province to announce a permanent fuel tax relief program. Daniel Smith

00:00:46.840 shut down a request from the United Nurses of Alberta to reimpose a mask mandate in indoor spaces.

00:00:52.320 An Alberta minister says the federal government must consult with the province before investing

00:00:56.900 in vulnerable communities. And finally, Public Safety Minister Marco Medellino now says Ottawa

00:01:02.540 is working with a potential third party to implement its gun buyback scheme. All that and more happening

00:01:08.200 now on the Alberta Roundup. This week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith took aim at the federal

00:01:12.460 government's renewed intention to transition oil and gas sector jobs to renewable energy jobs.

00:01:18.680 The federal government has framed its so-called just transition legislation as a way to lessen the

00:01:24.120 impact on energy workers displaced by the transition to a low-carbon economy. Natural Resources Minister

00:01:29.900 Jonathan Wilkinson has described the bill's focus as being sustainable job creation and economic growth

00:01:35.280 in every region of the country. But Danielle Smith disagrees. She wrote on Twitter, quote,

00:01:40.200 the federal government's ill-conceived and short-sighted plan is extremely harmful

00:01:43.600 to the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who are supported by the energy sector

00:01:47.220 and will be detrimental to Canada's economic recovery. Smith is also calling on NDP leader

00:01:52.920 Rachel Notley to join the government in opposing the federal government's bill. She said Notley

00:01:58.260 must, quote, put aside partisanship for the sake of Alberta's economy and join us. After a number of

00:02:04.060 provinces announced fuel tax relief last year, Alberta is the first province to announce their fuel

00:02:09.140 tax relief program will become permanent this year. Under former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney,

00:02:13.420 the United Conservative Party government suspended its 13 cents per litre tax on April 1. That tax

00:02:19.000 was partially reinstated on October to 4.5 cents per litre on gas and diesel, as oil prices fell

00:02:24.860 below 100 USD per barrel. In a broadcast to the province in November, Smith said the entire fuel

00:02:30.580 tax relief program will be turned for six months. That relief began this week on January 1st, and it

00:02:36.460 will run till June, after which time the province will implement its permanent fuel tax relief program.

00:02:41.280 Alberta Finance Minister Travis Taves said beginning July 1st, the permanent program will return to the

00:02:46.000 current system of providing fuel tax relief based on the price of West Texas Intermediate Oil. In a

00:02:52.120 statement, he said, quote, the measure is just one of a number we've brought forward to help Albertans

00:02:56.480 deal with the higher cost of living. It's relief we're able to provide thanks to our strong fiscal

00:03:01.300 situation, which is helping us fulfill our commitment to make life more affordable. This story

00:03:06.140 happened last month, but I haven't got a chance to cover it in the show yet, so I'm going to let you guys

00:03:09.580 know now because many of you were very excited to hear it. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith shut down

00:03:14.760 a request from a nurses group to re-impose a mask mandate indoors. The United Nurses of Alberta made

00:03:20.540 the request after Alberta Health Services announced an emergency situation at the Stollery Children's

00:03:26.000 Hospital in Edmonton, following a surge of kids with respiratory viruses. Smith said she was aware of the

00:03:31.940 situation, but her government has been clear that anyone who feels comfortable wearing a mask

00:03:36.060 should do so. She said, quote, I always appreciate the input of our frontline workers, but we do support

00:03:41.820 choice. Smith's comments came after the United Nurses of Alberta president, Heather Smith, issued

00:03:47.480 an open letter to the premier after the intensive care unit at Stollery reached 100% capacity.

00:03:53.140 She wrote, quote, for the sake of Alberta's children and all Albertans, it is imperative that our

00:03:58.020 government cease treating this situation as if it were a political inconvenience and address it

00:04:03.320 immediately as a public health crisis that it is. The letters a mask meant it would be easy for people

00:04:08.860 to comply with, but also effective to reduce the spread of respiratory viruses. Following accusations

00:04:14.460 that a Calgary school teacher was pushing an anti-conservative bias onto students, the founder of a Calgary

00:04:20.040 charter school says she's not concerned her educators will push a bias onto students because they're too busy

00:04:26.080 teaching a fundamentally different curriculum. Kaelin Forn, the founder of the Calgary Classical Academy,

00:04:32.520 rejects the view that education should be seen as a means of a vehicle for social transformation,

00:04:38.960 a philosophy progressive education reformers began to embrace in the 20th century. She said, quote,

00:04:44.540 that's part of why you end up with a lot of this kind of thing in schools, a lot of focus on contemporary

00:04:49.300 social issues, on turning students into agents of change. Forn said teachers at the Calgary Classical

00:04:54.520 Academy are too busy teaching students things like Latin, music, and world history. She said, quote,

00:05:00.520 we expose kids to texts in the works of art and literature and stories that have stood the test

00:05:04.640 of times and are in some cases centuries or millennia old. Frankly, we don't have time for much else beyond

00:05:10.800 that. Alberta Seniors Community and Social Services Minister Jeremy Nixon says the federal government's

00:05:16.480 efforts to invest in vulnerable communities fall short when the federal government doesn't first

00:05:21.340 consult with the province. In a year-end interview with True North, Nixon said the Trudeau Liberals

00:05:26.080 have bypassed consultation with his government. He said, quote, they try to directly apply these

00:05:31.160 things in ways that don't always make sense with what the government is trying to do, or in ways that

00:05:35.580 doesn't align with the needs that are in our community. To address issues and supports for vulnerable

00:05:39.880 Canadians, they need to work with the provincial governments and allow us to do what we do best.

00:05:45.140 For example, Ottawa recently announced rent subsidies for those earning under $20,000 per year.

00:05:50.580 A commitment which excludes those with a disability by just $200.

00:05:55.320 Albertans on assured income for the severely handicapped receive $20,220 from the province

00:06:01.320 annually. Nixon said the government either knew what they're doing or they're willfully incompetent.

00:06:06.440 Okay guys, moving into the controversy of the week. After four provinces said they would not aid

00:06:11.500 the Trudeau Liberals' gun buyback scheme, Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino now says the

00:06:17.500 federal government is consulting with potential third parties on administering the program. In

00:06:22.500 September, Alberta was the first province to oppose Mendicino's request to confiscate its citizens'

00:06:27.440 legally acquired firearms. It was followed promptly by Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and New Brunswick.

00:06:32.520 Now, Mendicino says Ottawa is looking at a variety of options to deliver the buyback program.

00:06:36.960 He said, quote,

00:06:37.860 We're taking the time that is necessary to get it right. It's going to involve a number of critical

00:06:42.620 stakeholders and partners, including law enforcement, but we're also working with other

00:06:47.200 levels of government. We're working with industry leaders. We're working with potential third parties.

00:06:51.680 So we are exploring all of these options. Okay guys, and what we're watching on the weeks to come,

00:06:56.340 I reported on this just ahead of the Christmas holidays. We haven't covered it in the show yet.

00:07:00.380 The Alberta government is considering utilizing its Alberta Sovereignty Act to push back on the Liberal

00:07:05.180 government's absurd electric vehicle mandate. In December, Liberal Minister Stephen Gilbeau

00:07:10.740 announced that every major passenger vehicle sold in Canada must be electric by 2035.

00:07:16.960 Alberta Premier Daniel Smith's office said the mandate is a clear violation of Alberta's right

00:07:21.100 to freely regulate its economy. Our cabinet and caucus will discuss this issue and what tools we

00:07:25.540 will consider using to push back on this absurd federal policy, including potential use of the Alberta

00:07:30.600 Sovereignty Act within a United Canada Act, the Premier's office said. Okay guys, that's

00:07:34.980 everything I have for you today. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you're able, please consider

00:07:38.700 supporting our work at donate.tnc.news. I'll see you guys next week and God bless.

Juno News - January 07, 2023

Smith challenges Notley to stand up to Trudeau

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