Juno News - Smith further protects Albertan’s rights

00:00:00.000 Hey everyone, we're kicking off the show once again with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith,

00:00:04.780 who offered a sneak peek into upcoming Bill of Rights amendments to protect Albertans that will

00:00:09.480 be legislated this fall. Smith hinted at further protecting vaccination choice, property rights,

00:00:15.340 and legal firearm ownership in upcoming amendments to the Alberta Bill of Rights.

00:00:19.600 I'm Isaac Lamoureux, your host of the Alberta Roundup.

00:00:30.000 I'm sure that like me, you're excited to see that Smith is constantly making headlines ahead of her

00:00:38.700 upcoming leadership review on November 2nd. The review follows almost right after legislature

00:00:44.220 recommences on October 28th, so we'll see what Smith can implement right before the review.

00:00:49.840 Let's dive a bit deeper into Smith's recent announcement. Smith revealed three amendments

00:00:54.500 that would be coming to the upcoming legislative session in a post to X on Tuesday. First,

00:00:59.500 she said that every Albertan will have the right to make their own vaccine and medical decisions.

00:01:03.700 Additionally, no Albertan will be deprived of their property without due process and just compensation.

00:01:09.160 The final measure announced was an amendment to defend the rights of all legal and responsible

00:01:13.540 firearm owners. Since its inception, the Alberta Bill of Rights has been a reflection of our shared

00:01:19.080 values, recognizing the fundamental rights and freedoms that are essential to a free and democratic

00:01:24.860 society. It enshrines the principles that every Albertan holds dear – freedom of speech, freedom

00:01:31.180 of religion, and the right to equality before the law among other fundamental rights. It serves much

00:01:37.260 like a constitutional document in that it ensures all provincial laws and policies must align with those

00:01:43.740 listed rights and freedoms. Now, the Bill of Rights has served its purpose well over the years, but as our society

00:01:51.100 evolves, so too must our laws to ensure our rights and freedoms remain properly protected in an ever

00:01:56.780 changing world. The Premier's First Amendment will ensure that any Albertan who has the mental capacity

00:02:01.820 to do so can make their own choices regarding the medical treatments they receive, which includes not

00:02:07.420 only receiving vaccinations but any other medical procedure. Smith said, quote,

00:02:12.780 In recent years, we've seen the challenges and hardships that can arise when that right to bodily

00:02:17.260 autonomy is not adequately protected. It is my firm conviction that no Albertans should ever be subjected

00:02:23.420 or pressured into accepting a medical treatment without their full consent. The Second Amendment said that

00:02:29.180 it will ensure no Albertan can be deprived of their property without due process of law and just

00:02:34.220 compensation, which Smith said will help affirm rights of Albertans to own and enjoy the properties

00:02:39.580 that they've worked so hard for. A spokesperson for the Minister of Justice told me the amended Bill

00:02:44.540 of Rights will strengthen property rights, which is a cornerstone of living in a free and democratic society.

00:02:50.860 Lastly, Smith said there will be an amendment to defend the rights of legal and responsible firearm owners

00:02:57.100 because firearms are critical to many Albertans' livelihoods and way of lives. Smith said, quote,

00:03:03.100 I personally feel that law-abiding firearms owners have been unfairly targeted by our federal

00:03:07.820 government for decades, and it is my hope that these amendments will protect the rights of our

00:03:12.860 farmers, ranchers, hunters, and sports enthusiasts. The Minister of Justice spokesperson told me that

00:03:19.100 they will continue to advocate to the federal government on what they feel are unfair restrictions

00:03:24.060 on lawful firearm owners. While the Alberta Bill of Rights amendments are set to strengthen

00:03:28.540 property rights and protect law-abiding firearms owners, they are unlikely to overrule the federal

00:03:33.500 government's firearm buyback program, which recently saw its cost rise to $67 million, despite failing to

00:03:41.500 collect a single gun. Under Canada's constitution, criminal law, including firearm regulation, falls under

00:03:48.940 federal jurisdiction. Although Alberta can legislate on property and civil rights, which includes some aspects

00:03:55.420 of firearm ownership, the federal government holds the power to enforce laws that protect public safety.

00:04:01.980 Similar actions have been taken by provinces like Saskatchewan, which introduced the Firearms Act in 2022

00:04:08.300 to complicate the federal buyback process by introducing strict transportation regulations for firearms.

00:04:15.100 Quebec also attempted to preserve its long gun registry after the federal government dismantled it. However,

00:04:20.940 the Supreme Court ruled in the favour of Ottawa, affirming the federal government's control over

00:04:26.140 firearm regulation. Therefore, while Alberta's amendment may assert provincial rights and challenge federal

00:04:32.380 policies, its actual impact on the buyback program will likely be limited, with any significant legal

00:04:39.020 challenges requiring lengthy court battles that the province will likely lose.

00:04:43.500 I'd like to show that in my view, these amendments to the Bill of Rights are not just legal changes,

00:04:48.460 they are a reaffirmation of the values that make Alberta one of the freest jurisdictions on earth.

00:04:53.420 They are about protecting our rights, our freedoms, and our way of life.

00:04:57.180 We are sending a clear message that in Alberta, the rights of individuals are paramount,

00:05:02.220 and that government must respect those rights at every turn.

00:05:06.060 As your Premier, it is my duty and my honour to stand up for your rights.

00:05:10.300 I believe deeply in the principles of individual freedom and personal responsibility that have

00:05:14.860 guided and built this province for generations.

00:05:18.060 Some of the upcoming legislation was first hinted at by Smith at the Canada Strong and Free Network

00:05:23.500 in Red Deer last Saturday, which I attended. That's when she said that she would make it

00:05:27.980 illegal for governments to discriminate against individuals for refusing medical treatments,

00:05:32.940 such as vaccines. She also said that legislation would be introduced to prohibit gender

00:05:38.060 reassignment surgeries for minors, and ban puberty blockers for those 15 years old and younger.

00:05:43.820 An opt-in for topics on gender ideology and sexual identity in schools will also become

00:05:48.940 available to parents. Lastly, Smith promised to ensure that biological females can compete in 0.88

00:05:54.860 sports leagues against one another without having to face stronger biological males who identify

00:06:01.260 as transgender. These were among six other key takeaways from Smith at the conference that I felt

00:06:07.020 important to share with you all. To start her keynote speech, Smith was introduced by Erika Barutz,

00:06:12.140 who finished second place in Alberta's 2021 Senate election, behind Pam Davidson.

00:06:18.540 So right at the jump, Smith took aim at Trudeau for overlooking Alberta, and she said the following.

00:06:23.900 In any case, both of them should be sitting representing us in Ottawa, as opposed to a radical,

00:06:31.260 extreme LGBT activist, as well as a radical, extreme fundraiser for the Liberals for a long time. So that,

00:06:40.300 I don't think, is very reflective of what it is that Alberta has voted for.

00:06:44.220 Smith also spent some time highlighting that her government has lifted Alberta out of the hole that

00:06:49.740 the Alberta NDP had dug. Smith said, quote,

00:06:52.860 We know this because under the disastrous job-killing policies of the NDP, we watched our great province

00:07:00.060 move backwards. During this time, we saw six credit downgrades, 13 quarters of consecutive out-migration,

00:07:06.700 billions of dollars in lost investment, 80 billion dollars in brand new debt, and a job crisis that

00:07:12.220 devastated families. Conversely, under her leadership, Alberta has seen six credit upgrades in the last year

00:07:18.540 and a half, resulting in lower interest rates, which has allowed her to finance the Alberta NDP's debt

00:07:23.740 at a lower rate. She also highlighted that Alberta has created over 100,000 jobs in the past year,

00:07:29.580 leading the country with 90% of private sector job creation. While the province is set to lead the

00:07:34.940 nation in job growth until at least 2028, she warned that bad leadership can still stymie a province

00:07:41.100 as prosperous as Alberta. The Premier also revealed that Alberta will be introducing

00:07:45.900 compassionate intervention. Albertans suffering from addiction or mental health problems that

00:07:50.540 pose a danger to themselves or others will be ordered into care for three to four months,

00:07:55.740 where they will be treated and can recover. Smith said, quote,

00:07:59.420 This was a very divisive idea when we first proposed it, but today we are seeing some

00:08:04.220 surprising governments that are also supporting it and following our lead in British Columbia.

00:08:08.620 The sort of birthplace of safe supply and crack pipes being issued in vending machines

00:08:13.820 has now decided that they're going to introduce compassionate intervention legislation.

00:08:18.460 Sticking on the subject of healthcare, sort of, Smith spent quite a bit of time talking about

00:08:24.060 AHS, Alberta Health Services, highlighting that while she wanted to give them a chance

00:08:29.020 to show that they can succeed, if they don't, she will show them the door. By decentralizing much of

00:08:35.020 the province's medical care, Smith said that AHS can focus on their 106 facilities

00:08:41.100 and show that they can run them well. She said she'll reevaluate in a year and see where they

00:08:45.980 stand. Smith was having a fireside chat with the conference's chair, Michael Binion, who recently

00:08:51.820 had to go to the United States to get a surgery done on his hip. His wife had to do the same for a

00:08:56.540 different surgery. So he had to pay $35,000 for the surgery, and Smith said that if it were to cost

00:09:02.780 $25,000 in Alberta, he'd be reimbursed with the latter amount. So yes, Smith said that she is

00:09:08.140 considering implementing a surgical wait time guarantee, where if a service cannot be delivered

00:09:13.260 within the recommended period, the province will reimburse you for services sought abroad. However,

00:09:19.020 she said the following. Maybe we try that as a pilot project. I'm not quite there yet because I still

00:09:25.180 believe that the vast majority of people are middle-income families or lower-income families who

00:09:30.700 need this system to work. It's only going to be a solution for a small number of people to be able to

00:09:36.060 go somewhere else. And so we need this system to work. That's why I'm focused on that first.

00:09:40.540 But if taking the pressure off and creating a little bit of an incentive for them to figure out

00:09:45.900 better ways to deliver services, if that type of program does that, then I might be open to having

00:09:51.500 that conversation. Also at the conference, Smith began to slightly change her tune on immigration.

00:09:56.780 She's been generally more pro-immigration than other premiers, but said she sees the Liberals'

00:10:02.300 immigration policies as unsustainable and urged them to return to numbers seen under Stephen Harper

00:10:07.900 around 1% of the population. Notably, Alberta's immigration has been largely driven by interprovincial

00:10:14.300 migration thanks to the Alberta Is Calling campaign, which is not available to international migrants.

00:10:20.540 Also, Smith said that the province, joined by Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia,

00:10:26.300 is against the feds relocating asylum seekers. The last key point I'll share with you from the

00:10:32.460 conference was very interesting, which is when Smith explained why she thinks conservatives don't

00:10:37.900 succeed and why a cornered Trudeau is dangerous. What Smith said was pretty powerful, so I'll just

00:10:43.180 let you watch the whole clip. You know what I will say, you know, my conservatives, this is why conservatives

00:10:48.300 don't succeed, because conservatives are incrementalists. And I understand that, because I've had

00:10:52.540 other conservative commentators say, she's not a conservative, she's doing too much reform. 0.99

00:10:56.780 Here's my view, is that the left comes in, and they move us this far, and then we say, oh, but we're

00:11:03.100 incrementalists, so let's just keep on and then get back a little bit at a time, and then they get elected

00:11:07.020 again, and then they move it this far. My view is, you have to kind of recalibrate back to where the

00:11:13.260 regular person is, and then we're going to do more incremental change. So we've got a lot more to

00:11:21.100 come, and I can tell you, the left takes advantage of these kinds of situations all the time. Gerald

00:11:26.940 Butts, let's not forget what his advice was to Kathleen Wynum. He's even said this publicly. He knew she was

00:11:31.900 going down in flames, so he said, let's just go for broke these last 10 months, because then it would make

00:11:37.020 it more difficult for the new guys coming in to reverse course, which is why this period of time

00:11:42.540 right now is very, very dangerous with Trudeau on his last legs. This could be the time where they

00:11:50.140 actually bring through the worst of their legislation, and so that's part of the reason why we have to be

00:11:54.860 on guard for that, but I don't think we're going to make that same mistake as a conservative

00:11:58.700 government. Be bold. We have to be bold, and just demonstrate that by being competent and getting

00:12:05.580 things done, that you'll be able to win the next election. That's our strategy. Now moving on to

00:12:11.580 some news with the Jasper wildfire situation. Evidence was uncovered on Wednesday that showed

00:12:16.460 the Liberals planned to cancel prescribed burns in Western Canada just months before the fire.

00:12:22.380 Stephen Guibault told committee that you can't change the weather. However, isn't that the whole

00:12:27.740 point of his carbon tax? So, we were more concerned about the situation than some governments.

00:12:33.260 We heard from Mr. Shepherd that there were fairly extraordinary conditions. There had not been a

00:12:39.180 lot of snow the winter before in the region where Jasper is located. Low precipitation during the spring.

00:12:45.660 So, yes, there were conditions favorable to a forest fire. A protective zone had been created,

00:12:50.540 of course, but you cannot change the weather. You cannot make it rain. MP for Red Deer Lacombe,

00:12:57.900 Blaine Calkins, who used to work himself in Jasper National Park, got heated at Guibault in committee

00:13:03.580 when he said the following. But I do have this. I have from Jonah Mitchell a response to Melanie

00:13:10.220 Kwong at Parks Canada that says, at what point do we make the organizational decision to cancel

00:13:15.100 planned prescribed burns in Western Canada as more and more media articles raise public concern.

00:13:19.420 Public and political perception may become more important than actual prescription windows.

00:13:23.100 This is what your organization is doing and you're not giving them the direction. And that lies with

00:13:27.900 you, Minister. You're responsible for that. When are you going to take responsibility

00:13:31.660 for the billion dollars of damage that happened in Jasper? Everybody knew this was coming.

00:13:36.620 Everybody knew it. And you were told. And yet, here we are. A billion dollars worth of assets burned

00:13:42.700 down. And our beautiful Jasper National Park, where I used to work, is laying in ruins.

00:13:47.420 You may remember a True North exclusive where a whistleblower came forward and admitted that

00:13:52.300 Parks Canada was so confident in their ability to control and fight wildfires

00:13:56.780 that they intentionally allowed deadwood to collect inside of Jasper National Park.

00:14:02.220 According to Peter Schultz, who was hired by Parks Canada in 2008,

00:14:07.260 the Parks Canada wildfire chief at the time told him in a January 2008 meeting, quote,

00:14:12.940 We have become so good at controlling and stopping fires that we just build up deadwood supplies.

00:14:19.500 Schultz estimated that by last summer, close to 40% of Jasper National Park trees were standing

00:14:25.260 deadwood, killed by pine beetle infestation, creating the perfect scenario for a massive wildfire.

00:14:31.180 In a LinkedIn post, Schultz pinned the blame of the wildfire directly on Parks Canada and Jasper

00:14:36.220 National Park superintendents.

00:14:38.460 If Jasper Town burns, I blame the bureaucrats of Parks Canada,

00:14:42.140 especially all the Jasper National Park superintendents since 2005.

00:14:46.780 This is on you, he wrote.

00:14:48.700 Not doing your job because of eco-activists, who now will blame climate change,

00:14:53.020 rather than take responsibility for their own willful ignorance regarding proper forest management.

00:14:59.020 NDP MP Heather McPherson also spoke to Guy Bowen Committee.

00:15:02.940 She said that they cut firefighting supports by 30 million dollars.

00:15:06.460 In fact, Smith has increased the budget by 50% in her first year, and it's the highest that it's

00:15:12.220 ever been.

00:15:12.940 A journalist made a similar error in July, but was quickly corrected by Smith.

00:15:17.100 I wonder how McPherson hadn't seen this.

00:15:18.940 Here's the clip.

00:15:19.580 Thank you for taking my question.

00:15:21.180 So your government over the last few years has made various cuts to Alberta's wildfire

00:15:28.300 fighting budget.

00:15:29.500 Do you regret making those cuts now?

00:15:31.020 Why or why not?

00:15:32.140 Well, look, I mean, my first firefighting season was last year.

00:15:37.580 And what we did in response to that was we increased the firefighting budget by 50%.

00:15:43.980 In 2023-4, it was 100.4 million dollars.

00:15:48.940 In 2024-25, we increased it to 155.4 million.

00:15:53.260 And that's the highest it's ever been.

00:15:54.700 I'm sure we'll see the Jasper wildfire situation evolve further over the coming days, weeks and months.

00:15:59.900 And I can only hope that whomever put us in this mess gets brought to justice.

00:16:04.620 Now a bit of a flashback with news regarding Calgary pastor Derek Reimer, who was arrested

00:16:10.140 in charge after protesting at a drag queen story hour at a public library.

00:16:15.420 Reimer was previously on the Alberta Roundup in March 2023, where he discussed his case,

00:16:21.500 as well as the new bylaw in Calgary, which prohibits specified protesters from coming within

00:16:26.860 a hundred meters of a public building and which expands the harassment bylaw to include intimidation.

00:16:32.940 Reimer has been acquitted of two charges related to his protest at Calgary Public Library.

00:16:39.180 The following statements can be attributed to the Canadian Independent.

00:16:42.140 Reimer had been charged under the criminal code with causing a disturbance and mischief.

00:16:47.580 Specifically, he was accused of unlawfully obstructing the library board's operations of the event

00:16:53.500 and causing a disturbance by shouting and using insulting language during the session.

00:16:58.460 According to the ruling, while Reimer's presence and shouting during the event caused emotional upset

00:17:03.260 to some attendees, it did not result in a legally sufficient public disturbance

00:17:08.060 or interference with the library's operation. On the mischief charge, the court concluded that

00:17:13.660 Reimer did not unlawfully obstruct or interfere with the library's operation.

00:17:18.300 Although his protest was loud and emotional, the judge determined that the Calgary Public Library

00:17:23.180 Board's functions were not hindered. Justice Fradsham ultimately found no evidence that Reimer's

00:17:30.140 actions were wrongful in the sense required to meet the threshold for criminal mischief.

00:17:34.940 The last story we'll cover today is some recent data from a city news poll.

00:17:39.020 The poll showed that the majority of residents in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver believe

00:17:45.500 their mayor and city council are out of touch with what residents want. I'll let you guess which city

00:17:51.420 is in last place. Without making you wait too long, surprise surprise, it's Calgary where 74% of

00:17:58.540 residents felt their mayor and council were out of touch. Next place was Edmonton at 72%,

00:18:03.500 Vancouver at 70%, and Toronto at 61%. I wasn't surprised to see Calgary in last place given

00:18:09.580 the recent drama with the LRT. Across all four cities, only one in four residents felt their mayor

00:18:16.940 should be re-elected. Again, last place was Calgary, where only 18% of respondents said that Jyoti Gondek

00:18:24.140 deserved re-election, and 41% said she was doing a good job. She was followed by Ken Sim in Vancouver,

00:18:31.340 where 25% said he deserved re-election, and 50% said he was doing a good job.

00:18:37.100 Next place was Edmonton's mayor, Amarjeet Sohi, with 26% saying he deserved re-election, and 47%

00:18:43.900 thinking he did a good job. Leading the pack was Mayor Olivia Chow, where 36% of residents said she

00:18:49.500 deserved re-election, and 58% said she was doing a good job. Look, when Olivia Chow was leading the pack,

00:18:55.100 we know that Canada's top mayors can't be very well liked. Remember back in April when the Alberta

00:19:00.940 government announced that it would be introducing a bill that would feature political parties at the

00:19:06.060 municipal level? If that ever comes to be, maybe it will strengthen the trust in mayors among citizens,

00:19:11.740 as they'll be much more aware of who they're getting into bed to when they vote them in.

00:19:15.500 Let me know if you think it will make any difference in the comments.

00:19:19.260 Speaking of comments, let's jump right into the comment roundup. It was very challenging to choose

00:19:25.020 from the almost 500 comments last episode, and I could have easily picked like 100 of them,

00:19:30.540 but I just decided to go with the first few that stood out to me. But you should all know that I read

00:19:36.460 every single comment, and I do appreciate them greatly. So the first comment comes from

00:19:40.860 at Diana Carr, KJ7BK, who said, I just was at my doctor's today. When I arrived, there was a long

00:19:47.820 lineup I have never seen out of the seven years I have been going. So as I walked up, there were many

00:19:53.900 Asian descents in line, at least 32 that I counted, just out the door. These were mostly elders and about

00:20:00.380 12 to 15 younger Asians. Our healthcare system is so maxed out. So yeah, that first comment telling 1.00

00:20:08.140 the story about the visitors to the doctor's office. I decided to highlight this one because

00:20:13.100 I've had various reasons to need to go to the doctors over the last few months. But honestly,

00:20:18.700 I'd rather deal with the pain and struggle than go to the doctors and live through that experience.

00:20:25.260 Also recently, people have been sharing their favorite things about Canadian healthcare after

00:20:31.580 Trudeau bragged about it on Stephen Colbert. Some of the Canadians' favorite things they shared to X

00:20:38.700 recently were being taxed to death for the healthcare system without using it for 50 years,

00:20:44.620 dying on wait lists, and being offered MAID instead of having to wait years for surgery.

00:20:51.900 The next comment comes from Bill Parsons, RB3VD, who said, I support Jennifer Johnson 110%.

00:20:58.380 That was a perfect example of gaslighting by definition. I'm not one of Jennifer's constituents,

00:21:04.460 so I can't vote for her, but wish I could. I called her constituency office to give my support. I would

00:21:09.900 say that Jennifer represents the views of the majority of Albertans and Canadians. I urge

00:21:15.020 Premier Smith to bring her back into caucus immediately. Jennifer should have never been ejected. 1.00

00:21:21.180 Yeah, so Bill, I just wanted to highlight this because I think it's commendable that you called her

00:21:26.380 office to offer her support. I think that it's important that we all start standing up for one

00:21:31.980 another when the woke mob tries to gaslight us, cancel us, and take us down. The last comment

00:21:37.820 today comes from Mike Height9855, who said, I fly between Edmonton and Amsterdam 12 times a year,

00:21:44.700 and the days vary. Every plane coming home to Alberta, the plane is full. 90% of the people on

00:21:50.060 the plane are East Indians and predominantly Sikhs. This has been going on since COVID ended. These 1.00

00:21:55.340 are not immigrants dressed in suits and ties and what would you consider professional types,

00:21:59.420 but middle-aged to senior people with a small percentage of younger families.

00:22:03.340 There are three flights a day to Canada all leaving around the same time in the afternoon.

00:22:07.500 Edmonton, Calgary, and Toronto departures. The other planes have about the same amount of East Indians

00:22:12.940 on them as you walk between the gates and look. The Premier said, we didn't want any more immigrants, 1.00

00:22:18.300 but I can tell you the amount of people coming in has not slowed down even a little bit.

00:22:23.020 So yeah, Mike, the last comment I decided to highlight today was yours because of a similar

00:22:27.740 anecdote a family member recently shared with me. He was on a plane coming back to Canada,

00:22:34.380 and he said it was filled with Indians who didn't speak a word of English and couldn't even figure out

00:22:39.020 how to open the bathroom door on the airplane. These are the type of immigrants we have coming into 1.00

00:22:45.180 Canada by the millions. Look outside. Surely this isn't the Canada you remember growing up.

00:22:51.420 So I'd like to thank everyone for making it all the way through my third episode of hosting the

00:22:55.660 Alberta Roundup. Every week I get to host the show, I grow a deeper admiration for my job and

00:23:03.260 the great honor that it is to have this opportunity to share these stories with you all.

00:23:08.220 As for those who have recommended that I get a comb, I think my mom actually tried to give me one once,

00:23:15.180 but I said no thanks. I don't need a comb because my hand, you know, it does the trick.

00:23:22.540 Also, I didn't just wake up. This took me like 5-10 minutes in the mirror and I know it's a fiasco,

00:23:27.900 but it's a delicate art people and my hair is, yeah, it's not what it used to be. Anyways, thank you,

00:23:35.580 God bless and have a wonderful weekend.

Juno News - September 28, 2024

Smith further protects Albertan’s rights

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