Juno News - Smith responds to guilty verdict for Coutts 3

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

00:00:03.680 Today, as promised, I am joined by your Premier, Danielle Smith. We are going to be talking about

00:00:09.440 COVID-19 vaccines, the affordability crisis, and more. We'll be joined by her now.

00:00:14.880 Rachel Emanuel brings the news each day. On Alberta Roundup, she has her say.

00:00:25.920 Well, hello, Premier. I'm glad that we could make this happen today. Actually,

00:00:29.040 funny story, I had Andrew Lawton on the show recently. I said to him, you keep stealing my

00:00:32.880 interviews because I think I had asked to have one and then I went on mat leave and then he got the

00:00:37.040 interview and then we were supposed to do this and then you did Canada Strong and Free and I was

00:00:41.200 looking at it and I'm like, hmm, Lawton again. So I have expected him to show up and steal the show

00:00:45.680 at the last minute. Well, we do have a special relationship because he used to sub in for me

00:00:50.000 when I was on radio and so maybe that's part of the reason why he tries to scoop in. He was a very

00:00:54.960 popular host on Chorus, but I'm glad to be able to talk to you today. He still is a popular host.

00:00:59.600 I hear a lot of compliments about him, so I guess that's the shoes I'm trying to fill or my competition.

00:01:03.520 I don't know however you'll put it. So I want to talk a little bit today about affordability,

00:01:07.200 obviously top of everyone's mind. I know that your government has received a ton of pressure to

00:01:11.920 cancel the provincial fuel tax. You've said, you know, we need this to build roads essentially.

00:01:17.280 But what we do know is that your government has made a commitment to Albertans when the price of

00:01:20.960 oil is over $90 WTI, you're going to actually just scrap that provincial tax altogether.

00:01:25.920 And when the price of WTI is per oil is between 80 and 84, you're going to lower the tax about 9 cents

00:01:31.920 a litre. So the price of oil has been over 80 for about 20 days now. I know that your government said

00:01:36.560 you're going to look at that every quarter. That's not coming up for a couple of weeks. So are Albertans

00:01:40.400 stuck paying that full price for a couple of weeks or can we get a move on that, get that tax lowered?

00:01:44.960 I have asked my finance minister if there's a way to be more flexible. We have a tax agreement.

00:01:50.800 I understand with our providers that we're not going to change it any more than any three months.

00:02:00.240 So that's the difficulty is you wanted to have some certainty for for those who are at the retail

00:02:06.000 level. And so I wanted to check with my finance minister if there'd be any flexibility on that

00:02:11.200 because part of what we want to do is that we want to make sure that we realize the revenues before

00:02:16.720 rebating them back because the governments have gotten themselves in trouble in the past

00:02:21.280 in expecting the price of oil to go one place and then it doesn't and then they end up short. And

00:02:26.160 we're very tight on our budget this year. We are only proposing that we'd have a 400 million dollar

00:02:32.080 surplus which is part of the reason we had to bring the tax back. And I must say I think it would be

00:02:37.200 it's unrealistic for the federal government to ask for us in Alberta to be the ones to sacrifice

00:02:42.640 because they don't want to reduce their tax. They have a 17 cent a litre carbon tax, a 10 cent a

00:02:47.360 litre fuel tax, they have GST which is charged as a tax on tax. So whenever you're paying,

00:02:52.640 call it a buck 50 a litre, just know that 35 cents of that comes from the federal government. That's why

00:02:57.200 we put so much pressure on the feds because we do need those those dollars for roads. We have,

00:03:02.400 I just spoke to the Alberta Motor Transport Association yesterday, we have 12 percent of the population,

00:03:08.800 seven percent of the land base, but one quarter of all of the road construction in the country

00:03:14.160 because we have such a robust economy in so many different areas. So it is essential that we have

00:03:20.160 the money to be able to provide for the upgrades for those roads. So you've mentioned that you know

00:03:26.080 you're on a tight budget this year, surplus you didn't forecast too big. Obviously the price of oil

00:03:29.520 is high right now. I think given the situation in the Middle East we can expect us to stay high. Your 1.00

00:03:33.200 government had pegged it at about $74. We're at about $84 right now between 82 and 84

00:03:38.000 as of Friday morning. So if that stays high, that's good news for Albertans, good news for the

00:03:41.760 government. There will be a big surplus there. So you know, given that in mind, I know you said you

00:03:44.800 don't want to anticipate the cost of oil being one thing and then something else happens, but I

00:03:49.040 suspect we're looking at a pretty good surplus. Like is there no possibility you could just take a look

00:03:52.720 at this and say this is good news for our province, let's just get rid of that provincial fuels tax or

00:03:56.400 maybe return that money to Albertans and a one-time payment like your government has done before?

00:04:00.400 Well I think we want to make sure that we stay true to the the program so that people always know,

00:04:05.440 because the prices might be high now, but who knows in a couple of months they could be low

00:04:10.160 again. And we want people to understand that yes, when we get surplus revenues, we believe a portion

00:04:15.200 of that has to come back to Albertans and lower taxes. So that's why we created the program the way

00:04:20.160 we did. I remember from the reason I offered as a caution, I just remember that there was a projection

00:04:26.560 back when I was doing commentary that because oil prices spiked above $100, the government thought

00:04:32.880 they were going to get a $17 billion surplus. And then they spent $6 billion of it, prices tanked

00:04:38.800 and they ended up with a shortfall that year. So we know that the volatility that we have because

00:04:43.840 of the unrest in the Middle East, there's still, you know, cross our fingers, but it still it looks

00:04:49.360 finally pretty good that the Trans Mountain pipeline is going to come on stream. That was supposed to be

00:04:53.200 on stream earlier. We know that coastal gas link is another option when LNG starts exporting,

00:04:58.480 cross your fingers, that comes on at the end of this year or early next year. And those will all

00:05:02.480 make a difference. But one of the things that we have told Albertans is that when we do generate

00:05:08.960 surpluses, half of it will go to pay down debt, which reduces our finance charges. And then the other

00:05:14.320 half will be able to be delivered in one-time program spending rebates or investment in capital

00:05:20.480 projects or savings. And so that's the direction that we're going to go. We want to make sure that our

00:05:24.800 number one goal is to run the balanced budget and be prudent. Changing directions a little bit,

00:05:29.520 I want to talk about Alberta Health Services. Obviously your government's doing a lot of work

00:05:32.560 on dismantling that, changing things around. Just the other week they came out and they announced

00:05:36.880 that they are still recommending the COVID-19 booster every three months beginning at six

00:05:40.480 months old for babies six months old. A lot of people took issue with that. Is that a policy that

00:05:44.960 you yourself agree with? I think that we're trying to get a correction with the Western Standard

00:05:50.080 because we think that it was mischaracterized. So I'll tell you what I have observed. What I have

00:05:55.920 observed since it is a choice for people to take the vaccine or not, 16.6 percent of Albertans have

00:06:02.880 chosen to take the vaccine. So I think people are making their own decision about what is best for them,

00:06:08.400 whether or not they need it, whether or not they're in consultation with their doctors. And we want

00:06:14.080 to preserve that. That being said, I believe it's over the age of 65, 60% are getting that booster.

00:06:21.760 And so we want to make sure that in respecting choice, that we're respecting the choice of everyone.

00:06:27.840 There are some families that have made a decision that they want to have their children vaccinated,

00:06:33.280 and many who have chosen not to. And so we're making it available. The recommendation really is

00:06:38.560 though for those who are immunocompromised at any age and those over the age of 65, and I think

00:06:43.120 Indigenous communities as well, because there's a comorbidity factor with diabetes in particular,

00:06:48.240 and some of the other health risks. But it remains a choice and one that we hope that people make

00:06:54.640 in conjunction with their doctor. So not recommending six-month-old babies get the mRNA vaccine?

00:06:59.600 The recommendation was for those who are immunocompromised, those over the age of 65,

00:07:04.640 and I believe First Nations communities. I'm sure a lot of people will be happy to hear that.

00:07:09.120 Taking a look at the COOTS three, I know you said this is separate from my branch of government,

00:07:14.160 the judicial branch is separate, and you don't want to make too many comments on that. I'm going to

00:07:16.560 respect that. However, just one question on it. The jury made their decision. It was a guilty verdict

00:07:21.360 on Tuesday night. We obviously are expecting the sentencing, could be up to 10 years in prison for

00:07:24.960 those three men. That'll come this summer. They did make their decision rather quickly. Were you surprised

00:07:29.680 by that? They made it about a couple hours. What I would say is that the legislation that we have in

00:07:38.000 place for Critical Infrastructure Act, it doesn't matter what your ideology is or what your cause is,

00:07:46.800 or what your political perspective is. You simply cannot block critical infrastructure. So I don't

00:07:54.080 support Extinction Rebellion gluing themselves to the bridges. I don't support days of action that

00:08:01.280 shut down our railway lines, and I don't support inconveniencing neighbours and farmers and those 1.00

00:08:08.720 who want to get goods transported by shutting down borders and highways. And I think that this is a

00:08:15.360 caution. There's a way to be able to make your point known. There's a way to be able to advocate,

00:08:19.760 but you can't block critical infrastructure. At the Canada Strong and Free Networking Conference,

00:08:24.560 you asked about your parental rights policy, which probably extends into a lot of different things.

00:08:28.160 And you said that you're not going to be banning biological men or trans women from women's jails

00:08:33.280 and shelters because you didn't see a reason to. There's been numerous cases of women being assaulted,

00:08:39.840 sexually assaulted at women's jails, not in Alberta, outside of the province. Are you saying,

00:08:44.800 I don't see a reason to because it hasn't happened here in Alberta yet?

00:08:47.600 I think it's a jurisdiction issue. I mean, I think you know that I will defend our jurisdiction

00:08:53.520 in every matter that we can, but I also recognize the federal government has jurisdiction too. So

00:08:58.560 federal penitentiaries is where inmates are serving two years plus a day and longer. And so I think that's

00:09:05.600 where we've seen some of the problems that you're identifying. If somebody faces a lifetime in prison,

00:09:11.600 then I think there's reason to be concerned about the transfer of inmates. In Alberta, we only have control

00:09:19.600 over inmates who are in for two years less a day. And so that's why I said I just haven't heard of problems.

00:09:25.600 I haven't heard of prisoner transfers happening in provincial penitentiaries for such a short period

00:09:33.440 of time. I'll continue to monitor it, but I do think that that really is a federal issue to be dealt with.

00:09:39.760 And that's part of the reason why I just haven't observed that we have that problem here.

00:09:43.360 And what about in women's shelters specifically?

00:09:45.440 Again, it's one of those issues where I would just have to monitor and see if there's a problem. What

00:09:52.000 I think is the issue people have, it's a matter of modesty. I think in a woman's space, whether it's 1.00

00:09:59.680 a locker room or a bathroom, you just simply don't want people who haven't had surgery on the bottom 1.00

00:10:08.960 walking into those spaces exposed. That's what I think it comes down to. Most women's bathrooms are 1.00

00:10:14.800 a single stall. And so I don't think anybody really knows what's going on behind the bathroom door.

00:10:19.600 And in locker rooms, all I would say is that there should be an attitude of modesty. When it comes to

00:10:25.280 shelters in particular, again, I just haven't seen, I tend to identify where the problem areas are and

00:10:31.600 then try to look for solutions. And I just haven't seen anything that rises to a level that thinks that

00:10:37.280 the federal government or the provincial government needs to step in.

00:10:40.160 On electronic tabulators, I've asked you about this a couple times. I know that you're planning to

00:10:43.600 introduce legislation that would ban tabulators. Would that apply to municipal government elections

00:10:48.720 as well? And if so, is the hope that the legislation will be in place before next year's municipal

00:10:53.360 elections? Yes and yes. Great. And then just my last question for you here, you know, the last topic,

00:11:00.000 looking a little bit at CSIS Canada's spy agency, they've been warning about foreign interference in

00:11:03.920 the federal government. Now the CSIS director is saying that China interfered in the last two federal

00:11:09.280 elections, didn't actually change the outcome, but did interfere. And we know that they've been warning

00:11:13.440 about interference in Alberta because we're a very attractive place. We've got a lot of money here,

00:11:16.800 a lot of investment resources and ethnic communities. Your government is aware of this.

00:11:21.200 What specific actions are you taking to ensure that this doesn't crop up in our elections?

00:11:25.440 Well, we did have a briefing from CSIS because I wanted all of my ministers to be aware of what the

00:11:31.680 concerns might be and how they might be approached and be compromised and to get some understanding of

00:11:37.120 how when somebody is behaving in an unusual way, as well as knowing where to report that. And so

00:11:42.560 we're creating a little bit of situational awareness among our cabinet ministers. We'll be having the

00:11:47.600 same CSIS briefing to our caucus as well. The unfortunate thing is that CSIS doesn't have a

00:11:54.640 mandate to be able to tell us if there's a problem. Their mandate is that they can only tell the government

00:12:01.440 that they report to, which is the federal government, which I think is why it's so disappointing that when

00:12:07.120 I guess you have to sort of look at who do you believe because they said that they raised the alarm

00:12:11.520 many times, but the the politicians are saying they didn't know about it. If that's the only way

00:12:16.720 that CSIS is able to get the information out, I think I think democracy is at risk. And so what I

00:12:22.240 would like to see is that the legislation should change so that we're another order of government that

00:12:29.520 is acknowledged by our constitution. If we have a threat to our democracy in this province, CSIS should

00:12:35.600 be able to tell us so that we can take measures to protect. And so I'm a bit disappointed that the

00:12:41.200 most that they can do is just speak to us at a very high level about information that is not classified.

00:12:48.240 Because I think that by telling us that we're a target that says that we should be concerned. And I

00:12:55.280 don't have any more detail than that, just simply because we were not able to be briefed on it.

00:13:00.640 And when we talk about that fear of foreign interference, then are you aware is this something

00:13:04.480 that's just an issue at the provincial level? Or could this also take place when we talk about

00:13:08.560 municipal elections? It's a good question. I think because I imagine that we're a bit of a target

00:13:14.000 because we are an energy producing jurisdiction. We've got I'm in the process of doing a reserve review,

00:13:20.640 because it hasn't been updated since 2001. And a new technology has allowed for us to be able to

00:13:25.920 recover more natural gas, more oil and more more bitumen. So we'll be we'll be having that that

00:13:31.280 released very soon, which might make us a little bit more of a target because those those numbers,

00:13:35.280 I think, are going to surprise a lot of people. But I think that's probably why Alberta in particular

00:13:39.760 might be a target of a bad actors. There's lots of bad actors in the in the world. And so we just have

00:13:45.360 to be extra vigilant to make sure that our that that our MLAs are mindful of when they get approached,

00:13:52.960 and also mindful that if there's they see something suspicious to report it. But

00:13:56.960 I'm really hopeful that we won't see that happen at the municipal level. I think the provincial level,

00:14:01.760 we just have to do a little bit more work. Premier, thank you so much. My pleasure.

00:14:05.600 All right, everyone. Thanks so much for tuning in. As always, I will be back on Wednesday with an

00:14:09.680 interview. Please don't forget to subscribe to True North and to like this video. And if you feel so

00:14:14.640 inclined, you can head over to donate.tnc.news to show us some support for our work.

00:14:19.520 Have a great weekend, and God bless.

Juno News - April 20, 2024

Smith responds to guilty verdict for Coutts 3

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