Juno News - April 27, 2024


Smith safeguards election integrity, bans tabulators


Episode Stats


Length

10 minutes

Words per minute

186.2326

Word count

2,048

Sentence count

119

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Electronic tabulators are no longer allowed to count ballots in municipal and provincial elections in Alberta. Premier Danielle Smith is finally making good on her promise to ban them in both provincial and municipal elections in the province. She says it s time to take a good hard look in the mirror.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
00:00:00.000 Alberta Premier Daniel Smith is finally making good on her promise to ban electronic tabulators
00:00:05.120 in both provincial and municipal elections in the province. Predictably, the left is whining about
00:00:10.660 how the Premier is pushing conspiracies about a stolen election started by former President
00:00:14.760 Donald Trump during the 2021 US election. They conveniently ignore the fact that tabulators
00:00:21.040 actually delayed results on election night for hours, as election volunteers entered in data
00:00:26.600 produced by the tabulators late into the night, while voters waited at home for results bleary-eyed.
00:00:32.840 But the truth is, it doesn't actually matter whether tabulators are effective or not. Even if
00:00:38.420 they save times, which they do not, Albertans don't trust them. The left might bemoan this fact, but
00:00:44.520 it's true, whether they like it or not. So let me spell it out clearly. Albertans, many of us, don't
00:00:50.300 trust electronic tabulators and don't want them used in our elections. And for that simple reason,
00:00:55.900 they must go. If you're not willing to make the small sacrifice of hand-counting ballots
00:01:01.340 to ensure that the public trusts the results of an election which will determine policy in the province
00:01:07.100 for years to come, then it might be time to take a good hard look in the mirror. You might see the
00:01:12.960 only thing worse than a Liberal. A Biden Democrat might be staring you back. I'm Rachel Emanuel,
00:01:18.140 and this is the Alberta Roundup.
00:01:19.580 Rachel Emanuel brings the news each day. On Alberta Roundup, she has her say.
00:01:31.180 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is finally making good on her promise to ban electronic tabulators
00:01:36.780 or vote-counting machines in municipal and provincial elections. Bill 20 was introduced on Thursday,
00:01:42.540 and municipal affairs minister Rick McIver says the province is making the move because some
00:01:47.740 residents don't have full trust in the machines. McIver said, quote, I've never called their
00:01:52.620 integrity into question, but if you talk to Albertans, you will find a number of them don't
00:01:57.100 have faith in machines counting ballots. The 2023 provincial election was the first time tabulators
00:02:02.460 were used at the provincial level, albeit only for advanced votes. Tabulator machines have also been
00:02:07.980 used in by-elections and in municipal elections. Okay guys, let's talk for a minute about the
00:02:12.460 tabulators which were used in the vote anywhere service for the advanced polls. If you voted in
00:02:17.820 the advanced polls as I did because I was not in my home writing during the election, I was down here
00:02:21.980 in Calgary covering the election, you would have filled out your ballot and you would have entered it
00:02:25.740 into one of these tabulators. Then on election day, the tabulators printed off a form with the results
00:02:32.220 for each distinct writing across the province and election volunteers had to spend hours manually
00:02:37.820 in putting that data into a computer. That was what caused the delays. So the tabulators were not
00:02:42.860 actually successful in speeding anything up on election day. They actually caused a significant
00:02:47.100 delay. Furthermore, only 1.7 million Albertans voted in the last election in a province of about
00:02:53.100 4 million people. If we can't be bothered to hand count those votes, meanwhile, think about it. We
00:02:58.940 hand count all the votes for a federal election. That's way more people. I don't know what that says
00:03:02.540 about us as a province. So the tabulators are not actually effective. People don't trust them.
00:03:07.020 It is the right move for the province to get rid of them. Moving into our next story here,
00:03:10.780 the province held a news conference on Thursday to talk about a new compensation model for nurses
00:03:15.900 who are opening their own health clinics. When asked how this could help attract more nurses to
00:03:20.460 Alberta, Nurse Practitioner Association of Alberta President Jennifer Mador said the new model is being
00:03:26.460 mired across Canada. Take a listen. When the Nurse Practitioner Association did a scoping review of
00:03:32.380 Canada, most of the funding models that exist have to flow through primary care networks or other
00:03:37.660 government institutions. This is the first direct funding model that mirrors what our physician
00:03:42.780 colleagues have had. It allows flexibility for our ability to have more of an entrepreneurial
00:03:48.380 relationship and model where now these nurse practitioners can open and run their own clinics.
00:03:53.660 So that's novel. And everybody across Canada has been mentioning this to me as something that they're
00:04:00.700 looking to to modernize their primary care health care system including nurse practitioners. During the
00:04:06.940 press conference, Health Minister Adriana LaGrange was also asked to address the controversy of clinics
00:04:11.420 that are charging membership fees. You might remember that story broke a few months ago and the UCP was
00:04:16.060 blamed for privatizing health care when of course these clinics began opening under the Alberta NDP.
00:04:21.100 Here's what Minister LaGrange had to say about it. As far as the clinics that we are investigating
00:04:26.540 and making sure that we can look at, we are wanting to make sure that those that are providing services
00:04:33.340 or providing those memberships are not charging for insured services. That is very clear. That's not
00:04:40.300 allowed and we are making sure that that does not happen. Moving into our next story here, I want to wish
00:04:45.260 a congratulations to friend of the show Chad Cron who was elected in a Red Deer by-election on Monday.
00:04:51.500 Cron ran on a platform of keeping taxes low and spurring growth. Cron told the Red Deer advocate
00:04:57.420 that he wasn't sure until the end what the results would be but that he is quote,
00:05:01.100 really pleased to win a place at the table. He also said quote, our team worked hard to push
00:05:05.660 the vision of what Red Deer could become and we kept pushing. Cron is also the constituency assistant
00:05:11.500 for Red Deer South MLA Jason Steffen. On election night, he was door knocking until 6 30 pm encouraging
00:05:17.900 residents to go to the polls and discussing the need for building more homes and bringing more
00:05:22.540 business to the city. Certainly a well-deserved victory. I'm excited to see what you do at City
00:05:26.780 Council Chad. Moving into our next story here, Environment Minister Stephen Guibo has implemented
00:05:31.740 a federal plastics registry to keep track of production and waste of plastics phased in over
00:05:37.740 the next few years. At a global conference on plastic waste in Ottawa, Guibo said quote,
00:05:43.100 What we're aiming to do with this registry is to ensure that there's more transparency in Canada
00:05:48.220 on the production and use of plastics. Alberta Premier Daniel Smith had a choice response when
00:05:52.540 she was asked about this new policy. Take a look. Well, let me take a drink from my plastic bottle
00:05:57.500 before I answer the question on whether I think plastics are toxic. The federal court has determined
00:06:07.980 that the approach that the federal government is taking is an overreach, not only the broad
00:06:13.100 description of how they describe plastics, but also interfering in our area of constitution. So
00:06:19.180 we have already announced that we will be taking the action forward at a higher level. It had been
00:06:26.060 led by various members of the petrochemical industry. And so we'll continue to argue the constitutional
00:06:32.300 cases. Finally, moving into the controversy of the week, Calgary Mayor Jody Gondek says the prospect
00:06:37.820 of never owning a home and being a renter forever is actually liberating. Take a listen.
00:06:42.540 I see a segment of the population reject this idea of owning a home and they're moving towards rental
00:06:48.540 because it gives them more freedom. They can travel to different places. They can try out different
00:06:53.180 communities. Their job may take them from place to place. And so people have become much more liberated
00:06:58.460 around what housing looks like and what the tenure of housing looks like. Despite claiming that being a
00:07:03.660 renter forever is a liberating experience, Gondek herself actually owns two homes, one in Panorama
00:07:09.660 Hills and one downtown in East Village. And while we're on a topic of never owning a home, Calgary's
00:07:15.340 pitch for citywide rezoning is causing an uproar across the municipality. Here's one concerned homeowner
00:07:21.580 and friend of the show, Brad LaFarge, speaking against the policy at a city council meeting on Thursday.
00:07:27.580 Contrary to the Mayor Gondek's claim of liberation, not everyone wants to be a renter for life.
00:07:33.660 Those words are straight from the World Economic Forum. You will own nothing and be happy.
00:07:39.020 Who are you really working for here? The city's diversity and neighborhood charm are what make it truly
00:07:44.940 special. We all take pride in calling this place home. However, as neighborhoods lose their unique
00:07:50.540 character, the sense of inclusion and belonging cherished by homeowners will be removed.
00:07:56.060 In closing, I'd like to specifically address the eight of you in front of me who voted against
00:08:00.140 holding a plebiscite. In the words of an Alberta hero, when did you become afraid of your citizens?
00:08:07.980 Although I urge you to vote no, I understand those of you who have already made up your minds prior to
00:08:12.540 the start of this public hearing are unlikely to change your stance. Consequently, we the voters
00:08:19.180 will have to express our response at the ballot box come October 2025. Moving into what we're watching
00:08:25.500 in the weeks to come, Alberta Premier Daniel Smith has appointed a quote, contrarian end quote doctor
00:08:31.180 who expressed concerns about officials exaggerating the damage COVID-19 had on hospitals
00:08:36.220 to lead a review of data collected from the pandemic. The Globe and Mail exclusively reported this week
00:08:41.420 that Smith selected Dr. Gary Davidson because she wanted to hear from a wide variety of viewpoints,
00:08:47.260 including those who had previously been shouted down in the public sphere. Davidson was appointed to
00:08:51.980 the position a year ago. And before that, he was the former chief of emergency medicine at the Red
00:08:56.860 Deer Regional Hospital Center. The task force was created in 2022. However, their work has not yet been
00:09:02.220 made public. Davidson became a controversial figure in 2021 during the fourth wave of the pandemic,
00:09:08.060 when he claimed that hospital admission numbers had been manipulated and exaggerated to justify
00:09:12.940 severe public health restrictions. His claims were refuted by Alberta Health Services, the province's
00:09:18.060 health authority. If you ask me, it sounds like Dr. Gary Davidson is the perfect person to be leading
00:09:23.340 this review because he will be asking the questions that many of us have been asking since the pandemic
00:09:28.620 started. And I am certainly eager to see what the review produces. Okay, guys, finally taking a look
00:09:35.020 at our weekly comment roundup. I'm sure you all watched my interview with Alberta Premier Daniel
00:09:39.340 Smith that aired last Saturday. Some of you were disappointed in the Premier's response, especially
00:09:44.780 regarding the Coutts trio. User Magnesa Theos says, quote, very disappointed in Danielle on the Coutts issue.
00:09:51.980 Very disappointed. User at iStream says, quote, I normally like Danielle, but as far as the Coutts
00:09:58.380 three, I think she is a total cop out and misses the whole point of the freedom convoy and the 0.99
00:10:03.500 government overreach and the many Albertans who stood behind it. And finally, Canadian Starman,
00:10:08.140 who I think is a regular, I've definitely read your comments before, said, quote,
00:10:11.820 a big thanks to Rachel for asking a question regarding the Coutts three to Danielle Smith,
00:10:15.660 which is an issue she's been trying to ignore. Her response was pathetic and she should be ashamed of
00:10:19.820 her response on this very critical issue in Alberta. I don't know how a politician can sleep
00:10:24.140 at night knowing that political hostages are rotting in a cold prison cell for the past two
00:10:29.100 years. For those of you who haven't seen it in the week, I interviewed Alex Van Herc. He is actually
00:10:33.740 one of the Coutts three who is facing sentencing of up to 10 years in prison. He said that sentencing
00:10:38.540 will come in September, but do go back and watch that episode. He also responds to Alberta Premier
00:10:43.100 Danielle Smith's comments. Okay, everyone, that's all we have time for today. Thank you so much for
00:10:47.180 tuning in. As always, please like this video and subscribe to True North. You can also head over
00:10:52.140 to donate.tnc.news to support our work. I hope that you guys have a great weekend. I'll see you next week.
00:10:57.820 God bless.