Juno News - Smith takes on the WEF

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

00:00:18.220 guys are having a great week so far. Let's take a look at what happened this week in Alberta

00:00:22.200 politics. Alberta Premier Daniel Smith slammed the World Economic Forum this week and the federal

00:00:27.400 government's so-called just transition proposal. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin says it makes no sense that

00:00:33.300 the Biden administration isn't relying on Canada for more energy. And we're going to talk about the

00:00:38.060 Coutts prosecution cases. All that and more happening now on the Alberta Roundup. Okay guys,

00:00:42.980 we are going to start up today's show by going over the just transition saga. There was a lot

00:00:46.960 of back and forth about this proposal in Alberta politics this week. For starters, Alberta Premier

00:00:51.780 Danielle Smith said she's paying close attention to the World Economic Forum which happened in Davos

00:00:56.300 this week because she believes it aspires to shut down Alberta's energy sector. The Premier further

00:01:01.080 said that a report released this week confirmed her worst fears. That the federal government's so-called

00:01:06.580 just transition proposal does in fact seek to shut down Alberta's oil and gas sector. She made those

00:01:11.840 comments Monday on the Sean Newman podcast. We're going to play that for you now. I'm watching what

00:01:16.280 comes out of it through the reporting by Andrew Lawton because I think that they unfortunately have an

00:01:23.340 aspiration for our economy to shut down our energy industry. We've been hearing all about the just

00:01:28.400 transition ever since we started the beginning of the year. And if you look at the report that came

00:01:33.520 out from Blacklock's reporter, they've done a story today that confirms my worst fears. That they talk

00:01:41.000 about how we need to transition oil and natural gas workers into jobs like janitors and driving trucks

00:01:48.040 for solar companies. This is the language that they're using in the bureaucracy. That doesn't

00:01:52.640 come from nowhere. That comes from a large concerted effort by a number of people who want to shut down

00:01:58.140 our oil and natural gas industry. And I won't stand for that. Nor am I going to rub shoulders with people

00:02:02.760 who share that aspiration. We're going to make sure that our oil and natural gas industry stays strong.

00:02:07.840 There are good paying jobs for the long term. That we transition our energy use in a way that makes sense

00:02:13.740 for Alberta, which I've talked a lot about, carbon capture and hydrogen and bitumen beyond combustion

00:02:18.660 and petrochemicals and exporting LNG. That's what I think our future is. But it is not on side with

00:02:25.620 some people. And I think it's my job to make sure I stand up for Alberta.

00:02:29.780 The federal government's just transition proposal has yet to be tabled, but it's been in the works

00:02:33.640 since 2021. The federal government claims the bill will help the provinces transition workers into jobs

00:02:38.700 that support a more sustainable energy economy. The memo the premier was referencing was first reported

00:02:43.340 on by Black Lock's reporter. The June 1 memo to federal natural resources minister Jonathan

00:02:47.880 Wilkinson said more than 2.7 million Canadians will face significant disruptions in sectors that will

00:02:54.380 be affected by climate change programs. Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley finally weighed into the

00:02:58.900 conversation this week saying if she was premier, she would know what's in the legislation by now.

00:03:03.540 She said the fact that she doesn't know and that the rest of Alberta doesn't know is part of the

00:03:07.280 problem. Take a listen to her comments now. 1.00

00:03:09.500 So my answer is simply this. The plan as it exists now has clearly been constructed. Again,

00:03:18.480 I don't know what's in it. It's been constructed without the government of Alberta there at the

00:03:24.480 table speaking up on behalf of Alberta workers, Alberta job creators, Alberta investors. And as a

00:03:32.900 result, the plan cannot go ahead in its current state. And so I'm not talking about just putting

00:03:38.860 it off. I'm saying we have a fundamental flaw in how we've gotten to this point, a flaw primarily

00:03:45.000 driven by one of the most chaotic, incompetent provincial governments that we have seen in the history of

00:03:50.340 this country over many, many decades. So that is my first point. In terms of the second point, I've been

00:03:55.220 very clear to everybody, Jagmeet Singh, Justin Trudeau, all the MPs, quite frankly, in Ottawa, that they we the

00:04:04.060 specter of Ottawa MPs debating a plan that by now, their own admission that we've seen through these documents,

00:04:13.900 will have a disproportionate disruption to a sector that includes 100 or hundreds of thousands of workers primarily

00:04:24.940 residing in Alberta. This prospect of them debating that in Ottawa, right now, while we're in the midst of

00:04:33.640 what is almost an election campaign, I mean, we're in the red zone, and we're very close to that, to being in an

00:04:39.240 official campaign, without us at the table, it's just not acceptable. It's not how you run the country.

00:04:44.360 This week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, True North correspondent Andrew Lawton caught up with U.S.

00:04:49.220 Senator Joe Manchin and asked him why he thought the Biden administration has been so averse to

00:04:53.940 importing Canadian oil. Manchin, who visited Alberta in April to learn more about our energy economy,

00:04:59.900 said it makes no sense. So, first off, what do you think of the Biden administration's decision to

00:05:05.360 be so averse to importing Canadian oil? It makes no sense to me whatsoever. You know,

00:05:11.340 Canada's been our best trading partner, it's been our best ally, and it's our friend or neighbour.

00:05:16.520 And next of all, 62% of our heavy crude comes from Alberta. So, I'm totally committed to it,

00:05:22.000 and they're totally wrong, and not accepting it, and willing to go to different places and

00:05:25.840 lift the sanctions off of Iran, who wants the most prolific terrorist supporters, and give them 0.81

00:05:30.860 money, or going towards areas that basically do not have the climate standards that Alberta has,

00:05:36.720 and the way they've done it, and done it so well, and made so many different advancements. So,

00:05:40.620 I'm totally supportive of Alberta oil coming more and more to the U.S., and it was a shame that we

00:05:45.540 didn't ask them to support more. Okay, guys, and moving into our controversy of the week,

00:05:50.020 I want to start by responding to your guys' comments on our last week's episode.

00:05:54.120 Last week, I asked you if you thought that Premier Smith was backtracking. As you know,

00:05:58.000 in October, at the United Conservative Party Annual General Meeting, just after Smith was sworn in as

00:06:02.800 Premier, she said she was going to seek pardons for those charged for breaching COVID-19 restrictions.

00:06:08.180 Last week, Smith said she cannot interfere with the legal process, and it would be inappropriate for

00:06:12.300 her to do so. But she said she's been asking the Justice Minister and his Deputy Minister

00:06:16.720 to reconsider on a regular basis whether pursuing these charges is in the public interest. Now,

00:06:22.300 I put it to you guys, and I asked you, do you think that this was the Premier backtracking on

00:06:25.760 her promises of seeking pardons? Most of you said no. You didn't think the Premier was backtracking.

00:06:30.360 She sought legal advice, and she was doing the most that she could. I'm going to read a couple of

00:06:34.280 those comments for you now. User Biddydibdab wrote,

00:06:37.020 I think that Danielle is in the early days of her Premiership and is still learning quickly. I

00:06:41.620 trust her to do all that she legally can to get charges dropped, but unlike the federal government,

00:06:47.000 she is careful to uphold the law. Margaret Nordstrom wrote,

00:06:50.180 Danielle did not make a promise. She stated she needed consultation with the courts and would keep

00:06:54.760 us updated. R.G. Turner wrote, I am happy with Smith's actions, and she's not walking back anything.

00:07:00.840 Dealing with the judicial system while not interfering is complicated and tricky. Sean wrote,

00:07:05.340 I hope she doesn't walk back on this one because I think she's shown a lot of bravery and great

00:07:09.500 leadership so far. I will be a little patient on this one. It is a very important issue though.

00:07:14.800 The bravest of us are still being affected by this. I hope Danielle remembers that. I was not

00:07:19.480 one of those brave people, but I thank them for standing up to the tyranny and bullying that took

00:07:24.040 place. And Michael Matt wrote, if she promised pardon for victims of COVID, she should keep her word.

00:07:29.200 There were a couple people who said she was backtracking, but most people seemed pretty happy with the

00:07:33.000 premier's actions thus far and hoped that she would continue doing what she can while saying there

00:07:37.700 might be restrictions on what she's able to do. Now, there is more to this story, you guys. I'm

00:07:41.580 going to give you a bit of an update. Premier Smith touched on this topic when she was asked about the

00:07:45.380 organ transplant list. Now, you guys know the story. We covered it last week. There's a woman here in 0.77

00:07:49.660 Alberta who was unvaccinated and was removed from the top of the organ donor transplant list.

00:07:54.380 She's now seeking to take her case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. She's put a request in

00:07:58.700 asking them to hear her case. We don't yet know if they've agreed to hear it.

00:08:01.700 Danielle Smith was asked about that this week on the Sean Newman podcast, and she said her views on

00:08:05.700 the issue of medical choice are well known. Later on in her answer, she talked about not being able

00:08:10.120 to wade into the legal process and grant people clemency like governors in the US are able to do,

00:08:15.320 for example. But take a listen to her comments for yourself.

00:08:17.560 I think my views on this are well known. I do believe in medical choice. I think the issue of

00:08:23.340 transplant is a bit unique because we're talking about putting people on immunosuppressant drugs.

00:08:28.100 And I think we've all acknowledged that those who are immunosuppressed have greater risk

00:08:32.580 on a whole variety of viruses, including influenza. And COVID has been added to that list. So I look

00:08:39.200 at that as a little bit different. And that's why I want to defer to the medical experts on that.

00:08:44.820 But if it was applied more generally, I mean, quite clearly, I have said that we need to preserve

00:08:49.820 medical choice. And that's what we've done in Alberta. Made my views very well known. I've been pleased to see

00:08:55.800 that most of the companies and operators in Alberta have gone down that same track. But the

00:09:02.700 question of what can you do, it is a bit frustrating. There's no question that once the wheels of justice

00:09:11.420 roll on certain cases, that there really isn't anything a politician can do other than watch it

00:09:16.600 play out. And as cases are decided to see whether that recalibrates the decision making on the two

00:09:21.980 things that a prosecutor has to consider. Is there a reasonable likelihood of conviction? And is it in

00:09:26.500 the public interest? So we're watching these cases unfold. And I think that we'll see that that's the

00:09:33.440 kind of decision making that we have to leave to the Crown prosecutors. I know that because we've been

00:09:39.200 so influenced by the states, I think that some people, I think that the Premier has the same power

00:09:45.380 as they do in the states of clemency or offering pardons. And I've not observed that that's the

00:09:50.960 case in Canada. We just have a different criminal justice and different legal system. And once things

00:09:56.660 have been handed over for prosecution, politicians have to be hands off. So I'm watching it all with

00:10:01.420 great interest. I'm watching to see what those judgments are. But I do have to let that process play

00:10:06.740 out. So my question for you guys this week is what do you think about Annette Lewis? She was a woman

00:10:11.060 who's been denied an organ transplant list. Do you think that the Premier's answer on this is fair?

00:10:15.820 Or do you think that she should do more to advocate for this woman who was denied an organ transplant

00:10:20.160 because she is unvaccinated? Okay, guys, and what we're watching in the weeks to come, this story is

00:10:24.400 related to the last one. CBC News had a big scoop in the late end of the week reporting on Thursday

00:10:29.460 that staff from Alberta Premier Daniel Smith's office emailed Crown prosecutors challenging their

00:10:35.120 assessment and direction on charges relating to the code's border blockade. According to unnamed

00:10:39.600 sources who CBC agreed to keep private for fear they could lose their jobs, those emails were sent

00:10:44.300 in the fall. However, in a statement provided to CBC late Thursday evening, the Premier's office

00:10:48.700 denies the claims. They say the Premier had no contact with Crown prosecutors and did not direct

00:10:54.520 staff to do so. Quote, this is a serious allegation. If a staff member has been in touch with a Crown

00:10:59.600 prosecutor, appropriate action will be taken. I suspect this isn't the end of this story and we'll probably

00:11:04.760 hear more about it in the days and weeks to come and I'll be sure to give you an update when we have

00:11:08.300 one. Okay guys, that's all I have for you today. Thank you so much for tuning in. Don't forget to

00:11:12.060 comment under this video and let me know what you think about the question of the week and Annette

00:11:15.880 Lewis's bid to get back on the organ donor transplant list. If you're able to, please consider supporting

00:11:20.820 independent media at donate.tnc.news. Have a great week and God bless.

Juno News - January 21, 2023

Smith takes on the WEF

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