Alberta Could Negotiate With Trump Admin - Separation From Canada Referendum in 2025?
Episode Stats
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163.57333
Summary
The Prime Minister of Alberta, Alison Redford, holds a press conference on the breakup of Alberta and Canada. She outlines her vision for the future of the province and outlines her goals when it comes to relations with the United States.
Transcript
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switch our focus to continuing to expand our relationship with the united states
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and there you have it even though she stated publicly that she hopes canada gets its
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together and starts respecting alberta to preserve unity there's already talks happening where
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america is offering alberta that which canada refuses to a recent poll published by alberta
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news company the western standard shows a significant increase in support for alberta
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independence as it stands support for alberta to separate from canada is sitting at around 45
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percent which is up from the low to mid 30s previously reported in contrast the support
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for those who say they absolutely want the province to remain a part of canada is only at around 55
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percent so we're nearing a 50 50 split between those who support the idea and those who don't
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now let's take into account the fact that this increase in support is happening before a full
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education campaign takes place where the benefits of independence are explained to alberta families
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the alberta prosperity project has communicated that they intend to visit every single alberta ride
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in this summer with q a sessions focused on providing information on the benefits of alberta
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independence this revelation can explain the rise in hostility towards the alberta separation
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movement and those who support it by the media politicians and so-called celebrities in canada
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i think it's safe to assume they're starting to realize albertans are serious about this
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yesterday the premier of alberta held a press conference outlining her goals when it comes to
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alberta canada relations in a time of political tensions and ahead of a future referendum on
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separation which may take place later this year or in 2026 as the government expects during the press
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conference rick bell an alberta journalist known for asking tough questions asked the premier about
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what would happen if her list of demands of the government of canada is not met now i want you to
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watch till the end because what she says in regards to alberta usa relations reveals a lot about where
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her head is at when it comes to alberta separation and the possibility of alberta joining the united
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states in some sort of agreement whether that's an economic union becoming a territory or full-on statehood
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watch your first question comes from the line of rick bell with post media please go ahead
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uh good uh good morning premier um i know you met with prime minister carney two weeks ago and and you
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were quite positive and i know you're hoping for the best and i know you're an optimist at heart but
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actions have consequences and inactions have consequences you have nine demands on the table that
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you would like to see dealt with in the next six months my question is what do you believe the
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reaction of albertans not the rest of the country just albertans what the reaction of albertans will be
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if those demands that you have on the table are not met in other words what is the risk
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uh for the prime minister for the canadian government for canada what is the risk of not
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dealing with those nine issues and following through and and uh getting that new deal that you want
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maybe i'll i'll put it in practical terms because i i know that the federal government is seeking input
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on projects that might qualify for a fast track process and so that's what i'll be looking at as
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an indicator of whether the federal government is going to meet us part way because uh the project
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i've put on the table is a revival of the northern gateway pipeline to port of prince rupert because when
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you look at that that particular route it gives us access to all the asian markets and gives us a
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preference of being able to get our product there over any country in the world we've got eight days
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or ten days to south korea and to and to tokyo and going on to the east coast of of india and all the
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other nations in between and so being able to create new markets uh there with additional uh export of
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bitumen is is going to be incredibly important some of the the biggest refinery in the world of our heavy
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oil of heavy oil is in india there are four korean refineries that have already received shipments
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of trans mountain uh heavy oil and they like it and they want more of it so what does that mean
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well they'd have to have a fast track process to approve that pipeline so we're not waiting 10 years
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and so that it is de-risked to a point where somebody will come along and build it and if you're
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going to have that pipeline end at port of prince rupert well you're going to have to do a carve out on
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the tanker band so that we can load it onto a boat and get it overseas and if you do all of that then
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you're going to have probably have to take the uh the ties off of our energy industry to talk about
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how we're going to reduce our emissions without facing criminal penalty because right now that's
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called green washing under their bill 59 and to be able to get uh support uh we'd have to talk
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about the pathways project and how we might be able to decarbonize the production and that means no
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emissions caps because if you want to increase your export you can't have an emissions cap which
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acts as a production cap what she's basically asking in her demands is for canada to unshackle
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alberta's economic development which is insane to think she even has to request that for those of
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you watching from america this is like oklahoma having to beg washington dc to allow their energy to
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access ports in texas yes that's the level of ridiculousness alberta has to deal with in canada
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so those are like five things right there that they would signal to me that they were serious
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about changing things if they agreed to the port-au-prince-ruppert revival of northern
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gateway or something like it so that's what i'm looking for
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and hello and uh i'm sure most albertans are are looking for that too um if that doesn't happen if
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alberta's heart gets broken yet again uh and you've seen this movie many times and you've heard
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people speak very positively and then in the end nothing happens um what what is what is the risk if
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you want to national unity um if if we can't get that which is as you say a very specific hands-on project if
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that if that can't be accepted and what goes along with that what do you think the reaction of albertans
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will be to that if it is rejected and what do you think that means for confederation well let me answer
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in a very practical way again because i know that there are several projects that are being floated to
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um the u.s secretary of the interior doug burgum that would get more of our oil and gas out of
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alberta and into the united states and then i would say to my colleagues again what do you think it's
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going to do to national unity that it's easier for alberta to get its product traded to the united states
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than through british columbia or through eastern canada and then we're going to have to have that
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conversation because that is the problem that we have right now is that we all have stronger ties
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north south than we do east west and so i'll be looking at that as an indicator of whether words
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were said just to win elections um or whether words were said because we're serious about trading
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with each other and supporting each other and we're serious about finding new markets for our products
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so i think we'll know pretty soon rick about whether or not we're going to have to switch our focus
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to continuing to expand our relationship with the united states switch our focus to continuing to
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expand our relationship with the united states and there you have it even though she stated publicly
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that she hopes canada gets its shit together and starts respecting alberta to preserve unity
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there's already talks happening where america is offering alberta that which canada refuses to
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she's talking about expanding the current relationship between alberta and the united
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states if canada keeps blocking alberta energy and economic development many will say including
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myself that that ship has sailed and we should simply seek independence or to join america as a
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protectorate state or territory but she's clearly indicating that albertans are done with being taken
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advantage of by the rest of canada this is huge officially the government of alberta is exploring ways to
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expand its relationship with the usa let me know what you think about this in the comments should
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alberta pursue independence and stay as a separate country or should it pursue a stronger relationship
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with the united states if you enjoyed this video hit the like and subscribe buttons it helps me a ton god bless