PJ The Belt - February 05, 2026


Alberta Patriots Just Scored a MASSIVE Win in The Courts!!


Episode Stats


Length

8 minutes

Words per minute

154.78302

Word count

1,309

Sentence count

92

Harmful content

Misogyny

4

sentences flagged

Hate speech

1

sentences flagged


Summary

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

A new flashpoint in the standoff between Alberta and Ottawa. Premier Danielle Smith threatens to withhold funding to support new judicial appointments unless the federal government gives the province a say in who is picked. Her move comes as some in Alberta are calling for the province to separate from Canada.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 We begin with a new flashpoint in the tent standoff between Alberta and Ottawa.
00:00:04.920 The Premier in Alberta, Danielle Smith, threatening to withhold funding to support new judicial appointments
00:00:10.580 unless the federal government gives the province a say in who is picked.
00:00:15.240 Her move comes as some in Alberta are calling for the province to separate from Canada.
00:00:20.800 Well folks, looks like Alberta patriots just got another massive win against the federal Liberals
00:00:26.760 and it landed right in the Alberta courts.
00:00:30.000 For years, Ottawa has used the courts as a control tool.
00:00:34.280 They appoint the judges, they shape the system, then they tell Alberta to sit down and just accept it. 1.00
00:00:41.460 Well, that changed today.
00:00:44.040 The government of Alberta stopped asking.
00:00:46.560 They stopped waiting and decided to take matters into their own hands.
00:00:52.020 And if you're wondering why you're seeing all the panic from the left,
00:00:56.160 while you're hearing lectures about democracy all of a sudden,
00:01:00.980 it's because they didn't think Alberta would ever push back this hard.
00:01:06.580 Well, here we are.
00:01:07.960 And this is only the beginning.
00:01:10.020 Danielle Smith putting these demands into a letter to the Prime Minister.
00:01:13.740 What did it say?
00:01:14.460 Well, essentially, she wants to see the way judges are chosen in her province to change.
00:01:19.700 And she said she wants more say, her government, that is, to have more say.
00:01:23.380 And if that doesn't happen, as you mentioned, she plans to withdraw the funding that promotes and supports that selection process.
00:01:28.940 So, going back to that letter, it was dated January 23rd, only made public yesterday,
00:01:33.560 outlining the desire for her government to have a bigger say in how judges are chosen in the courts in Alberta,
00:01:39.460 as well as in the Supreme Court of Canada.
00:01:41.360 David, she also mentioned she wants to see the rules loosening around judicial appointees
00:01:45.620 when it comes to that requirement for them to be bilingual.
00:01:48.760 Provincial governments do not currently get a say, a direct say, in how judges are appointed.
00:01:54.900 Can you actually explain to us how that happens?
00:01:57.300 Yeah, right now, it is the federal government that appoints all judges in courts across the country.
00:02:01.880 But they are given recommendations based on what is said and brought forward to them from 17 judicial advisory committees.
00:02:10.300 Those are made up of seven people.
00:02:12.420 And you can see on your screen how it all breaks down.
00:02:14.760 Seven people coming from Ottawa, the province, the chief justice of that province,
00:02:19.000 as well as two lawyer groups, one national and one provincial.
00:02:21.900 Right now, of those 17, David, there is one of those judicial advisory committees in Alberta.
00:02:29.260 Here's why this is a big deal and why most Albertans are happy about this.
00:02:34.360 People here have been saying the same thing for years.
00:02:38.300 The courts don't feel like they work for us anymore.
00:02:41.560 They feel like they serve Ottawa.
00:02:44.220 They feel like liberal activism comes first and consequences for real criminals come last.
00:02:51.280 And for the first time, the Alberta government didn't complain.
00:02:56.020 They didn't beg.
00:02:57.740 They didn't write a strongly worded letter or statement.
00:03:01.760 They used leverage.
00:03:03.240 They said, we're not going to give you our money anymore.
00:03:06.300 No blank check for you.
00:03:08.460 No more control without our input.
00:03:11.280 That's not just rhetoric anymore.
00:03:13.660 That's a power move.
00:03:15.000 And every Albertan watching knows exactly what this means.
00:03:20.140 Premier Danielle Smith believes the province should have more input on judicial appointments.
00:03:25.220 Smith wants changes made to the appointment process at the Alberta Court of King's Bench,
00:03:29.900 the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.
00:03:32.560 To fill vacancies, Smith wants to see a special advisory committee created
00:03:36.920 that would consist of two people recommended by the province.
00:03:40.420 She says Alberta will withhold funding to support new appointments until its input is allowed.
00:03:45.780 There are currently three vacancies on the Alberta Court of King's Bench.
00:03:49.620 Okay, what is Smith saying she wants to do?
00:03:51.760 Okay, so with the one that is already in her province, instead of seven people,
00:03:55.800 she wants to bring it down by three and she wants it to be four, 1.00
00:03:58.620 with two chosen from Alberta, two from Ottawa.
00:04:01.920 And then that group would come together with a list of potential appointees.
00:04:04.940 That would then go to the ministers and then, of course,
00:04:07.140 would have to be approved and appointed by the federal government.
00:04:09.500 This reverberates in a couple of ways.
00:04:11.300 We have the whole Alberta separatism discussion going on right now.
00:04:15.660 There's also calls within the legal community in Alberta
00:04:19.360 who have looked at some of Smith's suggestions.
00:04:21.720 They don't like it.
00:04:22.580 Can you take us through that?
00:04:23.640 Well, Danielle Smith has been very vocal about her criticism of the court system there,
00:04:27.860 speaking on a Calgary radio station recently,
00:04:30.440 saying that she wants to direct the judges in the courts.
00:04:33.160 Of course, that didn't go over well with the chief justices in her province.
00:04:36.720 But the language here, she's saying that she wants the judicial appointees 0.78
00:04:41.140 to really reflect the national unity in her province,
00:04:43.680 as well as the distinct legal traditions.
00:04:46.220 Look, this all is because of this letter from Smith to Kearney.
00:04:50.200 Has the Kearney government responded?
00:04:51.520 Yeah, we heard from the Justice Minister, Sean Fraser.
00:04:54.040 There was a statement that was sent out from a spokesperson from his office.
00:04:57.560 Take a look at what it says, in part.
00:04:59.120 It says,
00:04:59.580 the independent judicial advisory committees protect that independence
00:05:03.440 by keeping judicial appointments at arm's length from political influence.
00:05:07.600 So speaking to the importance of that independence,
00:05:10.900 that judicial independence,
00:05:12.080 that's something we also heard from the chief justices in Alberta.
00:05:14.820 The NDP also speaking out, saying the courts are already underfunded.
00:05:18.120 So this would have far-reaching effects.
00:05:20.840 This is why this moment matters.
00:05:23.140 This isn't only about judges.
00:05:25.140 This is about who runs Alberta.
00:05:27.520 And today, Alberta demonstrated that it is willing to take that power
00:05:32.240 back from Ottawa, one institution at a time.
00:05:36.080 And this is all happening while the independence conversation
00:05:39.240 is only getting louder,
00:05:41.400 while people have decided they've had enough of Canada,
00:05:44.720 and while Alberta is testing what it can do without permission. 1.00
00:05:49.560 Another round of demands from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith
00:05:52.360 towards the justice system.
00:05:54.540 In a letter dated January 23rd to Prime Minister Mark Carney,
00:05:58.120 Smith asks for more input when appointing judges
00:06:01.100 to the Alberta Court of King's Bench,
00:06:03.160 Court of Appeal,
00:06:03.860 and Supreme Court,
00:06:05.400 all to reflect the province's, quote,
00:06:07.540 distinct legal traditions.
00:06:09.520 Smith wants a committee formed with two people from Alberta
00:06:12.200 and two from Ottawa.
00:06:13.680 But if this doesn't happen,
00:06:15.320 Smith threatens to pull funding for these appointments.
00:06:18.340 The letter reads,
00:06:19.200 Alberta's government will not agree to provide the necessary funding
00:06:22.600 to support any new judicial positions in this province
00:06:25.580 until such engagement and collaboration are provided.
00:06:28.900 Independence is absolutely possible, 0.99
00:06:32.040 uniquely possible in Canada,
00:06:34.000 because the Supreme Court of Canada,
00:06:35.440 the 1998 Quebec reference case,
00:06:38.100 laid out the constitutional pathway
00:06:39.920 for a province to hold a referendum
00:06:42.020 and leave the country,
00:06:43.560 and the current geopolitical dynamics
00:06:46.360 of the hostility from the Carney government
00:06:48.960 towards the United States,
00:06:50.580 and the national security interests of the United States
00:06:53.660 to recognize Alberta
00:06:54.980 after the democratic vote occurs,
00:06:57.580 make independence absolutely possible
00:07:00.660 and shorten the time frame
00:07:02.160 for, I think,
00:07:02.800 what it will take to complete the implementation
00:07:05.080 and the transition.
00:07:06.460 This is a real shift,
00:07:07.640 and if you still think this movement is just talk,
00:07:11.120 you're not paying attention.
00:07:13.240 Thank you for watching.
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00:07:20.260 Special thanks to each and every channel member
00:07:22.360 for your support
00:07:23.160 and for making these reports possible.
00:07:25.320 I'll see you in the next episode.
00:07:27.080 Cheers.
00:07:27.580 Cheers.
00:07:29.220 Cheers.
00:07:36.160 Cheers.
00:07:36.300 Cheers.
00:07:37.640 Cheers.
00:07:53.140 Cheers.
00:07:53.440 Cheers.
00:07:53.580 Cheers.
00:07:55.440 Cheers.
00:07:55.540 Cheers.
00:07:56.760 So.
00:07:57.440 We'll be right back.