Rebel News Podcast - EZRA LEVANT ｜ Pipeline pressure： Alberta eyes independence if Ottawa fails

00:00:00.000 Tonight, more than 4,000 Albertans gather at the United Conservative Party's convention.

00:00:05.520 The number one issue, not Canada, but possibly separating if this pipeline deal doesn't go forward.

00:00:12.380 It's December 1st, and this is the Ezra LeVant Show.

00:00:17.920 Shame on you, you censorious bug.

00:00:30.000 Oh, hi, everybody. I am in the middle of an enormous conference in Edmonton.

00:00:34.640 It's the United Conservative Party of Alberta. That's Danielle Smith's party. 0.59

00:00:38.500 There's a lot going on here.

00:00:40.460 Let me start by showing you some excerpts from the Premier's speech today.

00:00:45.320 My dear friends, thank you so much for that warm welcome.

00:00:48.700 I can't tell you how happy and energized I feel when I am with you.

00:00:52.900 Let me tell you, battling leftists and the mainstream media and other anti-Alberta forces,

00:01:00.000 on a daily basis, can be exhausting for me and for our entire caucus.

00:01:05.460 And so to be here with you, to see your smiling faces,

00:01:08.160 and to hear your warm words of support and encouragement,

00:01:10.460 is just the fuel that I need and that all of our MLAs need

00:01:14.420 to get back out there and keep on fighting.

00:01:16.660 So thank you from the bottom of my heart.

00:01:20.420 Thank you.

00:01:24.360 Together we have stopped and driven back

00:01:27.380 the extreme anti-energy movement in our country.

00:01:30.640 We have helped to turn the tide of national public opinion

00:01:33.620 from being anti-oil and gas into a country-wide consensus

00:01:38.200 that Alberta's energy resources are a national treasure

00:01:41.540 that can and must be developed.

00:01:49.420 Those who had opposed us,

00:01:51.460 including the former Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau,

00:01:53.840 and his governing partner, the former federal NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh,

00:01:57.600 along with so many others who sought Alberta's economic demise,

00:02:01.500 they've seen their political careers come to an abrupt and dramatic end.

00:02:11.980 Including, I would add,

00:02:13.820 former Trudeau Environment Minister, Stephen Guibault.

00:02:17.620 He, of course, resigned from Cabinet on Thursday

00:02:27.440 after the announcement of the new energy deal

00:02:30.300 that repealed several of the anti-Alberta laws that he created.

00:02:34.280 On behalf of all Albertans,

00:02:36.660 Monsieur Guibault,

00:02:37.780 we bid you adieu.

00:02:39.460 And that's right.

00:02:49.120 Just 48 hours ago,

00:02:50.420 I had the opportunity to sign

00:02:51.800 a monumental energy agreement for our province with Ottawa

00:02:54.940 that will enable Alberta to double our oil production by 2035,

00:03:00.120 build millions of barrels of new pipeline capacity,

00:03:02.680 and unlock billions of investment in AI data centres

00:03:06.660 powered by clean Alberta natural gas.

00:03:09.160 And this complete turnaround

00:03:16.260 of Canadian policy direction and public opinion

00:03:19.100 was unthinkable just a few short years ago.

00:03:22.360 No one thought it was possible.

00:03:23.720 No one except right here in Alberta,

00:03:25.740 where we know that all things are indeed possible.

00:03:29.600 Alberta is winning,

00:03:36.700 and we will continue to win this battle for our freedom

00:03:39.540 and provincial rights,

00:03:40.540 because we are on the right side of history,

00:03:42.640 and Albertans will not be denied our right to a prosperous future.

00:03:46.540 Now, I know full well that so many of you here today

00:03:51.720 have been justifiably, like me, frustrated and angry with Ottawa.

00:03:57.700 We have been abused and taken for granted repeatedly over the past decades.

00:04:08.540 But my friends, let's not throw in the towel and give up on our country,

00:04:13.220 just as the battle has turned in our favour and victory is in sight.

00:04:17.560 Not when our fellow Canadians, even those that may support differing political parties,

00:04:29.440 are nonetheless supporting Alberta's vision for a prosperous, energy-rich nation

00:04:34.280 with strong and sovereign provinces,

00:04:36.780 building a Canada we can be proud of again.

00:04:39.940 Now is not the time to give up the fight.

00:04:50.320 Now is the time to double down and fight for both our province and our country,

00:04:54.320 because we Albertans are indeed the proudest of Canadians,

00:04:57.660 and we don't fight for the sake of fighting.

00:05:00.020 We don't look for conflict when there is an opportunity for freedom and peace and prosperity

00:05:05.160 with our fellow Canadians.

00:05:06.940 That is all we've ever wanted.

00:05:08.860 Freedom and peace and prosperity,

00:05:11.960 because Albertans are happiest when we are hard at work getting things done,

00:05:15.800 solving problems, serving our communities, creating and innovating.

00:05:19.500 That is when we are truly at our best.

00:05:21.780 We want to lead this country towards a better and brighter future,

00:05:25.440 because we take great pride in that as a province.

00:05:28.920 All we need is a government in Ottawa to get out of the way

00:05:31.640 and let us turn Canada into a thriving energy superpower with Alberta leading the way.

00:05:38.860 And this new Alberta-Ottawa energy agreement is a first step in trying to accomplish exactly that.

00:05:48.900 So let's take the win and charge full steam ahead,

00:05:51.500 because this agreement means the end of the punitive oil and gas emissions cap,

00:05:55.620 so our great energy producers can grow and thrive again.

00:05:59.020 This agreement means the immediate suspension of the federal net zero power regulations in Alberta,

00:06:09.660 which will stabilize our power grid.

00:06:12.060 Yeah, throw open the doors for massive investments into AI data centers.

00:06:19.100 And this agreement includes a clear path to the construction of a one million barrel per day bitumen pipeline to Asian markets,

00:06:25.600 so that our province and our country are no longer dependent on just one customer to buy our most valuable resource.

00:06:32.020 This agreement also allows for needed exemptions to the oil tanker ban, an overhaul of the known new pipeline law, C-69,

00:06:44.660 and ensuring our energy companies are able to advertise their environmental leadership and efforts without fear of penalty.

00:06:51.280 And this agreement also means that Alberta can show the entire world that the solution to our environmental challenges does not entail capping productivity and growth in the oil and gas development.

00:07:02.720 Rather, it is to leverage the profitability of a strong oil and gas sector to invest in the very technologies that will solve the environmental challenges that we face.

00:07:13.040 Now, my friends, I am under no illusions.

00:07:17.280 This agreement is just the first step in this journey.

00:07:20.740 There is much hard work ahead of us.

00:07:23.380 And the federal government must earn back the trust of Albertans as we move through the next stages of this process.

00:07:36.100 After all, the people of Alberta have, of course, had the rug pulled out from under them too many times to count over the past 10 years.

00:07:42.640 So I will take the advice of a great U.S. President, Ronald Reagan, who said when dealing with a former adversary, trust, but verify.

00:07:50.140 And on behalf of Albertans, I will be verifying and holding Ottawa accountable, as you know, every step of the way.

00:07:57.980 You can absolutely count on that.

00:08:06.400 But a new relationship and a new beginning needs a starting point.

00:08:09.000 And this agreement, I hope, is that starting point.

00:08:11.240 So I invite each of you today to join me on this journey.

00:08:20.580 The Alberta Advantage is back.

00:08:22.580 And all of Canada and the world has noticed and wants to be a part of it.

00:08:26.180 And let there be no doubt, no doubt about how important immigration and interprovincial migration have been to our previous success.

00:08:35.200 New Albertans from other provinces and countries have been essential to our economic prosperity and rich culture.

00:08:41.300 For over 100 years, Alberta has had a history of healthy levels of primarily economic immigrants able to easily integrate into Alberta's economy and culture.

00:08:52.420 But that was upended by the last 10 years of what was effectively an open borders policy by Ottawa.

00:08:58.160 And Albertans of all ages, ethnicities, and immigration history have had quite enough. 0.92

00:09:05.060 We need an immigration policy that puts Albertans first. 0.60

00:09:08.540 And that is why our government will be taking primary control over our immigration system in the coming months and years ahead.

00:09:21.380 Using our constitutionally protected provincial rights, Alberta will return to a more stable number of primarily economic migrants so that newcomers come here to work and contribute as they have historically done. 0.61

00:09:39.400 And despite the continued hysterics of the NDP and their woke activists, Alberta will continue to march boldly forward with policies that promote freedom, save lives, and make our communities safe.

00:10:03.660 This government will fund, not defund, not defund the police.

00:10:11.060 We will seek justice for victims, not excuses for the guilty.

00:10:19.600 We will replace enabling continued drug use for the addicted with providing treatment and a means to recovery.

00:10:27.160 We will lift up and support those struggling with mental health, rather than giving them the means to end their lives because of it.

00:10:42.780 And while governments around the world seek to institutionalize the censorship of free speech, our government will forge an accelerated path in the opposite direction.

00:10:51.980 That's why last week, our government, inspired by the attack on Dr. Jordan Peterson, as well as so many other doctors and lawyers and nurses and teachers and others, introduced legislation containing comprehensive free speech protection so that no professional will lose their license to practice due to their political beliefs or for not kowtowing to DEI and other destructive mandates.

00:11:17.500 Thanks.

00:11:37.460 Thanks.

00:11:38.420 Thanks, guys.

00:11:39.220 That came from you.

00:11:40.520 That was your policy you passed last AGM.

00:11:43.480 We're calling it the Peterson Law, but we aren't stopping there.

00:11:46.460 I'm announcing today that next week, our UCP government will be introducing a new motion under the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act

00:11:55.260 that will, if passed in the legislature, instruct all provincial entities, including our municipalities and law enforcement agencies,

00:12:03.980 to refuse to enforce or prosecute under the federal gun seizure program.

00:12:16.460 Now, the Sovereignty Act motion will also make it clear that these agencies will not enforce or prosecute Albertans defending their homes and families from intruders.

00:12:46.460 I got a little tip for low-life criminals out there.

00:12:56.300 If you don't want to get shot, don't break into someone's house.

00:13:00.080 It's really that simple, isn't it? It really is.

00:13:05.820 We want our great men and women in law enforcement and our justice system to spend their precious time and effort going after criminals,

00:13:13.620 not farmers, not ranchers or sport shooters, nor Albertans defending their families and their homes.

00:13:19.840 Imagine that.

00:13:21.060 Well, it was an amazing speech in that it was very strong and it touched on things that other conservatives have been shy to talk about,

00:13:28.240 including immigration.

00:13:29.460 Very interesting how Danielle Smith said she would use her jurisdictional powers not to stop immigration itself, 0.69

00:13:35.580 which is not something that a province can do, but can change the class of immigrants that Alberta wants 0.95

00:13:41.640 and to not put immigrants ahead of Canadian citizens in terms of jobs or benefits.

00:13:47.760 Very interesting.

00:13:48.840 She also talked about transgenderism.

00:13:50.940 And, of course, a lot of her talk was about the idea that Alberta simply needs another oil pipeline,

00:13:57.780 despite the fact that many Alberta undoers would seek to stop it.

00:14:02.500 After her speech, Sheila Gunn-Reed and I had a chance to put a couple of questions to the Premier.

00:14:07.340 Here's how that looked.

00:14:08.300 Hi, Premier Ezra Levant from Rebel News.

00:14:13.280 First of all, I just want to say thanks to you for allowing a spectrum of journalists to ask you questions

00:14:17.860 that's different than your federal liberal counterparts.

00:14:21.580 My question is about Nutrient, the Saskatchewan company that chose to export through the United States

00:14:28.420 in part because of the political risks associated with going through B.C.

00:14:33.900 There were some other issues too, but have you contemplated if Premier E.B. and the extremists

00:14:41.520 and just the cost impositions of this MOU deter a pipeline from going west,

00:14:47.920 would you consider a pipeline going south through the United States

00:14:52.400 or even reigniting the Keystone XL pipeline that has not only Donald Trump's support

00:14:57.920 but allegedly the liberal government's support?

00:15:00.880 Do you have a plan B?

00:15:01.780 I don't want to give up on plan A, which is to get a pipeline to the northwest B.C. coast

00:15:06.640 because quite frankly, that was the one we always should have built.

00:15:09.400 That was the one that would have opened up the most new markets for us

00:15:12.760 and I think is the one that is going to be the most profitable from a point of view of being able to build new lines.

00:15:19.840 We will continue doing that work.

00:15:22.700 When it comes, there's a couple ways I look at Nutrient's decision.

00:15:25.700 I have spoken with the Hysla band who manages the Kitimat export facility and they were disappointed.

00:15:35.560 They would have liked to have been considered on that.

00:15:37.200 I know that they're not that keen on a bitumen pipeline, but they are keen on developing their infrastructure for everything else.

00:15:42.620 So I'll make sure to raise that with Premier Moe to see if there are future opportunities to look at the potential for Kitimat.

00:15:50.480 The second thing I'd say is, it's pretty clear that a lot of the problems that we have in Canada are related to work stoppages.

00:15:58.140 Airlines, ports, rail lines, it's been just a rotation one after the other after the other.

00:16:03.720 And I noticed with some interest in the federal budget that they are creating a mechanism to order binding arbitration with limits around policy

00:16:12.420 and around the potential cost for government.

00:16:14.840 So I'm looking at that legislation thinking if you can get work stoppages completed faster and still be able to have a mechanism to resolve them through binding arbitration

00:16:23.840 that doesn't leave an open end, that may create the kind of certainty that we're looking for.

00:16:28.820 I know that when I was talking with our federal counterparts, I said, you got to do something because I felt like every day or every other day

00:16:35.060 for a good, a solid six-month period, I was asking for them to end one strike or another.

00:16:40.200 So we've got to fix that.

00:16:41.720 If we're going to be a reliable supplier, we have to make sure our supply chains are secure, are truly secure.

00:16:47.180 Thanks.

00:16:47.700 Sheila Gunn-Reed, Rebel News.

00:16:49.760 Premier Smith, I want to ask you about the increase in the industrial carbon tax in the MOU.

00:16:55.360 It's something that the federal conservatives say is a deterrent to investment.

00:17:00.400 I think our competitors internationally also feel it's a deterrent to investment.

00:17:06.120 OPEC doesn't have it.

00:17:07.800 Russia doesn't have it.

00:17:09.020 The United States doesn't have it, of course.

00:17:12.340 Brookfield is heavily invested in pipelines in other parts of the world.

00:17:17.600 How do you reconcile that with encouraging pipeline investment to Alberta?

00:17:26.180 Is there a private sector pipeline company that is even floating the notion of investing in Alberta?

00:17:34.500 Well, I'll deal with those in two parts.

00:17:37.080 So I guess the first one I would say is we negotiated a decrease to the carbon tax because it was slated to go up to $170 by 2030.

00:17:46.880 And we persuaded the Prime Minister that that was just going to be crushing to our industry and we needed to moderate that.

00:17:53.560 And so we had frozen it to send a message that we just didn't think it could go up at that rate.

00:17:59.180 And now we'll have a negotiation to see how quickly we get to $130 and what factors we would look at.

00:18:05.200 I would encourage you maybe to talk to private industry because we've had an industrial carbon price since 2007.

00:18:13.100 And you've got a number of companies that are investing in emissions reduction technologies who need a certain carbon price to make that worthwhile.

00:18:21.360 And then you've got other companies who are payers.

00:18:23.260 And so there is a bit of the push and the pull is that there's a price that's going to make sure that we do not dampen investment.

00:18:31.560 But there's also a price that we need to have to motivate more of the investment in the emissions reduction technology.

00:18:38.280 When we went out and consulted on this, when we froze the price at $95, we'd actually considered rolling it back.

00:18:44.200 And enough of the consultation feedback came back saying keep it where it is.

00:18:47.760 But there is, I think, an upper limit to how far we can go and how fast.

00:18:51.700 And that's what we'll negotiate.

00:18:53.240 When it comes to pipelines, I'll tell you, the way pipelines get built is they go out and do an open season.

00:18:59.640 And they say, is there anyone willing to pledge barrels?

00:19:01.900 And when we had an emissions cap, the answer would be no, because what's the point?

00:19:04.820 Because you're just going to have to shut in production by 2035 if those rules were in place.

00:19:08.980 If you have a tanker bin, what's the point if you can't load the tankers up?

00:19:13.380 And so with the acceptance of a car loan, with the elimination of the emissions cap, we believe that some of those open seasons are going to go ahead and that we'll start seeing private proponents come forward.

00:19:24.380 The one I'm looking at as probably the first project is Enbridge's mainline expansion.

00:19:29.320 They want to expand 400,000 barrels.

00:19:31.460 The next one I would look at would be the Trans Mountain Pipeline.

00:19:35.120 Even David Eby and I agree on that one.

00:19:37.540 I think they've said that they could go up 360,000 barrels.

00:19:40.200 And then I know South Bow is working on using the old Keystone assets that they acquired from TC Energy to see if they can get a pipeline south.

00:19:51.240 So we've been in active discussions with the United States to see what kind of opportunity there might be to do more pipelines going south, as well as Doug Ford, how we might be able to get more going east.

00:20:03.700 I read today that even Legault, Francois Legault, said that maybe a pipeline to Quebec wouldn't be impossible.

00:20:11.760 So the entire attitude towards oil and gas development has changed, even in Quebec.

00:20:16.560 And a little more work to do in British Columbia, but we're going to continue to do that work.

00:20:20.880 Well, we're on a lunch break at the Alberta United Conservative Party conference.

00:20:25.260 Very interesting keynote speech by the Premier.

00:20:28.160 Lots of applause lines, for example, when she said she was going to call for reduced immigration, when she said she was going to crack down on biological men in women's places, including sports. 0.72

00:20:40.360 But there was some raised eyebrows, including some gentle booing when the topic of the memorandum of understanding with the federal liberals came up.

00:20:50.140 I'm going to chat a little bit with two of my colleagues to see what they think of the conference so far.

00:20:54.920 Sheila, you were there in the big pit where 4,000 delegates were listening to the Premier.

00:20:59.900 It's clear that they like her.

00:21:02.000 They're just worried that she might be getting bamboozled and hornswoggled on the MOU, that pipeline deal. 0.98

00:21:10.040 The pipeline deal is not popular with the grassroots.

00:21:14.260 You can see that in the policy book, the resolutions that are proposed to hit the floor today, later on today, most of them deal with net zero.

00:21:24.520 They deal with carbon taxes.

00:21:27.100 They deal with federal government overreach.

00:21:29.540 So the grassroots, I think, is fundamentally against the hike in the industrial carbon tax that is attached to that MOU.

00:21:36.060 But I have seen the mainstream media reporting that Danielle Smith herself is being booed, and I completely reject that.

00:21:45.140 She's very popular.

00:21:46.920 Lots of applause.

00:21:48.720 They're booing the treatment of Alberta by Canada at the hands of the federal government.

00:21:54.320 That's what those boos are about. 1.00

00:21:55.600 Yeah, I saw some of those headlines.

00:21:56.940 Very deceptive.

00:21:57.860 One of the things I'm enjoying, Angelica, is how many independent journalists are here.

00:22:04.200 That would not have been the case even five years ago, not just Rebel News.

00:22:09.380 I think we've got six people on the ground here.

00:22:11.660 But I see our friends from Juno, True North.

00:22:14.720 I see Western Standard.

00:22:16.660 And even people who I don't quite know, I think that independent journalism is changing and breaking the monopoly held by those regime journalists.

00:22:26.460 What's your view?

00:22:27.000 It's amazing to see these independent voices.

00:22:30.060 We have seen a few mainstream media here as well, but you can see that it's the independent media that is going around, really talking to the people and getting the other side of the story.

00:22:38.560 Because what the mainstream media here is going to do, they're going to frame this a certain way.

00:22:42.660 But here we give the voice to the people here, the members here, and everyone's happy to see us here.

00:22:49.620 Yeah, you know what?

00:22:50.660 There are some regime journalists here, including from the CBC.

00:22:54.320 I'm not going to say they're sullen, but they're definitely their own mission is to undermine and to critique.

00:23:02.780 And I'm quite certain that they're not doing genuine streeters, as we call them, because let's be honest, the regime media is despised by these folks.

00:23:12.480 Sheila, I got a question for you.

00:23:13.580 You know, during the Cold War, Richard Nixon was the president, and he was known as a staunch anti-communist.

00:23:21.500 I mean, he really, that was one of his characteristics people knew about him, yet he was the one who secretly did a deal with communist China, the most authoritarian, abusive regime in the world, to get them to flip, to break away from the Soviet Union, and to be open to the West.

00:23:44.420 It was a strategic move to split the communist bloc.

00:23:48.920 And there was a saying, only Nixon could go to China.

00:23:52.900 The meaning is, everyone knew that he was not a sympathizer.

00:23:56.300 Everyone knew he hated the commies.

00:23:58.980 So if Nixon said it was okay, you could trust him.

00:24:02.560 Do you see what I mean?

00:24:03.500 Yeah.

00:24:03.700 Is that what's going on here?

00:24:06.180 Danielle Smith is such a strong Albertan.

00:24:08.880 She's a sovereignty strengthener. 1.00

00:24:12.080 She's a woke buster. 1.00

00:24:14.560 So if she talks to Mark Carney, is it like Nixon going to China?

00:24:19.760 She's really the only person who could be trusted to do it.

00:24:23.520 I think maybe that was her intent, but I think a lot of people are perfectly able to read that MOU and understand what it says.

00:24:33.960 It says that Albertans will pay an enhanced industrial carbon tax for maybe nothing, for a pipeline that may never materialize.

00:24:44.180 And when you see that the federal conservatives are coming out against that enhanced carbon tax, and the former premier of Saskatchewan, Brad Wall, has come out against the MOU.

00:24:57.460 A lot of people understand what that MOU means, and it's actually a lot of nothing except burdens for Albertans.

00:25:05.020 So I do trust that Danielle Smith has Alberta's best interests at heart, but I think she's given up too much here.

00:25:11.700 I mean, I think back to Jason Kenney, who I used to know quite well.

00:25:15.780 He was always one eye on Ottawa.

00:25:17.940 He was always, yeah, and so I don't think anyone would have trusted Kenney with his MOU.

00:25:23.780 Angelica, you've been spending a lot of time with the different delegates.

00:25:27.420 They're all called United Conservative members.

00:25:30.320 They're all called Conservatives.

00:25:31.140 It's really the merger of the old Wildrose and what used to be called the PCs.

00:25:36.940 How many people here are actually independence-minded Albertans who, if this project fails, would be for independence?

00:25:50.080 I can't speak for the ministers of the MLA specifically, but I do think if this project fails, the independence movement is going to skyrocket because it's going to be a bit of a failed promise on behalf of the UCP and Danielle Smith.

00:26:03.860 And they've put so much trust into her, and I really think that it's going to be the breaking point because right now it's already starting to stir up.

00:26:11.400 But if she has a failed promise as big as that, I think it's going to definitely change the movement.

00:26:16.820 I haven't spoken to, I've talked to a ton of grassroots members over the day and a half that I've been here.

00:26:21.800 Not a single one has said that they are not independence-minded.

00:26:24.720 Not a single one has said, look, I don't like the separatist sentiment that is at the AGM.

00:26:31.580 And it is.

00:26:32.500 The separatist sentiment is really the story of the AGM.

00:26:36.140 It's the MOU that's hanging in the air and then the separatists.

00:26:39.820 This is, I think, a very strong showing for the Alberta Prosperity Project.

00:26:45.580 It sounds like they're set to take over a lot of board positions.

00:26:49.040 And that's an advocacy group we've been affiliated, we've done events with them, and they're more hard-line.

00:26:55.580 Yeah, they're sort of the group that's advancing the conversation about independence and addressing the question about, you know, what happens if this, how do we do that?

00:27:05.840 You know, they're participating in the board elections.

00:27:09.820 They're very organized at this convention.

00:27:12.440 And I think they're the underlying story in all of this.

00:27:15.700 And they will ultimately hold Daniel Smith to account if nothing comes of that MOU.

00:27:20.460 That's right.

00:27:20.700 Daniel Smith actually said yesterday, and she got booed for it, but she said Canada still works in response to this new deal.

00:27:27.060 Now, I want to disagree slightly with what you said, and it's a little different than what you said to her.

00:27:31.500 Here's my take.

00:27:33.000 Daniel Smith is doing as much as anyone could do to get a deal.

00:27:38.220 And I think she knows that this deal is not perfect.

00:27:40.800 For example, she talked about the nine bad laws, and this addresses seven of them.

00:27:45.900 So she's saying, look, you're putting a little water in your wine, but you're getting, you know, it's the nature of any negotiation.

00:27:52.200 She's clearly gone as far as she could to get as much as she could.

00:27:58.240 And here's my point.

00:27:59.320 If it fails, if it doesn't go ahead, if no pipeline proponent comes forward, if it's killed by some extremist group, then, Angelica, I think the premier could say, you know me, you saw me.

00:28:13.160 I went further and harder than anyone in history to get a deal.

00:28:17.520 I tried.

00:28:18.640 I compromised.

00:28:19.620 I gave up as much.

00:28:20.940 In fact, my own party booed the deal.

00:28:24.540 Well, the deal failed, so now we go the other way.

00:28:29.560 So, in fact, and I have no inside knowledge.

00:28:32.060 I've never talked to her about this.

00:28:33.720 Having gone as hard as she could to get a deal, if it doesn't happen, I think she could theoretically say, I go, I'm on plan B now.

00:28:45.760 I'm for independence now.

00:28:47.760 It's just a possibility because she has shown she'll do anything for confederation, but it might fail.

00:28:54.760 That's right.

00:28:55.380 Daniel Smith has honestly been one of our best premiers we've had in the province.

00:28:59.180 She's delivered on so many things, the gender issues, women in sports, so many things.

00:29:05.860 Today she also announced a bunch of other things.

00:29:07.700 And I think she's been a leader when it comes to actually advancing the conservative movement and not being sort of a fake conservative like we see in Ontario.

00:29:16.440 And that's the difference between booing the pipeline proposal and booing the premier.

00:29:20.700 I think this crowd is extremely, in fact, they support her.

00:29:23.820 Last word to you, Sheila.

00:29:25.680 Angelica mentioned a few of the other issues that were touched upon in the speech.

00:29:30.820 There were firearms issues.

00:29:32.320 Why don't you just quickly go through a couple of the other things, because it's not just about the memorandum of understanding on the pipelines.

00:29:40.460 Transgenderism is a big thing.

00:29:41.880 Fighting for school immigration.

00:29:44.560 What are some of the other things?

00:29:46.220 Huge applause.

00:29:47.200 Standing ovation for the Jordan Peterson law.

00:29:49.440 Wait, explain that for a second.

00:29:50.640 So the Jordan Peterson law prevents professional organizations from attacking their members based on their political beliefs.

00:29:59.320 Which is what happened to Jordan Peterson.

00:30:00.420 Which is exactly what happened to Jordan Peterson.

00:30:02.560 Now, that didn't happen in Alberta.

00:30:04.620 But it is in reaction to something that happened in Ontario.

00:30:07.580 And we know during COVID, many of the doctors face consequences from the College of Physicians and Surgeons because of their outspokenness and skepticism on COVID.

00:30:18.780 I should tell you that I was actually consulted.

00:30:20.860 The Justice Minister of Alberta put together a group of people who had been hassled in their professional organization.

00:30:28.660 And they invited me because about 20 years ago, when I was a member of the Lost Society of Alberta, there were more than 20 fake complaints sent in over my politics.

00:30:37.800 So I have one drop of paternity over what happened.

00:30:41.940 But they've been planning this free speech move for a while.

00:30:45.400 And I just wanted to tell you that in my own teeny tiny way, I mean, it was certainly nothing on the scale of what happened to Jordan Peterson.

00:30:52.100 But some of these changes they're announcing, they do take months or years to work it through.

00:30:57.160 So I interrupted you.

00:30:58.160 No.

00:30:58.540 And then I think the second most popular or maybe equally popular two policies was that our RCMP would not be participating in the federal government's gun grab.

00:31:10.720 She would take additional steps.

00:31:12.320 So we don't know what that's going to look like, if it's going to look like what they're doing in Saskatchewan by creating a gun grab approval agency and then not funding it or...

00:31:22.020 We're doing an interview right now.

00:31:23.320 I'll say hi in a minute.

00:31:24.600 So we don't know what that's going to look like, but that she's taking additional steps to protect law-abiding firearms owners in Alberta.

00:31:30.760 It's a huge issue for Albertans, but also on the issue of self-defense.

00:31:35.220 We've seen...

00:31:36.180 There was a great line she had.

00:31:37.660 Yeah. 0.89

00:31:38.020 If you're a dirtbag, don't break the law in Alberta is what she said. 0.87

00:31:41.820 Something like, if you don't want to be shot, don't break into it. 0.94

00:31:44.420 It was sort of amazing.

00:31:45.560 Yeah.

00:31:45.840 And so, you know, that addresses the problems of the federal government with their catch and release laws, with their, you know, taking away mandatory minimums and changing sentencing guidelines based on systemic racism,

00:31:59.860 which is one of the things that they did around gang-related offenses.

00:32:03.800 So protecting our ability to protect our families and our own homes.

00:32:08.740 So huge applause for that.

00:32:10.100 Well, very interesting.

00:32:10.920 I'm so glad I'm here.

00:32:11.600 The first thing that struck me was how big it is.

00:32:13.800 Like, just enormous.

00:32:14.760 It's smaller than last year, though, by about 1,500 people.

00:32:17.520 Well, the...

00:32:18.140 A lot of people last year.

00:32:19.640 That's a great point.

00:32:20.740 I'm trying to think of any other province where any other political party would generate this kind of turnout.

00:32:25.320 I don't know.

00:32:25.760 Maybe Pierre Polyev's federal conservative convention in the new year will, but this is just astounding.

00:32:32.220 Thanks to you guys and the rest of the Rebel team.

00:32:34.340 We are in effect here.

00:32:37.200 It's wonderful to reconnect with our grassroots supporters.

00:32:40.260 Although Rebel News is officially headquartered in Toronto, our heart is in the West.

00:32:45.800 I myself consider myself a Western boy, even though I'm in exile.

00:32:50.080 It's great to see everybody here.

00:32:51.280 And this remains the province most dedicated to fighting for freedom.

00:32:56.600 And that's why we love it.

00:32:57.900 Back to you.

00:32:58.820 And by you, I mean me.

00:32:59.980 It's great to see everybody here.

00:33:29.980 It's great to see everybody here.

00:33:59.980 All right.

00:34:01.020 Thank you.

00:34:01.980 Thank you.

00:34:31.980 Thank you.

00:35:01.980 Thank you.

Rebel News Podcast - December 02, 2025

EZRA LEVANT ｜ Pipeline pressure： Alberta eyes independence if Ottawa fails

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