The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - February 01, 2025


Alberta COVID report draws ire of “experts” and media

Topics
Alberta border czar proposal
Hosted by
Isaac Lamoureux
Mentioned
Danielle Smith Justin Trudeau Donald Trump Greenline LRT Devin Drieschen Tom Homan X. Gondek COVID-19 Pfizer Quote Demetrius Nicolaitis Stacey Levitt-Wright Jonathan Wilkinson Jay Bhattacharya Pierre Poilievre Peter McCaffrey Gary Davidson Paul Winnick Byron Bridal Nahid Nenshi and 3 more
Is the tariff dispute 100% Trudeau’s fault？ Did Danielle Smith save Canada？

Episode Stats


Length

17 minutes

Words per minute

161.1

Word count

2,852

Sentence count

148

Harmful content

Misogyny

2

sentences flagged


Summary

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

This week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has called on the federal government to appoint a border czar to work with her U.S. counterpart, Tom Homan, to help Canada avoid 25% tariffs on Canadian exports to the United States. She also calls for a joint military base in the arctic, and introduces a new curriculum to combat anti-Semitism.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has once again placed herself at the forefront of protecting the country from tariffs,
00:00:16.600 this time saying that Canada appointing a border czar would be the best way to avoid President Donald Trump's proposed 25% tariffs, which are expected today.
00:00:25.300 The final report on Alberta's COVID-19 response that Smith commissioned in 2022 was published and recommends halting the use of COVID-19 vaccines in healthy children and teenagers, among other recommendations that oppose the mainstream narrative.
00:00:39.620 Alberta's junior high students will soon learn more about anti-Semitism with an updated curriculum that the provincial government said was a result of the rise in anti-Jewish hatred worldwide following Hamas' brutal October 7th attack on Israeli citizens.
00:00:53.800 Calgary's Green Line LRT project got the green light, following city council voting to proceed with the province's proposed alignment.
00:01:01.000 All of this and more in this week's episode of the Alberta Roundup.
00:01:04.440 I'm your host, Isaac Lamoureux, and I'm super excited to be here with you again. Let's hop into the first story now.
00:01:10.100 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is calling on Ottawa to appoint a border czar to work with U.S. counterpart Tom Homan and avoid the incoming tariffs proposed by the Trump administration.
00:01:19.500 The tariffs are expected to come the same day this video is published, February 1st, but I am recording the day prior, so if anything changes between then and now, buyer beware.
00:01:29.040 Following a meeting with the country's premiers, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other federal ministers on Wednesday, Smith revealed that she told them that a border czar was the best answer to the incoming tariffs.
00:01:39.740 Smith said, quote,
00:01:41.020 The one thing that we can do this week, in just the next couple of days, to have the best chance to avoid tariffs is to show clear and unequivocal action to secure the border.
00:01:50.940 This should start with the appointment of a Canadian border czar to work with the new American border czar to jointly crack down hard on fentanyl and illegal immigrants.
00:01:59.720 Homan previously raised concerns about Canada's border security shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump's 2024 election victory.
00:02:07.520 Smith made the request for a czar after speaking with dozens of U.S. representatives, administrative officials, and Trump himself.
00:02:15.600 She said this was clearly the most important first step to take.
00:02:19.400 She also invited a Fox News team to the COOTS border to showcase the work already underway to prevent illegal immigration and trafficking.
00:02:26.560 Alberta previously unveiled enhanced border security measures, including a patrol team of 51 officers, 10 support staff, 4 patrol dogs, 10 surveillance drones, and 4 narcotics analyzers.
00:02:39.320 The province's 300-kilometer shared border with the U.S. would be monitored for drug smuggling, gun trafficking, and illegal immigration.
00:02:46.180 While Alberta was the first province to introduce such measures, which they were able to do because the measures were in work for 18 months at the time, other provinces followed suit.
00:02:57.240 Smith also thanked the federal government for allowing Alberta to send a Black Hawk helicopter to the border on Wednesday.
00:03:03.580 As for who should be the border czar, Smith had a pretty good idea.
00:03:07.200 She said she believed somebody with a high-ranking military background would be the best option to become the border czar.
00:03:12.640 She said she had already recommended that her deputy minister, Paul Winnick, a former lieutenant general who served in the army for 38 years, become the czar.
00:03:21.680 The federal government is aware of her recommendation, as she said, Jonathan Wilkinson was present when she made it.
00:03:27.860 Smith said, quote,
00:03:29.100 That's the kind of person we need.
00:03:30.600 Someone who understands military operations, who understands deployment, who understands the seriousness with which we have to take this issue.
00:03:37.860 She added that the czar would serve as a consistent voice at the table for Canada, considering Trudeau's soon-to-be resignation and the subsequent election shortly thereafter,
00:03:46.880 provides Canada with no consistent voice at the negotiating table with the United States.
00:03:51.820 The liberals have been considering pandemic-style payouts to businesses harmed by the tariffs.
00:03:56.580 Again, Smith wouldn't even entertain the thought.
00:03:59.960 She wouldn't even begin to discuss the package and her opinion of it because she said it was her goal to do everything she could to ensure that the tariffs never come to be.
00:04:08.200 The Trump administration hinted that the 25% tariffs on Canadian imports would begin February 1st today, with another round coming in April.
00:04:16.800 The latter tariffs will be determined after Trump receives a study he requested that is set to be delivered to him on April 1st.
00:04:23.160 On top of what the borders are, Smith also proposed that Canada and the U.S. collaborate to establish a joint military base in the Arctic.
00:04:30.440 You guys may already know if the tariffs came to be.
00:04:32.860 I hope that they did not.
00:04:34.080 And let me know what you think about Smith leading these negotiation tactics.
00:04:39.140 Would Canada have been better off if she were actually at the helm of these negotiations and had the power to do as she pleased? 0.94
00:04:45.640 The final report on Alberta's COVID-19 response was released.
00:04:49.300 It recommends that the provincial government stop providing vaccines for healthy children and teenagers as the risks outweigh the reward.
00:04:57.300 Following months of interviews, research, and analysis, the report claimed that halting the use of COVID-19 vaccines in healthy children and teenagers would follow what some other jurisdictions have already done, such as Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the U.K.
00:05:11.740 The report called for the cessation of the vaccine for teenagers and children because the risk of COVID-19 in the two groups is, quote, exceptionally low.
00:05:20.700 The report asked a question, which was, quote,
00:05:23.900 The tagline, safe and affected, was repeatedly used to assure the population and encourage vaccination against COVID-19.
00:05:30.220 Based on the evidence that has emerged to date, it cannot be concluded that these COVID-19 vaccines are safe.
00:05:35.720 Were they at least effective?
00:05:37.100 The report revealed evidence to suggest that it was not effective.
00:05:41.080 For example, it highlighted that the original Pfizer vaccines did not prevent death compared to the placebo in their clinical trials in any age group.
00:05:49.400 The report alleged that Alberta Health Services removed a dashboard from its website after it showed higher hospitalization rates among the vaccinated than the unvaccinated.
00:05:59.020 It also said there is a lack of reliable data proving that COVID-19 vaccines protect children from severe COVID-19.
00:06:05.680 The task force that published the research said COVID-19 vaccines were not designed to stop transmission.
00:06:11.920 The report also highlighted risks to taking the vaccine.
00:06:15.480 It reads, quote,
00:06:16.660 There is reliable evidence of harm following vaccination, and the COVID-19 vaccine trials were not designed to detect rare or long-term adverse effects.
00:06:25.520 There is a known risk for myocarditis, especially in young males.
00:06:28.960 The task force also referenced Pfizer's own safety data from three months after authorization, which reported 1,223 deaths attributed to the vaccine and 42,086 injured within four days of vaccination.
00:06:42.840 Almost half, 45 percent of these, were from individuals between the ages of 18 to 50 who had a negligible risk from infection.
00:06:50.740 The report claimed that, quote,
00:06:52.640 There is no long-term safety data for these novel mRNA vaccines.
00:06:55.960 It called for various other conclusions and recommendations that oppose the mainstream narrative.
00:07:18.920 One recommendation was to research the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines more before widespread use in adults and children.
00:07:26.920 The task force also said that infection-acquired immunity should be explored and communicated more in a future pandemic,
00:07:33.760 considering there was little to no evidence to suggest that vaccine-acquired immunity was superior to infection-acquired immunity.
00:07:40.400 The report also called for constructing a website and or call-in center for the vaccine injured in Alberta.
00:07:45.880 It also called for a mechanism to opt-out of federal health policy when due process has not been satisfied at the provincial level.
00:07:53.600 True North previously reported that only 6 percent of vaccine injury claimants had been paid.
00:07:58.720 The Alberta Medical Association issued an initial statement on the report that was getting many negative replies and was since deleted.
00:08:05.720 The statement was issued again, with comments turned off this time.
00:08:09.440 The association called the report, quote,
00:08:11.360 The Canadian Medical Association went on to support the AMA's comments.
00:08:18.280 You can guess the reaction that they received on X.
00:08:20.720 They are getting blasted in the comments.
00:08:23.300 I asked the AMA how it deemed a 269-page report filled with data and evidence from esteemed medical professionals anti-science and anti-evidence, but received no reply.
00:08:33.380 The report examined ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, and other treatments, but noted public health authorities largely opposed them despite early research showing promising benefits.
00:08:44.100 The report reads, quote,
00:08:45.300 The restrictive approach taken by Alberta health authorities towards alternate COVID-19 therapeutics is concerning and further investigation is required into the restriction of treatment options for COVID-19.
00:08:56.380 The researchers recommended legislative amendments allowing medical professionals to use approved medications for off-label treatments and explore alternative therapies.
00:09:05.480 The report was commissioned by Alberta Premier Daniel Smith in 2022 with a mandate to explore the province's response to COVID-19.
00:09:12.380 The task force included prominent medical professionals including Drs. Gary Davidson, Jay Bhattacharya, and Byron Bridal.
00:09:20.300 The Albertan government announced upcoming curriculum on Monday, which was International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
00:09:25.960 The updated curriculum will mean Alberta's junior high students will soon learn more about anti-Semitism influenced by the rise in anti-Jewish hatred worldwide following Hamas' brutal attack on Israeli citizens on October 7th.
00:09:38.360 Alberta's education minister, Demetrius Nikolaides, said,
00:09:41.680 Quote,
00:09:42.000 I firmly believe we must do everything possible to combat rising anti-Semitism and educate young Albertans about the realities of anti-Semitism.
00:09:50.100 He added, quote,
00:09:50.960 Ensuring all students learn about the injustices faced by those who historically were and continue to be marginalized or who have experienced discrimination will help us confront hate and build stronger communities.
00:10:02.140 The Jewish Federation of Edmonton and the Calgary Jewish Federation applauded the provincial government's announcement, which the organizations said proved the government was taking a stance against anti-Semitism.
00:10:12.540 The CEO of the Jewish Federation of Edmonton, Stacey Levitt-Wright, said,
00:10:17.640 Quote,
00:10:18.480 By ensuring these critical lessons are part of the learning experience for students, we are fostering empathy, understanding, and resilience in future generations.
00:10:27.760 We look forward to further collaborating with Alberta Education in making sure these important teachings are delivered effectively across all grades.
00:10:35.020 In 2023, Jewish people were subject to 70% of all religiously motivated hate crimes despite accounting for less than 1% of Canada's total population.
00:10:45.360 Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre called for the deportation of temporary residents carrying out violent or hate crimes in Canada on the same day Alberta unveiled the updated curriculum.
00:10:55.180 He said that, quote,
00:10:56.060 Alberta's government previously introduced mandatory Holocaust education in elementary schools in November 2023.
00:11:15.600 The draft K-6 social studies curriculum released in April 2024 also includes lessons on anti-Semitism.
00:11:22.400 It is currently being piloted and will be fully introduced in the 2025-26 school year.
00:11:28.220 As the draft curriculum continues to be developed, the provincial government aims to continue working with provincial Jewish organizations to determine when and where students should learn about anti-Semitism.
00:11:38.680 The Greenline LRT project has reached its next development after Calgary City Council voted to proceed with a better Greenline alignment that the province said will be 76% longer and serve 60% more Calgarians.
00:11:50.640 The new project will incorporate an elevated alignment and will save over $1 billion compared to if it were tunneled downtown.
00:11:57.500 The Alberta government said that the savings will be reinvested into the project to extend the line further south.
00:12:03.160 The province said, quote,
00:12:04.200 By increasing ridership and expanding access, we are ensuring that taxpayer dollars deliver maximum value while building a stronger, more connected city.
00:12:12.160 The province said it looks forward to working with the city and the federal government going forward to get this project completed and that the project will be a win for Calgary, the province, and the future of public transit in Alberta.
00:12:22.920 You may remember that the province previously called the Greenline LRT a, quote, multi-billion dollar boondoggle.
00:12:28.420 However, now, Transport Minister Devin Drishan celebrated the council vote in a post to X.
00:12:33.780 He said, quote,
00:12:34.860 After a decade of delay caused by Nahid Nenshi, the Greenline is finally being built.
00:12:40.220 Back in 2015 when he was a mayor, he refused to do the proper planning needed to build this megaproject and costs skyrocketed.
00:12:47.380 Nenshi has a track record of over-promising with taxpayers' money and this was his biggest boondoggle.
00:12:52.420 Drishan said that as the provincial government continues to build projects province-wide, it will always respect hardworking taxpayers.
00:13:00.480 Nenshi responded on X trying to defend himself, claiming that Drishan, quote,
00:13:04.380 Doesn't understand this file or his job very well.
00:13:08.140 Unsurprisingly, Drishan struck back, calling Nenshi's plan in 2015 a, quote,
00:13:12.700 Taxpayer-funded dumpster fire.
00:13:14.840 He said, quote,
00:13:15.960 As mayor, you over-promised a 46-kilometer Greenline from 160th Ave to Seton for $4.5 billion and never delivered.
00:13:24.640 Then, while you were still mayor, you cut off the North Calgary alignment, quit gaslighting Calgarians, they remember your incompetence.
00:13:32.060 Various other Albertans took aim at Nenshi as well on X.
00:13:35.220 Gondek joined in on the fun too, explaining why she voted against the motions that passed in council.
00:13:40.620 Peter McCaffrey, founder and CEO of the Alberta Institute, a provincial think tank, criticized Gondek's response.
00:13:47.620 He said, quote,
00:13:48.980 Even when Jyoti is right, she manages to be right for the wrong reasons.
00:13:52.940 Remember, she's opposed to the current plan because it doesn't waste enough money. 1.00
00:13:57.060 I'm opposed to it because it wastes too much money.
00:13:59.380 The whole Greenline needs to be scrapped.
00:14:01.720 Yeah, let me know in the comments what you guys think about the Greenline and your opinion on the province keeping the project alive.
00:14:07.560 So that wraps up our stories for this week. Let's hop in to the comment roundup.
00:14:11.620 The first comment comes from at US Lanja, or us Lanja, who said, quote,
00:14:16.880 Well, you cannot hold Trudeau solely responsible.
00:14:19.800 Every elected NDP and Liberal MP supported him. Never forget people.
00:14:24.060 Yeah, so this comment reflected a broad theme of comments that came from most of you in the last video.
00:14:28.820 You answered the title of the previous episode, confirming that the tariff dispute was 100% Trudeau's fault.
00:14:34.920 I like what you said here, though, US Lanja, because Trudeau did not act alone, and he alone is not the problem with Canada or the Liberal Party.
00:14:44.900 Let's remember the Conservatives' new slogan, which is just like Justin, because the party is arguing that everyone in the Liberals is just like Justin,
00:14:54.420 and that if Canadians were to vote Liberals in the next election, they'd be in for much of the same, irrespective of who governs the party.
00:15:01.460 The next comment comes from at Parker KE, who said, quote, Alberta saves Canada. Thanks.
00:15:07.780 Then somebody commented on their comment. That was at JC Nealon, who said, quote, again and again.
00:15:14.000 Yeah, this seems to be the belief held by many, and was certainly exemplified during these tariff disputes,
00:15:19.460 as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, despite not being the Prime Minister nor the leader of the premiers,
00:15:24.300 was in the US consistently negotiating on the country's behalf, and one of the only leaders who was trying to make the tariffs never come to be through collaboration.
00:15:33.860 Of course, you'll all know that the other premiers and the Prime Minister at one point, or even still,
00:15:38.660 wanted to use retaliation instead of collaboration, but that would mean, of course, that the tariffs do exist to retaliate.
00:15:45.480 And Smith seemed to be the only one trying to avoid that altogether.
00:15:49.880 With our lame duck Prime Minister, it really seems that Smith has stepped up to the table,
00:15:54.760 and become the pseudo PM in regard to the tariff negotiation, because she's the one holding all the cards,
00:16:00.820 by controlling most of the country's most valuable commodity, which is, of course, oil and gas.
00:16:06.060 I'm curious to ask, though, do you guys think if Smith were PM, would we be in the same situation?
00:16:10.900 And if not, how would the country look instead?
00:16:13.500 The last comment I'll highlight today comes from at Blasheep, who said, quote,
00:16:18.160 Gondek makes more than Smith, over $200,000?
00:16:20.940 That's insanity. Wow.
00:16:22.920 Yeah, I couldn't agree more, Blasheep.
00:16:25.080 I mean, here we are talking about a woman who is standing up for Alberta and the entirety of the country,
00:16:30.000 and perhaps the only chance we have to avoid the tariffs, compared to a city mayor,
00:16:34.440 who has the worst approval ratings in the country, and was even subject to a recall legislation,
00:16:39.220 although, of course, the impossible standards made that a no-go, but still.
00:16:42.200 How in the world can a mayor be making more than our premier?
00:16:46.440 It doesn't seem to make sense to me at all.
00:16:48.460 And we wonder why these mayors and councillors might cling to power.
00:16:51.380 Where else could Gondek make this kind of money?
00:16:54.080 So that wraps up our comment roundup in this week's show.
00:16:56.940 My name's Isaac Lamoureux, your host of the Alberta Roundup.
00:16:59.940 Have a great weekend. Thank you and God bless.
00:17:02.020 May Alberta prosper strong and free.
00:17:12.200 Thank you and God bless.