The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - Alberta pulls funding for THIS “multibillion-dollar boondoggle”

00:00:00.000 We all know that governments are quick to pull out their wallets and slow-terrain spending in,

00:00:04.900 so naturally it caught my attention this week when the province of Alberta

00:00:08.120 announced that it was pulling $1.5 billion in funding for Calgary's LRT Green Line,

00:00:15.900 in which costs are exploding out of control. Some of you don't like when I criticize Alberta

00:00:21.780 Premier Daniel Smith's government. I'll continue to do that where appropriate, but I'll also give

00:00:26.680 credit where credit is due. If the city of Calgary wants to expand public transit, they should find

00:00:32.780 a feasible way to do so. And maybe, dare I say, they should even find a way to pay for it themselves.

00:00:39.460 I know, some of us are still dreamers. I am Rachel Parker and you're watching the Alberta Roundup.

00:00:45.080 Okay everyone, taking a look at our first story here, Calgary Mayor Jody Gonnick said this week

00:00:59.040 that for all intents and purposes, Calgary's Green Line LRT project is scrapped, at least for the

00:01:05.640 foreseeable future. Her comments come after Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Drishan

00:01:10.460 sent a letter on Tuesday in which he said the province would pull its portion of the funding,

00:01:15.420 which totals $1.53 billion. Drishan said the city's recently revised Calgary Line LRT plan

00:01:22.780 was unacceptable and that was fast becoming a multi-billion dollar boondoggle. In a statement

00:01:29.900 on X, Drishan also wrote, this new Green Line alignment is billions over budget and serves too

00:01:35.660 few Calgarians. There has to be a better way to invest $6.2 billion of taxpayers' money to improve

00:01:41.740 Calgary's transit system for the needs of many more commuters. We look forward to seeing a new

00:01:46.880 alignment from an independent third party, separate from the city of Calgary, before determining the

00:01:51.800 next steps for the Green Line. Gondick said the latest provincial move now significantly changes

00:01:57.140 the prospect of the project. She added, quote, as a result of that, we are no longer as a city able

00:02:03.100 to afford the cost of this project. Here's what else she had to say. The reality is the local

00:02:08.240 government can no longer fund and finance the costs of delays on this project. It's now in the hands of

00:02:14.640 the province to understand how they will deliver it and we will see what they come back with. Moving

00:02:19.400 into the controversy of the week, a new rapport is warning the Alberta government against expanding

00:02:24.200 online gambling in the province. On Thursday, the non-partisan think tank Cardist released a study

00:02:29.740 on online sports betting in Ontario, outlining the harms associated with the increase of online

00:02:34.780 gambling in that province. Cardist president for Canada, Brian Dykema, said that Alberta should

00:02:40.040 learn from Ontario and not move forward with this, adding, quote, there is going to be more harm than

00:02:46.160 good done. Single game sports betting was legalized in Canada in 2021 and a year later, Ontario allowed

00:02:52.100 private operators to offer online gambling, also known as iGaming. Dykema said that the market has seen

00:02:58.080 significant growth, both in the number of accounts and in the amounts being bet with the current

00:03:03.480 average monthly spend per player account at $283. He said, quote, when you get to the point where

00:03:08.980 people are spending 3.2% of their average income on betting, you've got real demonstrable harm that is

00:03:14.540 being done. Gambling losses of 1% of household income are associated with harms like depression,

00:03:20.000 substance abuse, and divorce, he added. Moving into what we're watching in the weeks to come,

00:03:24.460 Alberta officials are warning residents of a hamlet to be villagin following a recent grizzly

00:03:30.020 bear attack by an animal they say killed a person three years ago. The province says Alberta Fish

00:03:35.680 and Wildlife Enforcement Services received a report on Sunday from the RCMP about a person being attacked

00:03:41.680 by a female grizzly near Madden, about 45 kilometers northwest of Calgary. The victim, who was in a forested

00:03:48.740 area at the time, sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries. In a statement to

00:03:53.720 CBC News, Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services said the man was hunting when the attack

00:03:58.660 happened. The province said the bear remains at large and was with what it described as sub-adult

00:04:03.820 bears during the time of the attack. DNA samples have determined that the bear was also responsible

00:04:09.020 for a fatal attack that occurred in 2021 near the village of Walporas, the province says. I apologize

00:04:15.340 to the good people of the village. I probably mispronounced that. That attack happened in early

00:04:19.840 May of that year and killed a man who was out for a run. A statement from the province said that fish

00:04:24.820 and wildlife officers are actively working to locate the bear, including setting numerous traps and

00:04:29.920 deploying low-flying aircraft. Okay guys, and now just before we get into our comment roundup,

00:04:35.260 friendly reminder to you all that this is my last week doing the Alberta roundup. My colleague Isaac

00:04:41.180 Lamoureux is going to be taking over. He does so much of the Alberta coverage already. I'm sure you

00:04:46.060 guys have read lots of his work and he's been on this show a couple of times so I'm sure you've got

00:04:50.980 to meet him and I'm really looking forward to where he takes the show. I know he's going to be a great

00:04:55.840 fit but before I move on I just wanted to give a sincere thank you to all of you who have been

00:05:00.660 watching the show. We've been doing it for over two years now which is pretty crazy to believe and I've

00:05:05.380 learned so much. It's been really an amazing opportunity for me here at True North to sort of foray

00:05:10.720 into the world of video podcasting and there's been a couple you know rough moments and bumps

00:05:16.500 along the road but you guys have been patient with me and I feel like we've really learned and

00:05:21.040 grown in this process. But I'm excited to take everything that I've learned for my for my next

00:05:26.180 challenge and opportunity at the Rachel Parker show and which I'll be covering still lots of Alberta

00:05:32.560 news as of course I live in Alberta and know the ins and outs of the province there very well and

00:05:37.280 there's always so many big news stories coming out of the province but also to be covering

00:05:40.640 federal politics as well as some culture maybe some health stories. So that show will be launching

00:05:45.540 about two weeks time and I hope that you guys will give it a watch. I know that some of my viewers are

00:05:50.040 just exclusively interested in Alberta news but I promise if you watch the show there'll probably be

00:05:55.740 something in it for you as well. And before we dive into our weekly comment roundup here's a little

00:06:00.300 taste of what that show is going to look like.

00:06:02.300 Okay everyone and great job to my producers who put that trailer together. I love it and I'm so

00:06:28.680 excited for the show. And finally on to our weekly comment roundup. User Bonnie, Bonnie's a good friend

00:06:34.180 of mine, says welcome Isaac and congrats to Rachel. I'm looking forward to both shows. User Wayne Nodal

00:06:40.100 said as long as we get to hear from you in the future it will be great to hear from both of you

00:06:43.780 even more. Keep up the great work. Alberta needs you more than ever. And finally user Atlantador said

00:06:50.340 Rachel are you going to continue with Rachel and the Republic? Yes we will be continuing that show

00:06:54.680 till at least November till we know the results of the American election. For those of you who aren't

00:06:59.480 familiar with that show that is our American politics podcast. Okay everyone thank you so much

00:07:04.800 for the kind words and as I said before for all the support over the last two years I look forward

00:07:10.520 to seeing you guys on the Rachel Parker show. Have a great weekend and God bless.

00:07:24.680 God bless you.

The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - September 07, 2024

Alberta pulls funding for THIS “multibillion-dollar boondoggle”

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