Danielle Smith accused of ‘stalling’ clean energy
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Summary
The federal government's new carbon tax regulations are coming into effect on July 1st, and the Alberta government has some thoughts. Premier Danielle Smith was asked why her government is stalling the transition to clean energy, and she had some thoughts! Plus, Sheila Lewis is the unvaccinated Canadian who's been denied an organ transplant, and more than 100 doctors in Alberta are upset that Dina Hinshaw's job offer was revoked. All that and more happening now on the Alberta Roundup.
Transcript
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It's the family and friends event at Shoppers Drug Mart. Get 20% off almost all regular priced
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merchandise. Two days only. Tuesday, February 24th and Wednesday, February 25th. Open your
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Hey everyone, welcome back to the Alberta Roundup. I hope that you guys are having a
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great week. You'll have to excuse my hair. It is very humid outside and it kind of just
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has a mind of its own. If you suspected that it's been a quiet week in Alberta politics,
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you've been correct. Certainly a little bit slower on the news front. I expect that trend
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will continue throughout the summer. But here's today's headlines. The federal government's
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clean fuel regulations are coming into effect today on Saturday, July 1st. And the Alberta
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government has some thoughts. Speaking of energy, Danielle Smith was asked why her government is
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stalling the transition to clean energy this week. And she had some thoughts. I also have
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an update for you on Sheila Lewis. That's the unvaccinated Canadian who's been denied an organ
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transplant. And finally, more than 100 doctors in Alberta are upset that Dina Hinshaw's job
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offer was revoked. All that and more happening now on the Alberta Roundup.
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Okay guys, up first on Thursday, just two days ahead of its enforcement, the Alberta government
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joined forces with Saskatchewan and the Atlantic provinces to call on the federal government to
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immediately halt the implementation of the federal clean fuel regulations. The new regulations which
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take effect today are part of Canada's plan requiring producers and importers of liquid
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fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel to gradually reduce the fuel's carbon intensity. But Alberta
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Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schultz says the new policy will harm provincial economies
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in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Atlantic Canada. In a statement, Schultz said, quote,
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combined with the federal government's carbon tax increase, higher gasoline and diesel costs are
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expected, putting added cost pressures on other goods and services across the industry. Now is not
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the time to drive up prices at the pump and increase expenses for vulnerable households, businesses and
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industries. Families and businesses cannot continue to afford reckless cost and tax increases imposed by
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the federal government. Per the new regulations, the carbon intensity of impacted fuels
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must fall below 15 percent. It's 2016 levels by 2030. According to Environment and Climate Change
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Canada, this will deliver 26 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions reductions. It also establishes a
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carbon credit market in which reducing emissions earns credits that can be sold. In May, the Parliamentary
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Budget Office said the Canadian economy will take a hit under the policy. It revealed that the regulations
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will decrease Canada's real GDP by 0.3 percent or $9 billion by 2030. The Parliamentary Budget Officer further
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estimated that the cost for a low household income would be $231 or over $1,000 for higher income
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households. Saskatchewan is one of the provinces that will be hit the hardest, costing the average
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household over $1,100 by 2030, the PBO estimated. And while we're on the topic of energy, Alberta Premier
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Danielle Smith was asked why her government is, quote, stalling the transition to clean energy while at the
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annual Western Premier's conference earlier this week. I don't think she liked that question very much.
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Here's what she had to say about it. We don't stall anything. We just don't accept that oil and natural
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gas should be phased out. And by the nature of your question, I'm assuming that's what you think
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needs to happen. I totally disagree. We are going to reduce emissions and we're going to reduce
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emissions by carbon capture utilization and storage by transitioning to hydrogen and by working with our
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partners to export LNG. We're going to have continued use of hydrocarbon fuels for petrochemicals.
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Dow Chemical has a zero emissions petrochemical plant that they're close to making a final investment
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decision on. Air Products is making a net zero hydrogen investment. Our oil sands are making a
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net zero investment by 2050. We're increasingly seeing bitumen beyond combustion for the use of
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bitumen for asphalt, which is a construction material. And so that's the framework we need to get into,
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is that we are not transitioning away from hydrocarbons. We are not transitioning away from oil and natural gas.
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We're transitioning away from emissions and we have embraced the 2050 target. Moving into what we're
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watching in the weeks to come. I wanted to include this in today's episode because not many of you
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guys got the chance to watch it during the week. Probably you weren't looking for it because I don't
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typically release episodes midweek. However, I did have the opportunity to interview Sheila Annette Lewis.
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She is of course the Canadian woman who's been denied an organ transplant because she refused the
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COVID-19 vaccine. And I had a chance to ask her a little bit about her story, including how she has
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found the resilience to keep fighting against all odds. Here's what she had to say about it.
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There's lots of times. There really is. There's lots of times that, you know, I'm sitting here and
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I'm thinking and it's quiet and I'm by myself. You know, it's late at night and I can't sleep for one
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reason or another. And yeah, I think about just that's it. Nothing's enough. But what's that going
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to do? It's not going to get me nowhere and it's not going to get anybody else anywhere. But at the
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same time, the truth needs to come out. And if I just stop it all, which they want me to,
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these doctors, they want me to go away. Like they used to ask me in the zoom calls at the end,
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they would say when they called, Oh, you're still hanging in. I see. Because I answered the phone.
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It's like, yeah, I'm still hanging in. But they want me to go away. They want to silence me. And no,
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it ain't going to happen. So I will fight as long as I can and do what I can to fight for myself
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and the rest of Canada for the other people that need these surgeries as well. But yes, there's times
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it gets tough, like really tough, especially when it's hard to breathe. And there's a lot of times
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when I exert myself, when I get up to do something, even with the third machine. It's tough.
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It's tough to keep going sometimes. But I have to. I have to keep fighting.
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I never was one to give up before. So I'm going to start now.
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For those of you who are interested in her story, you can go and find the full interview
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on our website, tnc.news or on YouTube. It is posted as a typical Alberta roundup episode.
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And of course, you are more than welcome to donate to Sheila's GoFundMe. We will link that below.
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Moving into the controversy of the week, more than a hundred Alberta doctors have signed letters
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voicing concern over the decision to rescind former chief medical health officer Dina Hinshaw's
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appointment earlier this week. As we discussed extensively on the show last week,
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Hinshaw was hired for a role with Indigenous Wellness Corps. That's an Alberta health services
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program. And that offer was rescinded shortly after public backlash emerged. Now concerned
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doctors have sent a letter to Alberta's official administrator, Dr. John Cowell, as well as Alberta
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Premier Daniel Smith to express their concerns. The letter reads, quote, revoking Dr. Hinshaw's contract
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has caused significant harm. Dr. Hinshaw has been prevented from working for AHS.
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This is entirely unfair and unprofessional. Further, it signals to all physicians in this
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province that their positions are unsafe and could be targeted for political gain. There is no place
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for leadership which undermines the decisions, recommendations and sovereignty of the Indigenous
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Wellness Corps, and no place for political interference in healthcare delivery. At a press conference
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earlier this week, Danielle Smith was asked about the decision to rescind Hinshaw's offer, and if
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there was any political interference. The Premier has remained very tight-lipped about the situation.
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Here's what that looked like. No, I have a person I've hired at the head of Alberta Health Services,
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Dr. John Cowell, to make personnel decisions. He makes personnel decisions. It's up to
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him to answer those questions. And moving into our comment roundup, last week I asked you guys what
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we should call our conservative country if, hypothetically speaking, we were to form one,
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and I got a lot of answers. Some of you understood the assignment, some of you not so much. John Hines
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said, as far as name goes for a conservative nation, it will have to be a republic, so just call it the
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Republic of Canada. The flag is easily a grizzly crowned majestically over blue, green, and white colors.
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Obviously, King Ralph can be the adverse bust on our coinage. This seemed to be a very popular
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comment. I am entirely on board with King Ralph being on all our coinage. Don't know if we want
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to call our country the Republic of Canada if Canada keeps its name, but I suppose we can dive
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into that discussion a little later on. Dave Hines said, for a new country including Alberta,
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Saskatchewan, Manitoba, we should include invite the relevant territories in Northern BC. Generally,
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the area was originally to be one province, the province of Buffalo, so it seems fitting that it
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would be the country of Buffalo. Buffalo isn't a terrible name. However, I don't really like that
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there's also a state called Buffalo because we'll always have to make that distinction. Buffalo,
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the country, not the state, similar to places like Georgia. So I think it'd be better. I think
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we could find something a little more original. I don't hate it, but I think we can do better.
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And Jason Lorenzen said, considering that we Albertans would still be the ones filling the bill,
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the country should be named Alberta. Manitoba has nothing for us other than access to the
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Hudson's Bay and Saskatchewan doesn't come anywhere close to our revenues. I saw a lot of comments
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sort of with the same mindset. We should just continue to call ourselves Alberta. I think
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that's a fair proposal. I think that's definitely something that we could discuss down the line.
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I think it's probably better than something like the Republic of Canada, especially if Canada
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keeps its name way too confusing. Tony Nichols said, I love Canada as one nation.
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If you formed your own country, tell it like it would be. Call it Traitoria or Seditionville,
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or perhaps Quebec West. Tony, now you're just being unnecessarily offensive. Of course,
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we're not going to call ourselves Quebec West. Also, I think you might be taking this assignment
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a little too seriously. It's just a hypothetical question. I don't think real talks of separation
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are on the table at all right now. And Pat's Garage said, can we just keep the name Canada
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and the East can change theirs to new China? Yes, absolutely we can. That seems like the most
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reasonable response of all the ones that I have read so far. Okay guys, that's all I have for you
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today. Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of the Alberta Roundup. I hope that you
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enjoy your long weekend and happy Canada Day. May God keep our nation strong and free. See you all next week.
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This is Disruptors. No hype, no hot takes, just clear thinking, real trade-offs, and practical insight
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with a focus on what matters for Canada. Every episode, we talk to the people shaping what comes next
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in business, policy, technology, and the real economy. I'm John Stackhouse, follow Disruptors,