The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - Danielle Smith accused of ‘stalling’ clean energy

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00:00:16.900 Hey everyone, welcome back to the Alberta Roundup. I hope that you guys are having a

00:00:20.740 great week. You'll have to excuse my hair. It is very humid outside and it kind of just

00:00:26.080 has a mind of its own. If you suspected that it's been a quiet week in Alberta politics,

00:00:31.640 you've been correct. Certainly a little bit slower on the news front. I expect that trend

00:00:36.300 will continue throughout the summer. But here's today's headlines. The federal government's

00:00:41.640 clean fuel regulations are coming into effect today on Saturday, July 1st. And the Alberta

00:00:47.020 government has some thoughts. Speaking of energy, Danielle Smith was asked why her government is

00:00:52.240 stalling the transition to clean energy this week. And she had some thoughts. I also have

00:00:57.760 an update for you on Sheila Lewis. That's the unvaccinated Canadian who's been denied an organ 1.00

00:01:02.700 transplant. And finally, more than 100 doctors in Alberta are upset that Dina Hinshaw's job 0.80

00:01:08.700 offer was revoked. All that and more happening now on the Alberta Roundup.

00:01:22.360 Okay guys, up first on Thursday, just two days ahead of its enforcement, the Alberta government

00:01:27.720 joined forces with Saskatchewan and the Atlantic provinces to call on the federal government to

00:01:33.540 immediately halt the implementation of the federal clean fuel regulations. The new regulations which

00:01:39.760 take effect today are part of Canada's plan requiring producers and importers of liquid

00:01:44.960 fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel to gradually reduce the fuel's carbon intensity. But Alberta

00:01:52.020 Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schultz says the new policy will harm provincial economies

00:01:57.480 in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Atlantic Canada. In a statement, Schultz said, quote,

00:02:02.440 combined with the federal government's carbon tax increase, higher gasoline and diesel costs are

00:02:08.080 expected, putting added cost pressures on other goods and services across the industry. Now is not

00:02:15.140 the time to drive up prices at the pump and increase expenses for vulnerable households, businesses and

00:02:20.640 industries. Families and businesses cannot continue to afford reckless cost and tax increases imposed by

00:02:26.820 the federal government. Per the new regulations, the carbon intensity of impacted fuels

00:02:32.140 must fall below 15 percent. It's 2016 levels by 2030. According to Environment and Climate Change

00:02:40.080 Canada, this will deliver 26 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions reductions. It also establishes a

00:02:48.280 carbon credit market in which reducing emissions earns credits that can be sold. In May, the Parliamentary

00:02:54.900 Budget Office said the Canadian economy will take a hit under the policy. It revealed that the regulations

00:03:00.740 will decrease Canada's real GDP by 0.3 percent or $9 billion by 2030. The Parliamentary Budget Officer further

00:03:09.780 estimated that the cost for a low household income would be $231 or over $1,000 for higher income

00:03:17.300 households. Saskatchewan is one of the provinces that will be hit the hardest, costing the average

00:03:22.740 household over $1,100 by 2030, the PBO estimated. And while we're on the topic of energy, Alberta Premier

00:03:29.860 Danielle Smith was asked why her government is, quote, stalling the transition to clean energy while at the

00:03:36.180 annual Western Premier's conference earlier this week. I don't think she liked that question very much.

00:03:41.060 Here's what she had to say about it. We don't stall anything. We just don't accept that oil and natural

00:03:47.700 gas should be phased out. And by the nature of your question, I'm assuming that's what you think

00:03:52.580 needs to happen. I totally disagree. We are going to reduce emissions and we're going to reduce

00:03:57.220 emissions by carbon capture utilization and storage by transitioning to hydrogen and by working with our

00:04:03.220 partners to export LNG. We're going to have continued use of hydrocarbon fuels for petrochemicals.

00:04:09.700 Dow Chemical has a zero emissions petrochemical plant that they're close to making a final investment

00:04:15.380 decision on. Air Products is making a net zero hydrogen investment. Our oil sands are making a

00:04:24.260 net zero investment by 2050. We're increasingly seeing bitumen beyond combustion for the use of

00:04:29.860 bitumen for asphalt, which is a construction material. And so that's the framework we need to get into,

00:04:35.700 is that we are not transitioning away from hydrocarbons. We are not transitioning away from oil and natural gas.

00:04:40.500 We're transitioning away from emissions and we have embraced the 2050 target. Moving into what we're

00:04:45.940 watching in the weeks to come. I wanted to include this in today's episode because not many of you

00:04:50.900 guys got the chance to watch it during the week. Probably you weren't looking for it because I don't

00:04:55.380 typically release episodes midweek. However, I did have the opportunity to interview Sheila Annette Lewis.

00:05:01.860 She is of course the Canadian woman who's been denied an organ transplant because she refused the

00:05:07.300 COVID-19 vaccine. And I had a chance to ask her a little bit about her story, including how she has

00:05:14.180 found the resilience to keep fighting against all odds. Here's what she had to say about it.

00:05:19.460 There's lots of times. There really is. There's lots of times that, you know, I'm sitting here and

00:05:26.100 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

00:05:32.820 reason or another. And yeah, I think about just that's it. Nothing's enough. But what's that going

00:05:43.220 to do? It's not going to get me nowhere and it's not going to get anybody else anywhere. But at the

00:05:47.780 same time, the truth needs to come out. And if I just stop it all, which they want me to,

00:05:55.300 these doctors, they want me to go away. Like they used to ask me in the zoom calls at the end,

00:06:02.900 they would say when they called, Oh, you're still hanging in. I see. Because I answered the phone.

00:06:09.380 It's like, yeah, I'm still hanging in. But they want me to go away. They want to silence me. And no,

00:06:16.740 it ain't going to happen. So I will fight as long as I can and do what I can to fight for myself

00:06:28.420 and the rest of Canada for the other people that need these surgeries as well. But yes, there's times

00:06:37.620 it gets tough, like really tough, especially when it's hard to breathe. And there's a lot of times

00:06:45.860 when I exert myself, when I get up to do something, even with the third machine. It's tough.

00:06:55.860 It's tough to keep going sometimes. But I have to. I have to keep fighting.

00:07:03.700 I never was one to give up before. So I'm going to start now.

00:07:08.580 For those of you who are interested in her story, you can go and find the full interview

00:07:13.220 on our website, tnc.news or on YouTube. It is posted as a typical Alberta roundup episode.

00:07:19.540 And of course, you are more than welcome to donate to Sheila's GoFundMe. We will link that below.

00:07:24.980 Moving into the controversy of the week, more than a hundred Alberta doctors have signed letters

00:07:29.700 voicing concern over the decision to rescind former chief medical health officer Dina Hinshaw's

00:07:35.620 appointment earlier this week. As we discussed extensively on the show last week,

00:07:40.180 Hinshaw was hired for a role with Indigenous Wellness Corps. That's an Alberta health services

00:07:45.060 program. And that offer was rescinded shortly after public backlash emerged. Now concerned

00:07:51.300 doctors have sent a letter to Alberta's official administrator, Dr. John Cowell, as well as Alberta

00:07:56.420 Premier Daniel Smith to express their concerns. The letter reads, quote, revoking Dr. Hinshaw's contract

00:08:02.980 has caused significant harm. Dr. Hinshaw has been prevented from working for AHS.

00:08:08.020 This is entirely unfair and unprofessional. Further, it signals to all physicians in this

00:08:12.980 province that their positions are unsafe and could be targeted for political gain. There is no place

00:08:18.260 for leadership which undermines the decisions, recommendations and sovereignty of the Indigenous

00:08:22.900 Wellness Corps, and no place for political interference in healthcare delivery. At a press conference 0.99

00:08:28.980 earlier this week, Danielle Smith was asked about the decision to rescind Hinshaw's offer, and if

00:08:34.100 there was any political interference. The Premier has remained very tight-lipped about the situation.

00:08:40.100 Here's what that looked like. No, I have a person I've hired at the head of Alberta Health Services,

00:08:47.060 Dr. John Cowell, to make personnel decisions. He makes personnel decisions. It's up to

00:08:52.340 him to answer those questions. And moving into our comment roundup, last week I asked you guys what

00:08:58.500 we should call our conservative country if, hypothetically speaking, we were to form one,

00:09:03.540 and I got a lot of answers. Some of you understood the assignment, some of you not so much. John Hines

00:09:09.620 said, as far as name goes for a conservative nation, it will have to be a republic, so just call it the

00:09:13.860 Republic of Canada. The flag is easily a grizzly crowned majestically over blue, green, and white colors.

00:09:20.180 Obviously, King Ralph can be the adverse bust on our coinage. This seemed to be a very popular

00:09:26.260 comment. I am entirely on board with King Ralph being on all our coinage. Don't know if we want

00:09:31.060 to call our country the Republic of Canada if Canada keeps its name, but I suppose we can dive

00:09:35.780 into that discussion a little later on. Dave Hines said, for a new country including Alberta,

00:09:40.580 Saskatchewan, Manitoba, we should include invite the relevant territories in Northern BC. Generally,

00:09:46.580 the area was originally to be one province, the province of Buffalo, so it seems fitting that it

00:09:51.220 would be the country of Buffalo. Buffalo isn't a terrible name. However, I don't really like that

00:09:55.860 there's also a state called Buffalo because we'll always have to make that distinction. Buffalo,

00:10:00.020 the country, not the state, similar to places like Georgia. So I think it'd be better. I think

00:10:04.420 we could find something a little more original. I don't hate it, but I think we can do better.

00:10:08.500 And Jason Lorenzen said, considering that we Albertans would still be the ones filling the bill,

00:10:12.900 the country should be named Alberta. Manitoba has nothing for us other than access to the

00:10:17.380 Hudson's Bay and Saskatchewan doesn't come anywhere close to our revenues. I saw a lot of comments

00:10:22.580 sort of with the same mindset. We should just continue to call ourselves Alberta. I think

00:10:26.980 that's a fair proposal. I think that's definitely something that we could discuss down the line.

00:10:30.180 I think it's probably better than something like the Republic of Canada, especially if Canada

00:10:34.340 keeps its name way too confusing. Tony Nichols said, I love Canada as one nation.

00:10:39.700 If you formed your own country, tell it like it would be. Call it Traitoria or Seditionville,

00:10:44.500 or perhaps Quebec West. Tony, now you're just being unnecessarily offensive. Of course,

00:10:49.860 we're not going to call ourselves Quebec West. Also, I think you might be taking this assignment

00:10:54.420 a little too seriously. It's just a hypothetical question. I don't think real talks of separation

00:10:59.380 are on the table at all right now. And Pat's Garage said, can we just keep the name Canada

00:11:03.380 and the East can change theirs to new China? Yes, absolutely we can. That seems like the most 0.86

00:11:08.660 reasonable response of all the ones that I have read so far. Okay guys, that's all I have for you

00:11:13.460 today. Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of the Alberta Roundup. I hope that you

00:11:18.420 enjoy your long weekend and happy Canada Day. May God keep our nation strong and free. See you all next week.

00:11:38.660 This is Disruptors. No hype, no hot takes, just clear thinking, real trade-offs, and practical insight

00:11:47.300 with a focus on what matters for Canada. Every episode, we talk to the people shaping what comes next

00:11:53.940 in business, policy, technology, and the real economy. I'm John Stackhouse, follow Disruptors,

00:12:00.020 and never miss an episode.

The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - July 01, 2023

Danielle Smith accused of ‘stalling’ clean energy

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