The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - Does Alberta’s local election reform law go too far？

00:00:00.000 The Alberta government is in its second week of defending controversial Bill 20,

00:00:04.140 legislation which would ban tabulators and allow political parties in municipal votes.

00:00:09.420 But the good in the bill is being overshadowed by this bit, which would allow the Alberta cabinet

00:00:14.280 to fire city councillors and overturn local bylaws when it's in the public interest.

00:00:19.360 Now listen, you don't have to look far in Alberta to find an example of a city council which is

00:00:23.980 running their municipality into the ground. If you live in Red Deer, you either have to look

00:00:28.140 an hour and a half to the south or to the north to find an example of a city council that's wreaking

00:00:33.000 havoc on hard-working tax-paying citizens. But more government is not the solution here. If you

00:00:39.300 don't like your city councillors or city council, then the onus is on you to organize to remove them.

00:00:44.740 If you're still unconvinced, imagine the damage a future NDP government could do with this type

00:00:48.920 of legislation. Those rare voices of common sense on your city council would become less and less

00:00:54.520 common. But even if the Conservatives are the only government to use this legislation and they use

00:01:00.160 it to remove politicians I don't like, I still won't support it. Because whether the politicians

00:01:05.400 want to act like it or not, we still live in a democracy. And in a democracy, the will of the

00:01:10.120 people, not the government, will be imposed. I'm Rachel Emanuel, and this is the Alberta Roundup.

00:01:25.980 Okay everyone, taking a look at our first story here. The Alberta government is once again

00:01:30.320 defending controversial legislation, that's Bill 20, saying it could stop non-citizens from voting in

00:01:35.760 Calgary. The Alberta government's Bill 20, the Municipal Amendment Statues Act, would give cabinet

00:01:41.060 the power to fire councillors or overturn local bylaws when it's in the public interest. The

00:01:47.220 proposed legislation comes as Calgary City Council last week passed a motion to allow non-citizens

00:01:52.820 to vote in municipal elections. Speaking specifically about Calgary's decision to allow non-citizens to 0.94

00:01:58.000 vote, Premier Smith said, quote, that is simply not appropriate nor within their authority. Bill 21 will

00:02:03.720 provide the province with a tool to deal with these rare but serious examples of municipal overreach.

00:02:08.920 However, Municipal Affairs Minister Rick McIver has already said that he will not change the rules

00:02:13.600 to allow non-citizens to vote in municipal elections, begging the question, why is Bill 20 needed?

00:02:20.240 Certainly there are some good aspects of the bill, as I mentioned earlier in the show,

00:02:24.380 but the parts that would allow the province to dismiss city councillors or overturn bylaws might be

00:02:29.160 a step too far. Taking a look at our next story here, by now you've likely seen some images

00:02:33.380 of pro-Palestinian protesters holding encampments at Canadian universities all across the country.

00:02:38.980 The latest of these happened at the University of Calgary, but protesters weren't there very long

00:02:43.400 with Calgary police coming and disbanding the protest on Thursday night. In some scenes that

00:02:47.940 appeared very Freedom Convoy-esque, police came and marched through the encampment and forced

00:02:52.640 protesters to move. Some of the best coverage of that night was from Rebel News. Here's some images

00:02:57.480 taken by friend of the show, Sid. I'm going to play a bit of a longer clip for you guys so you can get a

00:03:02.460 real sense of what happened on Thursday night.

00:03:17.940 Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move.

00:03:21.400 Let's go.

00:03:34.280 Let's go.

00:03:51.400 Let's go.

00:04:21.400 Let's go.

00:04:24.700 And if you guys thought that was the craziest clip I was going to play for you on today's

00:04:33.780 show, you would be wrong.

00:04:35.320 You're never going to believe what Alberta bureaucrats are spending your money on now. 0.80

00:04:39.060 This week, I had Chris Sims, the Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

00:04:43.720 on my show, and she told me a little bit about the Teddy Waste Awards.

00:04:47.380 Those are awards that are given to the person who wastes the most amount of money.

00:04:50.380 In Alberta, the award was handed to the Alberta Foundation of the Arts for giving $30,000

00:04:56.160 to a so-called artist to produce some rather interesting work.

00:05:00.280 I could explain what your money is funding, but I think it's better if I let the images

00:05:03.480 speak for themselves.

00:05:04.740 We'll play that clip now.

00:05:05.520 Here, quickly, in Alberta, actually, the provincial category, it was the Alberta Foundation for

00:05:11.200 the Arts.

00:05:12.060 They won it for the provincial category here in Alberta because they gave something like

00:05:16.820 $30,000 to an Alberta artist who drew a painting that Franco Terrazzano described as ants on a

00:05:24.480 pop tart.

00:05:25.300 It's what it looked like.

00:05:26.380 That was in New York.

00:05:27.280 And another performance she did was in South Korea, which was, I think, about eight minutes

00:05:31.740 long, and it was a video.

00:05:33.240 And it was her on one of those lawn chairs, you know, the ones that fold up like a lounge.

00:05:38.080 And she was rolling around on it for like eight minutes. 0.86

00:05:42.720 Moving on to our next story here, the Alberta government has launched phase three of its

00:05:46.540 Alberta is Calling campaign, hoping to attract skilled workers from other parts of the country.

00:05:51.220 But at a time when Alberta is seeing record-breaking population growth, some worry that the province

00:05:56.100 is moving too fast.

00:05:57.580 Phase three of the Alberta is Calling campaign launched on May 1st and is running ads in

00:06:02.560 British Columbia, Quebec, and Ontario.

00:06:04.600 This phase of the plan offers skilled tradespeople a one-time $5,000 refundable tax credit to entice

00:06:10.660 skilled trades workers to come to Alberta and help build housing and infrastructure.

00:06:14.520 Here's what Matt Jones, the Alberta Minister of Jobs, Economy, and Trade, had to say about

00:06:18.680 the phase in an interview with Global News this week.

00:06:20.740 It's laser-focused on attracting skilled trades that we need to build Alberta's houses,

00:06:27.340 schools, hospitals, and job-creating infrastructure.

00:06:30.580 According to Statistics Canada, Alberta's population surged by more than 200,000 residents

00:06:35.180 last year.

00:06:36.100 That's the largest annual increase in the province's history, and it's the equivalent

00:06:39.440 to 550 people moving to Alberta every single day.

00:06:43.240 My question of the week for you all is, do you want more people moving to Alberta, or do

00:06:47.420 you think it's time to end the Alberta is Calling campaign?

00:06:50.120 Obviously, the province is seeking to attract skilled workers this time, but I think it's

00:06:53.460 safe to assume that lots of others will come along with them.

00:06:56.580 Let me know what you think in the comments below.

00:06:58.040 Moving into the controversy of the week, the United Conservative Party government is seeking

00:07:01.480 to move the date of the election so that it won't collide with natural disasters.

00:07:06.180 But in doing so, the opposition Alberta NDP says Daniel Smith's government is seeking

00:07:10.580 to conveniently grant itself six extra months of power.

00:07:13.840 The UCB government this week tabled legislation to move the scheduled date of the provincial

00:07:18.200 vote from the fourth week of May every four years to the third week of October.

00:07:22.700 That would mean the next election would be October 18th, 2027, a time when there is less

00:07:27.780 risk of wildfires, droughts, and floods.

00:07:31.020 Smith told reporters that last year's election was a prime example of the dilemma, as her government

00:07:35.660 had to campaign while also fighting fires and organizing evacuations.

00:07:39.380 The premier said she had to be careful not to use the crisis to boost her profile while

00:07:43.860 also needing to get word out to Albertans on what's happening with the fires.

00:07:47.860 She said, quote, running an election parallel to this crisis made a difficult situation more

00:07:52.480 challenging.

00:07:53.220 The premier also said that she and government ministers faced fines from Elections Alberta

00:07:57.320 for using government resources during the campaign.

00:08:00.580 She said, quote, I also found myself answering questions about the election at wildfire briefings,

00:08:05.320 as well as questions about wildfires at campaign events.

00:08:08.860 Here's what else the premier had to say.

00:08:10.580 Albertans need their government's undivided attention during an emergency.

00:08:14.380 Opposition leader Rachel Notley, who we know will be resigning soon once the Alberta NDP

00:08:17.880 select a new leader, said the UCB government is simply trying to give themselves more time

00:08:22.440 in power.

00:08:23.120 Take a listen.

00:08:23.840 You know, it could have been February of 2027.

00:08:28.720 Um, or it could have been October of 2026, but giving themselves an extra six months seems

00:08:36.060 very self-serving and opportunistic.

00:08:38.480 And finally, moving into what we're watching in the weeks to come, following the city's

00:08:42.220 largest ever public hearing, Calgarians will learn next week whether city council heard

00:08:47.280 their concerns and abandon a proposal for citywide rezoning.

00:08:51.300 Counselors will be able to question city administrators at a meeting on Monday.

00:08:54.400 Following that, counselors will be able to vote on the proposed motion and any amendments

00:08:58.900 that might be put forward.

00:08:59.940 That's the warning for all of you who are living in Calgary.

00:09:02.060 This weekend is your last chance to email your counselor and have your concerns about the

00:09:06.780 rezoning proposal be heard.

00:09:08.940 Calgary mayor Jody Gondek said she thinks debate could last two to three days.

00:09:13.220 Gondek closed the hearing on Monday night after hearing from 736 speakers and 238 panels.

00:09:19.380 City council also received over 6,000 written statements, now part of the public record.

00:09:25.020 Counselor Dan McLean told us what we can expect on this show a few weeks ago.

00:09:28.040 Let's take a listen to that now.

00:09:29.220 So what we're going to be having is, uh, a few more, several more days of debate, and

00:09:35.280 then we will debate amongst ourselves or several, several more days of public hearings.

00:09:39.560 And then that's when the councils will debate and put amendments forward.

00:09:42.600 The first thing I would like to do is put it back on the floor to bring it to a plebiscite, 0.99

00:09:47.100 to refer it back to administration and say, this is 70, 80% of the population does not

00:09:52.120 want this.

00:09:53.080 Let's put it on the ballot and let's come back and at least we're working on something

00:09:56.600 that people is more tenable, that more people will support.

00:10:00.040 Um, we will see how that goes.

00:10:01.320 I need eight votes.

00:10:02.320 It failed last time by one vote, um, to take it to a plebiscite.

00:10:07.040 So the, the odds are they might not pass this time, but again, Rachel, there's been so

00:10:13.120 many people speaking against this.

00:10:14.940 And so there's a few councillors that are really listening, uh, and have done polls

00:10:19.120 in their own wards.

00:10:19.800 So we need people to possibly, uh, vote with the public when it comes time.

00:10:25.980 And again, not to, to go on too long, but there will be some amendments that some councillors

00:10:31.460 will put forward to maybe try to water this down instead of maybe four, eight, 12 units.

00:10:36.300 They might make some concessions.

00:10:38.360 Um, but in my opinion, uh, it's going to be, it's, yeah, I can't tell if you, what, how

00:10:45.980 people are going to vote, but it's going to come down to one or two councillors to see,

00:10:49.160 uh, see which way this goes.

00:10:50.180 Okay, everyone.

00:10:50.740 And finally, moving into our weekly comment roundup, I pulled these comments from my midweek

00:10:54.840 episode, which covered Alberta's plans for a high speed rail, mostly because I was very

00:11:00.080 curious what people think about the proposal.

00:11:01.700 There were some pretty funny comments.

00:11:02.860 Let's dive in.

00:11:04.240 User Anolf Adventure said, I am really old and they have been talking about a high speed

00:11:08.480 train since I was a kid.

00:11:10.000 Studies mean that some people are getting our money and producing nothing.

00:11:13.240 I agree with this comment.

00:11:14.100 The government is going to be spending $9 million on a study to see ridership demands

00:11:19.160 as well as infrastructure needs.

00:11:20.560 That is $9 million before anything is even being built.

00:11:23.420 I think if there is actually demand for high speed railway, let's just leave that up to

00:11:26.920 the private industry.

00:11:28.080 We don't need to be spending our taxpayer dollars on this, especially at a time when we're really

00:11:32.260 in a financial crisis as a province and as a people, I constantly am getting messages

00:11:35.960 from people talking about how they're a couple hundred dollars, if not a hundred dollars

00:11:39.260 away from making ends meet every month.

00:11:40.900 So I don't really think this is the time for a high speed rail line.

00:11:43.600 That's just me.

00:11:45.140 User Izzard P said, I'll bet Banff and Jasper are really excited to have the homeless drag 1.00

00:11:50.120 addicts from Calgary and Edmonton chasing tourists away all summer.

00:11:53.980 I had a pretty good laugh at that.

00:11:55.400 Actually, when I first moved to Calgary, something I heard a lot from people was that Tuscany used

00:11:59.300 to be a really nice place to live and then they built the LRT out to Tuscany and then

00:12:03.600 they started to have issues with homelessness out there.

00:12:06.020 So it is interesting that wherever there is these LRT lines dropping up, it just gives the

00:12:10.280 homeless more ability to travel throughout the city and creates more problems 0.99

00:12:13.540 that were once so much focused downtown.

00:12:15.780 And it's true when you're driving around Calgary now, I feel like you see homeless people kind

00:12:19.140 of all over the place, walking along the highways and places that you wouldn't have expected

00:12:22.920 to see them even just a few years ago.

00:12:24.840 That being said, my favorite comment of the week goes to Tragically Clef, who said,

00:12:30.060 we going to get Homer Simpson to drive this monorail.

00:12:32.340 Definitely the best ever episode of the Simpsons.

00:12:36.260 If you're a fan, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

00:12:39.120 Okay, everyone, that's all we have time for today.

00:12:40.840 Thank you so much for tuning in.

00:12:42.100 Please like this video and subscribe to Tune North so you don't miss any of our content.

00:12:46.000 I will be back on Wednesday with my regular programming.

00:12:49.060 I hope that you guys have a great weekend.

00:12:50.580 God bless.

00:13:02.340 God bless.

The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - May 11, 2024

Does Alberta’s local election reform law go too far？

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