00:00:00.000The consistently lowest-rated premier in the country, and one of the few with a lower approval rating than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
00:00:07.700G.O.T. Gondek, has inexplicably been named Mayor of the Year by an Ontario-based municipal magazine.
00:00:14.440Alberta is partnering with Shark Tank star Mr. Wonderful, or Kevin O'Leary, to build the world's largest AI data centre.
00:00:21.900The Alberta government passed a trio of bills protecting parental rights, promoting fairness in sports against transgender intrusion,
00:00:29.180and preventing minors from undergoing irreversible gender transitions.
00:00:33.860Liberal MP Randy Boissoneau is defending how he portrayed his connection to Indigenous ancestry and throwing his former business partner under the bus.
00:00:43.060And former NDP leader Rachel Notley has resigned her seat as MLA, creating an opening for Nenshi to finally run in.
00:00:49.820All that and more in this week's version of the Alberta Roundup.
00:00:52.840I'm Isaac Lamoureux, your host of the show, and let's hop in to that first story now.
00:00:59.180So you may be scratching your head at the fact that an Ontario-based municipal magazine has named G.O.T. Gondek
00:01:13.600Mayor of the Year, and you wouldn't be alone.
00:01:16.820The monthly magazine has been published since 1981.
00:01:20.720I reached out to the magazine to get them to explain to me how they came to this determination,
00:01:25.660and Executive Director of Municipal World Greg Crone told me that the publication sought a mayor who showed leadership while moving forward on their agenda.
00:01:36.340A June 2024 poll by Think HQ highlighted that Gondek only had a 26% approval rating, contrasted, of course, with her 64% disapproval rating.
00:01:55.760The poll showed that Gondek and the City Council's approval ratings had plummeted following Calgary's handling of the water crisis.
00:02:02.620Think HQ president Mark Henry said the polling ratings were unprecedentedly low for Gondek and the City Council.
00:02:31.140We did not look at polling data as it was purely an editorial decision.
00:02:35.780Gondek told CTV News that she did not know the award existed, but that she was shocked and humbled by the decision.
00:02:42.940Gondek's predecessor and current NDP leader Naheed Nenshi similarly won a mayoral award when he was granted the 2014 World Mayor Prize.
00:02:52.380He, too, did not fare well in his approval ratings, although he outperformed Gondek.
00:02:57.280A June 2019 poll from Think HQ highlighted that Nenshi had a 39% approval rating, contrasted with 55% disapproval.
00:03:06.060During Nenshi's tenure, the City Council had a 25% approval rating, contrasted with 66% disapproval.
00:03:13.540Polling on the City Council's approval rating during Gondek's tenure was the exact same.
00:03:17.940Gondek was previously, of course, subject to recall legislation that did not meet the legal threshold.
00:03:23.380However, the process revealed that the threshold was nearly impossible to meet, and Alberta Premier Daniel Smith pledged to review it.
00:03:31.000This year was the first that Municipal World awarded the Mayor of the Year.
00:03:35.220Now, hopping to a more provincial story, Alberta is partnering with Shark Tank star Kevin O'Leary to build what he deemed the largest AI compute data center park on Earth.
00:03:45.020Wonder Valley, perhaps a nod to O'Leary's Mr. Wonderful nickname, will span thousands of acres in the Greenview Industrial Gateway in Greenview, Alberta, near Grand Prairie.
00:03:55.780O'Leary said that the 7,000 acres of land allow technology and nature to unite to power global innovation in a post to X.
00:04:02.980The partnership will work to build an off-grid natural gas and geothermal power infrastructure.
00:04:08.460The project is set to roll out in phases, according to a press release from O'Leary Ventures.
00:04:12.940The first phase of the power solution will generate 1.4 gigawatts of power and cost around $2 billion USD, and subsequent rollouts will generate 1 gigawatts of power annually.
00:04:25.500O'Leary said in an interview that power constraints in the United States made American sites less desirable.
00:04:32.280He said, irrespective of the state, they were handcuffing him on getting the power generation for data centers.
00:04:37.920Virginia, which O'Leary said hosts 45% of the data centers in the United States, recently passed a law banning the use of backup generators for data centers.
00:04:48.500He said that data centers need to be active 99.99% of the time, which means a downtime of only 14 seconds per month.
00:04:57.440I don't care what state you go to. You go to the power authority there and say, I need this. I just want 100 megawatts. Can't do it. We have no power in America right now.
00:05:06.380Smith said the $70 billion project will be, quote,
00:05:09.300the largest investment in Alberta's history and the largest investment of its kind in the world.
00:05:14.380With Alberta's low taxes, free market, abundant natural gas, and skilled labor force, we're positioned to be a world leader in AI data centers.
00:05:22.640Smith added that over the last 20 years, Alberta has only invested $1 billion to grow its technology industry, which obviously pales in comparison to the $70 billion investment.
00:05:33.140Investing is all about the future. So what do you think is going to happen?
00:05:37.260Bitcoin is sort of inevitable at this point.
00:05:39.780I think it would come down to precious metals.
00:06:03.300However, Alberta said it attracted the project through its business climate rather than through corporate welfare.
00:06:09.800A government spokesperson told me, quote,
00:06:12.220While our government isn't directly contributing to these infrastructure projects,
00:06:16.000We are doing our best to share our story with potential investors on how this province is the destination of choice for this type of infrastructure in North America.
00:06:24.980Alberta Minister of Technology Nate Glubish said he believes Alberta could attract $100 billion or more of investment over the next five years across half a dozen AI data center projects.
00:06:35.340O'Leary said the site will generate 7.5 gigawatts of low-cost power over the next five to ten years.
00:06:43.120Given existing permits, proximity to stranded sources of natural gas, pipeline infrastructure, water, and a fiber-optic network within just a few kilometers of the Greenview Industrial Gateway,
00:06:53.200we will be in the ground and up and running sooner than any scale project of its kind.
00:06:59.040The $70 billion investment includes funding for infrastructure, power, data centers, and ancillary structures.
00:07:05.640Sticking with the Alberta government, for our next story, the Legislative Assembly of Alberta has passed a trio of bills to strengthen the rights of parents,
00:07:13.720promote fairness in sports against transgender athletes, and prevent minors from undergoing gender transitions that they may live to regret.
00:07:21.600Bill 26, the Health Statute Amendment Act, Bill 27, the Education Amendment Act, and Bill 29, the Fairness and Safety in Sport Act,
00:07:29.720each passed their third reading and will come into effect following royal proclamation expected on September 1, 2025.
00:07:36.600The three bills were among the 13 bills the Alberta government plans to introduce in this legislative session.
00:07:42.560The remaining bills focus on personal autonomy, property rights, and legal firearm ownership.
00:07:47.180Bill 27 requires parents' consent for children aged 15 and under to change their name, gender, and pronouns at school.
00:07:55.06016 and 17-year-olds will not need parental consent, but their parents will be notified of any such changes.
00:08:01.620Parents currently can opt their children out of the sexual orientation and gender identity curriculum.
00:08:06.580The legislative changes will require parents to opt them in.
00:08:09.300Former NDP leader Rachel Notley claimed that the legislative changes breach the Charter and other fundamental human rights.
00:08:17.080Today I watched as the legislator sunk to its lowest point ever.
00:08:21.140Trans rights are human rights and the UCP cares nothing for either.
00:08:24.900Minister of Education Dimitrios Nikolaides said he challenged the opposition to provide evidence and facts to support their claims against introducing the legislation.
00:09:45.820Look, Liberal MP Randy Boissoneau is defending his portrayal of his connection to Indigenous ancestry while condemning his former business partner.
00:09:54.080In a post to X, Boissoneau stood by his description of himself as, quote,
00:09:57.900Non-status adopted Cree, arguing that it implies no Indigenous status for himself but honors the Indigenous family that raised him.
00:10:05.700The Liberal MP said he arrived at the term after working with an Indigenous researcher,
00:10:10.860although the researcher said in a National Post interview that he did not advise the use of the term.
00:10:16.620Conservative MP Garnet Genouis called out Boissoneau in Parliament.
00:11:13.540So you sat down with Professor Cowie, and he gave you some advice.
00:11:18.860You ignored that advice and came up with this term independently on your own.
00:11:24.020And then you came back to committee and said, well, in the context of conversation, I came up with this term.
00:11:30.240That's, I mean, frankly, that's what we've come to expect from you, Mr. Boissoneau, but I think it's now further revelation of what we have come to expect.
00:11:42.140The Conservative MP pressed Boissoneau further, asking him why an Instagram post from the Liberal Party from 2016 claiming that he is Indigenous has not been taken down.
00:11:52.080Boissoneau said he doesn't know why that post is still up, but that he worked, quote,
00:11:56.520very quickly to remove himself from a list of Indigenous candidates in the 2019 election.
00:12:02.240Former Attorney General and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould was also on the list of Indigenous Liberal Caucus members from 2016.
00:12:11.140She previously called Boissoneau's claims, quote, shameful and extremely destructive.
00:12:17.500Instead, we get to watch white people play Ancestry Wheel of Fortune.
00:12:31.120Boissoneau also claimed in his letter that he did not attempt to leverage his family's history for personal or political gain and that he never identified as Indigenous on any application.
00:12:40.700He added that none of his businesses ever benefited from such claims.
00:12:44.340He shifted the blame to his business partner, Steven Anderson.
00:12:49.360Mr. Anderson has used my name without my consent to further the business's interests.
00:12:54.220I believe he has conducted himself unethically and may have misled many people.
00:12:58.560I take my obligations as a public official seriously.
00:13:01.260I did not operate any business while serving the public.
00:13:04.580Anderson, of course, was the one who previously revealed that the elusive Other Randy did not exist.
00:13:09.960Boissoneau reiterated that he left Global Health Imports in 2021,
00:13:13.600Despite resigning from the company in 2021, after regaining his seat, Boissoneau remained a 50% shareholder until June 2024.
00:13:22.040The federal government suspended contracts with the company following an investigation by the Edmonton Police Service.
00:13:27.600The company rented a mailbox in 2020, which was later revealed to be shared with a company registered under Francesca LeBlanc.
00:13:34.680A Toronto-bound charter plane was found to have 200 kilograms of cocaine in April 2022 by authorities in the Dominican Republic while LeBlanc was aboard.
00:13:44.860Federal funding designed to boost the Indigenous economy requires companies to be at least 51% owned by individuals with Indigenous heritage.
00:13:52.520So for Global Health Imports to qualify, of course, both Boissoneau and Anderson would need to be Indigenous.
00:13:59.820Global Health is a wholly owned Indigenous and LGBTQ company in a bid for Global Health Imports Corporation to supply face masks in June 2020.
00:14:09.740Boissoneau said that Global Health Imports received no funds from federal contracts before his election in 2021.
00:14:16.040Despite stepping down to clear the allegations against him, Boissoneau said he remains focused on doing the job he was elected to do.
00:14:22.800Canadians, however, don't appear to be buying what Boissoneau is selling, considering his ex-post had over five times as many comments when I initially wrote the article, primarily containing comments of users calling him out.
00:14:37.200Hopping into our last story here, former Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley officially resigned as an MLA on Thursday.
00:14:44.380Now I know what you're thinking, Notley hadn't resigned yet?
00:14:47.080Notley announced her resignation with, quote, mixed feelings, almost a year after officially stepping down as Alberta NDP leader in January 2024.
00:14:56.360She became an NDP member in 2007 and served as the party's leader since 2015, leading the province's premier between 2015 and 2019.
00:15:05.860Notley's victory in 2015 ended 44 years of rule in Alberta by the Conservatives.
00:15:10.440She subsequently lost the 2019 and 2023 provincial elections before resigning as NDP leader.
00:15:17.080One of Notley's first legislative moves was to introduce a carbon tax, while simultaneously pledging to eliminate burning coal by 2030.
00:15:25.080The carbon tax was set at $20 per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions as of January 1st, 2017, and rose to $30 per tonne the following year, resulting in the largest tax hike in the province's history.
00:15:37.240Notley was also responsible for raising Alberta's minimum wage to $15 an hour, which increased incrementally from $10.20 an hour in 2015 to $15 an hour in 2018, and is, of course, not increased since.
00:15:50.840Notley's reign carried on her family's legacy.
00:15:53.500Her father, Grant Notley, also a former NDP leader, died in a plane crash in 1984.
00:16:47.740Nahid Nenshi's selection represents a tremendous opportunity for all Albertans seeking practical solutions to the affordability crisis,
00:16:55.180along with a genuine commitment to fixing our healthcare so that all Albertans can get the support they need no matter where they live or how much they earn.
00:17:03.180Notley's departure may provide an opening for Nenshi to seek a seat in the legislature.
00:17:07.780Despite winning the leadership race in June, Nenshi is not an elected MLA.
00:17:13.440No MLAs have vacated their seats to allow him to run, and he opted not to run in the Lethbridge West by-election currently underway.
00:17:21.400Premier Danielle Smith commented on whether Nenshi will choose to run at an unrelated Thursday press conference.
00:17:45.600Minister of Transportation Devin Drieschen wrote, quote,
00:17:48.440Nenshi never served one day in the legislature because he refuses to run in an election to become an MLA.
00:17:57.200Alright, so that wraps up our stories for this week, but we'll hop into the comment roundup here.
00:18:01.460Unsurprisingly, almost all of the comments last week were in regard to the principal cancelling the Christmas concert for it not being inclusive enough.
00:18:08.440At MitchellWillie7208 said that, quote,
00:18:36.860Yeah, that follows up with the last thing I said.
00:18:38.700I mean, I don't think you could name a more inclusive holiday than Christmas.
00:18:41.580And speaking on the Christian or Catholic heritage of Canada, of course that's true.
00:18:45.960All of the morals and values we hold sacred stem from biblical teachings.
00:18:50.580To erase that history would be to erase the values we deem most important and the very lessons that teach us the difference between right and wrong.
00:18:58.800At GemJam7534 was one of the commenters who chose to speak about something besides the school story.