Notley steps down as Alberta NDP leader
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Summary
Rachel Notley has announced that she will step down as leader of the Alberta NDP once a new leader is chosen. Who will replace her? And who will be the next premier of Alberta? Also, Albertans are responding to the energy crisis, and Alberta Premier Daniel Smith has some thanks for them all.
Transcript
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Hey everyone, welcome back to the Alberta Roundup. I'm your host Rachel Emanuel.
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I hope that you all survived last weekend's cold snap. As I am sitting here recording this,
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I am just hoping that my ceiling doesn't cave in on me. I just came upstairs to record and
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what do I find? But paint all over the floor, it looks like our ceiling is leaking and it is quite
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a mess. So hopefully I can make it through the show. But if it does happen to start caving in
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on me, at least you all know what happened. Now taking a look at what we're going to be talking
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about on today's show. Rachel Notley has announced that she will step down as leader of the Alberta
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NDP and we're going to have some speculation on who might replace her. As well, Albertans,
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you guys responded to Alberta's energy crisis last weekend and Alberta Premier Daniel Smith
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has some thanks for you all. Next, the CBC says that electric vehicles are the best to drive in
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frigid temperatures. Not sure about that one. And finally, I have an exciting announcement for you
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all so you're going to want to stay tuned till the end of the show. All that and more happening now
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Up first, Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley has announced that she will step down as the leader
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of the New Democrats once a new leader is elected. In her remarks on Tuesday, Notley reflected on her
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time as Premier and as opposition leader. Take a listen.
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Now, we didn't get everything right. But we governed with integrity, an ambitious agenda,
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and an earnest desire to make life better for Albertans. So four years later, last spring,
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we came so close to earning the right to lead Alberta again. We received the highest percentage
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of the vote that the Alberta NDP ever has. We won all of Edmonton. We won the majority of seats in
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Calgary. We increased our vote throughout the province, and we elected the largest official
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opposition in the history of this province. An opposition that is very, very ready, by the way,
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to take over the reins of government. But it wasn't enough. And that's why it's now time for me to
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leave. But if there is any one accomplishment that I can leave behind me, it's that we are not
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a one-party province where Albertans have no real choice about how their province is to be run.
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Albertans do not ever have to feel that elections and their opinions do not matter.
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It was that way when I started. It's not that way anymore.
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The announcement came after poor polling for the Alberta NDP and after Notley lost two elections to
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the United Conservative Party. Notley said that she isn't sure whether she will stay on as an MLA
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or also step down from that. But she did say that she's not interested in joining federal politics.
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In honor of this momentous occasion, I wanted to share one of my favorite memories with Rachel
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Notley, this one taken at an Alberta NDP press conference during the spring general election.
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Rachel Manuel, to more with Ms. Notley, how is the premier showing insensitivity
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when you're here in Calgary today hosting a campaign event and she's up at Edmonton dealing
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I believe that we are both continuing to work on the campaign. Indeed, we've seen both of us do that.
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You guys probably remember that the NDP did not like it when independent media reporters showed up
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to their press conferences and had, it seemed a policy of banning us from asking questions,
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they would just simply never pass us the mic when it was our turn. So I just got in the habit of
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yelling out the questions and it seemed to work pretty well because as you can see, I did get an
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answer from her there. That was during the wildfire crisis in the summer when the NDP were attacking.
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Danielle Smith were not doing enough. Well, they of course were continuing to campaign.
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Now that Notley has announced that she will resign when a new leader is selected, the question is,
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of course, who is going to replace her? According to the Canadian Press Caucus members,
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Rocky Pancelli, David Shepard, Sarah Hoffman, and Kathleen Gainley, are rumored to be considering
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a leadership bid. Last week, Gainley made a video which many interpreted to be a leadership race
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self-promotional video in which she said, quote, average families here in Alberta should have access
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to the basics. The independent media outlet, The Counter Signal, also said that Janice Irwin is
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interested in the contest, describing the far left politician as, quote, an MLA with close ties
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to the Antifa movement. They also reported that Shannon Phillips of Lethbridge is also seen as a
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possible leadership contender. The question of the week for all of you is who do you think will
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replace Rachel Notley and how far left is the NDP going to go? Of course, there was a time when Rachel
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Notley herself was seen as a moderate. I would personally disagree with that, but I'm wondering if now is
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the party's opportunity to elect a real moderate, or if what is more likely someone like Janice Irwin
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is going to take the party very far to the left. Let me know what you think in the comments below.
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Moving into our next story here, Alberta Premier Daniel Smith is thanking Albertans for their quick
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response to last weekend's cold snap when Albertans reduced their energy uses to avoid rolling blackouts
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throughout the province. Last weekend, the Alberta Emergency Management Agency issued an alert,
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warning residents that the extreme cold resulted in high power demand and placed the province's grid
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at high risk of rotating power outages. The Alberta Electric System operator declared a grid alert due to
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extreme cold and several power facility outages at 8 a.m. on Saturday. The emergency alert sent to
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Albertans mobile devices throughout the province asked Albertans to limit their electricity use to
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essential needs only. And Albertans responded. Premier Smith later posted on X,
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when the Alberta Electric System operator issued a call for energy conservation, Albertans answered.
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The swift and impactful actions led to a remarkable 200 megawatt reduction in demand,
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averting the need for rotating power outages. Thank you, Alberta, and thank you to our energy
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workers for keeping our families warm and dry. The energy crisis was abated by help from Saskatchewan,
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with Premier Scott Moe announcing last weekend that SAS Power provided 153 megawatts of electricity
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to Alberta on Saturday night, as the warnings were issued, to assist us throughout the shortage.
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that power will be coming from natural gas and coal-fired plants, the ones the Trudeau government
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is telling us to shut down, which we won't. Alberta Premier Daniel Smith has warned that federal
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regulations could result in power outages during instances of extreme cold. But those regulations
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haven't yet been enacted. So what exactly went wrong last weekend? Well, it has to do with something we
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talk about so much on this show, the high numbers of interprovincial immigration. There are so many
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people moving to Alberta from other parts of the country, and of course, we need to be able to
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provide energy for all those people. During instances of extreme cold, such as we saw last weekend,
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there are more people across the province demanding use of energy. And while energy operators are
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interested in looking for ways to increase their baseload power, such as building another power
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plant, they're afraid that by doing so, they will fall into conflict with Ottawa's regulation for a
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net zero power grid by 2035. In fact, energy operators are afraid that someone could end up in jail
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if they come into conflict with this 2035 regulation that Ottawa is still hanging over their head.
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So while that target is more than a decade off, it's already impacting how energy providers are
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operating now. And it's only going to get worse as people from the rest of the country continue to
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move here for the Alberta advantage. Moving into the controversy of the week, as Albertans reduce
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their energy consumption to respond to the cold snap we saw last weekend, the CBC is touting electric
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vehicles as the best vehicle for frigid temperatures. You just can't make this stuff up. Despite warnings,
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the CBC published an article last weekend titled, Electric Cars, the best vehicle in frigid
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temperatures, SASC advocates say. EVs have a track record of unreliability in colder temperatures.
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Even the CBC's cited experts said that the range of electric vehicles go from 500 kilometers to 300
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kilometers on cold winter days. That's a 40% decrease in range. And True North has reported that temperatures
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below negative 6.7 degrees Celsius can cut an electric vehicle battery capacity by up to 41%.
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We've also reported that electric vehicles have 79% more problems than gas vehicles, even in warm
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weather. Still, the CBC reported on two electric car enthusiasts who said they love driving their
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vehicles in the winter. Tyler Cross, who sits on the board for the Saskatchewan Electric Vehicle
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Association and founded the Tesla Owners Club of Saskatchewan, told the CBC, quote,
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it heats up faster than any gas car I've ever had. It's more reliable. He also said, quote,
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you know, there's no starting of the car. It's always just kind of on, right? It's like a phone,
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basically, or a computer on wheels. Matthew Pointer, a founder of the Saskatchewan Electric Vehicle
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Association, who also drives a Tesla Model 3, says he finds his EV to be a much better driving experience
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in the winter than a gas car. He told the CBC, quote, I believe that an electric is the best
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vehicle in these temperatures just because it's a simpler car. It's taking care of itself even if
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I'm not thinking about it. I can leave my vehicle unplugged overnight to negative 40, fire up the app
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on my phone, preheat the car, heated steering wheel, heated seats. Basically, I hop in the car,
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everything is defrosted, toasty warm, and away I go. Both sources acknowledge that EVs likely won't work
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for all drivers in the province, especially those who have to drive long distances. Still,
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the article led to disbelief from pundits and politicians across the province. Alberta Energy
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Minister Brian Jean asked if the article was a parody. Rebel News founder Ezra Levant roasted the
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state broadcaster on X, writing, quote, no one believes this. No one even says this, not even the
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electric car companies themselves, only the desperate Trudeau regime and the government journalists at the
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CBC state broadcaster. Moving into what we're watching in the weeks to come, Alberta Health
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Services says a number of factors contributed to a temporary pause in the kidney pair donation
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program. Alberta Health Services cited a lack of operating room capacity, a shortage of anesthesiologists
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at the University of Alberta Hospital, along with a backlog of local and national pairs waiting on
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Edmonton's list. A spokesperson stressed that the change will only affect the Northern Alberta
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transplant program, not the Southern Alberta program in Calgary. They also said that Alberta
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Health Services continues to provide other organ and tissue donation and transplant services.
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Sean Delaney has had two transplants and has even spent time on dialysis. He told Global News,
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the news that patients will have to wait longer is tough to take. He said, quote,
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it can be very emotionally draining. It's a bit of a roller coaster to be waiting and wondering,
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do I have a donor? Do I not have a donor? Speaking about his friends on the list, Delaney said, quote,
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it's going to be tough for them to know that they're on hold for six months because this kidney paired
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program only runs three times a year. It's tough on the donor as well because they have to put their
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life career on hold. Okay guys, and before you sign off, I have my exciting announcement, which I
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promised you at the beginning of the show. Beginning in February, we are going to be moving the show up to
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twice a week. I'm going to be doing an interview style show midweek on Wednesdays and then on
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Saturday, we will keep to this show the regular format, which is really just a breakdown of the
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news of the week for those of you who want to catch up super quickly. So I am super pumped to be
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bringing you that beginning in February. That's all I have time for today. Thank you so much for
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tuning in. As always, if you're able to support our work, you can do that over at donate.tnc.news.
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And hey, I made it through the show without my ceiling caving in, so that's great. But I guess I
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have to take care of that this weekend, which isn't very fun. I hope you all have better plans
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than me planned for the weekend. I'll see you guys next week and God bless.