The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - April 13, 2025


Poilievre hosts record-breaking rally in Edmonton


Episode Stats

Length

9 minutes

Words per Minute

172.6875

Word Count

1,697

Sentence Count

86


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 True North was on the ground for what Conservative leader Pierre Polyefre said might have been the
00:00:15.480 biggest political rally Canada's ever seen in Edmonton. We saw former Prime Minister Stephen
00:00:20.720 Harper introduce and endorse Polyefre and spoke with many Albertans at the event to see how they
00:00:25.680 think the provinces fared under a decade of Liberals and what they think of Liberal leader
00:00:30.080 Mark Carney. Last week, we explored that Alberta and Quebec noted their intent to work together to
00:00:34.880 fight federal overreach and create an autonomy alliance to further loosen the tight grasp the
00:00:39.480 Feds have over the two provinces. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith traveled to Quebec this week and
00:00:44.420 met with them in person to discuss how to progress things. Alberta also announced its plan to create
00:00:49.240 an independent police force as an alternative to the RCMP. Also, we'll talk about a poll showing that
00:00:54.560 the willingness to separate would rise in every single province if Mark Carney wins the upcoming
00:00:59.980 election, with Albertans feeling the second strongest for separation. My name's Isaac Lamoureux and I'll
00:01:05.240 cover all of these stories on the Alberta Roundup today. Let's hop into that first story now.
00:01:10.160 The recent rally from Pierre Polyefre in Edmonton was so big that the venue was changed from the
00:01:14.920 Edmonton Expo Centre to a 365,000 square foot warehouse just days before it took place on Monday.
00:01:22.400 At least 15,000 people showed up to the rally. In fact, the crowd was so large that cell phone
00:01:29.140 service inside the building stopped working. Speaking at a press conference the next day,
00:01:33.420 Polyefre said, quote,
00:01:35.080 This is a movement like we've never seen because people want change. They want to put our country
00:01:39.680 first for change. The Conservative leader was introduced at the rally by former Prime Minister
00:01:44.380 Stephen Harper. He said, quote,
00:01:46.400 I'm the only man who can say that both of the men running to be Prime Minister once worked for me.
00:01:51.660 And in that regard, my choice, without hesitation, without equivocation, without a shadow of a doubt,
00:01:57.760 is Pierre Polyefre. He added that while Liberal Party of Canada leader Mark Carney claims to have led
00:02:03.220 Canada through the global financial crisis, it was the late Jim Flaherty and the Conservative team
00:02:08.300 who were responsible. Polyefre called Harper the greatest Prime Minister of the 21st century,
00:02:14.300 saying he'd been the greatest mentor he could ever ask for. A World War II veteran who was 19 years
00:02:19.700 old when he fought at Juneau Beach on D-Day was one of the many veterans to raise their hands when
00:02:24.940 Polyefre asked if any were present.
00:02:27.160 How old were you at Juneau Beach?
00:02:28.860 I was 19.
00:02:32.360 19. What a hero.
00:02:34.200 Speaking of the military, Polyefre pledged to reshape Canada's military to be worthy of that man's great
00:02:39.420 sacrifice. We have to make this a country that is worthy of that hero's sacrifice.
00:02:45.960 Polyefre said, quote, our soldiers, sailors and airmen will be guided by a warrior culture,
00:02:50.960 not a woke culture. As I mentioned, True North spoke to various attendees on the ground. Here's
00:02:55.640 what one attendee, Travis Olsen, had to say. This has been the liberal playbook for forever.
00:03:00.820 They always have to have a villain and they are picking conservative premiers,
00:03:04.700 people that tend to not vote for them. And Daniel Smith, Alberta has always been the villain
00:03:08.820 with the federal liberal party. And now he's picking on Rob Ford, too. I think it's beneath
00:03:13.840 him, but I think he'd probably take those comments back if he was given a second chance. I think we
00:03:18.680 got to sometimes give politicians a little bit of leeway, but it's a consistent theme of them
00:03:23.860 picking on the West in every election. We've been the villain every time.
00:03:27.440 In Polyefre's speech, he focused on the trades, saying he would strengthen the industry and
00:03:31.820 emphasize Alberta's oil and gas industry to make the province and country rich. In fact, he made a
00:03:38.680 joke about Harper in the trades. Polyefre said, quote, Stephen Harper was in the trades as well.
00:03:44.100 Do you know that he was a cabinet maker? He had a really good cabinet, way better than the liberal
00:03:48.500 cabinet. And we're going to have another great cabinet after the election. We'll have to wait
00:03:52.860 and see if another rally can surpass the 15,000 people we saw show up in Edmonton. But moving on
00:03:58.820 to our next story now, we're taking it back to our lead story from last week with an update on the
00:04:03.260 developing partnership between Alberta and Quebec. In case you don't remember, Alberta Premier Daniel
00:04:08.300 Smith wrote a letter to Quebec Premier Francois Legault, proposing that the two team up to fight
00:04:13.820 against federal overreach. Quebec replied pretty fast, noting its excitement to work with Alberta
00:04:19.360 in building an autonomy alliance. While they had agreed to meet at some point, things seemed to be
00:04:24.300 moving surprisingly fast. The province issued a release highlighting that Smith would be heading
00:04:29.220 to eastern Canada to enhance interprovincial and international trade and investment ties.
00:04:34.180 However, it was not made clear that Smith would be meeting with the Quebec officials who responded
00:04:38.260 to her. Simon Jolin Barrette, Quebec's minister responsible for Canadian relations, was the province's
00:04:44.060 official who responded to Smith. Originally, he said, quote, I find it very positive that within Canada,
00:04:49.680 there are federation partners that agree with more autonomy and a framework to limit the federal
00:04:54.780 right to spend in areas of provincial jurisdiction. It's very interesting because historically,
00:05:00.140 Quebec and Alberta worked together, and we will continue to work together on autonomy of the
00:05:04.680 different provinces. Then, Smith met with him on Thursday. They discussed how the provinces could
00:05:09.820 work together to combat federal overreach and how they could continue to push for the Liberals'
00:05:13.840 catch-and-release policy to be repealed. We'll see what more comes from that partnership.
00:05:19.680 Now, moving on to our next story, Alberta is exploring the possibility of creating a new
00:05:24.340 independent police agency to help conduct duties currently performed by the Alberta sheriffs.
00:05:29.960 If Bill 49 is passed, the new agency would be a crown corporation with a board of directors
00:05:34.660 independent from the government. Differing from the Alberta sheriffs, the officers would be employed
00:05:39.040 by the police service instead of the government. Alberta's Minister of Public Safety, Mike Ellis,
00:05:44.140 said, quote,
00:05:44.820 With this bill, we are taking the necessary steps to address the unique public safety concerns in
00:05:50.120 communities across Alberta. As we work towards creating an independent agency police service,
00:05:55.100 we are providing an essential component of Alberta's police framework for years to come.
00:05:59.600 It's the Family and Friends event at Shoppers Drug Mart. Get 20% off almost all regular-priced
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00:06:16.260 Our aim is for the new agency to ensure that Albertans are safe in their communities and
00:06:20.720 receive the best possible service when they need it most. The RCMP would remain the official
00:06:25.700 provincial police service, but municipalities would have this new agency as an option for
00:06:30.220 their local policing services. The province said this new agency would fill gaps and ensure law
00:06:35.360 enforcement resources are deployed efficiently across the province. Ellis said that municipalities
00:06:40.500 have told him that the costs of RCMP services in their communities are rising and that residents
00:06:45.440 aren't waiting too long for help when calling 911. However, it's not yet clear how much this will cost
00:06:51.740 or what the timeline for rollout would be, but Ellis said there are about 600 sheriffs right now who
00:06:56.280 could be deployed as officers once they receive extra training. The CBC revealed that a 2021 PwC report
00:07:03.060 estimated the cost of creating a provincial police service and transferring Alberta RCMP assets would
00:07:08.240 be at least $366 million, plus the province would lose $170 million in federal funding for the RCMP
00:07:15.140 service. However, Ellis said this cost would be less because personnel and equipment could be
00:07:19.840 transferred. Bill 49 would also create a police review commission, which would accept and investigate
00:07:24.820 complaints against police officers in Alberta aside from the RCMP. The provincial government hoped to have
00:07:30.440 the commission ready by December 2025. The bill would also amend the Emergency Management Act by
00:07:35.360 making it more difficult for a minister to declare or extend a provincial or local state of emergency.
00:07:40.780 Now moving on to our next story, which highlights the way the outcome of this upcoming federal election
00:07:45.120 on April 28th will affect the separatist movement in every province. If the Liberals form the next
00:07:50.760 government, the willingness to separate rises in every single province across the board, according to a
00:07:56.020 recent Angus Reid Institute poll. If the Liberals don't win, those willing to separate are most
00:08:01.120 common in Quebec, with 28% of provincial residents wanting to do so, followed by Alberta at one quarter
00:08:07.140 of its residents. However, if the Liberals do win, those in Saskatchewan are most eager to separate,
00:08:12.760 with a third of residents feeling that way. Next place is a tie between Alberta and Quebec at 30%.
00:08:18.240 While the poll said the separatist tone was larger in 2019, the clear rise in the desire to separate if
00:08:23.740 Kearney wins the election is notable for those concerned about Canadian unity. If the Liberals
00:08:28.460 win, 39% of Conservatives nationwide think their province should become its own country,
00:08:34.140 while 42% said their respective province should join the United States. Across the country, 20% of
00:08:40.640 Canadians from every political stripe think their province should become its own country if Kearney
00:08:44.800 wins the election, while 16% think their province should join the United States if that occurs.
00:08:49.640 The poll also dedicated a whole section to Premier Smith due to her recent meeting with Ben Shapiro and
00:08:55.480 her American outreach. While almost 7 in 10 Conservatives felt that Smith was defending her
00:08:59.880 country by keeping an open dialogue with Americans, the majority of supporters of every other party
00:09:04.820 saw it as a betrayal. That wraps up this week's show. My name's Isaac Lamer, your host of the
00:09:09.700 Alberta Roundup. Have a great weekend, thank you, and God bless.
00:09:19.640 Thank you.