00:00:30.400I hope that you guys had a great week so far.
00:00:32.320We're going to style the show a little differently today because I want to spend a lot of time talking about one story.
00:00:37.760But before we get into that, here's today's topics.
00:00:40.320Daniel Smith has called the CBC's reporting defamatory and asked them to retract it and apologize.
00:00:46.960We're also going to be taking a look at the Premier's proposal for a Sustainable Jobs Act to replace Trudeau's just transition proposal.
00:00:54.880The Alberta government has a plan to increase rural healthcare physicians.
00:00:59.600And I have an exciting announcement about the Freedom Convoy.
00:01:03.600All that and more happening now on the Alberta Roundup.
00:01:07.360Okay guys, let's start with the biggest story in Alberta this week.
00:01:10.080I'm sure you guys have already seen some of this online.
00:01:12.080I want to dive into the details with you here now.
00:01:15.040Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is calling a CBC News article which alleged that staff in her office emailed Crown prosecutors challenging their assessment of the Coutts border blockade cases defamatory.
00:01:27.200And she's asked CBC to retract the story and issue an apology.
00:01:32.160We talked about the story a little bit last week in which CBC News relied on anonymous sources to make their claims.
00:01:38.640After publishing the story, CBC issued an update saying the reporters who had written the story had not seen the emails in question.
00:01:45.280In response to the story last week, Smith said she had no knowledge of such emails, but had the Civil Service undergo a review of emails received and sent to Crown prosecutors anyways.
00:01:55.920On Monday, that review found no evidence of emails sent between Alberta Premier Daniel Smith's office and Crown prosecutors.
00:02:03.440CBC reported that staff in Smith's office sent those emails in the fall.
00:02:07.680Again, they did not name their sources out of fear that those sources could lose their jobs.
00:02:11.900In a statement released this week, Smith called the allegations, quote, baseless.
00:02:16.900The Premier calls on the CBC to retract its outrageous story, and further, that the CBC and the official opposition apologize to the Premier, Premier's office staff, Alberta Crown prosecutors, and those in the Alberta Public Service, for the damage caused to their reputations and that of Alberta's justice system.
00:02:35.960In an email to me earlier this week, CBC head of public affairs, Chuck Thompson, said the CBC stands by its reporting and as such have no intention of retracting it.
00:02:47.480As is our practice, we gave the Premier and her office an opportunity to react, and we included that response prominently in the story, including the sub-headline.
00:02:56.540The CBC also doubled down on its reporting, with another story also released on Wednesday, the same day the Premier issued that very strong statement.
00:03:04.200In its second story, which also relied on anonymous sources, the CBC said Smith had been pressuring Tyler Shandro, Alberta's Attorney General, to drop COVID-19-related cases.
00:03:15.920Smith has said publicly a couple times that she's asked Shandro to consider on a regular basis whether it's in the public interest to pursue charges related to COVID-19.
00:03:25.080But she said that communication has always been appropriate and made through the proper channels.
00:03:29.400Sources allege that those conversations went beyond consideration and veered into pressure about dropping COVID-19-related charges.
00:03:54.160The CBC's allegations and insinuations to the contrary are, once again, baseless.
00:03:59.960Okay guys, so I don't normally do this, but I'm going to give a little analysis on what I think about the story, mostly because it is my industry.
00:04:06.260So for starters, I don't think there's anything wrong with relying on anonymous sources in stories, but I think that the story is unique.
00:04:12.620Because after the first story was written, the Civil Service, Crown Prosecutors, and Daniel Smith's office said it wasn't true.
00:04:19.320In this specific story, because there are so many parties coming out and denying the allegations made in the story,
00:04:24.540I think there is a burden of proof on the CBC to provide more evidence to its claims.
00:04:29.600And nowhere in the story do they say how many sources did they speak with.
00:05:09.000You guys are very familiar with the fact that the United Conservative Party only merged a couple of years ago from the Wild Rose and the Progressive Conservatives.
00:05:16.760Of course, Daniel Smith comes from the Wild Rose side of that party.
00:05:20.160But the Progressive Conservatives held the balance of power within the United Conservative Party and within the Alberta government for years prior.
00:05:26.860So even within the UCP, there's factions that are vying for power.
00:05:30.380And I think that needs to be taken under consideration when you're talking to anonymous sources, that there are going to be people who have an agenda.
00:05:36.140Searchlight Pictures presents In the Blink of an Eye on Hulu on Disney+.
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00:05:47.400About the essence of what it means to be human, regardless of our place in history.
00:05:51.800The film is directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton and stars Rashida Jones, Kate McKinnon, and Daveed Diggs.
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00:06:06.140I would just close by saying that if any evidence is found to support the CBC's stories, either of them,
00:06:12.120it's going to be a big problem for the Smith government, especially headed into an election.
00:06:16.220She has really staked her reputation on saying the allegations are untrue at this point,
00:06:19.680even going so far as to call the CBC's reporting defamatory.
00:06:23.480Okay guys, moving into our next topic.
00:06:25.740Alberta is no longer projecting a shortage of healthcare aides, and its projected shortage of nurses is halved.
00:06:31.800That follows investments into post-secondary education to open more spaces for people hoping to study in those industries.
00:06:38.800Speaking from Calgary this week, Advanced Education Minister Demetrius Nicolaitis said more needs to be done to encourage healthcare workers in rural areas.
00:06:46.700He announced a $1 million project to explore the development of two regional healthcare facilities in Lethbridge and Grand Prairie.
00:06:53.120Our two established medical schools at the U of A and the U of C will lead the planning effort to explore a new model
00:07:01.000that will ultimately increase training of rural physicians.
00:07:06.760This includes exploring the feasibility of delivering training through the regional health centres in Lethbridge and Grand Prairie, as I noted.
00:07:15.560This plan would also propose and detail hands-on learning opportunities to be delivered and made available in these regional training hubs.
00:07:26.560We know that these types of opportunities lead to greater recruitment and retention of healthcare workers.
00:07:34.560Research shows very clearly that when students train closer to home, they are more likely to stay in that region throughout their entire careers.
00:07:48.560Danielle Smith is proposing a sustainable jobs alternative to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Just Transition proposal,
00:07:54.980which she said would face irrepressible opposition from Alberta.
00:07:58.060The federal government has yet to table its Just Transition legislation, but it said it will be a priority for them this spring.
00:08:04.940In an open letter, Smith said Alberta has reached a crossroads in its relationship with the federal government.
00:08:10.860We can continue with the endless court challenges, legislation to protect jurisdictional rights, and inflammatory media coverage over our disagreements.
00:08:19.400Or, as is my strong preference, Alberta and Ottawa can work in partnership on a plan that will signal to all Canadians
00:08:25.140and investors from around the world that our governments have cooperatively designed a series of incentives and initiatives.
00:08:32.460In the past, the Premier has said Just Transition is social justice terminology that's meant to phase out the coal industry.
00:08:38.800When Trudeau uses that terminology, she says he's appealing to an extreme base.
00:08:43.400So, in her letter, she also implored the Prime Minister to drop the name Just Transition and to call it the Sustainable Jobs Act instead.
00:08:50.940The federal government has yet to respond to Smith's letter.
00:09:11.720Okay, guys, and now I'm going to take a couple minutes to answer some of your comments from last week.
00:09:17.100The question of the day last week was,
00:09:18.540What did you think about Alberta Premier Daniel Smith's response to the unvaccinated woman in Alberta who has been denied an organ transplant?
00:09:25.480She's now asking the Supreme Court to hear her case.
00:09:28.640So, I played Daniel Smith's comments on the issue for you last week, and I'm going to take a look at some of your comments now.
00:09:33.240User Aslan is on the move, fantastic name by the way, said,
00:09:36.100I'm not sure Daniel answered the question about the woman's removal from the transplant list.
00:09:39.800I think it is unconscionable that medical people would remove her just because she didn't want to participate in a gigantic trial of drug.
00:09:48.300No one knew what adverse reactions there would be.