Smith committed to overhauling Alberta’s healthcare
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Summary
This week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced that she would be removing Alberta Health Services as the operator of some hospitals. It was the biggest news story in the week, and I have all the details for you today, on the Alberta Roundup with Rachel Parker ( )!
Transcript
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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is continuing with her plans to overhaul Alberta Health Services.
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Plans which the Conservative base say is long overdue. This week the Premier announced that
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she would be removing Alberta Health Services as the operator of some hospitals. It was the
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biggest news story in the week and I have all the details for you today here on the Alberta Roundup
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with Rachel Parker. Let's get into it and you're gonna want to stay tuned all the way to the end
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of the show because I have a big announcement for you guys this week.
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Taking a look at our first story here, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith revealed the next phase
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in her government's plan to restructure health care in Alberta, including plans to remove Alberta
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Health Services as the operator of some hospitals in the province and instead turn the facilities over
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to other operators like Catholic health care provider Covenant Health. The Alberta government
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is currently setting up a structure where the government retains ownership of facilities and
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leases them to AHS and is quote, prepared to also take away their authority to operate hospitals as
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well. Because if our operator isn't performing the services we need them to, we're going to take the
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hospital back. The next phase is to see how many of those hospitals that AHS currently operates that
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we can retake ownership over. We can't do it for all of them. Smith said that this strategy will
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improve the delivery of health care and help eliminate service disruption in rural hospitals
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by introducing two incentives into the existing system, competition and fear. Take a listen to
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what else she had to say. Alberta NDP leader Nahed Nunchi is calling the plan disturbing. Take a listen to what
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else he had to say. Come clean and tell us exactly how much money you've already spent, what recommendations you've
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accepted, which ones you rejected, which ones you're further analyzing, what your timelines are. Moving into
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our next story here, another feel good news story for the province of Alberta. Alberta's surplus is
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forecasted to grow on paper to $2.9 billion on the back of higher than anticipated oil prices and population
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growth, but also in part due to continued borrowing. The projected surplus for 2024 to 2025 is $2.6 billion
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higher than the slim $367 million surplus projected in the budget last February. But the $2.9 billion
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represents an accounting surplus where much of that money isn't available for the government to spend.
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On Thursday, Finance Minister Nate Horner told reporters, quote, there are streams of government
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revenue that aren't accessible for operational spending. He listed university tuition and income
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earned by the Heritage Savings Trust Fund as examples. He also said the government
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expects to have no surplus cash on hand at the end of the fiscal year and is instead borrowing an
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additional $641 million for short-term spending. He added, quote, that means we must be even more
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measured and responsible. It also means that the surplus won't translate into any tax cuts for Albertans this
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year. And Horner also says the UCP's election campaign promise of a tax cut is going to have to wait even
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longer. Under our new fiscal framework, all of the income is left to the fund to continue to grow
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and generate prosperity for Albertans in the future. Furthermore, the Finance Minister said
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that Alberta's population growth, expected to grow by 6.4% in 2024, is a mixed bag for the province's
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bottom line. The growing number of workers bolsters tax revenue, including from personal income tax,
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which the government projects to grow by $458 million over last year. But the high population count
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also taxes government programs and infrastructure, prompting a need for upgrades or expansions of some
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facilities. Moving into our next story here, hockey player Johnny Gaudreau, who formerly paid for the Calgary
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Flames, was killed while cycling in New Jersey on Thursday night. Gaudreau and his 29-year-old brother
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Matthew were riding their bikes in Salem County, New Jersey, when they were struck by a vehicle,
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according to New Jersey State Police, Sportsnet reported. Police said the vehicle was going in
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the same direction as the brothers. The vehicle then tried to pass two other vehicles and struck
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the brothers from behind. When officers arrived at the scene, the brothers were pronounced dead.
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The Gaudreau brothers were reportedly in town to celebrate their sister's wedding,
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which was scheduled for Friday evening in Philadelphia, per People magazine.
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A man identified by police as Sean M. Higgins was arrested and charged with two counts of death
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by Otto. Police suspect he was under the influence of alcohol. A devastating story, especially for that
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family who was supposed to be celebrating a wedding on Friday night and instead received the news that
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two of their brothers had died. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time.
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Moving into the controversy of the week, several corporate sponsors are withdrawing their support
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of the Canada Strong and Free Network's Red Deer Conference. The termination of support comes after
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left-wing activists have targeted the networking organization for hosting American conservative
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journalist Christopher Rufo. A hit piece published by the National Observer at the beginning of August
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attacked Canada Strong and Free for hosting Rufo, painting the conservative journalist as far-right.
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Later in the month, a petition on Change.org started by LGBTQ activist Wilbur Turner began circulating online,
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seeking to pressure Canada Strong and Free's corporate sponsors into withdrawing their support
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from the September conference in Red Deer because of Rufo's scheduled talk. The petition claims that
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sponsors should withdraw their support because Rufo is one of the leading opponents against critical
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race theory. Actively campaigns against diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, appeared alongside
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis during the signing of his Stop Woke Act and was appointed to the board of Florida's
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new college. Soon after, Bruce Power, Ontario's only private sector nuclear energy provider, pulled their support
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alongside MasterCard, a major payment transaction processor. Sun Life Financial, Canadian Pacific Kansas City,
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and the Canadian Bankers Association also joined the boycott. In a statement to True North, Canada Strong and Free
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Networking President Adam Bullock said that he is unable to speak to the specific sponsor arrangement
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and agreements, but appeared to be undeterred by the corporate sponsor boycott. He also said, quote,
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You may have seen the attempts of the activist left to undermine the spirit of free thought and debate
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that CSFN fosters at our conferences. Their attempts will never discourage us. Bullock went on to
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reaffirm his commitment to hosting Rufo at the conference. Finally, moving into what we're watching in the
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weeks to come. Okay, I'm going to break a cardinal rule of journalism here and make the story about
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myself, or rather about our organization. This was the big announcement that I told you all to stay
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tuned for. I am actually going to be leaving the Alberta Roundup. It is good news for you all. Let me
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just explain for a moment. I'm going to be giving the show to my colleague Isaac Lamoureux, who you guys
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I'm sure know he has appeared on the show a couple of times before. And he also does a lot of the
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written coverage of Alberta news for True North, considering that I'm not technically on mat leave
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anymore. But I do have a son and I am by no means working anywhere close to full time. I basically just
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do a couple hours a week. So he's really taken over a lot of that coverage in my absence. And it seemed
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very natural for him to take over the show because he's so plugged into Alberta politics. And I want you
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to have the best possible person to be bringing the news for you guys on the show. And it seemed
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a little bit silly that I would continue doing the show when I was basically using a lot of his
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written coverage for the show. Obviously, he knows these stories better if Isaac is the one writing
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them. So he's a more natural fit to do the show just given some of the exciting changes that are going
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on in my own life. Now that being said, you guys are actually going to benefit from this change
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because I'm going to be launching a new show with True North, the Rachel Parker Show. And we
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are going to be covering a wide range of issues from coast to coast in Canada, a little bit of
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culture and health and US politics mixed in there as well. But obviously, because I live in Alberta,
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and because I've covered the province so closely, I have a lot of strong ties there. We are still
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going to be doing a lot of Alberta coverage, a lot of interviews about major topics going on in
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Alberta news at the moment. So you guys are actually going to be getting even more Alberta
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coverage than you've had with just one show. So I hope that you can see this announcement for
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really the exciting opportunity that it is for both myself and Isaac. And Isaac has just done
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such tremendous work at True North. So I'm excited for you guys to get to know him a little better.
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I had the chance to catch up with him a little earlier to talk to him about what he's hoping
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to bring to the show and some of the changes he might implement. I will show you guys what he had
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to say right now. So Isaac, first of all, congratulations. Thank you, Rachel. Yeah, it's a great pleasure
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to be afforded this opportunity. As I mentioned already to my audience, one of the reasons I felt
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that you would be a natural fit is that you have obviously taken over a lot of the Alberta coverage,
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and you're based right there in Edmonton. So you have great access to the legislature and to a lot
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of the press conferences. Obviously, you know, I've explained sort of the format for the show. And I
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think you can do what you want with it. It really is your sort of window of opportunity. I guess I'm just
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wondering, you know, what are some of the the stories that you think that you are most excited
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to cover, or that you'll be focusing with on the show? I'm sure the audience would love to know.
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That's a tough question. Obviously, any political Alberta, Alberta politically stories like
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Conservative Party of Alberta, the NDP of Alberta, I'll be covering stories that encompass those two
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parties in any way. But something that I'm really looking forward to is that obviously for True North,
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I've done quite a bit of work on the Daily Brief and Off the Record, which are two shows or one's a
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podcast more so than a show. But those those while I've been on those shows, they weren't my show,
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right? So for this, what I'm really looking forward to is kind of, I guess, making it my own and maybe
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building relationship with some of the viewers. I know that one of the previous segments you've had
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was to look at top comments from last week. I'm really excited to keep that going to help build
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that personal relationship with viewers. So yeah, really excited about that. Another aspect that I'm
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maybe going to bring in that you probably didn't have, Rachel, was definitely any Alberta sports
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stories I'll be mentioning. Obviously, for those who don't know, I'm an Edmonton Oilers fan when it
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comes to hockey. So sorry for any Flames fans. I know, I know. So I'll definitely be covering hockey
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stories in the winter. The summer sporting stories are less common, obviously, in Alberta. But while
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saying that, stories do come up pretty often. For those who don't know, Johnny Hockey, I woke up to
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the news today that he was killed by a drunk driver while bike riding with his brother. Obviously,
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he used to play for the Flames, but he was playing for Columbus. So that was terrible news to wake up
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to on Friday morning. But yeah, I mean, even in the summer, like I said, yeah, the sports stories,
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they keep coming. So I'll definitely be talking about sports because I love sports. And I always
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love any opportunity I get to cover any sporting stories. I think one of the really unique things
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about the video podcasting format is sort of that ability to, as you mentioned, build a relationship
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with the audience, read through the comments, see what people like, see what they didn't like,
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see what sort of stories people are most interested in. And I was going to ask you,
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but you already beat me to it, if there would be sort of a sports segment of the show. I know we
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have so many big hockey fans in Alberta. I'm sure people will be really keen and eager to see that
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on the show. I did sort of debate a couple times, including more hockey stuff on the show, but it
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never really felt appropriate because I barely understand the hockey issues. I don't watch it.
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I don't follow it closely. So I think that certainly that will be in better hands with you. And who knows,
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maybe there will even be so much interest that there'll be a sport or just even a hockey
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spinoff show at some point. So again, Isaac, congratulations. And I'm really excited to see
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where you take the show. Thanks, Rachel. I'm really looking forward to hosting it. Yeah.
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Okay. And so he'll be taking over the show in about two weeks time. So stay peeled for that. And I'm
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excited to see where he takes the show and to see him grow and to see the audience grow as well.
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Okay. And finally, moving into our weekly comment roundup last week, Isaac and I covered the coots
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four. Here's what you guys had to say about it. User Lynn Steven said they are trying to break these
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men. I absolutely believe that to be true in the case of lawfare. So often it's really just about
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grinding people down and tiring them out. And I believe that is what we are seeing here with the
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two men who are still in jail. And I know that the crown asked for nine years, nine years is far more
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time in jail that many criminals have been given for killing actual people in Canada. Just an FYI.
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End user Volzerg said, perhaps if it hadn't been for the actions of the Freedom Convoy participants,
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we would still be having lockdowns at this time to protect the public from monkeypox. I think you
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raised a really good point. And I think that the future governments will have to think twice
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about doing something like the lockdowns that we saw. I know that we haven't been successful in
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every area. For example, the Supreme Court refusing to hear whether the travel ban
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violated Canadians' constitutional rights. But we have seen a lot of legal successes. For example,
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in Ontario, a lot of hospitals have had to pay huge sums to unvaccinated nurses and then are even
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being told they have to hire those nurses back. So we are also seeing a number of legal wins. So
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hopefully this will set a precedent in our country never to do these types of lockdowns again.
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Okay, everyone, that's all we have time for today on the Alberta Roundup. Please give Isaac a warm
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welcome in the comments section below. We'll be back next week. Hope that you guys have a great