The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - March 30, 2025


Smith fights U.S. tariffs, blasts Carney and Nenshi


Episode Stats

Length

21 minutes

Words per Minute

164.0343

Word Count

3,500

Sentence Count

180

Misogynist Sentences

5

Hate Speech Sentences

2


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith delivered a nearly 10-minute address in the Alberta legislature
00:00:16.240 about how her government has stood up for Albertans in the face of tariff threats from
00:00:20.620 the United States. Throughout the address, she took aim at Liberal Party of Canada leader
00:00:25.540 Mark Carney and Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nanshi, along with the Liberal NDP leadership
00:00:31.620 nationwide over the last decade. Her speech alluded to her defense of her upcoming meeting
00:00:36.860 with Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro, which we've previously discussed on the show. She also
00:00:42.740 released a statement independent of that further defending the upcoming fireside chat. Separate
00:00:48.760 from that, Smith blasted Carney for flip-flopping on his stance on the oil and gas emissions cap
00:00:54.240 after a new report released showed that Alberta would get the short end of the stick if that
00:00:59.220 continues. An Alberta NDP MLA will run for Carney's Liberal Party, despite years of blasting the
00:01:05.720 party with some very strong language and now broken promises. A conservative Calgary candidate
00:01:11.540 previously donated to the Liberals and Liberal MP George Johal's riding association. Speaking of
00:01:17.940 Johal, he wouldn't say whether his pre-election ads were funded with taxpayer money. And coming back
00:01:22.900 to Carney and sports, which we haven't discussed in some time, Oilers fans developed a new term,
00:01:28.220 the Carney curse, after the team had some bad luck following Carney skating with the Oilers ahead of
00:01:34.080 a recent game. All that and more on the Alberta Roundup today with me, your host, Isaac Lamoureux.
00:01:39.680 Now let's hop into that first story. So Alberta Premier Danielle Smith delivered an almost 10-minute
00:01:44.540 statement in the Alberta legislature, taking aim at Carney and Nanshi, while defending her position and
00:01:50.340 record of standing up to the tariff threats with a head-on approach to protect Albertans and all
00:01:55.580 Canadians. While I encourage you to watch the entirety of the 10-minute speech posted by Smith
00:02:01.020 to X because it was very powerful, I'll do my best to break it down for you in a succinct manner and
00:02:06.900 feature the clips that stood out most to me. Smith began by saying that the country was more or less
00:02:12.060 united, aside from the Alberta NDP, on trying to convince the US not to impose tariffs against Canada
00:02:17.800 over the last four months prior to the recent election call. She said that every Premier was
00:02:23.360 encouraged by one another and even by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to visit the US, get on US
00:02:28.720 media, speak with every American official and influencer possible to try and subside the tariff
00:02:34.380 threats. She said that was the entire position behind the Team Canada approach. But then she said
00:02:40.640 everything changed when Mark Carney became Prime Minister. She equated talking to media personalities in the US
00:02:46.960 now as, quote, treason, adding that talking to high-profile Republicans with influence over the
00:02:52.980 president as apparently now disloyal behavior. Smith said, quote, it is a high crime to try and
00:03:00.000 convince US officials to refrain from imposing tariffs until after our country has an elected leader with a
00:03:05.220 strong mandate. Shame on all who dare to speak with the enemy, they say. These are the Team Carney and
00:03:11.560 Nancy NDP talking points. Smith said the following on the talking points. Take a listen.
00:03:16.580 Their endgame is quite obvious. Frighten and divide Canadians. Try and make Canadians forget the utter
00:03:22.820 incompetence of Liberal and NDP policies that have been inflicted on this country over the last 10 years.
00:03:29.480 Associate Conservatives with President Trump. And if they play their cards just right and sprinkle in just enough
00:03:36.420 anti-Alberta rhetoric, presto, Canada might elect another Liberal majority government.
00:03:41.440 She added that they aren't entirely wrong because the country is vulnerable, which Smith attributed to
00:03:47.040 the Liberals and NDP waging war on the country's natural resources over the last decade.
00:03:52.820 On top of waging war in the energy sector, Smith said that Liberal and NDP leaders have weakened the
00:03:58.100 country's security and military in the name of their, quote, green extremist religion and its cult leaders
00:04:04.460 named Gibbo, Suzuki, Gore, and Thunberg. Take a listen to the following quote.
00:04:10.480 Canadians are poorer than Americans, overly dependent on the Americans, and vulnerable to many nations,
00:04:17.800 including the Americans. Canada has indeed been sold out, big time, and it's been sold out by the
00:04:23.540 utter incompetent, self-righteous, and extreme policies of Liberal and NDP leadership across this
00:04:29.460 country, including the Nenshi NDP right here in Alberta. From C-69 to oil and gas production caps
00:04:36.100 to tanker bans to a dozen other examples, the Liberals and their allies have attacked the Alberta
00:04:41.180 and Saskatchewan economies mercilessly. She then took aim directly at Nenshi for making angry tweets
00:04:47.440 at Trump, becoming TikTok rage farmers to stir up fear and loathing, and throwing hands in the air
00:04:53.660 while accomplishing nothing. Conversely, she said her and her government have spent hundreds of hours
00:04:59.680 talking with, lobbying, educating, and persuading anyone who would listen in the United States
00:05:05.140 about the economic devastation that the tariffs would wreck. Smith said she'd lost count of the
00:05:12.240 nights sleeping in hotel beds and in airports doing everything humanly possible to stand up for
00:05:18.080 Albertan and Canadian workers. She applauded other conservative premiers in Canada who have acted
00:05:23.480 similarly, naming Scott Moe, Tim Houston, and Doug Ford. She said there have been some promising
00:05:29.520 results, notably that while steel and aluminum are being tariffed, remaining Canadian goods stand
00:05:35.320 tariff-free instead of the threatened 25%. Smith said the following of what would have happened if
00:05:42.960 Nenshi were in power. Take a listen. And what has the Nenshi NDP done to contribute to this effort?
00:05:49.500 Not a single thing other than raging against this government for every effort we have taken to
00:05:54.780 protect Albertans. Needless to say, there is not a doubt in my mind that had the Nenshi NDP been in
00:06:00.420 charge during this period, we would likely have long ago been hit with across the board 25% tariffs
00:06:05.740 and lost thousands of Alberta jobs already. Because the NDP have no idea what diplomacy is, as they don't
00:06:12.220 know how to talk constructively or effectively with anyone they disagree with. And glad we never
00:06:17.720 need to find out. However, Smith said the war isn't over. There is another deadline looming on
00:06:22.860 April 2nd, and Smith is off to the United States again, this time to speak to Ben Shapiro and try
00:06:28.420 and make a difference. The last clip I'll have you listen to for this story is longer, but it's
00:06:32.960 Smith's conclusion and a powerful one at that. Take a listen. And what does Team Carney want me to do?
00:06:38.320 They want me to abandon my post, remain in Alberta and do absolutely nothing to defend our province.
00:06:43.820 They want me to cower in the face of Eastern media pundits and politicians who favour political
00:06:48.960 grandstanding to effective diplomacy. I'm fiercely criticized for going into the lion's den to change
00:06:55.360 the hearts and minds of the very Americans that we need on Canada's side to avoid a trade war with
00:07:01.120 the most powerful economy on earth. They want this lady and Alberta to just sit down and shut up.
00:07:07.520 Well, here is my response to that. I will not be silent. Alberta will not be silent. We will not be
00:07:14.560 pushed around and called traitors for merely having the courage to actually do something about our
00:07:20.720 nation's and province's predicament other than merely indulging in self-righteous tantrums. And I, for one,
00:07:26.720 will never be silenced by the party in Ottawa that has sold out our beloved province for the last 10
00:07:33.440 years with the help of their NDP collaborators. I have and I always will put Albertans first. And until
00:07:40.160 this danger to Alberta and our economy is passed, they're going to have to have to roll me off in a
00:07:45.600 stretcher before I will stop fighting for our province and our people. So they can call me, I'm a caucus,
00:07:51.520 whatever name in the dictionary they want. As long as Albertans know that we are fighting for them and their
00:07:56.320 families, we could care less what the members opposite or liberal politicians in Ottawa have to say about us.
00:08:02.400 Because Albertans expect their premier and government to always put Albertans first and lead them through this
00:08:08.960 storm with fearless determination. As Winston Churchill once said, fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.
00:08:17.120 We on this side of the house have made the decision to act with courage so that Alberta may remain forever strong and free.
00:08:27.840 Wow, Smith is not backing down. We discussed the upcoming Shapiro appearance on a previous episode of the Alberta Roundup,
00:08:33.520 but here Smith is defending it further. She issued a separate news release explaining the importance of the upcoming chat with
00:08:40.240 the Daily Wire founder. She said the show has a monthly reach of 220 million people. Smith said, quote,
00:08:48.880 I am committed to acting in the best interest of Alberta and all Albertans. This includes continuing to engage with the
00:08:55.280 influential Americans in the US to make it clear that the continuation of destructive tariffs on Canadian goods and energy
00:09:02.640 will cost hundreds of thousands of American and Canadian jobs and benefit no one. This is an important
00:09:09.200 opportunity to gain support in the US and add voices to the conversation that will help amplify Alberta's
00:09:15.920 and Canada's calls to work together on solutions and to rebuild our important trade relationship.
00:09:22.480 Her itinerary is featured in the release and she said the expenses will be posted for the public to see.
00:09:27.760 Sticking with Smith for our next story, she called out Carney for his inconsistent messaging surrounding
00:09:33.040 his position on an oil and gas emissions cap. Smith said that Carney came to Edmonton and said he
00:09:38.960 opposed an oil and gas production cap last Thursday, but then said the exact opposite expressing support
00:09:45.040 for it in Ottawa the next day. She said, quote, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The
00:09:51.840 liberals clearly have not learned their lesson and have no plan to make our country into the independent
00:09:57.040 economic powerhouse it could be. Carney's new environment minister, Terry Deguid, apparently told
00:10:03.280 the media that the liberals' emission cap is here to stay. Smith said, quote, this has been the same
00:10:09.440 story for the last 10 years. Liberals come to Alberta, smile for the cameras, tell everyone how much they're
00:10:15.040 going to work with Alberta and support the energy sector. Then they leave, go home, and proceed to do
00:10:20.400 everything in their power to roadblock and scare away investment from the energy sector. We'll remember Carney
00:10:26.000 previously came under fire for similar contradictory remarks, where he told English and French-speaking
00:10:31.680 audiences conflicting stories about the future of pipelines in Canada. The day after Carney called the
00:10:37.440 election for April 28th, another report, this time from the Conference Board of Canada, highlighted the
00:10:43.280 economic devastation that a federal emissions cap would have on the country. This report showed that
00:10:48.560 while all Canadians will be poorer due to the cap, Albertans will be affected disproportionately.
00:10:54.240 By 2050, the report highlights that Alberta's GDP will shrink by 11 percent, employment will decrease
00:11:01.360 by 4.1 percent, and the average Albertan will have 3,300 less in disposable income. By 2030, the report
00:11:09.360 suggests that Alberta will experience a deep recession due to the plan. Nationally, real GDP will fall by
00:11:16.160 3.8 percent due to the emissions cap by 2050. Canadian oil and gas production would drop by 37
00:11:23.040 percent by 2050. Nationwide, employment is expected to fall by 2.6 percent, and consumer prices are
00:11:29.600 expected to increase by 2.5 percent. If the economic damage isn't bad enough, the report concluded that the
00:11:35.920 emissions cap won't even result in Canada meeting its emissions target. Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca
00:11:42.000 Schultz said, quote, These findings should send a message to whoever ends up being the next federal
00:11:47.600 government. Our province remains firmly committed to protecting the environment and creating a future
00:11:52.480 for our children, but that can't be achieved by trampling on Canadians' livelihoods. She added, quote,
00:11:58.960 Ottawa has offered nothing but penalties and vague rhetoric. Instead of meaningful incentives to reduce
00:12:03.840 emissions, we get carbon taxes, production caps, and layers and layers of costly regulations,
00:12:09.600 all burdening families and workers who are already struggling. The emissions reduction plan includes
00:12:15.600 the carbon tax, emissions cap, electricity regulations, and more. The parliamentary budget
00:12:20.640 officer similarly recently published a report showing that the federal emissions cap would lead to a
00:12:25.760 $20.5 billion decrease in Canada's GDP by 2032 and the loss of 54,400 jobs. Alberta has already
00:12:35.520 rejected the Liberals' electricity regulations and threatened a court fight. Canada's top energy
00:12:41.200 executives recently called on the federal government to declare a, quote, Canadian energy crisis and
00:12:47.120 cancel most of the measures contained in the plan. Smith said it was time for Carney to offer clarity to
00:12:52.880 Canadians on whether he supported the production cap before they head to the polls, not after. Now hopping
00:12:58.720 into an election story not involving the Premier, former Alberta NDP MLA Rod Loyola announced he will be
00:13:05.120 running a federal Liberal candidacy right after he resigned from his seat in the provincial legislature.
00:13:10.560 He has a long history of slamming the federal Liberals and insisting he would never work with the
00:13:14.960 party. He wrote in a post to X, Twitter at the time, on March 25, 2015, quote,
00:13:20.160 You won't catch me working with the Liberal Party of Canada. They talk like NDPers, but they act like cons.
00:13:26.000 Loyola resigned his provincial seat in the Edmonton-Ellersley riding on Tuesday. He announced his
00:13:30.880 candidacy for the federal Liberal nomination in Edmonton Gateway the following day and was
00:13:35.360 confirmed as a candidate shortly after. In 2014, Loyola also criticized then Liberal leader Justin
00:13:41.440 Trudeau, writing in a post to X that Trudeau, quote, only cares about his Liberal Party, not the
00:13:46.400 hardworking Canadians that built this country. With an evident change of heart, Loyola said he was
00:13:51.200 excited to be a part of Carney's team. He called Carney the first, quote, Edmontonian Prime Minister.
00:13:56.800 Carney was born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. He moved to Edmonton at age six and his father ran
00:14:03.600 as a Liberal candidate for Edmonton South shortly after, in the 1980 federal election. The Liberal
00:14:09.280 leader has taken flack online for resigning outside of Canada over the past decade and being unclear
00:14:14.560 about whether he had a Canadian residence. Carney has been an Irish citizen since birth and a citizen
00:14:20.080 of the United Kingdom since 2018 when he was the former governor of the Bank of England.
00:14:25.040 Loyola also previously shared a quote from Anne McGrath in 2013, the former president of the
00:14:31.200 Alberta NDP, who said, quote, we must win is who we are. We must not win as a Liberal Party.
00:14:37.360 Alberta's Environment Minister Rebecca Schultz blasted Loyola for his change of heart.
00:14:41.760 She said, quote, there is zero difference between the NDP and the Liberal Party of Canada now.
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00:15:04.000 Maybe a different color, but same ideological activists. Same broken promises.
00:15:09.120 Popular poll aggregator 338 Canada currently has Edmonton Gateway as a toss-up between the
00:15:14.880 Liberals and Conservatives, giving the Conservatives a slight edge. The Conservative candidate in the
00:15:20.080 district is Tim Uppel, who currently sits as an MP for Edmonton Millwoods. Edmonton Gateway is a new
00:15:26.160 federal riding. The 2022 Canadian federal electoral redistribution saw it created out of parts of
00:15:32.880 Edmonton Millwoods, Edmonton Riverbend, and Edmonton Wetaskiwin. Sticking with stories on individual
00:15:38.000 candidates, this time with an exclusive, Elections Canada records reveal that Calgary-Skyview
00:15:43.200 Conservative candidate Amanpreet Singh Gill previously made donations to the Federal Liberal
00:15:48.400 Party and Liberal MP George Chahal's Riding Association. According to filings from Elections
00:15:53.680 Canada, Gill made multiple donations to the Liberal Party of Canada and one donation to the Calgary-Skyview
00:15:59.760 Federal Liberal Association in 2022. The documents show a $500 donation by Gill to Chahal's Riding
00:16:06.240 Association on July 8, 2022. Chahal was elected as the Liberal MP for Calgary-Skyview in 2021 but is
00:16:13.200 now running as a candidate in the neighbouring Calgary-McKnight Riding. The other donations
00:16:17.680 were made to the Liberal Party of Canada. Despite his monetary support to the Liberals, Gill ran for
00:16:22.640 the Alberta's United Conservative Party in the 2023 provincial election and is now seeking federal
00:16:28.720 office under the Conservative Party of Canada banner for the upcoming federal election on April 28.
00:16:33.600 Gill's donation to the Calgary-Skyview Federal Liberal Association came after incumbent Chahal was
00:16:39.760 caught violating election advertising laws in 2021. He was caught on video removing an opponent's
00:16:45.360 flyer from a residence's home, replacing it with his own, and fined $500 for violating election
00:16:51.360 advertising laws. Similarly, Chahal recently faced public scrutiny for not revealing if taxpayer funds
00:16:57.520 were spent on pre-election ads. Popular poll aggregator 338 Canada currently has Calgary-Skyview as a
00:17:03.840 toss-up between the Liberals and Conservatives. Now, sticking with George Chahal, he recently faced
00:17:09.040 accusations that he was using public funds to sidestep political advertising rules prior to a
00:17:14.880 federal election after signs emblazoned with his face and the House of Commons logo popped up in Calgary.
00:17:20.720 Chahal's signs, which displayed logos like Canada is not for sale, alongside the House of Commons logo,
00:17:26.640 have prompted concerns about whether current election laws are too easily skirted. The signs
00:17:31.840 also refer to his official title as Member of Parliament Calgary-Skyview. Some online have
00:17:37.200 suggested that taxpayers might be footing the bill. Federal laws exist that prohibit the unauthorized
00:17:42.800 use of official symbols including parliamentary shields, crests, and royal coats of arms.
00:17:48.000 While Elections Canada does not regulate the use of parliamentary resources outside of election
00:17:53.120 periods, MPs are expected to avoid using taxpayer-funded resources for partisan purposes.
00:17:59.040 Once the writ is issued, the Canada Elections Act prohibits using public funds for campaign
00:18:03.760 advertising. And remember, these signs popped up about a week before the election was called.
00:18:08.480 Rules on how MPs may spend parliamentary budgets outside of election periods are governed by the
00:18:14.080 House of Commons Board of Internal Economy, which prohibits using resources for activities unrelated
00:18:20.080 to a member's parliamentary functions. For our last story today, we'll be diving back into sports,
00:18:25.440 which we haven't talked about in a while, and you might think with the MLB season just starting,
00:18:29.680 it would be on that, which is why I'm wearing my Blue Jays jersey. But no, today we're talking about
00:18:34.880 hockey and what some Oilers fans are now calling the Kearney curse. Firstly, the Edmonton Oilers
00:18:40.800 decided to post a video of Mark Kearney skating on the ice with the team at practice. The post was
00:18:46.560 not taken well, as most of the top comments were blasting the team for letting politics enter the
00:18:51.680 game they loved. In fact, many of the top comments contain language too explicit to show here.
00:18:57.040 One of the top commenters, who received over 1,000 likes on his reply, wrote, quote,
00:19:01.600 As an Oilers fan, I am disappointed and disgusted with the Oilers for allowing this.
00:19:06.320 Top commentators on X also shared other images and videos of Kearney participating with
00:19:12.000 added commentary. One political commentator said, quote,
00:19:15.200 We all know if this guy had his way, he would force them to change their team name. He hates
00:19:19.760 oil and gas. Kearney was wearing goalie skates despite skating around as a forward. He played for
00:19:24.960 Harvard University as a third string goaltender. A popular hockey commentator and former Edmonton
00:19:31.040 oiler Ryan Whitney created a new term after Kearney's display. He said, quote,
00:19:35.920 The Kearney curse is real for Edmonton. What the hell just happened? Guy is on the ice with the
00:19:41.600 oil this morning and now everyone is injured. Of course, Leon Dreisaitl was injured before
00:19:46.840 Kearney's trip to Edmonton. However, the Edmonton Oilers played the Winnipeg Jets the night Kearney
00:19:51.600 laced up his skates. And during the game, the Oilers' best player and arguably the best player in the
00:19:56.420 world, Connor McDavid and starting goaltender Stuart Skinner were both injured and had to
00:20:02.260 leave the game. The Oilers ended up losing to the Winnipeg Jets in overtime. While this game
00:20:08.340 happened last Thursday, McDavid and Dreisaitl remain injured. Stuart Skinner returned but was injured
00:20:13.960 again and had to leave the game this Wednesday. Despite Kearney lacing up and trying to appease
00:20:20.240 Edmontonians, he named his 23 minister cabinet last week. Of the 23 ministers sworn in by Governor
00:20:26.840 General Mary Simon, only one is west of Winnipeg, Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, who represents
00:20:33.360 the BC riding of North Vancouver. Not a single minister was elected in an Alberta riding. That
00:20:40.320 wraps up this week's show. My name's Isaac Lamoureux, your host of the Alberta Roundup. Have a great
00:20:45.300 weekend. Thank you and God bless.
00:20:50.240 Thank you.