The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - Smith has a plan to win in big cities

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00:00:15.120 Hey everyone, welcome back to the Alberta Roundup.

00:00:31.080 I'm your host, Rachel Emanuel.

00:00:32.640 I hope that you guys are having a great week so far.

00:00:34.960 I, for one, am definitely enjoying some of this warmer weather.

00:00:38.440 Here's what we're going to be taking a look at on today's show.

00:00:40.840 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said conservatives need to learn how to win in big cities.

00:00:45.680 I also have an update for you all on Bill C-69,

00:00:48.560 or as former Premier Jason Kenney so endearingly called it,

00:00:52.360 the No More Pipelines bill.

00:00:54.000 Alberta Finance Minister Travis Taves has made a big announcement.

00:00:57.720 And the NDP have a new proposal.

00:00:59.520 Is it vote pandering or is it actually a good idea?

00:01:02.760 All that and more happening now on the Alberta Roundup.

00:01:05.520 Okay guys, up first.

00:01:06.880 Speaking about the spring general election,

00:01:09.000 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said that conservatives need to learn how to win in big cities.

00:01:13.400 She was speaking on Thursday at the Canada Strong and Free Networking Conference.

00:01:17.240 That was of course formally called the Manning Conference.

00:01:19.960 Take a listen to her comments now.

00:01:21.720 The good news is that we're finally united as a conservative movement.

00:01:27.160 Now we just have to gain a little bit more ground in Calgary and in Edmonton.

00:01:32.520 And I would say this because this is a challenge for all conservatives,

00:01:36.920 is we have to figure out how to win in big cities.

00:01:40.200 Because increasingly, people are moving to big cities.

00:01:43.640 And I understand completely why rural Alberta loves us,

00:01:47.000 because our values resonate so well with rural Alberta.

00:01:49.880 We believe in individual freedom and also strong families and multi-generational families,

00:01:55.160 often working a family business, often a family farm.

00:01:59.320 A lot of people are involved in their faith community.

00:02:01.560 Their faith community does a lot of good works in the community.

00:02:04.600 So you've got free enterprise.

00:02:05.800 And then when people do really well, they also give back to their community with philanthropy.

00:02:10.200 Like that is the full conservative vision.

00:02:11.960 And it's played out every single day in rural Alberta.

00:02:15.240 Now, when you get to larger cities, there's a few more disconnects.

00:02:18.760 The families are not necessarily all together in the same city.

00:02:22.920 And you don't necessarily have generational and family businesses.

00:02:25.480 And you don't necessarily have people who even know their neighbors,

00:02:28.280 let alone getting involved in community groups.

00:02:30.600 So it's a very different challenge in how you talk to an urban audience.

00:02:36.440 So I can tell you, I'm a pretty known quantity as my conservative libertarian view,

00:02:41.880 since I've been in the public for a long time.

00:02:44.360 But a lot of the vision that we're putting forward

00:02:47.880 is one where we don't just focus on the dollars and cents.

00:02:51.080 I have felt like conservatives say, vote for me, and I will cut your taxes,

00:02:55.800 cut your regulation, cut your spending.

00:02:57.480 And we don't really have a vision for what it is that we're going to do

00:03:01.160 with all of those dollars that get generated from taxes,

00:03:04.520 other than just hand it over to the same people that the guys on the left hired.

00:03:09.000 And why would we think that we would get conservative policy if we do that?

00:03:12.920 I think what we really need to do is to develop a vision

00:03:16.120 for how we apply our conservative values to the delivery of public services.

00:03:20.120 Also this week, Alberta government lawyers made their case for upholding a lower court ruling,

00:03:25.320 which found the federal government's Impact Assessment Act, also known as Bill C-69,

00:03:30.520 to be unconstitutional.

00:03:32.120 The Supreme Court of Canada began hearings on Tuesday,

00:03:35.000 as the federal government asks it to overrule that Alberta Court of Appeal ruling.

00:03:38.840 Several provincial governments told Canada's top court that the act undermines their ability to

00:03:44.360 determine their own future.

00:03:45.320 In written legal documents to Canada's Supreme Court, the federal attorney general argued that

00:03:50.440 the act was adopted to quote, establish a federal environmental assessment process to safeguard against

00:03:55.880 adverse environmental effects in relation to matters within federal jurisdiction.

00:04:00.200 Under the Canadian constitution, provinces have exclusive rights over resource development,

00:04:05.000 but neither the provinces nor the federal government have total control over environmental regulation.

00:04:10.440 Alberta government lawyer Bruce Mellet argued that Alberta already has a comprehensive review

00:04:15.480 process for projects, and now the federal government wants to enforce this act which prioritize federal policies.

00:04:22.760 Manitoba lawyer Charles Murray argued quote,

00:04:25.160 What we don't need is one party always holding the trump card.

00:04:29.240 While Quebec lawyer Frederick Perrault argued that the province's main concern is preserving the balance

00:04:34.120 of federalism. Perrault said quote,

00:04:36.280 We're asking the court not to give the federal laws more favorable treatment than provincial ones.

00:04:41.000 Premier Smith also briefly touched on this legal battle at the Canada Strong and Free Networking Conference.

00:04:46.200 Here's what that sounded like.

00:04:47.400 We just think we can reach carbon neutrality a different way.

00:04:51.480 If we export our LNG that reduces emissions of more polluting fuels elsewhere, that's one way that

00:04:57.400 we think we would be able to reduce our emissions. We believe carbon capture utilization and storage

00:05:02.600 will ultimately help us to capture and bury or embed it into useful products. We believe that we

00:05:08.040 will be able to use natural gas as a precursor to potentially a hydrogen economy at some point.

00:05:12.920 We've got hydrogen construction happening in our province. Geothermal is also a potential. Small modular

00:05:19.720 nuclear is going to come on stream in Ontario and New Brunswick. I'm watching that with great

00:05:23.400 interest. I'd love to see that. So those are the things that make sense for our economy.

00:05:27.880 And those are the things we could work constructively with the with the federal government on.

00:05:32.760 But when you have an ideological government that wants to achieve unrealistic targets as quickly as

00:05:38.680 they do, it's just we're on a collision course. And so you're going to see the first of that in the

00:05:43.720 courts this week. But we're we're really hoping that that we're able to convince them to back off.

00:05:49.240 On Friday morning, UCP MLA leadership runner up and Alberta's finance minister, Travis Taves

00:05:54.840 announced that he will not seek reelection in the next provincial election, which of course is

00:05:59.560 coming up in May. Travis Taves, of course, came second last in the UCP leadership contest won by

00:06:04.360 Daniel Smith in October on the sixth and final ballot. He says, well, he's not seeking reelection.

00:06:09.560 He remains deeply committed to the conservative movement. Okay, guys, and moving into the

00:06:13.640 controversy of the week, I'm curious to hear what you all think about this. The Alberta NDP said that

00:06:19.800 if elected government in May, they will create a Somali curriculum. During question period on Monday,

00:06:25.480 NDP education critic Sarah Hoffman challenged her UCP counterpart. That's, of course,

00:06:30.680 Education Minister Adriana LaGrange. She said the government isn't supporting youth in schools.

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00:06:50.120 And questioned why the government hasn't yet developed a Somali curriculum. Take a listen to

00:06:58.120 her comments. Given that that's false, and given that create a Somali curriculum is about celebrating 0.99

00:07:03.160 the vibrant language and culture of Somalia while creating and ensuring that youth are supported in

00:07:08.920 their learning in Alberta schools, and given that we are in the NDP and we are committed to making sure

00:07:13.880 that all students in Alberta schools have the tools they need to be supported, and given that clearly

00:07:19.160 hasn't been a priority under the UCP, we are committed to offering a Somali curriculum. So,

00:07:24.840 why didn't the current Education Minister or anyone in the UCP make this a priority they've had four

00:07:29.800 years? LaGrange responded that schools already have the ability to develop a curriculum for a

00:07:35.320 given student or region if necessary. That includes language and culture needs. This video has been

00:07:41.160 circulating online and one user asked Sarah Hoffman what exactly a Somali curriculum would entail.

00:07:46.840 The NDP deputy leader said it's quote, a chance to learn language and culture of Somalia just like

00:07:52.520 many other languages we offer in Alberta schools. French, German, Spanish. Now there are a large

00:07:57.960 number of Somali Canadians living in Edmonton where the NDP already have a large stronghold. It sounds

00:08:03.080 like schools already have the authority to develop curriculum based on a given student's needs or even

00:08:07.640 a community's need. I don't know why the NDP is pushing this curriculum but I'm wondering if you think

00:08:12.040 it's something that's necessary or does it sound like more NDP vote pandering ahead of the spring

00:08:17.160 election? So that's my question of the week for you guys. Comment on the video below and let me know

00:08:21.400 what you think about the NDP's latest proposal. Also this week Premier Smith announced that 48 million

00:08:27.080 in unpaid municipal taxes are now under repayment plans following a new government directive. She was

00:08:33.240 speaking at the Rural Municipalities of Alberta 2023 convention on Wednesday morning. The Premier touted

00:08:38.840 her government's plan to force oil patch companies to pay unpaid municipal taxes saying it's quote 1.00

00:08:44.360 unacceptable when delinquent companies aren't paying their municipal taxes. Under a new government

00:08:49.640 directive oil patch companies will not be able to transfer licenses or get new ones unless regulators

00:08:55.400 are satisfied that their taxes have been paid. Earlier this month rural municipalities Alberta

00:09:00.200 released figures that showed energy firms owed 268 million in back taxes in 2022. A figure that is

00:09:07.640 up more than six percent from the year before. Okay guys and finally I wanted to end my show with my

00:09:12.600 weekly comment roundup. Last week I did an interview with Pastor Derek Reimer. He was a pastor that was

00:09:17.960 arrested in Calgary after protesting at a drag queen story hour and shortly after our interview he was

00:09:23.080 arrested for a second time. So I'm going to take a look at some of your comments here. User Silvana from

00:09:28.520 Chester said good interview thank you and please follow this brave man's story. This is a travesty of

00:09:33.720 justice. This country is sinking into utter depravity. User Angel Mae Connelly said glad someone

00:09:39.960 will stand up to drag queens reading to our children. It's not right. Read to those that want to hear 1.00

00:09:44.920 that. And a couple of you did comment and say that you thought the length of the podcast was a little

00:09:49.720 bit too long. I think that's a fair criticism. Last week's episode was 20 minutes. I generally try to keep

00:09:55.080 my episodes to 10 minutes. So what I'll do moving forward is maybe a separate video with a full interview

00:09:59.640 and I'll cut some clips from that interview and embed it into my show so that you guys can all get a taste

00:10:04.680 of it and those of you that actually want to watch the full interview can seek that out and watch it online

00:10:08.520 later. So I do appreciate the constructive criticism there. Okay guys that's all I have for you today.

00:10:13.640 Thank you so much for tuning in. I hope that you get to go out for the rest of your Saturday and enjoy

00:10:17.880 the beautiful spring weather that we are finally seeing. I for one am very excited about it. As always if you're able

00:10:23.640 please consider supporting independent media you can do so over at donate.tnc.news. Thanks so much,

00:10:29.480 have a great weekend, and God bless.

The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - March 25, 2023

Smith has a plan to win in big cities

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