Smith invokes Sovereignty Act to “protect Albertans” from Trudeau gov
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Summary
In this week's Alberta Roundup, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has invoked the sovereignty act for the first time, while also introducing a bill that could force Alberta to become a net zero power grid by 2035. Photo radar has also been banned in some areas of the province, and there's been a major investment into the province. Finally, you won't want to miss the Alberta Politics Funny Moment of the Week!
Transcript
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Hey everyone, welcome back to the Alberta Roundup. I'm your host, Rachel Emanuel.
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We are back to our regular programming. If you haven't had a chance to see my episode
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from last week yet, head over to YouTube and give that a watch. You won't want to miss
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True North host Andrew Lawton's insights onto the province of Alberta and some of the major
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news stories that I missed while I was away. That being said, we have a great show for you
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guys today. A lot of big things happening in the province. Here's a look at what we'll be
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discussing today. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has invoked the Sovereignty Act for the first
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time. There's also been some positive changes regarding PhotoWriter and a huge investment
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into the province, which will create thousands of jobs. Finally, you won't want to miss the
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Alberta politics funny moment of the week. All that and more happening now on the Alberta Roundup.
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Okay guys, up first, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she's invoking the Sovereignty Act
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for the first time to challenge Ottawa's regulations, which would require a net zero
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electricity grid by 2035. No doubt you remember that Danielle Smith first pitched the Sovereignty
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Act during the United Conservative Party leadership race. It was very controversial at the time.
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Of course, she won that race and it was her first piece of legislation as Premier. The bill
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was pitched as a mean to bar federal legislation deemed harmful to Alberta and its interests.
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In this case, Smith said she invoked the act to show that she was serious about challenging Ottawa's
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energy regulations, which would wreak havoc on Alberta's natural gas-based grid. Here's what
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she had to say about invoking the Sovereignty Act to reporters on Monday.
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We developed this legislation to shield the province from federal intrusions, and we're using it now
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because the consequences of this particular overreach would be so severe. Alberta will bear
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the largest share of the expenses required to meet these absurd targets, and consumers and businesses
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will see their bills soar. If the federal government has its way, many people will be left without
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electricity that they can pay for on a power grid that will fall short or even fail in a typical
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I'm sure this won't come as a surprise to you all, but Environment Minister Stephen Gaubeau
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doesn't appear to be taking the Premier seriously. Here was his response to the news that she would
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be invoking the Sovereignty Act for the first time to challenge his government.
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We will continue moving ahead with this. There is no legal basis for what Alberta is doing,
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and we feel that we're on very solid ground. And the fact that we already have some provinces
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who are on board with us, as well as a number of private companies and investors who say that
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Under the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act, the Premier put forward a motion,
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which would require the Alberta government to take several actions. Most notable among the actions,
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it would compel Alberta regulators and officials not to comply with regulations,
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so long as they are not breaking federal law. Those regulations are still in draft,
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but they are expected to be enacted soon. The motion also calls Alberta to look into creating
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a Crown Electricity Corporation. Now the purpose of this Crown Corporation would not be to compete with
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Alberta's private electricity power system, but rather to look into generating electricity in the
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case of a shortage. Moving into the controversy of the week, the Alberta government has banned
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photo radar on ring roads around Edmonton and Calgary. It says it will instead allow the cities to move
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those photo radar cameras to places like construction zones, schools and playgrounds.
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There are currently eight photo radar cameras on Calgary's ring road and a whopping 22 cameras in
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Edmonton. When making the announcement last week, Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Drieschen said,
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Alberta's are concerned that these photo radar cameras are not being used because of safety,
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but rather to generate revenue for the cities. Here's what that sounded like.
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Now, some Albertans believe that municipalities operate photo radar solely to generate revenue
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and is not for the improvement of traffic safety. So there's a lot of concern over fishing holes that we've
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heard from Albertans. Now, since then, we've now had years worth of data to review, and we have come to the
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conclusion that some photo radar sites are indeed designed to generate revenue, not to improve safety.
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So let me be perfectly clear. This will end here in the province of Alberta.
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The Alberta government will now work with law enforcement to remove all fishing hole locations,
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referring to cameras where there is no safety concern. Now, the reason I put this story as the
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controversy of the week because while it is trending in the right direction, it does not
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quite go far enough. Comment below if you agree that it is time for Alberta to ban
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photo radar entirely. Perhaps more importantly, email your city councillors and let them know that you hate
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these policies. And while we're at it, let's do away with those stupid drive safe vehicles. I cannot stand this
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program. I couldn't believe it that shortly after moving to Alberta, I received a ticket in the mail
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for $120 for going 10 kilometers over the speed limit. An officer would never ticket you that much.
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They probably wouldn't even pull you over for going 10 kilometers an hour over the speed limit. At least
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in Ontario, it's generally considered that the speed limit is just 10 kilometers an hour over whatever
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is posted. So it's one thing if you get pulled over fair and square, then it's up to you to reason your way
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ticket. But I really don't agree with these policies. I don't like that the government is
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watching all our actions, constantly finding new ways to monitor us, and then penalizing us if we
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don't comply with their regulations. Comment below if you agree. Moving into what we're watching in the
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weeks to come, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Federal Finance Minister Christopher Land this week
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announced a $8.9 billion investment by Dow into the province's Fort Saskatchewan area.
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That will become home to Dow's Path Zero facility, the world's first net zero scope one and two
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greenhouse gas emissions integrated ethylene cracker and derivative site. Now for those of
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you who thought that was a little bit of word salad, here's the great takeaway. It will create
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6,000 construction jobs and 400 to 500 permanent jobs once the site is operational. In an announcement
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on Wednesday, government officials were joined by Dow CEO Jim Thetterling. He said products made at this
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facility will have greenhouse gas footprints less than half of products made at other plastic
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alternatives. He added quote, we intend to take that to zero. Chrystia Freeland said the investment
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is evidence that her government's plans are working. Here's what that sounded like.
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We said that those tax credits would create great careers for Canadians, for people like the great
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Canadians who are here with me, that they would build stronger communities and help reduce our emissions
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at the same time. Today is proof that it's working. Moving into the Alberta politics funny moment of the
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week, you guys are going to love this. Transportation Minister Devon Driesen was being interviewed by 630
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Chad host Stacey Bratzel about his photo rater when she asked him about the Alberta Sovereignty Act,
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reminding him that his former boss and former Premier Jason Kenney once called the Sovereignty Act
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illegal, cockamamie, and said it would turn Alberta into a banana republic. Here's Driesen's response.
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But your old boss called it cockamamie and illegal and would turn us into a banana republic, so
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Oof, that's gotta hurt. Okay, guys, that's everything we have for you today. Thank you so
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much for tuning into the Alberta Roundup. As always, if you're able, please consider supporting
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our work over at donate.tnc.news. I will see you all next week. God bless.