The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - April 13, 2024


Smith pushes back against the feds

Topics
fuel tax relief and affordability crisis
Hosted by
Isaac Lamoureux
Mentioned
Danielle Smith Schmidt Justin Trudeau Daniel Roy UCP MLA Jackie Lovely Stephen Guibault Edmonton Goldbar Enigma Fidelity Andrew Lawton Nathan Cooper Joseph Scow Manitoba Speaker Junos
Will there be a federal election this fall๏ผŸ Alberta refuses to be bribed by Trudeau

Episode Stats


Length

14 minutes

Words per minute

173.09

Word count

2,424

Sentence count

150

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has made new strides in pushing back a federal government intent on controlling all aspects of Canadian policy with no regard to jurisdiction. This week, Premier Smith proposed new legislation which would ensure her government sign off before Trudeau inked deals with municipalities, and in doing so, the Premier revealed that she s taking her lead from another Canadian province, a province that has its own pension plan, controls its own immigration, and even refers to itself as a society distinct from the rest of English Canada.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has made new strides in pushing back a federal government
00:00:04.800 intent on controlling all aspects of Canadian policy with no regard to jurisdiction. This week
00:00:11.000 Premier Smith proposed new legislation which would ensure her government sign off before Trudeau
00:00:16.740 inks deals with municipalities. And in doing so, the Premier revealed that she's taking her lead
00:00:22.080 from another Canadian province. A province that has its own pension plan, controls its own
00:00:27.020 immigration, and even refers to itself as a society distinct from the rest of English Canada.
00:00:33.000 Quebec is no stranger to playing tough with the federal government. And while Quebec and Alberta
00:00:37.700 are rarely seen as allies, I think most of us here in Western Canada have some begrudging respect for
00:00:43.080 French Canadians who seem to have no problem getting what they want from Ottawa. But let's not forget,
00:00:49.020 Quebec has long utilized the threat of separation to get a fair deal from the federal government.
00:00:53.920 So sure, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is playing hardball now, but we haven't even played our
00:01:00.300 royal flesh. I'm Rachel Emanuel, and this is the Alberta Roundup.
00:01:13.640 Okay guys, taking a look at our first story here. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is following Quebec's
00:01:20.380 lead as she proposed new legislation this week, which would force the federal government to receive
00:01:25.820 the Alberta government sign off on deals it hopes to strike with municipalities. The proposed legislation
00:01:31.560 is titled the Provincial Priorities Act and seeks to enforce section 92 of the constitution, which states
00:01:38.240 that municipalities fall under the jurisdiction of the provinces, not the federal government. Here's what
00:01:43.820 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith had to say about it this week, Wednesday.
00:01:46.700 Those federal dollars come with ideological strings attached, offering funding on its own terms,
00:01:52.780 bypassing the provinces, and forcing municipalities to dance to Ottawa's tune, like funding for so-called
00:01:59.320 safe supply, or electric buses that don't work. Well, what we really need is envelope funding to expand
00:02:05.860 existing provincial programs that already exist in these areas. Funding for what Alberta's priorities
00:02:12.720 are that we need. Federal interference, we don't. Ottawa should be staying in its own lane.
00:02:18.060 The way we see it, federal and provincial funding should be spent collaboratively, not for, not at cross
00:02:23.640 purposes. And it should be spent on Alberta's priorities and not on Ottawa's, because after all, a lot of that
00:02:29.760 money came from hard-working Alberta taxpayers in the first place.
00:02:33.180 The Premier also revealed that other provinces have complained about Ottawa stepping over their jurisdiction
00:02:37.660 to reach municipalities when she was speaking with all other premiers at the Council of the Federation
00:02:42.920 in Nova Scotia in November 2023. She said it was at that meeting that the federal Quebec minister
00:02:48.760 gave the other provinces a copy of Quebec legislation, the same legislation which Premier Smith has now used
00:02:54.160 to create the Provincial Priorities Act. And while addressing the Provincial Priorities Act at the
00:02:58.240 Canada Strong and Free Networking Conference on Friday, Premier Smith also took aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
00:03:03.940 Take a listen. When you see in Alberta that we are going to take a posture, more like Quebec, which is no thank you,
00:03:10.300 we don't need your policy advice on school lunch programs, on pharma care, on dental care,
00:03:16.220 that is, just give us the money and trust that we'll be able to deliver on this. That's the approach that
00:03:22.980 we're going to take and we're going to be pretty vocal about doing so and I hope to see some of the other
00:03:27.640 premiers do it. Also at the Canada Strong and Free Networking Conference, my colleague Andrew Lawton
00:03:32.040 had the chance to ask Premier Smith why she hasn't asked the Provincial Carbon Tax. We know that the
00:03:37.360 Federal Carbon Tax has increased once again and gas is more expensive than ever. Premier Smith has been
00:03:42.160 facing some criticism for not cancelling the Provincial Tax. Here's what she had to say about it.
00:03:46.980 So I would say that I cannot sacrifice our need to gain revenue, to build roads, to make room for them
00:03:54.740 to continue with a punitive tax that does nothing. A couple of things I'd say. The argument that they
00:04:01.060 make that it will encourage people to change behavior, they completely undermine because Stephen
00:04:06.060 Guibault admitted that the carbon tax isn't going to have an effect until 2060, which means we're all
00:04:10.860 paying punitive taxes until then and there really just aren't options. I talked to any of the automakers
00:04:17.860 and the auto dealers. If you wanted to go out and switch to an electric vehicle tomorrow to avoid
00:04:24.180 the tax, you couldn't because there aren't enough of them being produced and the infrastructure isn't
00:04:28.580 in your home to do it and the infrastructure isn't there for public charging station to do it.
00:04:32.520 Hydrogen vehicles as well. We have a hundred of them in Alberta. We've got a 5,000 car challenge,
00:04:37.700 but if you wanted to go out and buy a hydrogen zero emissions vehicle, you couldn't because they're
00:04:42.200 not producing enough of them. If you want it in my province where I think 90% of the homes are heated
00:04:47.560 with natural gas, you simply couldn't switch to a heat pump because they don't work in minus 35 and
00:04:54.120 you can't get insurance if you do without having a backup of some other type of heating. So all it
00:05:00.280 is then, if there isn't a reasonable way to switch to an equal or lower cost option, then all it is
00:05:07.160 is a punitive tax on consumers. That's the reason why they're different.
00:05:11.400 But when the Alberta government offered fuel tax relief, those issues you described were still
00:05:19.800 there and it was a recognition that life was unaffordable and unaffordability comes in layers.
00:05:23.960 There's inflation, carbon tax, fuel tax, general cost of living. So the crisis of affordability is
00:05:31.160 still there.
00:05:31.960 Well, let me say, when we brought through our relief program, our gas prices in our province
00:05:36.360 were $1.89. So our tax is 13 cents. So that would have taken it down from $1.89 down to $1.76.
00:05:46.440 And right now, today, gas prices in Alberta are $1.58. So we will continue with our program
00:05:54.200 that when oil prices go beyond $90, we'll take that tax off again. In fact, I'd love to see the
00:06:00.840 federal government do the same. Make it variable so that when the prices get up above a certain level,
00:06:05.960 we're all paying more because of that, take the tax off at that point so that you're not adding to
00:06:10.200 the problem. And I should mention that we remain, along with Saskatchewan, the second lowest in the
00:06:17.880 country in our overall price of fuel. Manitoba followed our lead, reduced the carbon tax, or took their
00:06:26.040 fuel tax off after Wab Kanu got elected. But the other provinces, I think British Columbia, who are the
00:06:31.640 poor souls from British Columbia facing $1.98?
00:06:34.360 They couldn't afford to fly here, actually. That's why there aren't more of them.
00:06:37.640 That's why. So I would say we are trying to be variable because we also have to run a balanced
00:06:43.960 budget. And that's the first promise that I made to Albertans. And that extra four cents,
00:06:49.640 a litre that we added back on just on April the 1st, that's the difference between us running a $400
00:06:55.000 million surplus or not. So when those additional revenues come in, absolutely. Our strategy is to
00:07:00.040 give the money back to Albertans. Okay, guys, moving into our next story here. A few weeks ago,
00:07:03.560 I took aim at the Canadian Junos and I was right to do so. There's very few Canadian musicians that
00:07:08.920 we can actually be proud of or want to listen to nowadays. They're all jumping over each other
00:07:13.720 in their efforts to be more woke than the person that came before them because they're not actually
00:07:17.800 talented. They're just using their politics to try to get some attention. Well, I have some good news
00:07:22.680 for all of you who are hoping to find some Canadian content that you actually like and that you're
00:07:26.680 actually ideologically aligned with. My cousin Daniel Roy has released three new tracks. You can
00:07:32.120 find them on YouTube or Spotify under Daniel Roy. He actually left Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic.
00:07:38.040 He lived in Ontario like me and he simply couldn't stomach the pandemic policies anymore. So we left
00:07:43.400 to Austin, Texas in search of some freedom. We're going to play a clip of his music for you now.
00:07:58.760 I suggest you all go give his three new tracks a listen and a subscribe and a follow on YouTube
00:08:17.640 and Spotify. As I mentioned, it is hard to find Canadian content that we like and that we can be
00:08:22.320 proud of. And when there are people who are talented and who are aligned with our views,
00:08:27.780 I think it's important that we support them. So I recommend you go give those songs a listen and let
00:08:31.620 me know what you think about them in the comments below. Okay, everyone moving into the controversy
00:08:35.780 of the week. A UCP MLA is telling Alberta NDP MLA Marlon Schmidt to seek anger management treatment
00:08:44.340 after a verbal altercation between the two resulted in the legislative assembly security service to
00:08:50.340 intervene. UCP MLA Jackie Lovely was in the members lounge on Monday following a speech on a private
00:08:56.260 member's bill on urban parks when a verbal altercation occurred between her and Schmidt. That altercation
00:09:03.140 became the subject of a lengthy point of privilege in the chamber on Tuesday. Here's government house
00:09:09.140 leader Joseph Scow speaking to that effect. When she told the member that, and I quote, you are scaring me,
00:09:16.020 he outright mocked her in an aggressive and intimidating manner. He mocked her, Mr. Speaker.
00:09:25.060 As she tried to leave, the member from Edmonton Goldbar followed her, sought her out to continue this
00:09:32.260 onslaught of harassment. In fact, a member from the legislative assembly security service had to
00:09:39.220 intervene and tell the opposition member to quote, take a walk. After Scow was finished speaking, Schmidt
00:09:46.740 rose in the chamber to offer his quote, own version end quote of the events. He said that Lovely instigated
00:09:53.700 the dispute by continuing the conversation outside the chamber. He also said he wasn't following the
00:09:59.380 female UCP MLA, but was merely headed in the same direction as her. He also offered his apology.
00:10:05.860 House Speaker Nathan Cooper called Schmidt's actions inappropriate, but said the matter was
00:10:11.140 now settled because the NDP MLA had offered his apology. Moving into what we're watching in the
00:10:15.940 weeks to come, Alberta has applied for intervener status in the parents bill of rights case currently
00:10:21.300 before the Saskatchewan court of appeal. Saskatchewan parental rights legislation requires that parents be
00:10:26.820 notified when children under the age of 16 choose to go by a different pronoun at school. The
00:10:32.340 provincial government invoked the notwithstanding clause in response to legal challenges from LGBTQ
00:10:38.180 advocacy organizations, which contested the law's compatibility with charter rights. The University of
00:10:43.620 Regina Pride Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity filed an action against the government of
00:10:48.260 Saskatchewan in August 2023. The Minister of Justice here in Alberta and in Saskatchewan filed a joint
00:10:53.780 statement saying quote, Saskatchewan and Alberta agree that the key figures in children's lives are their
00:10:59.140 parents and our provinces are both committed to supporting families and children so that they can
00:11:04.340 work through unique needs together. Notifying parents and requiring their consent before a child's name
00:11:09.460 or pronouns can be changed in schools and before classroom discussions about gender identity and other
00:11:14.340 sensitive subjects occur ensures that the parent-child relationship is respected and paramount. Of
00:11:20.020 course there's nothing controversial about that it just goes to show how far our society has fallen
00:11:25.940 that we even have to be having these conversations and of course Alberta is choosing to apply for
00:11:29.700 intervener status before they table their own parental rights legislation which is expected this fall.
00:11:35.220 I'm sure we can expect to see some challenges of that when it comes. Okay everyone moving into our weekly
00:11:41.060 comment roundup. Last week we talked about Calgary Mayor Jodi Gondek. She of course succeeded in passing
00:11:46.740 that recall but she was booed at a Calgary Flames game a little while ago and I asked you all what you
00:11:52.180 thought of that. Many of you said that a politician should not be shown respect until they show respect
00:11:57.460 to the people. Let's take a look at some of your comments. User at Granny B says, why should we show
00:12:01.780 respect for politicians who have absolutely no respect for citizens? Respect is earned. Like I said,
00:12:07.780 I saw many such comments to that effect. And user Enigma Fidelity said, wait, wait, wait. Are you
00:12:13.700 saying booing is impolite? Okay, so anybody who thinks she shouldn't be booed needs to learn what
00:12:19.140 democracy means. We the people will voice our opinion. We will be heard. If you have a problem
00:12:24.420 with the voos, did you have a problem with the convoy? I think I get one of these comments at least
00:12:28.340 every week where I present two different sides of the coin and ask you all what you think and someone says,
00:12:32.580 you think this. No, I never said I think this. I simply presented two different sides and asked
00:12:38.420 you all what you thought. I personally don't care that Jodi Gondek was booed at a Calgary Flames gate.
00:12:42.500 I think that she is anti-Canadian. This is someone who is continually raising taxes during a period when
00:12:48.260 many people are struggling to afford basic necessities. Maybe she should look at cutting 0.97
00:12:52.740 some of her own government spending. But even worse than that, this is someone who actually tried to
00:12:56.500 cancel Canada Day celebrations. So I hold no love for Jodi Gondek in my heart. I don't think she's doing a
00:13:02.260 good job. I think she should resign. And I think that's fairly obvious to people who watch my show
00:13:06.180 consistently. Okay, everyone, that's all we have time for today. Thank you so much for tuning in.
00:13:10.340 As always, please don't forget to subscribe to True North so you don't miss any of our content
00:13:14.820 and like this video. If you are feeling so inclined to, you can support our work over at
00:13:20.180 donate.tnc.news. I will see you all on Wednesday. Have a great weekend. God bless.
00:13:32.260 I'll see you all on Wednesday.
00:13:34.260 Bye.
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