The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - Smith responds to guilty verdict for Coutts 3

00:00:00.000 Hey everyone, welcome back to the Alberta Roundup. I'm your host, Rachel Emanuel.

00:00:03.720 Today, as promised, I am joined by your Premier, Danielle Smith. We are going to be talking about

00:00:09.460 COVID-19 vaccines, the affordability crisis, and more. We'll be joined by her now.

00:00:14.940 Rachel Emanuel brings the news each day on Alberta Roundup. She has her say.

00:00:23.720 Well, hello, Premier. I'm glad that we could make this happen today. Actually, funny story. I had

00:00:30.220 Andrew Lawton on the show recently. I said to him, you keep stealing my interviews because I think I

00:00:34.900 had asked to have one and then I went on mat leave and then he got the interview and then we were

00:00:38.120 supposed to do this and then you did Canada Strong and Free. And I was looking at it and I'm like,

00:00:42.120 hmm, Lawton again. So I have expected him to show up and steal the show at the last minute.

00:00:46.680 Well, we do have a special relationship because he used to sub in for me when I was on radio. And

00:00:51.280 so maybe that's part of the reason why he tries to scoop in. He was a very popular host on Chorus.

00:00:56.820 So, but I'm glad to be able to talk to you today. He still is a popular host. I hear a lot of

00:01:00.160 compliments about him. So I guess that's the shoes I'm trying to fill or my competition. I don't know

00:01:04.020 however you'll put it. So I want to talk a little bit today about affordability, obviously top of

00:01:07.980 everyone's mind. I know that your government has received a ton of pressure to cancel the provincial

00:01:12.760 fuel tax. You've said, you know, we need this to build roads essentially. But what we do know is that

00:01:18.500 your government has made a commitment to Albertans when the price of oil is over $90 WTI, you're going

00:01:23.160 to actually just scrap that provincial tax altogether. And when the price of WTI is per

00:01:28.140 oil is between 80 and 84, you're going to lower the tax about nine cents a litre. So the price of

00:01:33.940 oil has been over 80 for about 20 days now. I know that your government said you're going to look at

00:01:37.180 that every quarter. That's not coming up for a couple of weeks. So are Albertans stuck paying that full

00:01:41.660 price for a couple of weeks or can we get a move on that, get that tax lowered?

00:01:44.940 I have asked my finance minister if there's a way to be more flexible. We have a tax agreement,

00:01:50.980 I understand, with our providers that we're not going to change it any more than any three months.

00:02:00.460 So that's the difficulty is you wanted to have some certainty for those who are at the retail level.

00:02:06.860 And so I wanted to check with my finance minister if there'd be any flexibility on that.

00:02:11.080 Because part of what we want to do is that we want to make sure that we realize the revenues before

00:02:16.840 rebating them back. Because governments have gotten themselves in trouble in the past

00:02:20.940 in expecting the price of oil to go one place and then it doesn't. And then they end up short.

00:02:26.240 And we're very tight on our budget this year. We are only proposing that we'd have a $400 million

00:02:31.920 surplus, which is part of the reason we had to bring the tax back. And I must say,

00:02:35.920 I think it would be, it's unrealistic for the federal government to ask for us in Alberta to

00:02:41.500 be the ones to sacrifice because they don't want to reduce their tax. They have a 17 cent a liter

00:02:45.980 carbon tax, a 10 cent a liter fuel tax. They have GST, which is charged as a tax on tax. So whenever

00:02:51.840 you're paying, call it a buck 50 a liter, just know that 35 cents of that comes from the federal

00:02:56.700 government. That's why we put so much pressure on the feds because we do need those dollars for roads. 0.94

00:03:02.060 I just spoke to the Alberta Motor Transport Association yesterday. We have 12% of the

00:03:08.240 population, 7% of the land base, but one quarter of all of the road construction in the country

00:03:13.960 because we have such a robust economy in so many different areas. So it is essential that we have

00:03:20.000 the money to be able to provide for the upgrades for those roads.

00:03:24.100 So you've mentioned that you're on a tight budget this year. Surplus, you didn't forecast too big.

00:03:28.860 Obviously, the price of oil is high right now. I think given the situation in the Middle East,

00:03:31.820 we can expect it to stay high. Your government had pegged it at about $74. We're at about $84

00:03:35.860 right now between $82 and $84 as of Friday morning. So if that stays high, that's good news

00:03:40.960 for Albertans. Good news for the government. There'll be a big surplus there. So, you know,

00:03:43.900 given that in mind, I know you said you don't want to anticipate the cost of oil being one thing

00:03:47.520 and then something else happens. But I suspect we're looking at a pretty good surplus. Like,

00:03:50.960 is there no possibility you could just take a look at this and say, this is good news for our

00:03:54.160 province. Let's just get rid of that provincial fuels tax or maybe return that money to Albertans 0.99

00:03:58.340 in a one-time payment like your government has done before?

00:04:00.480 Well, I think we want to make sure that we stay true to the program so that people always know,

00:04:05.600 because the prices might be high now, but who knows? In a couple of months, they could be low

00:04:10.260 again. And we want people to understand that, yes, when we get surplus revenues, we believe a portion

00:04:15.320 of that has to come back to Albertans and lower taxes. So that's why we've created the program the way

00:04:20.260 we did. I remember from the reason I offered as a caution, I just remember that there was a

00:04:25.920 projection back when I was doing commentary that because oil prices spiked above $100, the government

00:04:32.820 thought they were going to get a $17 billion surplus. And then they spent $6 billion of it,

00:04:38.160 prices tanked, and they ended up with a shortfall that year. So we know that the volatility that we

00:04:43.280 have because of the unrest in the Middle East, there's still, you know, cross our fingers,

00:04:48.460 but it still, it looks finally pretty good that the Trans Mountain Pipeline is going to come on

00:04:52.200 stream. That was supposed to be on stream earlier. We know that Coastal Gas Link is another option.

00:04:56.920 When LNG starts exporting, cross our fingers, that comes on at the end of this year or early next

00:05:01.440 year. And those will all make a difference. But one of the things that we have told Albertans is that

00:05:07.200 when we do generate surpluses, half of it will go to pay down debt, which reduces our finance charges.

00:05:13.640 And then the other half will be able to be delivered in one-time program spending rebates

00:05:18.120 or investment in capital projects or savings. And so that's the direction that we're going to go.

00:05:23.920 We want to make sure that our number one goal is to run the balanced budget and be prudent.

00:05:28.480 Changing directions a little bit. I want to talk about Alberta Health Services. Obviously,

00:05:31.500 your government's doing a lot of work on dismantling that, changing things around.

00:05:35.260 Just the other week, they came out and they announced that they are still recommending the

00:05:38.060 COVID-19 booster every three months, beginning at six months old for babies six months old.

00:05:43.120 A lot of people took issue with that. Is that a policy that you yourself agree with?

00:05:46.000 I think that we're trying to get a correction with the Western Standard because we think that

00:05:51.500 it was mischaracterized. So I'll tell you what I have observed. What I have observed since it is a

00:05:58.040 choice for people to take the vaccine or not, 16.6% of Albertans have chosen to take the vaccine.

00:06:04.320 So I think people are making their own decision about what is best for them, whether or not they need

00:06:09.360 it, whether or not they're in consultation with their doctors. And we want to preserve that.

00:06:15.060 That being said, I believe it's over the age of 65, 60% are getting that booster. And so we want to make

00:06:23.220 sure that in respecting choice, that we're respecting the choice of everyone. There are some families that

00:06:29.880 have made a decision that they want to have their children vaccinated and many who have chosen not to.

00:06:34.740 And so we're making it available. The recommendation really is, though, for those who are

00:06:39.440 immunocompromised at any age and those over the age of 65, and I think Indigenous communities as well,

00:06:44.580 because there's a comorbidity factor with diabetes in particular and some of the other health risks.

00:06:49.840 But it remains a choice and one that we hope that people make in conjunction with their doctor.

00:06:56.220 So not recommending six-month-old babies get the MNP vaccine?

00:06:58.740 The recommendation was for those who are immunocompromised, those over the age of 65,

00:07:04.860 and I believe First Nations communities.

00:07:06.880 I'm sure a lot of people will be happy to hear that.

00:07:09.080 Taking a look at the COOTS III, I know you said this is separate from my branch of government,

00:07:14.380 the judicial branch is separate, and you don't want to make too many comments on that. I'm going to

00:07:16.720 respect that. However, just one question on it. The jury made their decision. It was a guilty

00:07:21.060 verdict on Tuesday night. We obviously are expecting the sentencing could be up to 10 years in prison for

00:07:25.060 those three men. That'll come this summer. They did make their decision rather quickly. Were you

00:07:29.520 surprised by that? They made about a couple hours. What I would say is that the legislation that we

00:07:37.860 have in place for Critical Infrastructure Act, it doesn't matter what your ideology is or what

00:07:44.400 your cause is or what your political perspective is. You simply cannot block critical infrastructure.

00:07:52.400 So I don't support Extinction Rebellion gluing themselves to the bridges. I don't support

00:07:59.960 days of action that shut down our railway lines, and I don't support inconveniencing neighbours and

00:08:07.680 farmers and those who want to get goods transported by shutting down borders and highways. And I think

00:08:13.760 that this is a caution. There's a way to be able to make your point known. There's a way to be able

00:08:18.780 to advocate, but you can't block critical infrastructure. At the Canada Strong and Free

00:08:23.980 Networking Conference, you asked about your parental rights policy, which obviously extends into a lot of

00:08:27.340 different things. And you said that you're not going to be banning biological men or trans women from

00:08:32.380 women's jails and shelters because you didn't see a reason to. There's been numerous cases of women being 1.00

00:08:38.620 assaulted, sexually assaulted at women's jails, not in Alberta, outside of the province. Are you saying,

00:08:44.860 I don't see a reason to because this hasn't happened here in Alberta yet?

00:08:48.060 I think it's a jurisdiction issue. I mean, I think you know that I will defend our jurisdiction

00:08:53.500 in every matter that we can, but I also recognize the federal government has jurisdiction too.

00:08:58.300 So federal penitentiaries is where inmates are serving two years plus a day and longer. And so I think

00:09:05.260 that's where we've seen some of the problems that you're identifying. If somebody faces a lifetime in

00:09:11.180 prison, then I think there's reason to be concerned about the transfer of inmates. In Alberta, we only

00:09:19.340 have control over inmates who are in for two years less a day. And so that's why I said I just haven't

00:09:26.140 heard of problems. I haven't heard of prisoner transfers happening in provincial penitentiaries

00:09:32.140 for such a short period of time. I'll continue to monitor it, but I do think that that really is a

00:09:37.980 federal issue to be dealt with. And that's part of the reason why I just haven't observed that we

00:09:42.380 have that problem here. And what about in women's shelters specifically? 0.97

00:09:46.300 Again, it's one of those issues where I would just have to monitor and see if there's a problem.

00:09:52.060 What I think is the issue people have, it's a matter of modesty. I think in a woman's space, 1.00

00:09:58.700 whether it's a locker room or a bathroom, you just simply don't want people who haven't had surgery 1.00

00:10:07.100 on the bottom walking into those spaces exposed. That's what I think it comes down to. Most women's 1.00

00:10:13.820 bathrooms are single stall. And so I don't think anybody really knows what's going on behind the

00:10:18.460 bathroom door. And in locker rooms, all I would say is that there should be an attitude of modesty.

00:10:24.780 When it comes to shelters in particular, again, I just haven't seen, I tend to identify where the

00:10:30.300 problem areas are and then try to look for solutions. And I just haven't seen anything that rises to a

00:10:36.380 level that thinks that the federal government or the provincial government needs to step in.

00:10:40.220 On electronic tabulators, I've asked you about this a couple times. I know that you're planning

00:10:43.500 to introduce legislation that would ban tabulators. Would that apply to municipal government elections

00:10:48.780 as well? And if so, is the hope that the legislation will be in place before next year's municipal

00:10:53.340 elections? Yes and yes. Great. And then just my last question for you here, you know, the last topic,

00:10:59.980 looking a little bit at CSIS Canada's spy agency, they've been warning about foreign interference in the

00:11:03.980 federal government. Now the CSIS director is saying that China interfered in the last two

00:11:09.020 federal elections, didn't actually change the outcome, but did interfere. And we know that

00:11:12.940 they've been warning about interference in Alberta because we're a very attractive place. We've got a

00:11:16.300 lot of money here, a lot of investment resources and ethnic communities. Your government is aware of

00:11:20.620 this. What specific actions are you taking to ensure that this doesn't crop up in our elections?

00:11:25.500 Well, we did have a briefing from CSIS because I wanted all of my ministers to be aware of what the

00:11:31.740 concerns might be and how they might be approached and be compromised and to get some understanding of

00:11:37.100 the how when somebody is behaving in an unusual way, as well as knowing where to report that. And so we

00:11:42.780 are creating a little bit of situational awareness among our cabinet ministers. We'll be having the same

00:11:47.900 CSIS briefing to our to our caucus as well. The unfortunate thing is that CSIS doesn't have a mandate to

00:11:55.180 be able to tell us if there's a problem. Their mandate is that they can only tell the government

00:12:01.500 that they report to, which is the federal government, which I think is why it's so disappointing that when

00:12:07.100 I guess you have to sort of look at who do you believe, because they said that they raised the

00:12:11.260 alarm many times, but the politicians are saying they didn't know about it. If that's the only way

00:12:16.700 that CSIS is able to get the information out, I think democracy is at risk. And so what I would like to

00:12:22.860 see is that the legislation should change so that we're another order of government that is

00:12:30.140 acknowledged by our constitution. If we have a threat to our democracy in this province, CSIS should

00:12:35.580 be able to tell us so that we can take measures to protect. And so I'm a bit disappointed that the

00:12:41.260 most that they can do is just speak to us at a very high level about information that is not classified,

00:12:48.300 because I think that by telling us that we're a target that says that we should be concerned. And

00:12:54.700 I don't have any more detail than that, just simply because we were not able to be briefed on it.

00:13:00.700 And when we talk about that fear of foreign interference, then are you aware is this something

00:13:04.540 that's just an issue at the provincial level or could this also take place when we talk about

00:13:08.540 municipal elections? It's a good question. I think because I imagine that we're a bit of a target because

00:13:14.380 we are an energy producing jurisdiction. I'm in the process of doing a reserve review because it

00:13:20.940 hasn't been updated since 2001 and a new technology has allowed for us to be able to recover more

00:13:26.460 natural gas, more oil and more bitumen. So we'll be having that released very soon, which might make

00:13:32.780 us a little bit more of a target because those numbers I think are going to surprise a lot of people.

00:13:37.180 But I think that's probably why Alberta in particular might be a target of bad actors. There's lots of bad 1.00

00:13:42.300 actors in the world. And so we just have to be extra vigilant to make sure that our MLAs are mindful

00:13:51.180 of when they get approached and also mindful that if they see something suspicious to report it. But

00:13:57.020 I'm really hopeful that we won't see that happen at the municipal level. I think the provincial level,

00:14:01.740 we just have to do a little bit more work. Premier, thank you so much. My pleasure.

00:14:05.660 All right, everyone. Thanks so much for tuning in. As always, I will be back on Wednesday with an

00:14:09.660 interview. Please don't forget to subscribe to True North and to like this video. And if you feel so

00:14:14.700 inclined, you can head over to donate.tnc.news to show us some support for our work. Have a great weekend

00:14:20.460 and God bless.

The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - April 20, 2024

Smith responds to guilty verdict for Coutts 3

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