The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - September 14, 2024


Smith takes on Quebec separatists


Episode Stats

Length

17 minutes

Words per Minute

158.55695

Word Count

2,722

Sentence Count

156

Misogynist Sentences

2


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Quebec Premier Yves-François Blanchet have been exchanging blows throughout the week.
00:00:07.360 Smith said that the Liberals have no mandate to bargain with Quebec separatists at the expense of Alberta, the West, and the rest of Canada.
00:00:15.340 She warned that if they do, an election should be called immediately.
00:00:18.900 I'm Isaac Lamoureux, your new host of the Alberta Roundup.
00:00:30.000 If you were expecting Rachel Parker, you can catch her at The Rachel Parker Show.
00:00:36.340 I hope that you don't find me replacing her on this show as too much of a detriment.
00:00:40.380 You may know me from my previous work elsewhere with True North.
00:00:43.000 I've appeared on this show a few times as a guest, and also I have the odd appearance on Off the Record and normally a bi-weekly appearance on The Daily Brief.
00:00:51.140 I also write articles for True North, and chances are, if you've ever read an article about Alberta, that I am the author.
00:00:57.240 Let's get back into that Alberta-Quebec exchange.
00:01:00.000 Blanchet said that when he saw Smith's post, he found it so funny that he shared it himself.
00:01:04.580 He suggested that Smith thinks the Bloc is serving Quebec better than the Conservatives are serving Alberta.
00:01:10.360 But instead of being just not satisfied with the job made by the Conservatives sent by Alberta to Ottawa,
00:01:22.720 compared to what the Bloc Québécois does for Quebecers,
00:01:27.180 maybe all regions of Canada should just do the same.
00:01:33.840 And if she's interested in knowing more about the way we did it,
00:01:39.160 because, obvious, she seems to believe that Quebec is better served by the Bloc than she is by the Conservatives,
00:01:47.140 I will be very glad to do it.
00:01:50.580 Smith responded once more.
00:01:52.060 She said that she didn't need lessons from Quebec, as the province's record speaks for itself.
00:01:57.580 She added that Albertans object to the Bloc's plan to leverage the Liberals to advance its own separatist and socialist agenda,
00:02:04.820 all the while blocking Alberta and even Quebec's natural resources.
00:02:08.440 Smith said, quote,
00:02:09.640 The back and forth follows NDP leader Jagmeet Singh's announcement that he would be ending his coalition agreement with the Liberals.
00:02:27.680 A majority threshold in Canada consists of 170 out of 338 seats in Parliament.
00:02:34.880 The Liberals currently have 154.
00:02:37.760 The NDP have 24 seats, meaning those two parties together can pass any vote they want.
00:02:45.140 However, the Bloc Québécois also have 32 seats,
00:02:48.240 meaning that even if the NDP-Liberal coalition comes to an end,
00:02:53.000 the Bloc Québécois could take the NDP's place in propping up this Liberal government.
00:02:58.280 An election is triggered if the government loses a confidence vote in the House of Commons.
00:03:03.160 Confidence votes can occur on key issues,
00:03:05.780 such as budget bills or specific bills calling for confidence.
00:03:09.600 A judge sentenced the remaining Coutts protesters to over six years each on Monday.
00:03:14.000 The two remaining members of the Coutts Four had spent over 900 days in remand awaiting trial.
00:03:19.660 Two of the initial four members, Chris Lysak and Jerry Morin,
00:03:23.200 accepted a plea deal on lesser charges in February.
00:03:26.340 The conspiracy to commit murder charges were dropped and the two men were released.
00:03:31.020 Lysak was sentenced to three years for possession of a restricted firearm in an unauthorized place,
00:03:37.160 and Morin was sentenced to three and a half years for conspiracy to traffic firearms.
00:03:41.660 Both sentences amounted to time served awaiting trial for the two men.
00:03:46.140 Olenek and Carbert both had conspiracy to commit murder charges dropped earlier this week before this recent ruling,
00:03:52.640 but Crown prosecutors are appealing.
00:03:55.140 Monday's ruling resulted in Chris Carbert being sentenced to six and a half years for mischief and obstruction,
00:04:00.940 and Anthony Olenek being sentenced to six years for the same charges and possessing an explosive weapon.
00:04:06.440 However, after accounting for time served, the remaining sentences are brought down to about two years each.
00:04:13.300 Both will also be subject to a lifetime firearms prohibition and have to submit their DNA to a registry.
00:04:20.020 Opinions of the sentencing varied online, with some commentators, including Carbert's mother,
00:04:26.120 doubting the soundness of the sentence.
00:04:28.280 Gord McGill, a writer and trucker who commented on the Coutts trials in the past,
00:04:34.140 said that the judge's ruling obliged the Crown and spent much of the time
00:04:37.980 re-litigating charges for which the two men were found not guilty.
00:04:43.300 Carbert's mother agreed with McGill's take.
00:04:45.500 To me, it just shows how our justice system isn't very just.
00:04:51.660 And I don't feel that the judge based his decisions on actual facts.
00:04:59.040 I also feel that he based some of it on the charge that they were acquitted from.
00:05:04.800 Other Canadians noted their disbelief at Canada's lenient jailing procedures in non-politicized trials.
00:05:11.420 As people are charged and released the next day, only to be charged again the following day,
00:05:17.020 a cycle that's been seeming to repeat itself with this catch-and-release policy.
00:05:21.080 Every day in this country, we have politicians and senior bureaucrats committing crimes that are way worse than mischief,
00:05:27.000 but get away with it.
00:05:28.520 Sad day for Canada, said Marty up north, a well-known Albertan commentator on X.
00:05:34.620 The Alberta government is said to be releasing new guidelines on photo radar in December.
00:05:38.840 CTV News obtained a copy of the guidelines which listed the following policy changes.
00:05:44.260 Banning automated traffic enforcement, photo radar, on provincial highways and numbered highways and roads that connect with provincial highways.
00:05:51.860 Restricting automated traffic enforcement to playground, school, and construction zones.
00:05:57.280 And eliminating speeding enforcement by intersection safety devices at intersections.
00:06:03.140 This feels like a promise that has been looming in Alberta for some time now.
00:06:07.200 As I'm sure many of my fellow big city Albertans can attest to,
00:06:12.120 I've been frustrated with photo radar for, well, most of my life.
00:06:17.000 Especially considering there are some data suggesting that photo radar does little to nothing to actually improve road safety.
00:06:22.760 Because obviously it makes drivers more nervous, but it also does make some drivers drive slower,
00:06:27.560 and I guess those balance each other out.
00:06:29.180 For example, a 27 study by Jason Garipi titled,
00:06:34.600 Picture This, Mobile Photo Radar in Its Efficacy on Traffic Safety,
00:06:39.560 concluded that, quote,
00:06:40.900 There is no statistical evidence between the presence and absence of photo radar
00:06:45.140 and the frequency of traffic collisions every month.
00:06:48.280 Also, something that always irked me is that small towns in Alberta seem to have already outlawed photo radar
00:06:53.360 because I guess their populace generally has more influence on city council
00:06:57.980 than, say, the population of a big city like Edmonton or Calgary.
00:07:02.080 Obviously the same can't be said for Edmonton,
00:07:04.460 but I do look forward to roads like the Anthony Hende,
00:07:07.100 the Yellowhead, the White Mud, Calgary Trail, and the list goes on.
00:07:10.600 They will no longer have photo radar.
00:07:12.300 In Alberta, photo radar generated $171 million in 2022-23.
00:07:18.360 The revenue from traffic fines are split between governments,
00:07:22.040 so that means that 40% goes to the province and 60% to the municipality.
00:07:27.120 While some councillors have expressed opposition because they believe that photo radar makes the roads safer,
00:07:32.700 Alberta has previously called photo radar, quote,
00:07:35.320 cash cow,
00:07:36.580 and Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Drieschen
00:07:40.260 previously announced photo radar restrictions on ring roads near the end of 2023.
00:07:46.320 Alberta has the highest usage of photo radar in Canada,
00:07:49.160 and these changes will finally eliminate the cash cow that affects so many Albertans.
00:07:53.980 Photo radar must only be used to improve traffic safety,
00:07:57.120 and with these changes,
00:07:58.500 municipalities will no longer be able to issue thousands of speeding tickets
00:08:01.860 simply to generate revenue, said Drieschen.
00:08:04.920 At the time, he said that more changes were to come after they consulted municipalities,
00:08:10.520 which they estimated would end December 1st, 2024.
00:08:13.760 And surprise, surprise,
00:08:14.880 these changes and recommendations are slotted to come in December.
00:08:18.480 So Drieschen and the Alberta government are following through on their word.
00:08:21.600 All right, people, now for the much-anticipated sports section.
00:08:24.140 And surprisingly, we actually have two sports stories back-to-back.
00:08:27.200 I didn't even really expect to have one on this first week,
00:08:29.900 but yes, we have two.
00:08:30.760 So the Edmonton Oilers announced their, quote,
00:08:34.480 jersey partner on Monday,
00:08:36.420 meaning this upcoming season, their jerseys will have advertisements.
00:08:40.620 The initial post released by Edmonton on Monday was just a video
00:08:43.380 showcasing their jersey partner,
00:08:45.580 but it didn't really explicitly say what was happening,
00:08:48.280 so it didn't get ratioed that hard.
00:08:50.440 But the same cannot be said for a post that they issued a few minutes later
00:08:54.040 with a press release explicitly describing the changes.
00:08:57.960 And if you thought jersey advertisements were bad enough,
00:09:00.300 it gets worse.
00:09:01.880 While the home jerseys will feature a Play Alberta logo on them,
00:09:05.580 the helmets will also have a Game Sense advertisement on them
00:09:08.500 during every single home game.
00:09:10.760 I scrolled through every single comment on the second post
00:09:13.180 and it was more or less impossible to find a positive one.
00:09:16.720 Most replies complained about the advertising,
00:09:18.960 especially with them being related to gambling,
00:09:21.760 and contained vulgar language like trash, disgusting, and gross.
00:09:26.080 I'm really not sure what caused the shift for the Oilers.
00:09:29.900 They were previously celebrated during the 2022-23 season
00:09:33.500 when they were one of the few teams to say that they wouldn't have advertisements on their jerseys.
00:09:38.400 This may be the change here that PlayAlberta.ca
00:09:40.960 generated $235 million in net sales last year,
00:09:45.140 which was a $42 million increase from 2022-23.
00:09:49.240 And this contributed to the $1.5 billion in total gaming revenue
00:09:53.960 funneled into Alberta's general revenue fund.
00:09:57.120 Even before gambling ads flooded arenas appearing virtually on boards
00:10:01.120 and on the ice during games and all across city signage,
00:10:04.460 a January 2023 Ipsos poll revealed that nearly half of Canadians
00:10:09.380 believed gambling ads were out of control.
00:10:11.940 Nearly 48% of Canadians felt that the volume of gambling advertisements
00:10:15.980 was excessive and should be reduced.
00:10:18.360 Additionally, 63% supported limiting the amount or placement of ads,
00:10:23.460 which have since essentially become unavoidable.
00:10:25.880 While the Oilers had previously avoided ads,
00:10:28.240 the greatest player right now and the greatest player of all time,
00:10:32.000 Connor McDavid and Wayne Gretzky,
00:10:33.580 appeared collaboratively in a Bet MGM commercial promoting sports gambling.
00:10:38.820 Look, as an avid hockey fan myself,
00:10:40.840 many of my fondest memories growing up were watching sports with my family.
00:10:45.620 I can only imagine the children now that are bombarded with these sport gambling ads.
00:10:50.660 I'm curious, given the money these companies are making for the leagues,
00:10:54.620 whether we'll ever be able to tone it down.
00:10:57.200 Sticking with hockey, another hockey story and development
00:11:00.440 surrounding Johnny Goudreau came to light this week.
00:11:03.960 For those who don't know,
00:11:05.440 former Calgary Flames forward Johnny Goudreau and his brother
00:11:08.360 were both killed by an alleged drunk driver on August 28th.
00:11:11.900 The two were in New Jersey,
00:11:13.620 set to be groomsmen at their sister's wedding the very next day.
00:11:18.280 They were riding their bikes when both of the brothers were struck by a jeep driver,
00:11:23.240 who allegedly was trying to pass another vehicle and they were both pronounced dead at the scene.
00:11:28.200 At the brothers' memorial on Monday,
00:11:30.960 Meredith Goudreau, Johnny's wife,
00:11:32.880 revealed that she is nine weeks pregnant with her and her late husband's third child.
00:11:37.160 John and I had the best six months as a family of four.
00:11:41.800 These will forever be the best six months of my life.
00:11:45.560 There's specifically one week that I will cherish forever
00:11:48.560 and will be my favorite week of my life out of those six months.
00:11:55.200 We're actually a family of five.
00:11:58.200 I'm in my ninth week of pregnancy with our third baby.
00:12:00.940 A total surprise, but again, John was beaming and so excited.
00:12:07.400 The post-to-ex of this announcement has already garnered over 1 million views
00:12:11.080 and the comments are flooded with support.
00:12:13.480 Good luck reading through them without teary eyes.
00:12:16.520 Aside from the announcement of the child,
00:12:18.260 there has been an outpour of support across the country.
00:12:21.760 At a recent WWE event in Calgary,
00:12:24.260 they gave the Goudreau brothers a shout out
00:12:26.280 as fans were seeing sporting jerseys throughout the arena.
00:12:30.940 That number 13 jersey around town.
00:12:34.100 Today, Johnny and his brother were laid to rest
00:12:36.620 on a day when this community continues to remember him.
00:12:40.380 Jackie Redman has more.
00:12:46.220 Tess, thank you.
00:12:47.280 I'm outside the Saddle Dome where a very large display of love
00:12:50.740 to honor the memory of Johnny and Matthew Goudreau
00:12:53.480 continues to grow.
00:12:55.020 As fans arrive here tonight,
00:12:57.200 they walked by dozens of number 13 jerseys,
00:13:00.940 love letters from fans,
00:13:02.700 and even some of Johnny's favorite snacks.
00:13:06.520 Johnny Hockey, as we lovingly refer to him in the hockey world,
00:13:10.420 spent the better part of a decade electrifying hockey fans
00:13:13.580 in this very arena.
00:13:16.160 And he was a special type of player.
00:13:18.220 The type of player that got people out of their seats
00:13:21.080 and onto their feet the second the puck was on his stick.
00:13:25.000 I mean, he was magical to watch.
00:13:28.000 Now we're going to get into the comment roundup portion of the show,
00:13:31.440 which I know Rachel started,
00:13:32.580 but as a fan of the show myself,
00:13:34.400 I always loved watching
00:13:35.600 and I really like the connection it builds with fans.
00:13:37.860 So I'm going to go through a few comments from last week
00:13:40.540 when Rachel was hosting the show.
00:13:41.760 Obviously, it wasn't me,
00:13:42.620 but still I read through all your comments
00:13:44.180 and I'll read some now.
00:13:45.920 So the first comment featured is from Leona369
00:13:48.580 and it says,
00:13:49.220 I really like Isaac as well.
00:14:17.320 So now I just have to add another show to my list.
00:14:20.160 Awesome.
00:14:20.800 Thanks, Leona.
00:14:21.520 Yeah, it really means a lot that you showed me out there.
00:14:24.120 So I really, really appreciate that.
00:14:25.560 This one from MikeCortese931.
00:14:28.080 He said,
00:14:28.520 Here's an idea.
00:14:29.940 Let's take the money the city had aside for the green line
00:14:32.760 and reallocate it to a new water supply for the city,
00:14:35.960 considering we're still under a water ban
00:14:37.800 due to a total incompetence at the city level.
00:14:40.920 Might be a good idea to fire everyone first,
00:14:42.980 then give it to a private company to complete.
00:14:45.960 Look, Mike, you're right.
00:14:46.920 Generally, private industry can do things more effective
00:14:50.640 than the public sphere.
00:14:52.820 And I don't know how long Calgary's been in this water crisis.
00:14:56.940 It seems like it's been months now,
00:14:58.320 but this is ridiculous.
00:14:59.700 I can't believe it's still going on.
00:15:01.580 And for all the residents of Calgary,
00:15:03.340 I really hope that you guys get out of this pretty quick.
00:15:06.540 Then the last comment here,
00:15:07.740 and sort of on Calgary as well,
00:15:09.380 this from BrianWing2326.
00:15:11.260 He said,
00:15:11.660 Gondek had better start focusing on Calgary's water supply
00:15:15.380 rather than wasting so much money elsewhere
00:15:17.460 that pipe needs to be replaced,
00:15:19.580 not patched up long enough for it just to break again.
00:15:23.020 Nenshi ignored our infrastructure in favor of vanity projects,
00:15:26.460 spending huge amounts of money on things that were unnecessary.
00:15:29.800 Keep that in mind while he looks for your provincial vote.
00:15:32.360 So, Brian, I decided to shout that out
00:15:34.460 because I really like the mention of Nenshi.
00:15:40.220 He's running for provincial politics
00:15:42.040 as if Calgarians haven't forgotten the kind of mayor he was.
00:15:45.160 And I remember his approval ratings were
00:15:46.840 among the worst I've ever seen.
00:15:49.740 So just going to do a quick outro here.
00:15:51.360 Just wanted to thank everyone again
00:15:52.900 for wishing Rachel good luck on our new show,
00:15:55.700 The Rachel Parker Show.
00:15:56.640 I'm sure she'll do amazing.
00:15:57.780 And try not to be too critical of me.
00:16:00.800 This is my first time,
00:16:02.040 and Rachel had years of experience.
00:16:04.060 I hope to one day be able to live up
00:16:05.940 to her revered reputation.
00:16:09.580 I didn't get much sleep last night,
00:16:11.060 which generally happens
00:16:12.580 when I have a stressful situation the next day.
00:16:16.400 And then, worse yet,
00:16:17.220 I wake up to my roof leaking.
00:16:19.660 Yes, my roof leaking in my house today.
00:16:22.120 So that really helped things move along swiftly here.
00:16:25.720 And I've been dealing with that all day,
00:16:26.940 so you can imagine.
00:16:28.140 If you don't recognize me from before,
00:16:29.980 it might be because I'm not wearing a three-piece suit
00:16:31.860 and I shaved my mustache.
00:16:33.120 But if you remember someone coming on talk shows before
00:16:36.440 with a mustache and wearing a suit,
00:16:37.800 yes, that was me.
00:16:39.240 I know I look much different now,
00:16:40.680 so my mom will be happy.
00:16:43.320 She really hated that mustache.
00:16:44.560 She's very happy.
00:16:58.480 She'll look at me this now.