The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - Smith takes on the WEF

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

00:00:31.560 I'm your host, Rachel Emanuel.

00:00:32.960 I hope that you guys are having a great week so far.

00:00:35.360 Let's take a look at what happened this week in Alberta politics.

00:00:38.360 Alberta Premier Daniel Smith slammed the World Economic Forum this week

00:00:42.000 and the federal government's so-called just transition proposal.

00:00:45.440 U.S. Senator Joe Manchin says it makes no sense that the Biden administration

00:00:49.600 isn't relying on Canada for more energy.

00:00:51.960 And we're going to talk about the Coutts prosecution cases.

00:00:54.920 All that and more happening now on the Alberta Roundup.

00:00:57.560 Okay guys, we are going to start up today's show by going over the just transition saga.

00:01:01.600 There was a lot of back and forth about this proposal in Alberta politics this week.

00:01:05.600 For starters, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she's paying close attention

00:01:09.080 to the World Economic Forum which happened in Davos this week

00:01:12.280 because she believes it aspires to shut down Alberta's energy sector. 1.00

00:01:15.400 The Premier further said that a report released this week confirmed her worst fears.

00:01:20.200 That the federal government's so-called just transition proposal

00:01:23.240 does in fact seek to shut down Alberta's oil and gas sector.

00:01:26.280 She made those comments Monday on the Sean Newman podcast.

00:01:28.840 We're going to play that for you now.

00:01:29.960 I'm watching what comes out of it through the reporting by Andrew Lawton

00:01:34.520 because I think that they unfortunately have an aspiration for our economy to shut down

00:01:40.760 our energy industry.

00:01:41.800 We've been hearing all about the just transition ever since we started the beginning of the year.

00:01:46.680 And if you look at the report that came out from Blacklock's reporter,

00:01:50.440 they've done a story today that confirms my worst fears.

00:01:55.400 That they talk about how we need to transition oil and natural gas workers into jobs like

00:02:01.000 janitors and driving trucks for solar companies.

00:02:04.760 This is the language that they're using in the bureaucracy.

00:02:07.320 That doesn't come from nowhere.

00:02:08.440 That comes from a large concerted effort by a number of people who want to shut down

00:02:13.160 our oil and natural gas industry.

00:02:14.520 And I won't stand for that.

00:02:15.480 Nor am I going to rub shoulders with people who share that aspiration.

00:02:19.160 We're going to make sure that our oil and natural gas industry stays strong.

00:02:22.760 There are good paying jobs for the long term.

00:02:25.480 That we transition our energy use in a way that makes sense for Alberta,

00:02:29.880 which I've talked a lot about carbon capture and hydrogen and bitumen beyond

00:02:33.240 combustion and petrochemicals and exporting LNG.

00:02:36.280 That's what I think our future is, but it is not on side with some people.

00:02:41.560 And I think it's my job to make sure I stand up for Alberta.

00:02:44.760 The federal government's just transition proposal has yet to be tabled,

00:02:47.720 but it's been in the works since 2021.

00:02:49.720 The federal government claims the bill will help the provinces transition workers

00:02:53.160 into jobs that support a more sustainable energy economy.

00:02:56.040 The memo the premier was referencing was first reported on by Blacklock's reporter.

00:02:59.800 The June 1 memo to federal natural resources minister, Jonathan Wilkinson,

00:03:03.880 said more than 2.7 million Canadians will face significant disruptions

00:03:08.600 in sectors that will be affected by climate change programs.

00:03:11.400 Alberta NDP leader, Rachel Notley finally weighed into the conversation this week,

00:03:15.080 saying if she was premier, she would know what's in the legislation by now.

00:03:18.440 She said the fact that she doesn't know,

00:03:20.200 and that the rest of Alberta doesn't know is part of the problem.

00:03:23.160 Take a listen to her comments now.

00:03:25.000 So my answer is simply this.

00:03:29.160 The plan as it exists now has clearly been constructed.

00:03:33.160 Again, I don't know what's in it.

00:03:34.920 It's been constructed without the government of Alberta there at the table speaking up

00:03:41.640 on behalf of Alberta workers, Alberta job creators, Alberta investors.

00:03:45.160 And as a result, the plan cannot go ahead in its current state.

00:03:52.040 And so I'm not talking about just putting it off.

00:03:54.280 I'm saying we have a fundamental flaw in how we've gotten to this point,

00:03:58.920 a flaw primarily driven by one of the most chaotic, incompetent provincial governments

00:04:03.560 that we have seen in the history of this country over many, many decades.

00:04:07.320 So that is my first point.

00:04:08.600 In terms of the second point, I've been very clear to everybody, Jagmeet Singh, Justin Trudeau,

00:04:14.760 all the MPs, quite frankly, in Ottawa, that the specter of Ottawa MPs debating a plan

00:04:24.680 that by now their own admission that we've seen through these documents will have a disproportionate

00:04:32.840 disruption to a sector that includes hundreds of thousands of workers primarily residing in Alberta.

00:04:41.480 This prospect of them debating that in Ottawa right now, while we're in the midst of what is

00:04:49.160 almost an election campaign, I mean, we're in the red zone and we're very close to that,

00:04:53.560 to being in an official campaign.

00:04:55.400 Without us at the table, it's just not acceptable.

00:04:58.040 It's not how you run the country.

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00:05:29.400 This week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, True North correspondent Andrew Lawton caught up

00:05:33.640 with US Senator Joe Manchin and asked him why he thought the Biden administration has been so averse

00:05:38.840 to importing Canadian oil. Manchin, who visited Alberta in April to learn more about our energy economy,

00:05:44.920 said it makes no sense.

00:05:46.440 So, first off, what do you think of the Biden administration's decision to

00:05:51.000 be so averse to importing Canadian oil?

00:05:53.960 It makes no sense to me whatsoever. You know, Canada's been our best trading partner, it's been our best ally,

00:05:59.960 and it's our friend or neighbor. And next of all, 62% of our heavy crude comes from Alberta. So,

00:06:05.800 I'm totally committed to it, and they're totally wrong and not accepting it and willing to go to

00:06:10.120 different places and lift the sanctions off of Iran, who wants the most prolific terrorist 0.95

00:06:14.680 supporters and give them money. Or going towards areas that basically do not have the climate

00:06:19.720 standards that Alberta has and the way they've done it and done it so well and made so many different

00:06:24.840 advancements. So, I'm totally supportive of Alberta oil coming more and more to the US,

00:06:29.720 and it was a shame that we didn't ask them to support more.

00:06:32.120 Okay guys, and moving into our controversy of the week, I want to start by responding to your

00:06:36.760 guys' comments on our last week's episode. Last week, I asked you if you thought that

00:06:41.000 Premier Smith was backtracking. As you know, in October, at the United Conservative Party Annual

00:06:45.400 General Meeting, just after Smith was sworn in as Premier, she said she was going to seek pardons

00:06:50.280 for those charged for breaching COVID-19 restrictions. Last week, Smith said she

00:06:54.440 cannot interfere with the legal process and it would be inappropriate for her to do so,

00:06:58.680 but she said she's been asking the Justice Minister and his Deputy Minister to reconsider

00:07:03.320 on a regular basis whether pursuing these charges is in the public interest. Now, I put it to you guys

00:07:08.040 and I asked you, do you think that this was the Premier backtracking on her promises of seeking

00:07:11.720 pardons? Most of you said no. You didn't think the Premier was backtracking. She sought legal advice

00:07:16.440 and she was doing the most that she could. I'm going to read a couple of those comments for you now.

00:07:20.680 User Biddydibdab wrote, I think that Danielle is in the early days of her Premiership and is still

00:07:25.480 learning quickly. I trust her to do all that she legally can to get charges dropped, but unlike

00:07:30.840 the federal government, she is careful to uphold the law. Margaret Nordstrom wrote, Danielle did not

00:07:35.800 make a promise. She stated she needed consultation with the courts and would keep us updated. RG Turner

00:07:41.480 wrote, I am happy with Smith's actions and she is not walking back anything. Dealing with the

00:07:46.440 judicial system while not interfering is complicated and tricky. Sean wrote, I hope she doesn't walk 0.94

00:07:51.560 back on this one because I think she's shown a lot of bravery and great leadership so far. I will be a

00:07:56.360 little patient on this one. It is a very important issue though. The bravest of us are still being

00:08:01.320 affected by this. I hope Danielle remembers that. I was not one of those brave people, but I thank them

00:08:06.520 for standing up to the tyranny and bullying that took place. And Michael Matt wrote, if she promised

00:08:11.480 a problem for victims of COVID, she should keep her word. There were a couple of people who said she

00:08:15.560 was backtracking, but most people seemed pretty happy with the Premier's actions thus far and hoped

00:08:20.040 that she would continue doing what she can while saying there might be restrictions on what she's

00:08:24.200 able to do. Now there is more to this story. You guys, I'm going to give you a bit of an update.

00:08:27.880 Premier Smith touched on this topic when she was asked about the organ transplant list. Now you guys

00:08:31.960 know the story we covered it last week. There's a woman here in Alberta who is unvaccinated and was 0.99

00:08:36.440 removed from the top of the organ donor transplant list. She's now seeking to take her case all the 1.00

00:08:41.320 way to the Supreme Court of Canada. She's put a request in asking them to hear her case. We don't

00:08:45.240 yet know if they've agreed to hear it. Danielle Smith was asked about that this week on the Sean

00:08:49.000 Newman podcast, and she said her views on the issue of medical choice are well known. Later on in her

00:08:53.720 answer, she talks about not being able to wade into the legal process and grant people clemency like 1.00

00:08:58.840 governors in the US are able to do, for example. But take a listen to her comments for yourself.

00:09:02.520 I think my views on this are well known. I do believe in medical choice. I think the issue of

00:09:08.440 transplant is a bit unique because we're talking about putting people on immunosuppressant drugs.

00:09:13.240 And I think we've all acknowledged that those who are immunosuppressed have greater risk

00:09:18.440 on a whole variety of viruses, including influenza, and COVID has been added to that list. So I look

00:09:24.280 at that as a little bit different. And that's why I want to defer to the medical experts on that.

00:09:29.800 But if it was applied more generally, I mean, quite clearly, I have said that we need to preserve

00:09:35.080 medical choice. And that's what we've done in Alberta made my my views very well known. I've

00:09:40.040 been pleased to see that most of the companies and operators in Alberta have have gone down that

00:09:46.120 same track. But the question of what can you do? It is a bit frustrating. There's no question that

00:09:54.520 once the wheels of justice roll on certain cases that there really isn't anything a politician can do

00:10:00.600 other than watch it play out. And as cases are decided to see whether that recalibrates the

00:10:05.880 decision making on the two things that a prosecutor has to consider. Is there a reasonable likelihood

00:10:10.520 of conviction? And is it in the public interest? So we're watching these cases unfold. And I think

00:10:16.760 that we'll see that that's the kind of decision making that we have to leave to the Crown prosecutors.

00:10:22.280 I know that's I know that because we've been so influenced by the states, I think that some people,

00:10:27.400 I think that the premier has the same power as they do in the states of clemency or offering pardons.

00:10:34.120 And I've not observed that that's the case in Canada. We just have a different criminal justice

00:10:39.240 and different legal system. And once things have been handed over for prosecution, politicians have

00:10:44.760 to be hands off. So I'm watching it all with great interest. I'm watching to see what those judgments are.

00:10:49.240 But I do have to let that process play out. So my question for you guys this week is what

00:10:54.200 do you think about Annette Lewis? She was a woman who's been denied an organ transplant list. 0.99

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00:11:04.760 merchandise. Two days only. Tuesday, February 24th and Wednesday, February 25th. Open your PC

00:11:11.080 Optimum app to get your coupon. Do you think that the premier's answer on this is fair or do you

00:11:18.200 think that she should do more to advocate for this woman who was denied an organ transplant

00:11:22.520 because she is unvaccinated? Okay guys, and while we're watching in the weeks to come,

00:11:25.800 this story is related to the last one. CBC News had a big scoop in the late end of the week,

00:11:30.440 reporting on Thursday that staff from Alberta Premier Daniel Smith's office emailed Crown prosecutors

00:11:36.440 challenging their assessment and direction on charges relating to the coup's border blockade.

00:11:40.680 According to unnamed sources who CBC agreed to keep private for fear they could lose their jobs,

00:11:45.320 those emails were sent in the fall. However, in a statement provided to CBC late Thursday evening,

00:11:49.880 the premier's office denies the claims. They say the premier had no contact with Crown prosecutors

00:11:55.640 and did not direct staff to do so. Quote, this is a serious allegation. If a staff member has been

00:12:00.840 in touch with a Crown prosecutor, appropriate action will be taken. I suspect this isn't the

00:12:05.240 end of this story and we'll probably hear more about it in the days and weeks to come,

00:12:08.760 and I'll be sure to give you an update when we have one. Okay guys, that's all I have for you today.

00:12:11.960 Thank you so much for tuning in. Don't forget to comment under this video and let me know what

00:12:15.560 you think about the question of the week and Annette Lewis's bid to get back on the organ donor

00:12:19.960 transplant list. If you're able to, please consider supporting independent media at donate.tnc.news.

00:12:25.560 Have a great week and God bless.

The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - January 21, 2023

Smith takes on the WEF

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