The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - April 02, 2023


Smith threatens lawsuit against CBC

Topics
defamation lawsuits
Hosted by
Isaac Lamoureux
Mentioned
Danielle Smith Arthur Pawlowski Elections Alberta Leighton Gray Danny Duggan COVID-19 Travis Taves User Fred Nicholson Searchlight Pictures Andrew Stanton Rachel Emanuel Chuck Thompson Kate McKinnon Dennis Modry Daveed Diggs Rob Anderson Doug Ford Bonneville Oscar
Smith has a plan to win in big cities Smith puts the CBC on notice

Episode Stats


Length

13 minutes

Words per minute

171.02

Word count

2,328

Sentence count

139

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith s office has hinted at a possible defamation suit against CBC News, the Alberta Independence Party has turfed former leader and controversial pastor Art Pulaski, and there s some new discussion on whether there will be electronic tabulators in the upcoming provincial vote. All that and more happening now on The Alberta Roundup.

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.
00:00:00.680 Searchlight Pictures presents In the Blink of an Eye on Hulu on Disney+.
00:00:04.760 A sweeping science fiction drama spanning the Stone Age, the present day, and the distant future.
00:00:10.780 About the essence of what it means to be human, regardless of our place in history.
00:00:15.160 The film is directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton and stars Rashida Jones, Kate McKinnon, and Daveed Diggs.
00:00:21.800 Stream In the Blink of an Eye now only on Hulu on Disney+.
00:00:25.400 Sign up at Disneyplus.com.
00:00:30.000 Hey everyone, welcome back to the Alberta Roundup. I'm your host, Rachel Emanuel.
00:00:45.780 I hope that you guys are having a great week so far.
00:00:48.160 Apologies for my exceptionally bland background this weekend.
00:00:51.980 I traveled up to Bonneville for an event, so I am at the mercy of my hotel room and there's not a lot to work with.
00:00:57.200 Okay, let's take a look at what we're going to be talking about today on the Alberta Roundup.
00:01:01.440 Alberta Premier Daniel Smith's office has hinted at a possible defamation suit against CBC News.
00:01:06.840 The Alberta Independence Party has turfed former leader and controversial pastor Art Pulaski.
00:01:13.160 And there's some new discussion on whether there will be electronic tabulators in the upcoming provincial vote.
00:01:18.840 All that and more happening now on the Alberta Roundup.
00:01:21.460 Okay guys, let's take a look at our first story here.
00:01:23.580 We're going to be spending a bit of time on this, but this is not the first time this story has made it into the headlines.
00:01:29.660 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's office has hinted at a possible defamation suit against CBC News,
00:01:34.760 following repeated stories about contact that her office has had with justice officials regarding cases stemming from COVID-19 and the Coutts border blockade.
00:01:43.960 You guys probably remember the first of these cases broke back in January.
00:01:47.480 At the time, CBC News relied on anonymous sources to report that Danielle Smith's office had been in contact with Crown prosecutors regarding COVID-19
00:01:55.680 and challenging their assessment of those cases.
00:01:59.580 The Premier's office denied those allegations and called the story defamatory.
00:02:04.540 A couple weeks later, there was another story this time that the Premier's office had been inappropriately pressuring
00:02:09.480 her justice minister and her deputy about these COVID-19 cases.
00:02:13.340 The Premier said, no, that is not the case.
00:02:16.380 And she said that she's been honest with the public, that she has been in contact with her justice minister
00:02:21.400 to see if there's a reasonable likelihood of conviction regarding COVID-19 cases.
00:02:26.640 You guys know by now that Danielle Smith was no fan of restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
00:02:32.980 And immediately after winning the premiership, she said she wanted to pardon those charged for breaching COVID-19 restrictions.
00:02:39.360 Only a couple months later, she backtracked on that promise, saying she had learned that she didn't have the same power
00:02:45.880 that governors in the U.S. had and that she was not able to grant clemency. 0.99
00:02:49.960 But legacy media outlets have been following the story closely and it's once again back in the headlines.
00:02:55.300 This time, following a leaked call between Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, Alberta Prosperity Project leader Dennis Maudry,
00:03:03.560 and controversial street pastor Art Pawlowski and the former leader of the Independence Party of Alberta.
00:03:09.360 On the call, Smith said she's been in weekly contact with, quote, prosecutors regarding cases stemming from COVID-19
00:03:16.100 and with Pulaski's criminal case.
00:03:19.040 He has several cases stemming from his involvement with the Coutts border blockade where he went to speak.
00:03:23.680 CBC's report argues that the phone call reveals that Smith's conversations, quote,
00:03:28.720 with top Alberta justice officials about pandemic-related prosecutions were more frequent and specific than she has admitted publicly.
00:03:35.740 Now, Danielle Smith's office was obviously given a heads-up about the CBC story and likely pressed for comment,
00:03:42.040 so she actually released a preemptive statement before the CBC News story was even published.
00:03:47.420 In her statement, Smith said that neither herself nor anyone in her office has been in contact with the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service.
00:03:54.120 And she said she's been honest with the public that she's asked justice officials to help those charged with, quote,
00:03:59.000 non-violent, non-firearms, COVID-related charges.
00:04:02.900 In her statement, the Premier continued,
00:04:05.140 allegations to the contrary are defamatory and will be dealt with accordingly.
00:04:09.260 Now, CBC had this leaked phone call weeks ahead of everyone else.
00:04:13.440 But after Art Pulaski was turfed from the Alberta Independence Party this week,
00:04:17.200 a version of the phone call made its way to the Alberta NDP,
00:04:20.660 who hosted a press conference on Wednesday and played the entire recording for the public.
00:04:25.420 On the call, Artur Pulaski tells the Premier he's facing 10 years in prison for his charges regarding the Coutts border blockade.
00:04:33.140 And he appears to blame the Premier for not following through on her earlier promises of clemency.
00:04:38.160 Pulaski faces charges of mischief for allegedly inciting protesters to continue blocking the international border crossing in Coutts, Alberta in 2022.
00:04:48.160 He is also charged under the Alberta Infrastructure Defense Act with willfully damaging or destroying essential infrastructure.
00:04:56.500 And he has a lengthy trail of charges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
00:05:01.180 His recording with the Premier came in January, just weeks ahead of his February court hearing in Lethbridge.
00:05:07.920 Smith explains to Pulaski in the recording, quote,
00:05:10.580 That is consistent with what the Premier has told the public she's been saying to justice officials behind closed doors.
00:05:28.320 The Premier also tells Pulaski multiple times that she is unable to intervene in the legal matter.
00:05:33.600 Rob Anderson is the Executive Director of the Premier's office,
00:05:36.320 and he is also referenced multiple times on the call as a person who has been charged with speaking with justice officials about these cases.
00:05:43.720 He also took to Twitter to describe the CBC's reporting as defamatory.
00:05:47.960 He wrote, quote,
00:05:48.940 These NDP hacks are a disgrace to journalism.
00:05:51.960 How many more defamation lawsuits will be settled using taxpayer dollars?
00:05:56.740 CBC Head of Public Affairs Chuck Thompson told me earlier this week the outlet has not been served legal notice as of yet.
00:06:03.420 He also said, quote,
00:06:04.920 Given we have been the lead news service on this story, it's not surprising CBC is garnering a lot of attention.
00:06:10.880 So my question of the week this week is I want to hear from you guys the electorate.
00:06:14.540 Is this story something that will be influencing your ballot this May?
00:06:18.320 Please comment in the video below and let me know if you think this story is something that is resonating with voters.
00:06:22.740 It's the family and friends event at Shoppers Drug Mart.
00:06:27.160 Get 20% off almost all regular priced merchandise.
00:06:30.380 Two days only.
00:06:31.480 Tuesday, February 24th and Wednesday, February 25th.
00:06:35.000 Open your PC Optimum app to get your coupon.
00:06:40.060 Okay, guys, moving into our next story here.
00:06:42.440 I know that you guys are going to have a lot of thoughts about this one as well.
00:06:45.360 Ontario reported the largest share of residents ditching their home for Alberta in 2022.
00:06:51.280 You guys know these stories make me laugh because I am one of those people that moved from Ontario to Alberta last year.
00:06:57.160 Of last year's top 10 provincial migration patterns, Ontario found itself on the list six times.
00:07:03.980 Each time as residents ditched their home province for another.
00:07:07.140 A net of almost 23,000 Ontarians moved to Alberta last year, marking the highest provincial migration patterns of the year.
00:07:14.940 Alberta was followed distantly by Nova Scotia, with just over 10,000 Ontarians leaving for that province.
00:07:22.060 BC residents are also moving to Alberta.
00:07:24.420 Following that, about 9,000 Ontarians moved to BC, while a couple thousand Manitoban and Saskatchewan residents also left for Alberta.
00:07:32.180 This story comes shortly after the Alberta government launched its second iteration of the Alberta is Calling campaign,
00:07:37.960 which you guys know we talked about already.
00:07:39.760 Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he's not a fan of, probably because so many young people are leaving his province.
00:07:45.440 Okay guys, moving into the controversy of the week.
00:07:48.360 The Independence Party of Alberta says it divided ways with controversial street pastor Art Pulaski because of his, quote,
00:07:54.620 divisive rhetoric, and that the party wants nothing to do with a leaked phone recording between him and Premier Smith.
00:08:01.720 Pulaski was elected to head up the fledgling party in September, but lasted just seven months before the provincial board voted to remove him earlier this week.
00:08:09.960 Party president Dan Duggan said the party board knew that Pulaski was controversial, but wanted to give him a chance because he's such a successful freedom fighter.
00:08:18.560 But he said that after just a couple of short months, his rhetoric turned divisive and condescending.
00:08:23.600 He told True North, quote, I'm talking about Pulaski accusing Alberta Health Services of intentionally killing people or the COVID-19 vaccine being a weapon.
00:08:32.760 He added, quote, I don't believe that the Independence Party of Alberta was any more a good fit for pastor Art than Art was for the Independence Party of Alberta.
00:08:40.880 He needs a platform to be able to share his passion and his message unfettered without any kind of structure that he himself has not created.
00:08:48.080 He said that he had many conversations with Pulaski about changing his tone, but the pastor said he refused to be, quote, stifled.
00:08:55.960 Eventually, Duggan said, the party decided to respond with more punitive measures.
00:09:00.420 So on Tuesday night, the provincial board gathered and passed a motion to remove Pulaski as leader.
00:09:06.500 Pulaski was not informed that the vote was happening until it had passed.
00:09:09.740 In a statement posted to Facebook, Pulaski said the board voted to remove him on his 50th birthday with the charges headed up by a, quote, transgender secretary spearheading this attack.
00:09:21.280 He said the removal followed the board consistently demanding he stop speaking about God, drag queen shows and abortion.
00:09:28.120 He wrote, quote, a handful of directors decided to remove the leader that you elected and override your democratic voice.
00:09:34.660 Later on, he added, in conclusion, I truly believe that this party has been infiltrated for a simple reason.
00:09:46.000 We grew too big, too fast, and we had become a real tangible threat to the corrupted establishment.
00:09:51.560 Duggan said the decision to turf Pulaski has been met with mixed results from party members, with some expressing their disappointment, while others thanking the board for having the courage to speak up.
00:10:01.520 Some say the bubbles in an aero truffle piece can take 34 seconds to melt in your mouth.
00:10:06.840 Sometimes the very amount you're stuck at the same red light.
00:10:10.280 Rich, creamy, chocolatey aero truffle.
00:10:13.320 Feel the aero bubbles melt.
00:10:15.360 It's mind bubbling.
00:10:16.860 Moving into what we're watching in the weeks to come.
00:10:19.060 The Alberta lawyer representing Albertans' concern that electronic tabulators could be used in the upcoming provincial vote,
00:10:24.880 says they are trying to ensure election integrity.
00:10:27.420 On Monday, Alberta litigator Leighton Gray of Greywalk Spencer LLP sent a letter to Elections Alberta saying he represents the many Albertans who don't want electronic tabulators used in the upcoming provincial vote.
00:10:39.540 Gray said the intention of the letter is to ensure that Elections Alberta hand counts the ballots and that it keeps all ballots for three months following the provincial vote.
00:10:47.940 As is stipulated under the Alberta Election Act, he told True North, quote,
00:10:52.160 So that's really the impetus for it.
00:10:53.680 It's just an expression of public concern.
00:10:55.880 We want to make sure because this is really important.
00:10:58.660 And we're concerned that the result that comes out of it is accurate and correct and done according to law.
00:11:03.960 In the letter, he argues that the Alberta Election Act clearly intends for the hand counting of ballots.
00:11:08.500 The letter says, quote,
00:11:09.260 Gray said he hasn't yet received a response from Elections Alberta and neither did I until just before I went to film this podcast.
00:11:25.380 I got an email back from them and Elections Alberta confirmed that they plan to use tabulator for the advanced vote only.
00:11:31.780 Elections Alberta said, quote,
00:11:32.880 As I mentioned, I only just received the news that they had planned to use electronic tabulators
00:12:02.520 in the upcoming provincial vote for the advanced vote.
00:12:05.360 So I'm sure that I will have more to say on this next week,
00:12:08.100 as many of you have expressed concern to me about the possibility of electronic tabulators being used at all.
00:12:14.960 Okay, guys.
00:12:15.520 And before I move into my weekly comment roundup, I want to issue a very quick correction.
00:12:19.420 Last week, I accidentally said that Finance Minister Travis Taves came second last in the UCP leadership contest.
00:12:25.220 That is, of course, not correct.
00:12:26.660 He came in second place out of a field of very competitive candidates.
00:12:30.420 So thank you to one of my users who flagged that for me.
00:12:33.440 I'm sure most of you guys picked up on that mistake right away.
00:12:36.240 But I just wanted to make sure that I corrected the record on that.
00:12:38.980 And my apologies to Mr. Taves.
00:12:41.320 Okay, guys, let's move into our weekly comment roundup now.
00:12:44.760 Last week, you guys commented about the NDP's proposal to offer Somali curriculum,
00:12:48.900 if elected government, and you guys had a lot to say about it.
00:12:52.480 User Fred Nicholson said, last time I checked, we live in Alberta, not Somalia.
00:12:56.340 Speaking the truth, 2019 wrote, we only have two official languages in this country.
00:13:02.140 Teach newcomers that.
00:13:03.580 Parents and families can teach their language and culture.
00:13:07.460 And Strategic Media wrote, every nationality in Canada has their own community.
00:13:11.860 They can learn their culture, whatever is needed in there.
00:13:14.520 We have more important issues to resolve than the NDP's wish list.
00:13:18.400 So there you have it.
00:13:19.060 My users are speaking truth to the NDP, who we can only hope listen to every episode of the Alberta Roundup.
00:13:24.740 Okay, guys, that's all I have for you today.
00:13:26.600 Thank you so much for tuning in.
00:13:28.260 As always, if you're able, please consider supporting independent media.
00:13:31.460 You can do that over at donate.tnc.news.
00:13:34.460 Thank you so much.
00:13:35.340 Have a great weekend and God bless.