The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - December 23, 2023


Smith trashes Trudeau’s EV mandate


Episode Stats


Length

10 minutes

Words per minute

186.31757

Word count

1,881

Sentence count

107

Harmful content

Hate speech

2

sentences flagged


Summary

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

A school in Medicine Hat, Alberta is receiving backlash after providing students with instructions on how to safely prepare illicit substances for consumption. The Chief of Edmonton Fire Rescue Services says there is a growing number of serious injury-causing and even fatal fires in the city s homeless encampments. Canada will have to be zero emissions by 2035 under a new electric vehicle availability standard, and you better believe that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has some thoughts.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Hey everyone, welcome back to the Alberta Roundup. I'm your host, Rachel Emanuel.
00:00:04.220 We have a great show for you guys today. I thought there wouldn't be a lot of news headed
00:00:08.260 into Christmas, but there is never any shortage of controversy in Alberta.
00:00:13.020 Taking a look at what we're going to be talking about on today's show.
00:00:16.420 A Medicine Hat High School is receiving backlash after students sought instructions
00:00:20.140 for how to safely prepare illicit substances for consumption. The chief of Edmonton Fire
00:00:25.160 Rescue Services says there's an unacceptable number of serious injury-causing and even
00:00:30.380 fatal fires in the city's homeless encampments. And finally, Canada will have to be zero emissions
00:00:35.860 by 2035 under a new electric vehicle availability standard. And you better believe that Alberta
00:00:42.000 Premier Danielle Smith has some thoughts. All that and more happening now on the Alberta Roundup.
00:00:55.160 Starting with our first topic here, a Medicine Hat school is receiving backlash after students
00:01:01.200 were given pamphlets informing them how to safely consume illicit substances. Pamphlets included
00:01:07.280 information on quote, safer crystal meth smoking, safer crack smoking, and safer snorting. The material
00:01:15.140 was made available by a booth from Safe Link Alberta, a harm reduction organization. The pamphlet was
00:01:21.820 among several distributed at a wellness booth at the school earlier this month. Sarah Anderson,
00:01:26.780 a parent at the high school, told Chat News she was disappointed with the pamphlet, adding that she
00:01:31.300 was so mad and that the information was inappropriate for high school students. Safe Link said pamphlets were
00:01:36.820 not actively handed out and were removed from the booth after a request by school administrators
00:01:42.020 within an hour of the start of the event. In a letter addressed to parents, Principal Dean Brown
00:01:47.140 apologized. He said quote, to be clear, we are not okay with content being shared in our school
00:01:53.260 and we are committed to doing better. We want to share a sincere apology with our students and
00:01:58.840 families. In a statement, Safe Link said that students using amphetamines is not uncommon across
00:02:04.360 Southern Alberta. Safe Link said quote, in sharing this information, our intention is not to promote
00:02:10.500 substance use, particularly in youth. Instead, Safe Link said they hope the information would be used by
00:02:16.200 students who are already using to prevent disease transmission and overdose deaths. Mark Davidson,
00:02:22.480 the superintendent of the Medicine Hat School Division, said the pamphlet came as a surprise.
00:02:27.780 He said quote, as a father, educator, superintendent, and member of our community, I was angered by the
00:02:33.700 materials Safe Link displayed for students. He said the materials were not reviewed ahead of time by high
00:02:39.020 school staff and that they will now work harder to make sure they screen what comes into schools.
00:02:44.240 He added quote, as a result of this incident, we are redoubling our efforts to ensure all outside 1.00
00:02:50.040 agencies understand the need for caution, respect, and sound judgment when they are guests in our
00:02:55.660 schools. Moving into our next story here, the Edmonton Fire Rescue Services says there is an
00:03:00.520 unacceptable number of serious injury-causing and even fatal fires in the city's homeless encampments.
00:03:08.060 Joe Zatlany described the camps as extremely unsafe for the people living there,
00:03:12.340 as well as for the fire rescue service and the surrounding neighbors. Zatlany said there are
00:03:17.640 issues of crime and safety, particularly in the camps that are close to the river valley or near
00:03:22.600 buildings. He described what it's like for the fire rescue services when they have to attend an
00:03:27.420 incident in one of these encampments, saying quote,
00:03:30.080 They're made of materials not meant to build, tents and structures. There's all sorts of storage and
00:03:36.180 materials and items that can easily explode in these structures. People are cooking in them and
00:03:41.360 they're struggling with all sorts of issues, right from addictions to mental health. And it is an
00:03:46.180 extremely unsafe situation and presents many challenges for our first responders. Our firefighters
00:03:52.340 have risen to this challenge and continue to do incredible work for our most vulnerable. He said the
00:03:57.420 people living in these structures need more resources and the encampments need to be taken
00:04:02.040 down immediately. Alberta Premier Daniel Smith responded to the chief's comments, saying they are
00:04:06.940 another example of how, quote, organized crime operating drug markets is making encampments
00:04:11.640 dangerous for our most vulnerable and the surrounding community. Moving into what we're watching in the
00:04:16.020 weeks to come, the federal government has announced that it will appeal the federal court's decision to
00:04:20.560 overturn its plastic span. Alberta Premier Daniel Smith said her government will keep fighting for what's
00:04:26.400 right. Here's what that sounded like. So Alberta will keep standing up for what's right. And in this
00:04:31.760 case, what's right is the fact that plastics aren't actually toxic. If they were, they wouldn't be in
00:04:37.640 nearly every product product in the economy. And Alberta can't regulate or and Ottawa can't regulate
00:04:42.800 whatever it wants by arbitrarily classifying something as a toxic substance. But we shouldn't be
00:04:47.960 surprised by this, which should come as no surprise to Ottawa that we intend to continue pushing back on
00:04:53.820 their unreasonable and unconstitutional orders. We were interveners in the original case, and we will
00:04:59.020 stay involved throughout the appeals process. The stakes are too high to do anything less. If Ottawa's
00:05:04.680 approach ultimately wins, it will be a disaster for Alberta's and Canada's economy. It would destroy our
00:05:10.540 petrochemicals industry, driving away tens of billions of dollars in investment and eliminating tens of
00:05:16.020 thousands of jobs. And it will harm the progress that's occurring in plastics reuse and recycling.
00:05:21.140 Ottawa should listen to these objections. They come from the courts and the constitution
00:05:25.860 and the provinces and the people Ottawa claims to serve. And finally, moving into the controversy of
00:05:31.180 the week, the federal government has announced that all new vehicles in Canada must be electric
00:05:36.320 vehicles by 2035. That falls under its new electric vehicle availability standard. The federal government
00:05:43.100 is pitching the program as a means to ensure that EVs are available quickly for people who want to get
00:05:48.660 them. Which is interesting when you consider how little uptake there's been on electric vehicles
00:05:53.460 in Canada. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said her government will do everything within its legal
00:05:58.800 jurisdiction to thwart implementation of the unconstitutional regulations in the province.
00:06:04.500 She added, quote,
00:06:05.300 In another show of total disregard for the well-being of Canadians, the federal government has unilaterally
00:06:11.880 imposed an unconstitutional edict with a bizarrely impossible timeline that will result in massive
00:06:18.180 increases in the cost of vehicles and utility bills, vehicle rationing and wait lists, increased cost
00:06:24.720 to businesses, and elevated difficulty and safety risk for hundreds of thousands of Albertans and Canadians
00:06:30.180 just trying to get to work and family activities in our unpredictable and often cold climate.
00:06:36.260 Later on, while speaking about the announcement on the Sean Newman podcast, Premier Smith said that
00:06:41.620 soon, Canadians will have to put their name on a list at the beginning of the year in hopes of being
00:06:46.820 able to get a new vehicle. Take a listen to her comments for yourself.
00:06:50.520 I'm beginning to wonder what in the world, why this federal government has handed over all of the
00:06:55.600 brains of decision making to somebody who is so clearly destructive, destructive to national unity,
00:07:00.520 destructive to our economies. I was on a show on the weekend and I said, you know, maybe the rest of
00:07:05.060 the country doesn't have a lot of sympathy for Alberta because we have been a major oil and natural
00:07:09.960 gas producer and it has caused tension because we are so wealthy. But if they allow Gibault to come
00:07:15.700 and kill our principal industry, it'll be their industry next. And we're seeing it. They're about to set out
00:07:21.260 on destroying the auto manufacturing industry with aggressive targets that everyone is going to have
00:07:26.540 buy electric vehicles as their new vehicle by 2035. There's no way to force people to buy electric
00:07:33.880 vehicles. It just means what they're going to do is start ratcheting down the amount of production they
00:07:37.500 do on regular cars. We're entering into a world where we're going to literally have to sign up at the
00:07:42.660 beginning of the year because they're going to ration the number of vehicles that are sold into a
00:07:47.460 given market. This is crazy. Okay. And finally, you guys moving into our weekly comment roundup.
00:07:53.340 Jim BD said, I am in complete agreement with Premier Smith's assessment of Gibault. He is a zealot,
00:07:59.280 an extremist, and he hasn't changed from his days in Greenpeace. On top of that, he and his crowd are
00:08:04.960 dead wrong about the imminent threat of climate change. Yes, it is a problem, but not one that
00:08:10.340 threatens our immediate future as Gibault and his band of climate alarmists would have us believe.
00:08:15.240 User KT Jane wrote, great job, Rachel. I am so tired of the woke BS. I've watched both those
00:08:22.520 documentaries and Aaron Gunn has done an incredible job in reporting what's really going on. I live in
00:08:28.020 BC and it's horrible what is going on here at so-called safe supply. What a joke. Don't have
00:08:34.280 a favorite song and not really an X-mas person. Sorry. I agree that we need prayer and lots of it.
00:08:39.300 For those of you who missed last week's episode, I encouraged all of you to go watch Aaron Gunn's
00:08:43.540 documentaries. I believe you can get them for free on YouTube. Canada is dying and Vancouver
00:08:48.140 is dying is a two I recommended. Now, those are not necessarily some light material for Christmas,
00:08:52.900 but nonetheless, I always encourage you guys to stay educated and I think that you would all
00:08:56.780 really appreciate the information you can find in the films if you haven't seen them already,
00:09:01.300 especially if you're wondering why our cities are looking so badly right now with the many homeless
00:09:05.960 encampments that we're seeing and the extreme rise in violent crime. Lastly, I just want to thank
00:09:10.960 you guys for your Christmas song suggestions. You guys really understood the assignment and I have
00:09:16.160 some great additions to my new playlist. Also, just a shout out to the person, I don't remember who it
00:09:19.980 was, who recommended Boney M, Zion's Daughter. I've been listening to Boney M since before I could speak.
00:09:26.320 I listen to them every year. One of my favorite Christmas albums for sure. My brother kind of makes
00:09:30.520 fun of me for that. He doesn't think they're very good. Actually, I noticed that last year and this year
00:09:35.060 they performed in Alberta, so I'm wondering if they do that every year. I had hoped to go,
00:09:39.060 but I actually can never find anybody who wants to go with me. So let me know if you're a big
00:09:42.980 Boney M fan. Maybe we'll have to make that arrangement to go together next year. 0.81
00:09:46.960 Okay guys, that's all I have for you today. Thank you so much for tuning into the Alberta Roundup
00:09:50.660 so close to Christmas. I hope that you all have a very blessed Christmas celebrating with your
00:09:55.520 friends and family. As always, if you enjoy our work over at True North, you can support us over
00:10:00.520 at donate.tnc.news. Thank you so much. Have a great weekend. God bless.