The Top Stories in Alberta of 2022
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Summary
For our final episode of the year, we re going to hold true to our name and do a roundup of the best political stories in Alberta of 2022. Starting at the bottom of the list, Alberta is back in the black.
Transcript
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It's the family and friends event at Shoppers Drug Mart.
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Get 20% off almost all regular priced merchandise.
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Tuesday, February 24th and Wednesday, February 25th.
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Hey everyone, welcome back to the Alberta Roundup.
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Thank you for joining me for so many episodes this year.
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For our final episode of the year, we're going to hold true to our name
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and do a roundup of the best political stories in Alberta of 2022.
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Starting at the bottom with number 10, Alberta is back in the black.
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You all right, remember that the province's mid-year November fiscal update
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revealed that Alberta is forecasting a $12.3 billion surplus for 2022 to 2023.
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High oil and gas prices contributed to a total revenue of $76.9 billion.
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Now, to be fair, the 2021 to 22 fiscal year forecast a surplus of $511 million.
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And it ended the year with a $3.9 billion surplus.
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So it's been a positive year for Alberta's books.
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Number nine on the list, Alberta ends all remaining COVID-19 restrictions.
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After over two years of restrictions like lockdowns, quarantines, mask mandates,
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and vaccine coercion, Dina Hinshaw announced that people who tested positive for COVID-19
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would not be mandated to quarantine anymore as of August 19.
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The province also said that Albertans with COVID symptoms will not be asked to get tested,
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At the time, Premier Jason Kenney said it's time to think differently about COVID-19.
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Quote, we have to get used to the fact that cases no longer equal high levels of hospitalizations
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Our focus is on vaccines instead of restrictions as the most scientific response.
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Then again, for those of you who are still keen to remember those COVID Christmases,
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lots of my followers, I'm sure, you need look no further than our federal government
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for some COVID paranoia. Number seven on the list. I know you guys want to forget about this story,
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but I'm not going to let you just yet. In late July, Albertans were shocked to learn that the
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province's then chief medical health officer, Dr. Dina Hinshaw, received an almost $228,000 COVID bonus.
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That's in addition to her almost $365,000 salary. That's well over half a million dollars,
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marking the largest cash benefit payout of any provincial civil servant. At the time,
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the story broke, Ministry of Health spokesperson Mark Fettelbush said the bonus is a response to
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the extraordinary additional work from Hinshot during the pandemic. The bonus covers her overtime
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hours, though the department did not reveal how much overtime she worked. At the time,
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then leadership candidate Danielle Smith said Albertans were rightly outraged and stunned
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by news of the COVID bonus. She said, quote, as premier, not only will we not lock down again
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or impose vaccine mandates, we will have a full review into the handling of the pandemic,
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including the role our chief medical officer of health played in it. And as you guys know by now,
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Smith made good on that promise and Hinshot was fired as Alberta's chief medical health officer in
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mid-November. Number six on the list, the Alberta Sovereignty Act becomes law. We have talked so much
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about this piece of legislation this year. Smith's Sovereignty Act legislation or the Alberta Sovereignty
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Within a United Canada Act passed in mid-December, just 10 days after being tabled. This was a huge deal
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for the new premier who proclaimed throughout the United Conservative Party leadership race
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that Sovereignty Act legislation would be her first bill as premier. The government says Bill 1 would
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allow the province to stand up to federal government overreach and interference in areas of provincial
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jurisdiction, including private property, natural resources, agriculture, firearms, regulation of the
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economy, and delivery of health education and other social programs. Number five on the list,
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I'm just going to say it. This is my favorite news story of the year. In December, the Alberta
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government recommended prosecutors don't pursue charges against firearms owners whose guns were
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deemed illegal under the Trudeau government's 2020 order and counsel. A release from the government reads,
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while respecting operational independence on individual cases, the new protocol issued by the
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Attorney General provides prosecutors with guidance on how to evaluate the public interest
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when determining whether or not to pursue charges. Justice Minister Tyler Shandro says Albertans should
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not automatically be considered criminals because they own a firearm that was legally purchased and
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possessed. All right, guys, number four on the list. You guys were very eager to hear all the updates on
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this all year long. Do you remember when a sitting MLA faced criminal charges? Court documents show that
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Mounties were initially considering criminal charges against an Alberta legislature member who admitted to
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hacking a government health website. Former NDP MLA Thomas Dang was charged in June under the
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province's Health Information Act for illegally attempting to access private information contained
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in the Alberta Health vaccine portal. As I've previously reported, Dang has been sitting as an independent
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MLA since the RCMP began investigating his activities. And for hacking the province's COVID-19 vaccine records,
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Dang was ordered to pay a $7,200 fine earlier this month. Dang has said he does not plan to seek
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re-election in the spring 2023 vote. Okay, guys, number three on the list. The Alberta government
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ordered the RCMP to ignore federal confiscation orders earlier this year. On September 23, the
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Alberta government announced it will take action to prevent Ottawa from conscripting Alberta RCMP officers
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to collect firearms. You guys know the details of this by now. In May 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
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announced he was banning more than 1500 models of firearms, including AR-15s. Shandro said federal public
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safety minister Marco Mendicino then asked the provinces to help confiscate 30,000 newly restricted
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firearms beginning in the fall. But Shandro said those firearms were purchased legally and the province
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will not aid the federal government in confiscating them. He said, quote, Alberta taxpayers pay over $750
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million per year for the RCMP, and we will not tolerate taking officers off the streets in order to
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confiscate the property of law-abiding firearms owners. Okay, guys, number two on the list. This was a shock to
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me. Jason Kenney announced he was resigning as premier. On May 18, the United Conservative Party
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had an event in South Calgary to hear the results of Kenney's leadership review. You guys might
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remember, Kenney did survive that review, but just barely, with 51.4% of the vote. I was there and the
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crowd erupted with cheers when it was announced that Kenney had passed. But those cheers immediately
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turned to gasps when Kenney said he would step down once a new leader is chosen. Until that point,
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Kenney had said he would stay on as leader if he reached over 50% of voter support. But no political
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leader in Canada has stayed on with so little support from within their own party. In late
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November, Kenney stepped down as a member of the Legislative Assembly for Calgary-Lougheed.
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He said, quote, thank you to my constituents for the honor of representing them in parliament
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and the legislature over the past 25 years. Of course, guys, with Kenney resigning,
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that made room for someone new. Despite the sitting premier's criticism of her during the leadership
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race, Danielle Smith pulled off a victory and won the leadership contest on the sixth and final ballot
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with 53.8% of the vote. Okay, guys, and number one on the list is, of course, the Coutts border blockade.
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On January 29, the Freedom Convoy rolled into Ottawa and a group of truckers blockaded the Sweetgrass
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Coutts border crossing. That's one of the busiest ports of entry west of the Great Lakes. The United
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States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service is located at this crossing,
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making it a principal point of entry for Alberta's large meat industry. Protesters demanded an end
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to all COVID-19 restrictions. On February 12, due to ongoing protests, the Canada Border
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Services Agency suspended all travel at the Coutts border crossing. Just two days later, the RCMP
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stepped in and arrested 13 people, seizing long guns, handguns, body armor, a large amount of ammunition,
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and high capacity magazines. Four men were subsequently charged with conspiracy to murder RCMP officers.
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Fort McLeod town councillor and organizer Marco van Huygenbos later testified at the Emergencies
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Act inquiry, saying it was time to go because there was nothing left to stay for after those
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guns were found. He said, quote, to me, it became very clear that every objective we were looking to
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achieve was no longer possible, and that our message had been lost. The border crossing was
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reopened on February 15th. Okay, guys, so that's Alberta Politics 2022 wrapped. Thank you so much for
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supporting me and watching my show and reading our work over at True North. If you'd like to support
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independent media, you can visit donate.tnc.news. Thank you so much and see you guys next year.