Trudeau despises a free press
Episode Stats
Words per minute
174.52504
Harmful content
Hate speech
1
sentences flagged
Summary
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Alberta this week, and this time he took a few minutes out of his schedule to meet with the Premier. However, that didn t stop him from blacklisting the second most popular conservative female in Alberta. Rachel spent the day on Wednesday trying to track the PM down, but was foiled at every turn by hotel staff, by city police, and by weak-minded security at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. To add insult to injury, the Prime Minister then addressed media about the importance of a free press.
Transcript
00:00:00.000
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Alberta again this week, and this time he took a few
00:00:04.400
minutes out of his schedule to meet with the Premier. However, that didn't stop him from
00:00:08.460
blacklisting the second most popular conservative female in Alberta, yours truly, spent the day on
00:00:13.820
Wednesday trying to track the Prime Minister down, but was foiled at every turn by hotel staff,
00:00:19.880
by city police, the RCMP, and by weak-minded security at the Southern Alberta Institute of
00:00:25.440
Technology. To add insult to injury, the Prime Minister then addressed media about the importance
00:00:30.260
of a free press to hold officials to account. That's not the first time we've seen astonishing
00:00:36.460
levels of hypocrisy from the Prime Minister. Under his direction, independent reporters were
00:00:41.640
barred from his press conference and then threatened with arrest for showing up. Fear of
00:00:47.760
free debate has rotted all of our institutions, and there's no one more afraid than the Prime
00:00:52.480
Minister himself. I'm Rachel Emanuel, and this is the Alberta Roundup.
00:01:04.740
Taking a look at our first story here, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told Prime Minister Justin
00:01:09.460
Trudeau that cancelling the scheduled increase to the carbon tax would be a, quote, political win,
00:01:15.240
end quote, at a time when the Liberals desperately need one. The two leaders met in Calgary at the
00:01:20.800
Sheraton Hotel early on Wednesday morning, and although they attempted to keep that location
00:01:25.460
secret, you better believe I found them there. Justin Trudeau's polling numbers are in the toilet
00:01:30.500
nationwide, but especially in the West, and his recent trips to Alberta have attracted hordes of
00:01:36.000
protesters. In an exclusive interview with True North and the Countersignal as she left the hotel to
00:01:40.920
return to Edmonton, Premier Smith told us that she urged Justin Trudeau to cancel the scheduled
00:01:46.620
increase to the carbon tax. Take a listen. And I also told him it'd be a political win if he
00:01:51.460
paused the increase in the carbon tax on April 1st. According to legacy media pool reporters who
00:01:56.780
were allowed in the room with Trudeau, the Prime Minister reminded Danielle Smith that as the carbon
00:02:02.320
tax goes up, so do rebates. The Trudeau government will be raising the carbon tax an additional 17 cents
00:02:08.220
per liter of gasoline, 21 cents per liter of diesel, and 15 cents per cubic meter of natural gas on April
00:02:15.260
1st. Seven premiers have called on the Prime Minister to cancel this increase. Meanwhile,
00:02:20.700
Federal Conservative leader Pierre Polyev is calling on Canadians to protest the carbon tax
00:02:24.960
outside of Liberal and NDP MPs' offices. I asked Danielle Smith what she thinks about that. Take a
00:02:31.100
listen. Well, I'd have to say, I mean, we've got seven premiers now that have all asked for a pause,
00:02:35.760
and there's a reason for that, is that I think the Parliamentary Budget Office found that regardless of
00:02:40.940
the rebates, we're still paying more in the tax than any of us are getting back in the rebates.
00:02:44.600
People know that, they feel it. They're also seeing that that's having an impact on inflation,
00:02:49.060
and inflation is one of the reasons the Bank of Canada says that we can't see a reduction in
00:02:53.080
interest rates, which is hurting people when they go to renew their mortgage. So I do think it would
00:02:57.660
be a political win to say we're accomplishing enough with the tax at $60 per tonne. We don't
00:03:03.400
need to increase it anymore at this time. We have to be addressing affordability issues. So we'll see
00:03:09.340
if, whether it's the protests, whether it's the opposition leader, whether it's the premiers weighing in on this
00:03:13.880
will make a difference. Following his meeting with the Premier, Trudeau headed to the Southern Alberta
00:03:17.740
Institute of Technology, where he had a press conference. Despite emailing the Prime Minister's
00:03:22.080
office to register for accreditation the night before, True North was not given access to the
00:03:27.140
press conference. And when I showed up to ask Justin Trudeau a question, state security asked me to leave
00:03:33.340
or said I would be charged with trespassing. It's very interesting that the school does not
00:03:37.980
support journalists, despite having a journalism program of its own.
00:03:48.300
At that press conference, Trudeau went on a tirade about how Canadians must reduce their emissions and
00:03:58.280
why the carbon tax is so important. Take a listen.
00:04:01.340
There are real challenges in the world right now. And one of the challenges everybody is seeing
00:04:07.980
is climate change. Alberta declared a start to its forest fire season in February this year.
00:04:16.500
We had one of the worst years for wildfires ever, on top of some of the worst years for druds,
00:04:22.480
floods and droughts in different parts of the country as well.
00:04:55.600
Okay guys, moving on to our next story here. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith appeared on Ryan
00:05:05.500
Jesperson's podcast this week, where he asked the Premier how she feels about the Red Deer Catholic
00:05:10.900
School Board banning the use of pronouns in staff emails and course outlines, as well as banning pride
00:05:18.140
flags. Here's what the Premier had to say about it.
00:05:20.400
I mean, look, we want to create safe and caring spaces for kids. We do. And we want kids to be
00:05:25.940
able to have the opportunity to talk to their friends, talk to a trusted teacher. If they're
00:05:31.540
having issues going through puberty, if they have same-sex attraction, if they have gender identity
00:05:37.540
struggles, those are important conversations to have. Where we are going is that when a child
00:05:46.740
makes the choice to come out to the school community, change their pronouns, change who
00:05:52.020
they are, you have to have parents included in that conversation. So I would say that perhaps
00:05:57.040
they're going in a direction that is inconsistent with what it is that we're trying to do. We want
00:06:03.180
to make sure that all kids feel safe. No one is outed and that we have a process in place to help
00:06:12.620
Okay guys, it's finally happening. This is the story we've all been waiting for. Dippers across
00:06:17.960
the province are saying that they're preparing an exit strategy in case Daniel Smith remains
00:06:22.720
Premier of the province. Let's take a look at this. Greg Coulahan, the former NDP MLA for Calgary
00:06:28.560
Klein posted on X this week saying, quote, anyone else talking to their kids about them having an exit
00:06:34.440
strategy out of Alberta if it remains under Daniel Smith's control? Question mark. Well, Mr. Coulahan,
00:06:40.480
you are welcome to leave. No skin off our back, but let's dive into some of the comments underneath
00:06:45.820
his post because they are hilarious. User Jack said, this isn't an airport. There's no need to
00:06:52.120
announce you're leaving. A user named Rose reminded Coulahan of something we cover very often on the
00:06:57.060
show. And that's that it seems most people are trying to move to Alberta under the UCP government.
00:07:02.980
She said, most people I know are trying to move there, especially if they have children. Alberta is
00:07:07.380
protecting minors from groomers better than any other province. And Premier Smith is looking after
00:07:12.160
the interests of her people. To which Coulahan predictably said, no more bigots welcome have
00:07:17.300
enough. And a user named Alberta succession came in with the hottest response writing, I hear Venezuela
00:07:23.000
and Cuba are nice places to live. Likely more in line with you ideologically. It would actually be
00:07:28.940
nice if some of the dipper has left this province to make room for all the conservatives moving here,
00:07:33.100
which leads me to my next story. And that is that rents are increasing in Alberta more than any other
00:07:37.920
province in Canada. Rent in Alberta has increased by 20% since the same time last year, according to
00:07:43.560
a new report by Urban Nation. Between March, 2024 and 2023, Calgary's average rent has increased by
00:07:50.800
10.6%, while Edmonton's average rent has increased by 17.3%. That's greater than any other of the
00:07:58.040
country's largest cities. Despite the rent increases in Calgary and Edmonton, the cities ranked 16th and
00:08:04.560
23rd respectively for price ranking from a dollar perspective out of Canada's 25 largest
00:08:09.980
municipalities. I asked Premier Smith this week if it's time to end the Alberta is calling campaign
00:08:15.100
because rent is spiking so much. Here's what she had to say about it.
00:08:18.360
We do need to have more skilled workers coming to build those houses. So our next phase of it is going
00:08:23.220
to be the launch of our Alberta's calling tax credit that is targeted specifically at those
00:08:28.080
building trades jobs. We know that Dow Chemical, for instance, is going to need 6,000 to 8,000
00:08:33.020
construction workers. And so we will have a very focused campaign to make sure that we're bringing
00:08:39.360
people in with the skills that our economy still needs.
00:08:42.340
And while we're hoping that dippers will start leaving the province, they might stick around to see
00:08:46.420
who will win the Alberta NDP leadership race. The deadline to enter that contest ended on Friday,
00:08:52.020
and we have six candidates who will be running for the next leader of the Alberta NDP. Let's take a
00:08:57.880
look at those. Calgary MLA and energy critic Kathleen Gainley was the first candidate to throw her hat in
00:09:03.720
the ring. She was followed by Sarah Hoffman, the former health minister under the Alberta NDP
00:09:09.120
government. As well, we have Raki Panchali. She is an Edmonton area MLA, and she is also a lawyer.
00:09:15.720
She was elected in 2019. There's also Jody Callahoo-Stonehouse. She was just elected in 2023.
00:09:23.300
Gail McGowan, the president of the Alberta Federation of Labor, announced his leadership
00:09:27.420
in early March. And the candidate with likely the biggest profile who entered the race this week was
00:09:32.000
former Calgary Mayor Naheed Denshi. And he's already taking aim at Alberta Premier Daniel Smith.
00:09:37.780
Our insurance rates, our auto insurance rates are something like two and a half times what they are
00:09:43.240
in Saskatchewan next door. This is direct results of UCP government policy. Setting aside the crisis
00:09:49.740
and family doctors, the closure of emergency rooms, the fact that here in one of the wealthiest
00:09:54.600
jurisdictions in the world, you can't be guaranteed that you'll get an ambulance when you call 911 when
00:09:59.840
you're in need. This is sheer incompetence combined with the lack of any moral fiber. And, you know,
00:10:07.940
Okay, guys, moving into our weekly comment roundup, which continues with this theme of
00:10:11.560
leaving the province. You guys had a lot to say about Dr. David Keegan, the activist doctor
00:10:16.700
who's attacking Alberta Premier Daniel Smith following his adult nephew's suicide.
00:10:22.140
User, a normal average everyday guy, says, quote,
00:10:25.460
He's not wrong that something has gone wrong. Too many people like him living here. After 16 years,
00:10:30.380
I'd say take off and don't let the door hit you on the a** on the way out.
0.50
00:10:34.520
And our weekly comment roundup keeps up with this theme of people leaving the province.
00:10:39.080
In response to the news that I was barred from Justin Trudeau's press conference on Wednesday,
00:10:45.800
In all honesty, admit that you're happy you didn't get access. Otherwise, wouldn't have anything to
00:10:51.300
complain about today. Spoken like a true socialist, you assume that just because you're lazy,
00:10:57.360
everyone must be lazy. I actually like my job and I know the work that I do is important.
00:11:02.360
That's not a question. It's a statement. And it is absolutely wrong that the Prime Minister
00:11:07.340
bars reporters who don't agree with his government talking points from his press conferences. And it
00:11:13.660
also reveals what the Prime Minister thinks about regular Canadians. He doesn't like them and he
00:11:18.400
doesn't have time for them and he never will. Okay, everyone, that's all we have time for today.
00:11:23.300
Thank you so much for tuning in. As always, please like this video and subscribe to True North if you
00:11:27.400
haven't already. If you want to support our work, you can do that over at donate.tnc.news.