The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - Trudeau visits Alberta and snubs Smith

00:00:00.000 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Alberta this week, but you might not have heard because

00:00:03.980 he completely snubbed Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. The Prime Minister flew out west and

00:00:09.300 instead of extending an invitation to Premier Smith to meet, as is custom, he simply appeared

00:00:14.340 on a podcast and then left without any official business and all on the taxpayer dime. It's clear

00:00:20.440 to anyone with two brain cells to rub together why the PM is so unpopular here in Alberta.

00:00:25.400 So I guess that means Justin Trudeau himself is left wondering. I'm Rachel Emanuel and this is the

00:00:31.260 Alberta Roundup. Taking a look at our first story here, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says that

00:00:45.780 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Alberta to attack its energy sector and never even let her

00:00:51.380 government know that he would be here. In a statement, Smith said, quote, next time the

00:00:55.520 Prime Minister visits Alberta, I hope he calls my office to arrange a meeting as he did with the

00:01:00.060 Premiers of Ontario, British Columbia and Manitoba. I await his call. Here's what Trudeau had to say

00:01:05.640 about it. And on the issue of provincial government talking with the government, the Premier today put

00:01:10.520 out a statement saying that it's unfortunate that you did not invite her to sit down and talk today.

00:01:15.680 You're in Edmonton. She's here. So why didn't you sit down and invite her to talk? I am always happy

00:01:23.800 to meet with any premier whenever they ask me to meet. So she should have asked her meeting then.

00:01:30.720 The Alberta government is reminding the feds that its carbon tax has raised the cost of everything

00:01:36.020 amid Ottawa's attempt to rebrand the tax as a rebate. Federal Minister of Labour and Seniors,

00:01:42.120 Seamus O'Regan, announced that the climate action incentive payment would now be called

00:01:47.440 the Canadian carbon rebate. Take a listen. So earlier today, the Minister of Finance released

00:01:53.940 the amounts that households will be getting back every three months through what is now

00:01:58.540 officially called the Canada carbon rebate. As tax season kicks in, Canadians should know that

00:02:06.540 they are getting this money in their bank account every three months. Beginning in April,

00:02:11.040 a family of four will begin receiving the rebate in various amounts depending on which province you

00:02:15.700 live in. In Alberta, you would receive $1,800 or $450 quarterly. In a joint statement, Alberta Premier

00:02:23.040 Danielle Smith and Environment Minister Rebecca Schultz called the move an act of desperation,

00:02:28.780 saying, quote, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Stephen Guibault and Prime Minister

00:02:33.500 Justin Trudeau have the audacity to try and rebrand the carbon tax, a cynical and desperate

00:02:39.600 ploy that will fail. No rebrand will save the federal government from its dwindling poll numbers.

00:02:45.580 No speeches or soundbites will make a difference. Canadians will see it for what it is. Attacks on

00:02:51.360 the fuel that they use to drive their kids to school. Attacks on the food they buy. Attacks on the

00:02:56.180 businesses they run. Attacks on everything. Another big provincial story coming out of Edmonton this week,

00:03:02.080 Premier Smith gave a look ahead to next week's budget. The Premier said that spending cuts won't be needed,

00:03:07.200 but that restraint must be shown due to lower than initially forecasted resource revenue.

00:03:12.980 As well, promised income tax reductions will be delayed till next year. You likely remember that

00:03:18.720 big campaign promise from the spring general election. The Premier spent most of her time

00:03:23.640 urging the province to wean itself off of budget volatility based on oil prices. Rather than raising

00:03:29.940 taxes to deal with that volatility, she says it's time to utilize the Heritage Fund more effectively.

00:03:35.740 Take a listen. During the current budget year, we hope to invest and reinvest approximately $3 billion

00:03:41.360 of surplus and investment income back into the Heritage Fund, increasing its value to almost $25

00:03:47.680 billion. That's up from $17 billion just a couple of years ago. This puts us back on the right track.

00:03:54.860 In addition, I have instructed our finance minister to limit government spending to below the legislated

00:03:59.800 rate cap of inflation plus population growth, not just during lean years with lower oil

00:04:05.560 prices as we expect next year, but also in years when high oil and natural gas prices result in

00:04:11.500 billions of surplus provincial dollars. Instead of spending all that non-renewable surplus cash on

00:04:17.380 the wants of today, we will be fiscally disciplined, invest in the Heritage Fund annually, strategically pay

00:04:23.980 down maturing debt, and slowly but surely wean our province's budget off the volatile rollercoaster

00:04:29.900 of resource revenues. Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner says the federal government's chief actuary

00:04:35.140 report revealing what Alberta would be owed if it left the Canadian pension plan is expected this fall.

00:04:40.840 In a statement last week, Horner said the number will be critical as Alberta decides whether leaving

00:04:46.440 the Canadian pension plan for a provincial one will be in the province's best interest. He said,

00:04:52.040 quote, during the first phase of our engagement on a potential provincial pension plan, we heard

00:04:57.000 loud and clear that Albertans want more information on the value of the asset transfer Alberta would

00:05:02.140 be entitled to if we were to withdraw from the Canada pension plan. The preferred method of the

00:05:07.000 chief actuary involves convening a panel to interpret the asset transfer formula in the Canada

00:05:11.940 Pension Plan Act. The interpretation will inform the chief actuary's calculation. Horner said the federal

00:05:17.460 government has indicated that the panel's interpretation will be available this spring and the

00:05:22.260 actuary's calculation will be given to Alberta in the fall. Alberta's own report projects that by

00:05:27.080 January 1st, 2027, the province's share of CPP assets would be an estimated $334 billion or 53% of

00:05:36.440 the CPP's assets. That's significantly higher than Alberta's relative population size within the CPP

00:05:42.060 framework and the federal government has rejected this analysis. Here's what Deputy Prime Minister

00:05:47.340 Christy Freeland had to say about it last year. In terms of the number, as the Prime Minister said

00:05:54.060 in his letter, as the CPPIB also said, we don't think that that number is right. And I would note that

00:06:12.220 the Ontario Finance Minister, Peter, in his letter, focused on the need for rigorous analysis. And I

00:06:19.100 agree with that. As Canada's inflation rate dropped lower than analysts expected last month, prices

00:06:24.140 increased in Alberta of all places, leading all Canadian provinces. According to Statistics Canada's

00:06:30.060 latest consumer price index, the national inflation rate cooled to 2.8% in January, while Alberta's rate of

00:06:36.300 inflation rose to 3.4%. The report said Alberta's January inflation rate was partly due to a 119.9%

00:06:44.620 jump in electricity prices compared with January 2023. Chief economist with Alberta Central, Charles

00:06:50.460 St. Arnault said the doubling of electricity prices in data is because of a base effect following a

00:06:56.620 government-imposed cap on electricity rates last year. He told Global News, quote,

00:07:01.020 In January last year, we had the rebate on electricity that was put in place by the government

00:07:06.060 that drove electricity prices down. We don't have that decline this year. Higher utility rates also

00:07:11.500 played a role in Calgary's inflation rate, which rose to 4.1% in January. That's the highest of all

00:07:17.740 major Canadian cities. According to the City of Calgary's analysis of the January inflation numbers,

00:07:23.580 unprecedentedly high rental prices have also played a role in the city's growth and inflation.

00:07:28.860 Statistics Canada said that shelter rates rose to 12.2% over January 2023, with rented accommodations

00:07:35.660 increasing 14.4% and owned accommodations rising to 9.5%. City news hit the streets to ask some

00:07:43.260 Calgarians how they feel about the rising inflation. Take a listen. You know, I've got children and

00:07:48.780 grandchildren and I can see they're struggling with groceries and they weren't as recent as five years

00:07:54.700 ago. As interest rates go up, rents are going up, which I think is eating into everybody's cost of

00:08:01.980 living. And I think the groceries just add on to that. The utilities have really gone up a lot.

00:08:07.660 That's my major, the major thing. I'm quite surprised at how much they've gone up. Moving into our

00:08:13.260 controversy of the week, Lynx Air says that it will file for creditor protection as its final flights

00:08:19.580 will take place on Sunday. That's less than two years after the low cost airline took to the skies.

00:08:25.340 The Calgary based company says it has faced significant headwinds this year, including

00:08:29.740 rising operating costs, high fuel prices, exchange rates, increasing airport charges,

00:08:35.100 and a difficult economic and regulatory environment. In a news release, the company touts that it has

00:08:40.140 grown its fleet and number of destinations while doubling its passenger volume in the past two years.

00:08:45.340 Despite that growth and efforts to explore a sale or merger, Lynx Air said that the challenges facing

00:08:50.780 the company's businesses have become too significant to overcome. The company added that efforts are being

00:08:55.980 made to assist passengers affected by the move with those who have existing bookings advised to contact

00:09:01.580 their credit card company to secure refunds for pre-booked travel. Ultimately, this is a bad thing.

00:09:06.780 Less competition means that existing airlines will be able to drive their prices up.

00:09:11.660 Also kind of like that Lynx flew to the Hamilton airport. As many of you know, I'm from Niagara.

00:09:16.780 So whenever I go to visit family, I always try to fly into the Hamilton airport. It's so nice to be

00:09:21.660 able to bypass Toronto with Pearson airport, of course, being the worst airport in the world.

00:09:26.300 I think we can all agree to that. That said, my family has had some pretty bad experiences with

00:09:31.020 Lynx airline. They certainly aren't the most reliable as often happens with budget airlines.

00:09:35.260 You kind of get what you pay for. Despite that, I ultimately think it's a bad thing for us,

00:09:38.940 the consumer, because less competition means that existing airlines can drive up their prices.

00:09:44.620 And finally, taking a look at what we're watching in the weeks to come, I know you guys will be

00:09:48.380 super excited about this story. Chick-fil-A is opening three new locations in Alberta, of all

00:09:53.740 places. Construction begins this month at a new location in the West Edmonton Mall,

00:09:58.700 and they'll be opening another location at Edmonton as well at South Edmonton Common.

00:10:03.020 In Calgary, there will be a location on McLeod Trail. The Alberta locations will be Chick-fil-A's

00:10:07.900 first restaurants in Canada outside of the location. It opened in Toronto, Ontario, in 2019.

00:10:13.580 I'm sure some of you remember the protests at the time. I wonder if we're going to see some protests

00:10:17.500 down here in Calgary. I almost hope we do just so I can go cover them. It's always hilarious

00:10:21.740 talking to those people. I have to be honest, I do not eat a lot of fast food, but I will definitely

00:10:26.220 be making a couple trips to Chick-fil-A. Their food is so good, and I just love those waffle fries.

00:10:30.860 And finally, moving into our weekly comment roundup,

00:10:33.180 I definitely suggest you get started on that. However, because the bar is so high with the

00:10:41.260 recall petition, make sure you're ready to hit the ground running. Have your teams ready to go from

00:10:45.180 the get-go. Don't be scrambling to get volunteers together once the petition is launched because you

00:10:49.500 only have 60 days to get all those signatures. And user at 40 Mile Desert Rat said, someone please

00:10:55.900 save us from idiot politicians and bureaucrats. I have some bad news for you. The only people who can 1.00

00:11:00.700 save us is ourselves. We have to organize and get rid of bad politicians. Unfortunately,

00:11:06.140 when we look at those efforts federally or even just for the Ontario government,

00:11:09.580 the GTA is really screwing that up. But there's still a lot we can do here in Alberta provincially

00:11:14.220 and with the local politicians, especially with the recall legislation, even though, as I mentioned,

00:11:18.540 it is very difficult. Okay, everyone, that's all we have time for today. Please like this video

00:11:22.780 and subscribe to True North if you haven't already. And if you want to support our work,

00:11:26.300 you can head over to donate.tnc.news. I hope that you guys have a great weekend. I'll see you next

00:11:31.020 week. God bless.

The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - February 24, 2024

Trudeau visits Alberta and snubs Smith

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