The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - May 21, 2024


UCP pressures Smith to change Covid vax policy


Episode Stats


Length

16 minutes

Words per minute

172.95674

Word count

2,823

Sentence count

135

Harmful content

Hate speech

2

sentences flagged


Summary

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

In this week's episode, Alberta's United Conservative Party (UCP) Board of Trustees President Rob Smith joins me to talk about their concerns with the proposed COVID vaccine for infants as young as six months old.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.980 Rachel Emanuel brings the news each day on Alberta Roundup. She has her say.
00:00:11.020 Hey everyone, welcome back to the Alberta Roundup. I'm your host, Rachel Emanuel.
00:00:14.760 I am here today doing an extra special episode. I saw something this week that caught my eye and
00:00:20.000 I knew that you guys would all be very curious about it today as well. So I am joined today by
00:00:25.200 UCP Board President Rob Smith. Rob, thanks so much for today. Very happy to be here, Rachel.
00:00:30.680 So Rob, I saw an interesting article this week from CBC News with you in which you were commenting
00:00:35.580 on the COVID-19 vaccines actually saying that you guys, the UCP Board, are urging Alberta Premier
00:00:40.900 Daniel Smith to amend COVID-19 vaccine policy. So just to get started, what specifically are
00:00:46.420 your concerns with the COVID-19 vaccine? Well, Rachel, I just want to say right off the bat that
00:00:52.820 there's a pile of people, members of the United Conservative Party included, that want to put
00:00:59.440 all things COVID behind us. They want to move on. They feel that that's in the past. We recognize
00:01:05.460 there are a lot of Albertans and a lot of our party members that feel that way. However, there are also
00:01:10.640 a significant number of our members and a significant number of Albertans that are still concerned that
00:01:17.120 the vaccine exists and that the vaccine by HS is being promoted for infants as young as six months
00:01:23.780 of age. We as a provincial board, based on the policies approved by our membership, cannot really
00:01:31.920 discuss the efficacy of the vaccines or the makeup of the vaccines. But we do know that there are facts
00:01:40.300 that seem to be alternative to what Alberta Health Services is wanting to implement. And we feel that it is
00:01:46.680 absolutely justified by the party, like the constituency association, Calgary Lougheed, to try to present
00:01:53.920 those facts to Albertans. And what we're urging our premier to do is to the best of her ability with
00:02:00.240 Alberta Health Services, urge them to be as forthright and transparent as they can about all the facts about
00:02:08.320 existing COVID vaccines, including the fact that there are a lot of medical professionals that believe
00:02:14.000 there are serious side effects. So you're saying we want Alberta Health to be more forthcoming about
00:02:20.460 some of the risks of the vaccine. Are you actually hoping to see any change in that policy? As you
00:02:24.800 mentioned, it is being recommended for babies beginning at six months currently. Well, you know, I think it's
00:02:31.420 very fair to say that we have a long history of trust of the medical system in Alberta, in Canada,
00:02:39.100 and that parents have just largely accepted the vaccines as put forth for their children,
00:02:46.220 because they trust in, in this case, Alberta Health Services to be providing the best opportunities for
00:02:52.700 our kids. There are a significant number of UCP members and a significant number of Albertans that
00:02:58.940 think the idea of the COVID vaccine for infants as young as six months of age is off the boil, to be
00:03:06.480 completely frank. And what the members passed as a policy last fall at our AGM, Rachel, is a policy
00:03:13.740 about informed consent, and that there is an ability for Albertans to demand that they have the ability
00:03:22.460 to have all the information presented to them in order to consent to get a vaccine. In the case of the
00:03:29.420 COVID vaccine for infants or for children under the age of consent or the age of legal recognition,
00:03:37.900 parents need the opportunity to be able to know everything. And the challenge is that there are an
00:03:44.900 awful lot of Albertans that are parents that rely on that culture of belief. There are a lot of
00:03:52.980 Albertans who think that that puts a number of children at risk. So AHS needs, particularly with
00:03:59.640 respect to the COVID vaccine, to present all the information that is available. And I mean, we're not
00:04:06.420 talking necessarily radical thinking here, we're talking about vaccines that are being pulled from
00:04:11.960 distribution around the globe. We're talking about leading doctors, we're not talking about quacks here, 1.00
00:04:19.060 who have serious concerns about what this means for anyone who's taking it. Premier Smith has been
00:04:25.740 very, very forthright, and we completely support her as a party in providing choice. We don't believe
00:04:33.340 as a party that the COVID vaccine needs to be taken away, but we do believe there needs to be a more
00:04:39.720 proactive approach to ensuring that people have the scientific information available to them so they can
00:04:46.820 make decisions based on informed consent. So I actually had the opportunity to ask Premier Smith
00:04:52.300 about the government's COVID-19 vaccine policy a few weeks ago. Not sure if you had a chance to see
00:04:57.600 this interview yet, but her answer might surprise you. We're just going to play that clip right now
00:05:00.820 for our viewers who might not have had the opportunity to see it yet. Changing directions a
00:05:04.780 little bit, I want to talk about Alberta Health Services. Obviously, your government's doing a lot of
00:05:07.780 work on dismantling that, changing things around. Just the other week, they came out and they
00:05:12.020 announced that they are still recommending the COVID-19 booster every three months, beginning at six
00:05:15.840 months old for babies six months old. A lot of people took issue with that. Is that a policy that
00:05:20.540 you yourself agree with? I think that we're trying to get a correction with the Western Standard
00:05:25.340 because we think that it was mischaracterized. So I'll tell you what I have observed. What I have
00:05:31.460 observed, since it is a choice for people to take the vaccine or not, 16.6% of Albertans have chosen
00:05:38.760 to take the vaccine. So I think people are making their own decision about what is best for them,
00:05:43.840 whether or not they need it, whether or not they're in consultation with their doctors.
00:05:48.540 And we want to preserve that. That being said, I believe it's over the age of 65, 60% are getting 0.95
00:05:55.720 that booster. And so we want to make sure that in respecting choice, that we're respecting the
00:06:02.240 choice of everyone. There are some families that have made a decision that they want to have
00:06:07.080 their children vaccinated and many who have chosen not to. And so we're making it available.
00:06:12.160 The recommendation really is, though, for those who are immunocompromised at any age and those over
00:06:16.960 the age of 65, and I think Indigenous communities as well, because there's a comorbidity factor with
00:06:22.780 diabetes in particular and some of the other health risks. But it remains a choice and one that we hope
00:06:29.200 that people make in conjunction with their doctor. So not recommending six-month-old babies get the
00:06:33.560 mRNA-code vaccine? The recommendation was for those who are immunocompromised, those over the age of 65,
00:06:40.240 and I believe First Nations communities. I'm sure a lot of people will be happy to hear that.
00:06:43.740 Right. So, Rob, what is really your understanding of the policy? Because after this interview happened,
00:06:48.300 a lot of people reached out to me and said, the COVID-19 vaccine is still absolutely on the vaccine
00:06:52.940 schedule for babies beginning at six months. And I reached out to Alberta Health and had that fact
00:06:57.260 confirmed. So what do you make of the Premier's answer here?
00:07:00.640 Well, honestly, Rachel, the Premier's answer is exactly what the party supports and believes. And when we
00:07:09.440 first broached this issue with Premier Smith, that was very, very consistent with the response that she
00:07:15.760 gave to us. We understand that, I mean, AHS is not the government, right? But we believe that the
00:07:25.920 ability of the government to try to affect the necessary change with respect to that vaccination
00:07:33.460 policy is something that we want the government to do every single thing they can to try to impart the
00:07:42.180 change that we believe Albertans actually want. Everything that the Premier said there is completely
00:07:48.520 consistent with what she said to us. And I believe it's actually completely consistent with what the
00:07:53.000 party wants. The idea, though, of AHS continuing to indicate in terms of the vaccination schedule
00:08:01.600 that infants six months of age should be getting the COVID vaccine is something we take serious issues
00:08:08.520 with. And I think that it's with respect to that, as well as with respect to even adults like you and I
00:08:15.440 that are not necessarily the immunocompromised or those aged 65 or older or part of Indigenous
00:08:21.720 folks, as the Premier identified, are people that are recommended to have the vaccine.
00:08:28.780 That's what Calgary Law Heave and a number of other CAs are supporting them in putting forth this
00:08:34.160 information so that people can actually learn more about what it actually means, rather than
00:08:38.880 fear-mongering. Because, I mean, maybe for some people they would like to take the vaccine. They think
00:08:43.480 they should have it, but they should be able to access all of the information. And I don't think that
00:08:49.460 the party believes that AHS is providing the opportunity for Albertans, parents included,
00:08:57.300 to truly make informed, consensual decisions when it comes to the COVID vaccine and the current AHS
00:09:04.140 policy. Sure. I guess just back to the Premier's answer, the distinction would perhaps be, you know,
00:09:09.000 she's saying that this vaccine is only being recommended for immunocompromised children beginning
00:09:13.420 at six months old. The Alberta Health has told me that it's being recommended for all babies six
00:09:18.720 months old. So what's your actual understanding of what the policy actually is? Well, our understanding
00:09:24.360 is, I mean, it's AHS's policy. And so what you just said, Rachel, is absolutely correct. And that's
00:09:32.200 what I believe it's fair to say, based on the policies that have been approved by the membership of
00:09:37.820 the United Conservative Party, we have serious issues with that. We believe that the Premier in
00:09:49.960 talking about the choice being offered to Albertans is very, very important. I think we have a Premier
00:09:55.380 and a government that's very, very focused on allowing people to make their own choices.
00:09:59.900 But when you consider the trust in the medical system that we've historically had,
00:10:04.560 we just don't believe as a party that the information is presented as it needs to be
00:10:11.020 presented for people to make informed consent, particularly when it comes to children.
00:10:16.160 So you've mentioned you already raised this with the Premier. Was she sort of receptive to that idea
00:10:19.840 of having Alberta doctors be more informing to parents of the risks of the COVID-19 vaccine?
00:10:25.960 Well, I feel like when we first brought it up to her, I mean, I don't think that we brought up
00:10:32.580 anything to her that she wasn't already aware of and perhaps was already trying to act on when she
00:10:37.780 talked about, with respect to the Western Standard, trying to get some information presented that
00:10:43.500 indicated that AHS was, that there perhaps was some inconsistency in terms of how that information
00:10:52.400 was presented. We've all been hearing, and I'm sure the Premier more than anyone in the province,
00:10:57.140 a serious amount of concern from people about the idea of six-month-old infants getting the COVID
00:11:03.860 vaccine and the degree to which it's supposed to be repeated based on what AHS is saying.
00:11:09.820 I don't believe that's what our government wants. It's certainly not what our party wants.
00:11:14.240 And so that is serious concern. We really, really want AHS to be, we'd love for them to change the
00:11:23.420 policy. But what I can say that the party has absolutely approved based on policy from last
00:11:28.480 fall is at least present the information based on informed consent. I can say that because our
00:11:34.580 UCP membership have actually approved that.
00:11:37.580 Sure. One other thing I wanted to bring while I have you up is there's a big event happening
00:11:41.920 just in Calgary next month. I know that my viewers will be really excited to attend it if they are
00:11:46.160 in Calgary or to hear more about it afterwards. It's an event really looking at vaccine injuries
00:11:50.900 caused by the COVID-19 vaccine. And even in some case deaths, the event is called the Injection of
00:11:55.920 Truth Town Hall. And it also sort of promotes itself as an opportunity for attendees to mingle with
00:12:01.980 researchers. We're going to have some huge researchers of the COVID-19 vaccine and people who have really
00:12:06.980 been speaking out against it. People like Dr. Brian Bridal, who I'm sure my viewers are very
00:12:11.280 familiar with. Some really important researchers there as well as some UCP MLAs. So this event is
00:12:16.580 happening. The Calgary Lougheed Constituency Association is organizing it. You and I spoke
00:12:21.440 on the phone. You explained to me that the party does support this event. Just my viewers, could you
00:12:25.000 explain maybe how do these things come together? Was it, you know, the Constituency Association
00:12:29.520 approached you and said, hey, do we want to do this event? Or because the party has this position of,
00:12:34.200 you know, wanting to amend vaccine policy, have you guys been trying to organize and find
00:12:37.980 constituency associations to hold events like these? Sure. Rachel, the constituency associations
00:12:46.140 are the course in blood of the United Conservative Party. Our constituency associations are our
00:12:55.460 membership, and they are our members' first touchpoint with the party. So when a constituency
00:13:01.420 association comes up with an initiative, be it a fundraiser, be it a friend raiser, or be it something
00:13:06.680 that actually wants to talk about public policy or social issues, unless they're doing something
00:13:12.000 that is in contravention to the member policy declaration or anything that's in our bylaws
00:13:18.580 or governance, we will support them wholeheartedly. So when the Calgary Lougheed Board of Directors
00:13:25.160 of their constituency association decided to come up with this activity, and this has been a CA very active
00:13:30.880 in hosting town halls, and have actually even assisted a number of other constituency associations
00:13:36.040 across Calgary and even into the outlying areas with organizing town halls, gathering in many cases,
00:13:42.920 hundreds of people together to actually talk about conservative issues. So when they decided that
00:13:49.720 they were going to be hosting this event, there was just no question that the party was going to
00:13:56.440 help put the information out to our membership, and certainly support the event. I understand I've had a
00:14:03.720 number of phone calls this week from a lot of people I hugely respect, some of the greatest mentors of my
00:14:08.440 life, that say, please leave this alone, just COVID's in the past, let's put it behind us. And I completely
00:14:16.360 appreciate that attitude. There's a part of me that actually believes that it would be better if we did
00:14:22.360 that. But that's my own opinion. The party believes that our members are always right. And if our members,
00:14:29.480 particularly in the case of a group as large as a constituency association want to put forth an
00:14:34.200 activity, that they already have, like, I think almost a dozen CAs from across the province that
00:14:40.120 have made motions to support this event. And there, I think there's going to be viewing parties held
00:14:44.680 across the province, or viewing events, I don't think parties is necessarily the right word. But like,
00:14:50.120 this is, this is an important event that I think a lot of conservatives, a lot of our members,
00:14:55.000 and perhaps even some members of the public will be watching with interest to hear from these medical
00:15:00.600 field experts. Do you know which UCP MLAs are planning on attending the event? Well, I do believe
00:15:07.560 that that Shane Getzen is to be part of it. Eric Bouchard, who is the MLA for Calgary Law,
00:15:14.840 he will be in attendance. I would suspect there are others, but those are the two that I am,
00:15:19.720 I am aware of. Well, we'll definitely be watching that event with interest. Rob, thank you so much
00:15:25.000 for joining the show today. I know that my audience will really appreciate your perspective. And
00:15:28.360 honestly, it's just nice that we have a UCP board that finally has some teeth. I don't think any other
00:15:32.920 province has a party board doing work like you guys are doing. So it's, it's actually really amazing
00:15:37.080 to see. And I can't thank you enough. Well, thank you, Rachel. Really appreciate it. We do all support
00:15:41.800 our premier. And so it's easy to get motivated to be an active board when we have a premier like
00:15:46.200 Danielle Smith. All right, everyone. Well, that was Rob Smith, the UCP president board.
00:15:50.520 Let me know in the comments section below what you think of this new initiative and what you think of
00:15:54.280 the board taking action to really speak out about some of the harms of the COVID-19 vaccine policy.
00:15:59.320 I will see you guys all later in the week. I hope you guys have a great one. God bless.
00:16:16.200 Thank you.
00:16:17.640 Thank you.