Will Smith listen to UCP members and stand up for parental rights？
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Summary
On this week's episode of the Alberta Roundup, I sit down with Richard Durr to discuss the United Conservative Party's upcoming AGM in Red Deer, Alberta on November 2nd. Richard is an award-winning politician consultant with extensive experience working on campaigns across Canada. On top of his professional work, he is also the volunteer Executive Director of Pro-Life Alberta, an organization dedicated to advancing pro-life public policy in the province. You may have read one of his two recently published op-eds with TrueNorth where he discussed Smith and her engagement with parental rights. In his op-ed, Richard discussed Smith's selective approach to addressing parental rights, focusing on gender-related medical interventions, which he argued didn't properly address broader parental rights and opened her up to opposition from the trans community who say her policies unfairly target trans kids.
Transcript
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Hello, everyone, and welcome to a special episode of the Alberta Roundup.
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If you're watching this as it's being released, then I'm likely at TrueNorth's conference
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in Calgary, and I hope that my speech went well.
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Thanks, everyone, for the ideas provided in the top 10 worst leftist ideas over the last
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As for this week's episode, I had the chance to sit down with Richard Durr and discuss
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the UCP's upcoming AGM in Red Deer on November 2nd.
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Richard Durr is an award-winning politician consultant with extensive experience working
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On top of his professional work, he is also the volunteer executive director of Pro-Life
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Alberta, an organization dedicated to advancing pro-life public policy in the province.
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You may have read one of his two recently published op-eds with TrueNorth where he discussed
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In his op-eds, Richard discussed Smith's selective approach to addressing parental rights, focusing
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on gender-related medical procedures, which he argued didn't properly address broader parental
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rights, and opened her up to opposition from the trans community, who say that her policies
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Richard focused on the issue of abortion, which he claimed was the most glaring example of Smith's
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inconsistency, because a minor can get an abortion without parental consent, but not a vaccine or a routine
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The opportunity is there for Smith to broaden her approach and address the full range of
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parental rights issues, including parental notification for minors seeking abortions and other significant
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By doing so, her government can align itself more closely with the values expressed by the
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party membership, and most Albertans in fact, while simultaneously preventing even the
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perception that her policies unfairly target trans youth.
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It's time for the government to go beyond largely symbolic gestures and deliver real change for
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In other areas of life, whether it's a tattoo, a body piercing, or school staff administering
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Yet, despite widespread public support for requiring parental consent, minors in Alberta are currently
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Yet, if a parent's permission is needed for something as benign as a school trip to the zoo,
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shouldn't it be required for a life-altering decision like abortion?
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No child should face the burden of a life-or-death decision alone.
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Richard and I spoke in further detail about not only key policies, but the upcoming AGM and
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So, yeah, with the UCP's AGM coming up on November 2nd, I'm just curious what your overall
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expectations are for the event, and if there are any key issues you think will dominate
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Well, I'm not so sure about key issues that might dominate the discussion.
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I'm sure that there will be emphasis, and likely great emphasis, on the parental notification
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and gender policy surrounding gender-related medical interventions.
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I'm sure that will play large throughout the conference.
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And then as for Smith's leadership review, which has obviously been a focal point of the AGM,
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I'm wondering if you have any insight into what her expectations might be.
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For example, former Premier Jason Kenney, obviously he surpassed the threshold with 51.4% approval,
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but subsequently resigned because he said, obviously, 51.4% was way below his expectations.
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So I'm wondering if you have any idea what Smith's kind of, I guess, expectations will be for what
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percentage she's kind of going to try and meet threshold-wise?
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Well, I mean, historically, it's always been above 80% or around 80% has always been what's been
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So I would imagine that in her case, it's much the same, and we'll have to wait and see as to
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whether she'll have stronger policy commitments in exchange for widespread support that might
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help ensure that she does receive, you know, the vote of confidence from UCP members above that
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And do you think that's pretty likely that she'll get above that 80% number?
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I mean, it's, I think it's definitely a possibility.
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She is, she has shown herself to be, to her credit, someone who's open to listening.
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She has many of the qualities that embody a solid leadership.
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And it's just, I think there's just an expectation of follow-through that some, that many UCP members
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So I think, I think it might depend somewhat on that.
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And we'll have to see how it goes with, with the, the convention overall.
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I mean, she, she is open to continuing to listen.
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I know there's, for members, there's an upcoming, what would that be, a tele-town hall coming
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So I know that she continues to reach out to party members in hopes of solidifying her support.
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And do you think that Smith's approach to date regarding her, her strategy surrounding parental rights?
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And as you mentioned in your two op-eds with us, focusing on gender-related medical procedures
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has, has resonated with UCP members and even taking it a step further with the broader public?
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I think that though by expanding parental notification requirements to include all medical interventions,
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this would function as a sword and a shield issue for her.
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It would be a sword in that the associated electoral risk that the NDP would be forced
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to manage in having to stake out a position either in favor of what Smith is doing or in
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opposition to it, which would suggest that they take on a position of government knows best,
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which I do not think would be well received by the public at large.
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And it functions also as a shield issue in that it helps to prevent or it shields against opponents
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who accuse Smith of unfairly targeting trans kids.
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So I think if she expands parental notification requirements, as is already passed UCP policy,
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I think it's 206.5B, but you could probably pull that up for your viewers, that requires parental
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consent for a whole range of serious irreversible elective procedures performed on minors.
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And I think that her expanding the criteria of medical interventions that would require parental
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notification would be to her benefit, and like I said, function both as a sword and shield issue for her.
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Yeah, and you had mentioned the policy 206.5B in one of your op-eds.
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I think you said that members had overwhelmingly voted yes on it at the previous AGM, but still,
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Obviously, there have been 35 policy resolutions put forward by UCP members this year.
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So in the past, what have you kind of seen from these non-binding policies?
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And how does it really sway not only Smith, but the UCP party as a whole with the motions that they bring forward?
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Well, as to how much it sways UCP, you know, the leadership in the UCP, so to speak, or elected MLAs,
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I mean, it takes away one additional excuse for them not to do something, if we can put it in those terms.
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And it does demonstrate then that there is support, at least amongst partisan members, to pass policy.
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On the other hand, it also engages the grassroots in policy decisions that matter to them.
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But it does so in a way then that doesn't bind elected representatives to adhere to or follow through or pass legislation reflecting those policies passed.
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And in most cases, I would say that that's probably rather unfortunate if you, you know, of course, support those policies.
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So in that sense, I think that it's important, though, that they, especially with the, again, emergence even in this AGM of additional public policy proposals
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that ask for parental notification and parental involvement in medical interventions that, you know, that should be a sign that there is a strong desire,
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especially amongst UCP members, but it can also be found in Alberta, in the Alberta public at large,
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for an expanding parental notification requirements to include all medical interventions performed on minors.
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And you kind of alluded to this already, but I'm just curious, how responsive do you think Smith has been so far as a leader to the wants and needs of the party members?
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And I'm wondering whether you think that with this leadership review upcoming, has that shifted her responsiveness in any way?
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Well, she is responsive in terms like she listens, and I think that's to her credit.
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However, I would like to see stronger policy commitments in addition to that listening,
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and that these commitments aren't just something spoken in word, but that are legislatively enacted,
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That's what the membership expects of her, and that's not an unreasonable expectation.
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And I'm wondering, what do you think a best-case scenario looks like for Smith at this upcoming AGM,
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and conversely, a worst-case scenario, aside from her, of course, getting ousted as a leader with the review?
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Well, I think there you pointed out the worst-case scenario.
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The best-case scenario, I think, is that she, you know, from the perspective of the membership,
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and from my perspective would be that there is a stronger policy commitment for expanding parental notification requirements
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to include all medical interventions performed on minors.
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I don't think that's an unreasonable position to take whatsoever,
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and again, I believe that would function both as a shield and a sword issue
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that would be politically beneficial for Smith and the UCP party to adopt,
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and that in her doing so, she would, in exchange, get strong support from the membership
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Yeah, Richard, is there anything else I haven't asked or covered that you'd like to say?
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I think the UCP membership has clearly stated already in the past,
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that parents, not bureaucrats, should be responsible for making the terminations
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when it involves serious, irreversible electric procedure performed on minors,
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and it's my sincere hope that Smith and the UCP party leadership
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and enact that into legislation that I think would be accepted
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And will I see you at the AGM, or are you attending?
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and it'll be nice to meet you in the flesh, Isaac.
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Per the policy 206.5b that Richard discussed in his op-eds
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ensure that all minor children are protected from harm
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by requiring the consent of a parent or legal guardian
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for all invasive medical procedures performed on a minor child,
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subject to established emergency medical protocols,
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A few other policies address trans rights and biological sexes,
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which ensures that legislation will recognize, support, and,
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precedes government legislation and does not flow from it.
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Two, provide legislative clarity for the courts
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and legislated legal age limits of the province.
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Three, protect parents who are providing the necessities
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as they exercise their parental custody and authority
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and does not interfere based on religious, social, or fiscal grounds.
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organizations, or individuals in order to limit overreach.
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And five, affirm that the ultimate responsibility
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for a legally defined minor child's health, education, and welfare
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Policy number 8 calls on the government of Alberta to, quote,
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or extracurricular activities on subject matter
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involving sexuality, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
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the teacher of the student shall permit the student
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to leave the classroom without academic penalty
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And two, require that all third-party resource materials
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If you see me there, feel free to stop by and say hi.