Western Standard - Fighting the creation of data centres is cutting off our noses to despite our faces

00:00:00.000 Thank you.

00:00:30.000 Good day and welcome to the Cory Morgan Show. Back in the studio where I'm more comfortable rather than those field spots out in places. Last week it was in Senalta. We had the first Western Standard Stampede barbecue. It went very, very well. Check out the Western Standard channels.

00:00:47.220 some of those videos have been posted a lot of people very gleefully pelted our publisher

00:00:52.000 Derek Fildebrandt with water balloons along with Mayor Jeremy Farkas and just a lot of people had

00:00:58.220 some weenies in a really good time but it is hard doing those shows from out there so it's nice

00:01:03.300 being back in the comfort of here and a familiar environment I got a good show coming up ahead

00:01:08.060 in a little bit Jay Hill former conservative government house leader he's going to be in

00:01:12.700 we're going to do some discussion on, well, local independence sort of issues in Alberta,

00:01:17.900 the referendum coming up, and some federal issues, of course, in general as well. So I'm kind of

00:01:22.560 curious about where we go with some things after the referendum and some of these other things.

00:01:27.300 So good to see you checking in there, David from Tabor. And yeah, that's a town I've been

00:01:30.340 paying a lot more attention to lately than normal. So I'll get to the title. I've already had people

00:01:34.520 going off at me about it. Oh, Lord, the data centers, the WF has taken you over, Corey,

00:01:38.980 your mind is gone. One person even said they're going to take their signs off their lawn because

00:01:42.660 I promoted it. Well, get over yourself. Guys, it's technology. It's not going away. Let's talk

00:01:48.000 about it. Let's be realistic about it. Let's be pragmatic about it. The advent of AI, you know,

00:01:53.500 artificial intelligence is an inescapable reality, and it is going to change the world as we know it,

00:01:59.140 and we don't exactly know how. It's already impacting our day-to-day lives, and its exponential

00:02:04.580 growth and scope and power is raised from that. Very valid concerns from people. The world's

00:02:09.680 political, social, and economic structures are going to have to evolve quickly to try to adapt

00:02:14.780 the changes AI is bringing. And having discussions on how to best regulate and mitigate impacts

00:02:19.620 from AI is essential. But trying to block the construction of data centers as a response is

00:02:25.220 pointless. And that's the tactics some folks are taking in Alberta. Whether you're enthusiastic 0.99

00:02:30.260 about AI or if you're horrified by it, it has to be accepted. It's not going away. And we're going

00:02:35.580 be better served in trying to maintain control over it than trying to stop it from expanding and

00:02:40.780 it does bring us some benefits guys in particular these data centers can bring enormous economic

00:02:45.900 benefits to regions in alberta and alberta is perfectly placed to host them opponents to ai

00:02:50.700 data centers have worked themselves into an almost hysteric response to them and the misinformation

00:02:54.860 about these facilities has been getting rampant they're just large hubs full of computer processors

00:03:00.940 They do demand a lot of electricity, but so do any other large industrial projects.

00:03:06.660 As with other industrial facilities, they utilize some water, but no more so than any other electrical generating station.

00:03:12.220 And that's all they are is generating stations, guys.

00:03:14.280 The proposed meta-facility is the big one.

00:03:16.620 And in Alberta, it's going to be using a closed-loop cooling system, which means it won't be draining water from the area.

00:03:22.440 As far as power goes, Alberta has it in abundance.

00:03:24.860 People are falsely claiming the facility would increase demand and cause local electric bills to rise.

00:03:29.840 That's not true. These facilities aren't tapping into the existing power grid in Alberta.

00:03:33.540 They're going to set up their own generating facilities using Alberta's natural gas, which, did I mention, we have in abundance.

00:03:39.900 The gas used in electrical generation now is based on world prices.

00:03:43.740 So even if we increase domestic consumption through these data centers, the impact on your household price is going to be negligible.

00:03:49.380 What I find is ironic is so many of the people who have been stridently demanding that Alberta upgrades its oil into finished products in the province,

00:03:55.080 rather than pipelining it out to be refined elsewhere are suddenly supporting pipelining

00:03:59.080 our natural gas out of the province rather than upgrading it for value-added industries here

00:04:03.960 like a data center we should be doing both export the gas and use it here and that's what they're

00:04:09.480 going to do the footprint of these centers is no larger than any large electrical generating plant

00:04:13.880 either they won't be eating up millions of acres of farmland calgary has two of them that supplies

00:04:17.880 the entire city and it doesn't take up much space you could drive the ring road and see them and

00:04:23.000 And META is going into an area that's always been zoned for industrial use.

00:04:26.500 These aren't sprawling facilities.

00:04:27.780 If you want to see those, check on the solar generation fields in southern Alberta.

00:04:31.620 Likewise, issues with noise and power use, they're not going to be any more difficult to manage

00:04:35.200 than they are with the countless compressor stations we have for major pipelines around the province.

00:04:39.420 None of this sort of development and the associated controls are unprecedented.

00:04:43.700 As I said, Alberta is perfectly placed to host these facilities.

00:04:46.380 The cool climate reduces the need for as much power use.

00:04:49.020 The peaceful environment reduces security needs.

00:04:52.080 The skilled workforce is already here, and the natural gas is plentiful, and we have the space.

00:04:56.880 People have waxed on about the need to diversify the economy for decades.

00:04:59.820 Well, here's a perfect opportunity.

00:05:01.800 Yes, AI is going to cause a transformational shift in the world.

00:05:05.440 There's going to be some jobs lost, some professions are going to vanish.

00:05:08.380 To fight this, though, through banning these centers, is akin to trying to ban auto manufacturing to protect the horse and buggy.

00:05:16.580 The world's going to change around you, and the jobs will still change, and you'll be poorly placed to cope with it.

00:05:22.180 AI centers aren't high in labor use, that's true, but they're high in revenue generation,

00:05:25.760 and the billions they'll bring into the local economy will serve the province well.

00:05:29.120 We don't need to dive into constructing them with a wild abandon.

00:05:33.060 We have environmental controls, and we must maintain some regulation.

00:05:36.060 But it'd be foolish to shun these facilities, though, and drag our feet in approving them.

00:05:39.960 We'll lose the chance.

00:05:41.240 Trying to stop the development of AI by hindering local data centers will be about as effective

00:05:45.260 is trying to stop oil and gas use worldwide

00:05:47.440 has been through hindering Alberta's oil field.

00:05:49.800 We could stop local development,

00:05:51.260 but it's only going to push it outward.

00:05:53.060 We'd still be impacted by the AI as much as ever,

00:05:55.660 but the benefits from it

00:05:56.600 are going to be enjoyed in different countries.

00:05:58.520 We can get on board with change

00:05:59.740 or we can get left behind.

00:06:01.040 These data centers are offering a golden opportunity

00:06:03.940 and we must embrace it.

00:06:05.300 Alberta first thing, they're surveillance centers.

00:06:06.880 We don't need a BS.

00:06:08.600 You know, come on.

00:06:09.480 Surveillance centers?

00:06:10.380 Really?

00:06:11.060 What are they going to do?

00:06:11.580 Put cameras on top and look at you?

00:06:13.880 They're data centers, guys.

00:06:15.040 and they're happening if you've got concerns about privacy you've got concerns about the

00:06:18.640 government expansion things like that they're all valid but if you think that stopping ai centers

00:06:23.360 in alberta is going to change a bit of that you're the one who's delusional right now all right

00:06:28.080 not for ranting on that for now let's see what else is going on the news how's it go dave good

00:06:31.120 well explained i thought i thought so but i'm sure i'll get a bunch of people explaining how i i've

00:06:36.160 yeah yeah i don't get them i don't know i mean again there's there's horse and buggy people who

00:06:40.080 thought we shouldn't have got cars too but as you said earlier this is the new chemtrails it is for

00:06:45.440 some i'm starting the chemtrails we get all the emails about that too i didn't know can you edit

00:06:49.600 out chemtrails so thank goodness it's over right yeah i've had enough stampeding yeah did you

00:06:56.160 manage to get to the grounds this year no yeah i went to a few events but not the grounds themselves

00:07:00.640 yes i think i did the western standard barbecue and that was it so it was well avoided yeah well

00:07:07.360 and the western standard one went well it was a good time downtown speaking of avoiding if you're

00:07:11.920 looking for a reason to avoid going to toronto i don't have to look too hard you don't have to

00:07:16.240 look too hard but right now it's got the worst air quality in the world you know worse than uh 0.93

00:07:21.840 calcutta worse than uh uh whatever that chinese shanghai or something like one of those large

00:07:29.840 foreign cities yeah one of those this is all caused by forest fires in northern ontario okay

00:07:36.000 and now the smoke has enveloped uh envelope toronto and the sky has turned orange so

00:07:42.320 yeah you don't want to be going there right now and west jet may not be taking you there anyway

00:07:47.440 sir flight attendants have voted to uh to go on strike uh set for the august long weekend which

00:07:53.840 is a couple weeks away so hopefully negotiations will uh uh conclude on a better contract we've

00:08:01.920 So we've got the Calgary 911 operator has been arrested for leaking confidential police information.

00:08:08.480 So they have been charged with a breach of trust.

00:08:12.160 And a disturbing murder case.

00:08:14.680 You may have remembered the coverage, Corey.

00:08:17.860 A 15-year-old killer stabbed an 89-year-old grandmother to death on her lawn in Pickering.

00:08:25.900 He got 10 years today.

00:08:27.940 The maximum a young offender can be sentenced.

00:08:31.000 Well, that is significant as far as young offenders go for that sort of thing.

00:08:35.100 I guess I can only hope 10 years is enough to fix that kid.

00:08:40.140 Yeah.

00:08:40.620 I would have rather him being tried as an adult.

00:08:43.180 With something serious as that, yes.

00:08:44.540 Yeah, 25 years.

00:08:46.540 Got a good story on a B.C. couple.

00:08:48.480 They live in a condo in Seaslet? 0.68

00:08:52.880 Sheshat?

00:08:53.720 I can't pronounce it anyways.

00:08:55.640 Somewhere on the island.

00:08:56.780 And in their condo complex, they've hung a Canadian flag.

00:08:59.440 Oh, yes.

00:08:59.820 uh canadian patriots and uh somebody in the condo board complained ordered it taken down

00:09:06.140 and this couple of us said no we're gonna keep it up so good for them uh and carney mark carney

00:09:12.460 and his airline food is in the news again uh canadian taxpayers federation have have got

00:09:17.820 access to information showing that he spent 160 000 on food on just one trip 160 grand

00:09:27.120 That's just obscene.

00:09:28.920 As our friend Franco says, that's more than a Canadian family would spend in 10 years.

00:09:33.160 Yes.

00:09:33.940 Well, there's your tax dollars at work.

00:09:35.800 There you go.

00:09:36.660 And we've got a couple of good columns up.

00:09:38.100 Chris Oldcorn is looking at the threat by an Ontario group who wants to prod Kearney into withholding health care payments as a punishment for Alberta's B-11, Bill 11.

00:09:54.120 And Jay Hill, his column is up now, and I'm sure he's going to be talking to you about that.

00:09:58.820 We will chat about it shortly.

00:10:00.060 And a big news section opened up today at the Calgary Zoo, an Asian section, featuring all sorts of wonderful cuddly, some cuddly, some not so cuddly animals.

00:10:11.040 And Leah Mushit was down there, and we'll be filing a video report on it.

00:10:14.800 Right on.

00:10:15.380 Well, you said, Leah, I mean, I know that was kind of one of your earliest media things was getting over to see the pandas in China.

00:10:20.220 Oh, yeah.

00:10:20.700 Yeah, there's nothing.

00:10:21.940 And you know what? 0.88

00:10:22.460 They are not cute and cuddly. 0.99

00:10:23.820 They're vicious little rats. 1.00

00:10:25.400 And they're rather dumb. 1.00

00:10:26.320 And they're rather dumb. 1.00

00:10:27.640 And all their fur is very, very coarse. 1.00

00:10:29.920 It's like a Brillo pad or something like that.

00:10:32.620 Just the airport stuffies are probably the better version than the real ones.

00:10:35.520 Yes, exactly.

00:10:36.440 Right.

00:10:37.240 I look forward to seeing Lee's pictures and everything going up.

00:10:39.660 And I'll let you back in there.

00:10:41.300 I know you're balancing between the newsroom and your football.

00:10:44.820 Go, England, go is all I can say.

00:10:47.420 Okay.

00:10:47.780 If you hear yelling, that might be me.

00:10:49.900 yeah well since derek's out of town that's all it could be at this point exactly good point all

00:10:53.740 right thanks dave we'll see you in a bit is our news editor dave naylor with yes lots going on

00:11:00.300 lots being covered and uh lots happening uh yeah so you see i mean i just see this david center

00:11:07.740 people are going so wild over this and and again so much misinformation look alberta first okay

00:11:12.700 fair enough you know you're commenting and you're speaking you said our water infrastructure and

00:11:15.580 electrical grid are stretched to the breaking point i don't know if you listen to my commentary

00:11:19.900 it's a closed loop thing it's using no water and our electrical grid it has nothing to do with it

00:11:25.180 because they're generating their own electricity in fact they're buying the gas from our local

00:11:30.540 producers to do so they don't ruin your crops they don't ruin the environment they're just

00:11:37.500 generating plants guys you have them all around you already i liked one person's comment saying

00:11:41.980 imagine typing on a youtube chat channel and saying data centers are bad these have to happen

00:11:47.020 somewhere. And that's the thing. They're going to happen, whether you like them or you don't like

00:11:51.540 them. And the issues are going to come with AI and all of those. Again, they might be bad issues,

00:11:57.040 but stopping data centers in Alberta isn't going to change that. It's not going to stop it. In fact,

00:12:01.740 they'll open in Montana. They'll open in China. They'll open in India. We're safer having them

00:12:06.800 here. And, you know, Alberta first saying more than 30,000 people arrested for their posts on

00:12:11.520 Facebook. What the hell does that have to do with data centers in Alberta? Or do we want to ban the

00:12:16.380 internet? Is that what we want to get to? Guys, technology is moving whether you want it to or

00:12:20.900 not. We need to look at it pragmatically. And these are generating computer centers. That's

00:12:27.620 all they are. I mean, how they can be abused, how data can be abused, how AI can be abused,

00:12:32.700 all very valid. Absolutely. There's concerns and we should have those conversations.

00:12:37.100 We should watch how it's going to impact the economy. We've always got to watch how

00:12:42.240 authoritarians are going to use technology and means to step on us they always want to and this

00:12:48.080 will provide them some there's no doubt about that too but the tech is moving ahead and we can

00:12:55.780 be part of it or we could still have all of the bad sides that may come with it

00:12:59.960 and lose what benefits we can as I said there's a reason they chose Alberta for these things

00:13:07.020 and it's not a conspiracy-ish thing or anything like that it's just that we've got the right

00:13:10.720 climate, we've got the right workplace, and we've got the energy and things around. But it'll be an

00:13:18.540 ongoing discussion. We'll see where it goes. There's lots to cover, lots to talk about. I just, before

00:13:23.420 Jayana, I want to laugh. I think I just want to look at it as the hypocrite award of the week. 0.97

00:13:30.340 You know, I'm not going to start a regular one. There's just too many contenders for it. 0.84

00:13:33.520 But the winner this week is our Prime Minister, Mark Carney. In hiring an operative from the

00:13:41.780 Democrat Party of the United States as his chief operating officer in the Prime Minister's office,

00:13:46.380 the man who gave us the whole elbows up, the man who told us to buy Canadian, the man who said we 0.87

00:13:50.920 have to ensure everything stays here, we don't support those big bad Americans south of the 0.76

00:13:55.540 border, has hired an American into a senior position within his office, apparently among 0.85

00:14:01.660 the other 40 million canadians or so nobody was as well qualified as this american that he hired

00:14:09.420 but he's telling you to put your elbows up and not buy anything from the united states 0.98

00:14:15.660 shocker a liberal hypocrite how unusual all right well let's uh see what else is going on we got our 0.98

00:14:21.740 guest here jay hill it's been about time it's been a while since we've had you in it's been a while 0.98

00:14:26.060 it's always a privilege as you can see the studio has changed somewhat uh same place a better look

00:14:32.780 john's improved things around here yeah looks very very professional yeah so you your column

00:14:38.940 has just kind of gone live uh maybe kind of just to start with and then by the way as i said at the

00:14:43.900 start of the show you a long political history a long time as a member of parliament uh the house

00:14:49.100 leader under the harper government and a lot of experience to land with us here uh what did you

00:14:55.500 you write about there with the well not surprising not surprisingly cory i i put my thoughts to this

00:15:02.820 whole issue of the independence or at least the referendum about an independence vote uh that's

00:15:09.220 going to be held on october 19th and and i wrote about that in the sense that it came to me that

00:15:16.640 whether it was intentional or an unintentional consequence of the way the court forced our

00:15:23.640 Premier to word the question number 10, it came to me that the unintended consequence could very

00:15:34.160 well be that a lot of people that are undecided about supporting independence may come to the

00:15:40.540 realization, and certainly I'm encouraging them to do that, the realization that they can vote

00:15:45.780 for option two for independence for pursuing independence because it's a safe vote and it

00:15:55.880 does send as you've said and many others have said sends a message to ottawa that although i

00:16:01.800 might not be convinced that independence is definitely the way to go i am convinced that

00:16:08.200 Ottawa is doing us no favors. The West has legitimate long-term grievances, and they need

00:16:15.740 to be addressed. In other words, say no to the status quo and vote for option two. And that's

00:16:22.080 what my column's about. Right on. Yeah. And I mean, I appreciate that. And I felt kind of the

00:16:25.800 same way. I mean, I'm of the maybe 30%. I want to go. I want out. I made my mind up. Yes, no question.

00:16:31.920 i'm voting for the yes to leave and that's not going to change uh i like to think and believe

00:16:38.220 on a majority of albertans will hit that tipping point at one day but i don't feel confident

00:16:42.480 actually that we were there yet i don't know if we were ready for that yes no question yet this fall

00:16:47.540 now and that would have been a hard cap of maybe 30 35 percent if we'd have gone towards such a

00:16:52.500 vote maybe not i could be wrong maybe we wouldn't have 150 but with this this broadens the amount

00:16:57.320 of people who can take that risk-free you know one last shot perhaps they're sitting on the fence

00:17:03.060 and say I am sending a message I'm telling them it's beyond unless something radically changes

00:17:08.140 we're ready to roll yeah yeah well as I point out in the column is that they don't ever have 0.64

00:17:13.880 to get to the point where that they become uh you know died in the world die hard separatists

00:17:20.100 I want to bring them there but yeah so do I so do I uh like you and I have come to that realization

00:17:26.240 that if there isn't constitutional change in Canada to treat the West fairly,

00:17:31.560 then we never will be treated fairly.

00:17:34.620 And there's no appetite for constitutional change in the rest of Canada.

00:17:39.300 And so this does give all of those people in the middle, right?

00:17:45.420 They're not on the extreme, you know, I'm a Canadian patriot

00:17:48.480 and I'm going to vote to remain in Canada no matter what.

00:17:51.500 And they're not on our end of the spectrum where they say,

00:17:54.600 look, we've been doing this for 150 years or whatever it is. And the fact of the matter is,

00:18:01.460 is that it's never going to change. And we've come to that realization. So we're going to vote

00:18:07.080 for independence no matter what. And then you take, I don't know what, the 50% in the middle,

00:18:12.400 you got 25 on each end and the 50% in the middle that says, I'm unhappy with what's happened. I'm

00:18:19.680 unhappy that our standard of living is going in the toilet. I'm unhappy that I can't afford

00:18:25.420 groceries and heat for my home at the same time. I'm unhappy about the corruption and the scandals

00:18:32.940 that continue to plague our federal government. I'm unhappy that, you know, the so-called

00:18:38.580 climate change laws, which I don't believe do anything to protect us from climate change,

00:18:45.340 These taxes, carbon taxes, are still being imposed by the federal government on Alberta's primary industry.

00:18:53.740 I'm unhappy about all of this and much more. 1.00

00:18:56.900 The wide open immigration that's creating all sorts of problems for our schools, for our health care, for our housing. 1.00

00:19:06.000 I'm unhappy about all of that. 1.00

00:19:07.620 And so I have the opportunity on October 19th to vote my unhappiness by voting for option two on question 10.

00:19:18.820 So do you think if, say, 60% of people chose option two, I mean, then there's going to be the discussion of holding a binding referendum later and starting that process.

00:19:27.220 But do you think that might be enough to encourage the rest of the country to realize it's time to open the Constitution?

00:19:33.160 I mean, I'm not convinced it would be enough, but perhaps for those who want to take that last stab at another Meach Lake or Charlottetown.

00:19:41.340 Well, I think it would certainly be conducive to the rest of Canada and especially to Ottawa and the Liberal Party of Canada who fashions themselves as the everlasting ruling party of Canada.

00:19:54.340 I think it would be conducive to forcing them to the realization that enough Albertans do recognize the historic grievances, and they're real.

00:20:05.960 This is not a few whiners.

00:20:08.260 This is not Albertans, as our current prime minister says.

00:20:12.280 They're just bluffing. 0.93

00:20:13.400 They don't really want to leave as ridiculous a statement as that is, and it's not the only ridiculous statement he's made on this file. 0.62

00:20:21.320 So I think it would be very helpful.

00:20:25.560 Now, whether it actually, as you suggest, whether it actually accomplished the goal of forcing the rest of the country to seriously consider changes to our constitution.

00:20:36.400 As you well know, when I led on an interim basis, the Maverick Party of Western Canada, we put forward two tracks, one of which was constitutional change.

00:20:46.800 In other words, what would it take to address the historic grievances of Western Canada in the way of constitutional change?

00:20:55.980 And we put forward five amendments that were well thought out, easily communicated, and there was absolutely no pickup.

00:21:04.040 So that was our sort of option one or option A.

00:21:07.340 And then option B was to support outright independence.

00:21:11.120 And I and most other mavericks, I would suggest, came to the realization, belatedly for some of us, that there is no other option.

00:21:22.080 Well, a lot of those options in the rest of the referendum questions that are kind of being overshadowed by the question 10.

00:21:28.460 Yeah.

00:21:28.900 All of those, almost all those would call for constitutional change to actually have them happen.

00:21:32.880 They're similar to what former Premier Kenney did with the equalization one.

00:21:36.580 we can all vote 60% or more on saying we want to change it,

00:21:40.420 but it doesn't do a darn thing unless the rest of the country is willing to

00:21:42.920 start discussing it. But again, maybe it was unintentional,

00:21:46.840 but it seems to kind of work for some people who are still maintaining that

00:21:49.560 optimism. Okay. I voted yes on all nine of those. Cause I think we can,

00:21:53.360 you know, make a bunch of changes and I'm voting yes,

00:21:56.320 or I'm voting option two on question 10 as awkward as that is to say,

00:22:00.000 fix these first nine or,

00:22:03.180 and we're starting the process towards the other part of you don't fix them.

00:22:06.140 So, you know, you can kind of, it's risk-free.

00:22:08.420 And I mean, that's the thing too.

00:22:10.500 If they chose option two, we start towards it and a real referenda is coming.

00:22:14.860 You know, it's going to be held and up or down a clarity act one.

00:22:17.980 Yeah.

00:22:18.200 But there was actually movement on those other nine things.

00:22:20.880 And the constitution was amended.

00:22:22.200 Well, maybe the person say, well, I changed my mind on that.

00:22:24.560 But yeah, exactly.

00:22:25.300 And they have the option to do that.

00:22:26.940 Yeah.

00:22:27.380 To use that overused word.

00:22:29.360 They have, they have the alternative to do that when the real refer,

00:22:33.200 referendum on independence comes along whenever that might be a year or two from now so this is

00:22:39.940 by my definition a free vote in the sense that you can vote how you feel and and it's the only time

00:22:48.220 in my lifetime that we have this opportunity and alberta's given us that opportunity and every

00:22:55.460 albertan should take advantage of it and in my mind every albertan other than the sort of the

00:23:02.500 die hard maple leaf center eyes captain canada envisioning uh alberton should vote for option

00:23:11.620 two and give our alberta government the power to continue serious negotiations with the federal

00:23:19.380 government because they won't have that that power if this referendum is voted down so that

00:23:26.580 again whether it's unintentional or whatnot that question that happened i mean giving the benefit

00:23:30.740 of the doubt to premier smith she was cornered couldn't do an up and down question man it's

00:23:35.060 awkward though it's hard it is you know as i've been a part of a tpa and we're putting signs out

00:23:39.300 and everything and for a referendum normally you'd make it pretty simple yes or no show a check mark

00:23:44.100 but option one option two and i got to remind everybody by the way that's of question 10 it

00:23:50.580 makes it difficult to campaign on that yes uh the one advantage is that the government

00:23:56.260 says that question 10 will be the first one on the ballot and so hopefully they stay with that

00:24:03.120 so that that's first and foremost when folks go behind the cardboard to cast their vote

00:24:08.780 so that might help but it's not that complicated in all seriousness because people are paying

00:24:17.800 attention at least those that are and in my column I write about three people that I bumped into by

00:24:24.820 happenstance when I attended a doctor's office and I raised this issue with them and in only in about

00:24:32.220 five minutes of conversation convinced them to rather than a reluctant remain or stay vote in

00:24:40.240 other words option one of question 10 I convinced them that they are quite capable and should vote

00:24:48.220 for option two for the independent side of the question so but of course how do you reach each

00:24:54.560 person to have that five minute conversation that's the challenge well that's part of it

00:24:59.100 because it's not a simple uh conversation i mean if you got to discuss it you're losing that's one

00:25:03.100 of the campaign rules quite often but that's why we got to take this all three months to really

00:25:06.520 have a lot of conversations and that's why in in my column i encourage them the reader um because

00:25:13.680 there's not enough of them obviously i mean western standard wishes there was more readers

00:25:17.340 I certainly wish there was more readers for my columns, but that's why I encourage the reader to think about this.

00:25:27.380 I provided a checklist in the column to say, okay, when you're talking to your son or daughter that's of voting age,

00:25:35.300 if you're a grandparent, if you're talking to your grandchild or a friend or a co-worker or just somebody standing in a line,

00:25:43.880 here's a checklist and just go down it.

00:25:46.320 And one of the questions that you want to ask is, are you happy with the direction that Canada is going?

00:25:52.520 And if the answer is absolutely not, which it is for most Canadians, not just Albertans, then I say, okay, well, then you must vote option two.

00:26:02.640 Well, and we've never seen this much discussion on unity, Alberta's place in the Federation.

00:26:07.860 I don't even think in the early 80s in the WCC times.

00:26:11.120 I mean, there was some big discussion, but it's been sustained.

00:26:14.320 It's been more than a year we've been on this.

00:26:16.220 and it will be all the way into October.

00:26:18.320 Yeah.

00:26:19.500 I mean, it's interesting to see where things are going to move.

00:26:22.320 People are thinking about this and talking about this more than they ever have.

00:26:25.200 And I think that's part of what's got some federalists pretty nervous.

00:26:27.620 Yep.

00:26:28.060 Because they realize the conclusions once people start talking about it, 0.97

00:26:30.440 realize, well, wait a minute, the status quo isn't worth a crap. 0.97

00:26:33.300 That's right. 0.98

00:26:33.940 That's right.

00:26:34.440 And thank goodness that people seem to be taking it more and more seriously.

00:26:39.720 And a wider breadth of the Alberta population is seriously considering

00:26:44.400 this opportunity they've been given uh you and i know it's our the one opportunity in our lifetime

00:26:50.880 chances are it's going to be the last one unless it goes the right way and we actually get an a

00:26:56.240 real vote on independence but uh you know we certainly want people to consider the options

00:27:02.320 carefully we don't want to attack people just because they hold a different opinion we want

00:27:06.880 to persuade them just as i did at the doctor's office that's what i like to remind people of

00:27:11.040 We're Albertans, even the ones who aren't ready to vote for option two yet.

00:27:14.620 And if an Albertan is sitting on a fence, we know what's happened.

00:27:16.840 Somebody gets in your face and yells at you.

00:27:18.600 I'm going to push back and go the other way.

00:27:21.200 So, you know, show the respectful conversation and you can bring people over.

00:27:25.240 And that goes for both sides because we've seen instances on both sides where people have lost their patience, expressed their frustration.

00:27:34.500 And so it's just a reminder to everybody involved in the debate to be respectful.

00:27:40.200 So something I wanted to hit on, I mean, the time goes too quick when we're here already,

00:27:43.460 but you talked about the Maverick and the federal involvement

00:27:46.160 and just something that's been coming into my mind more.

00:27:48.300 I mean, there's some very good people within the Conservative Party of Canada.

00:27:52.660 I think Pierre is a good guy and there's a lot of great members of Parliament,

00:27:56.340 but let's be frank, they're impotent.

00:27:59.260 Nothing's getting accomplished.

00:28:01.100 The Prime Minister's mopping the floor with them.

00:28:04.600 Their base of support is increasingly just ending up out here.

00:28:07.280 is it time to start looking at another reform type option or is that productive or you know

00:28:13.900 well i you know i it's a matter of timing as you and i have discussed it obviously it wasn't the

00:28:20.460 right time for for myself and a small group of friends and supporters to take over the old wexit

00:28:26.400 party and and morph it into maverick with uh with our sort of two-track approach to confederation

00:28:33.920 uh back in 2020 it was at the height of covid we couldn't hold little town hall meetings like

00:28:39.820 like uh you've been speaking at cory so uh there was a lot going against maverick at that time

00:28:46.060 i think the policies that we developed and the strategy we developed in trying to organize a

00:28:53.320 a sort of a western bloc quebecois uh members of parliament that would belong to a party

00:29:00.720 in Western Canada that would only be in Western Canada

00:29:04.160 and would only vote for what's best for their constituents.

00:29:08.180 So we get away from this system of federalism,

00:29:11.780 which certainly hamstrung myself

00:29:16.120 and continues to the existing Conservative Party,

00:29:20.320 that even though people with the best of intentions

00:29:22.640 vote for the Conservative Party federally in Western Canada,

00:29:27.600 And it's not only Alberta, big time Saskatchewan, my writing, old writing, Northeastern British Columbia is always voted conservative, with one exception way back in Pierre Trudeau's time, you know, almost 100 years ago, it seems like.

00:29:42.500 But I think it's time that we had that option for Westerners that they could vote for, as Quebecers have, vote for a voice that would represent their interests in Parliament, rather than having to water everything down in order to try to appeal to where the majority of the votes are, which is in Quebec and Ontario.

00:30:06.700 yeah and i mean right now there's albertans have enough to do getting ready for a referendum in a

00:30:10.300 few months and everything so i just wanted to talk about the broader game because i think historically

00:30:14.700 looking back some of the most conservative government we actually ever had or at least

00:30:19.900 economically was chretien with you guys breathing down his neck from the reform side of the house

00:30:24.860 like we can actually get good policy without being in power being in power a minority government a

00:30:31.100 a piece of parliament i mean look at the the unprecedented influence jagmeet singh had as

00:30:36.700 unpopular as he was because he was a kingmaker in a minority government yeah uh you know a western

00:30:42.520 i would argue to the detriment of canada absolutely to the detriment from coast to coast

00:30:47.600 but that's very true he had influence out of all proportion to the amount of votes that his party

00:30:54.720 the NDP received. And, you know, that's just one of the ways our parliament works or doesn't work.

00:31:02.080 But as you point out that you can imagine, and I used to make this argument as interim leader of

00:31:07.200 Maverick, that you can imagine what would be the case if we had 40 or 50 Western members of

00:31:14.560 parliament belonging to Maverick in there every day, raising concerns for themselves. And actually

00:31:21.760 that brings me into a letter that I saw made public yesterday by the Buffalo Project here

00:31:30.940 in Alberta and Saskatchewan that they had sent under the signature of quite a number of very

00:31:37.520 prominent... Michelle Rimpel was behind that and a few others. Well, there's quite a few business

00:31:41.620 people, more importantly than politicians, that sent this joint letter to Scott Moe and Daniel

00:31:48.560 Smith as saying, look, you guys get down to Washington and represent the interests and

00:31:55.480 the issues and the resources of Western Canada for specifically Saskatchewan, Alberta, because

00:32:02.080 clearly Carney and his government are not, they're not in Washington.

00:32:06.880 And when they are there, they're not there to represent Western issues.

00:32:12.080 And we need you down there, you know, and it's just another instance where Confederation

00:32:17.640 doesn't work uh thank goodness the men and women of buffalo project um recognized and they dug in

00:32:25.300 their jeans and and put money into the pot and they've now uh composed and sent this letter to

00:32:31.720 both premiers saying it's way past time to lead a trade mission to washington yeah there's no sense

00:32:37.840 he's busy hiring democrat advisors for his well exactly and when he does go down there you know

00:32:43.980 he's focused on the auto industry or the Quebec dairy industry uh he's certainly not focused on

00:32:50.520 promoting our oil and gas and our uranium and our potash and go down the long list our wood

00:32:56.480 yeah canola yeah well we'll see what we can do it's always great to get you in Jay uh as I said

00:33:04.380 it's been overdue and I appreciate the column and the insight you know we're in a pivotal time no

00:33:09.800 matter how we look at it so it's if we can get our crap together in the west I mean on a few

00:33:13.940 France. I think partisan and referendum wise, we can maybe make some positive change for the first

00:33:18.180 time in a long time. Well, thank you. It's always a pleasure. I always feel that I need to speak out

00:33:25.060 because there isn't very many that at one point in time, we're sitting at the cabinet table with

00:33:30.020 Stephen Harper that have come to the realization that myself and a few MP colleagues like Leon

00:33:37.380 Benoit and Alan Kurpin in Saskatchewan, and most importantly, Val Meredith, now Fraser here in

00:33:44.980 Calgary. These three other MPs and myself have sort of stuck our neck out and said, you know what,

00:33:54.900 we've been there, we worked hard for a number of years in Parliament, and the system is stacked

00:34:01.440 against us it does not work and I just wish more of the MPs both former and current would speak out

00:34:11.420 because they know the system isn't working. Oh that's it that's the bottom of it all kind of

00:34:15.520 leave it off at that yeah people realize it's the system so you can tinker with the party all you

00:34:20.020 like but as long as the system's the same your outcome is pretty much going to be the same. Yeah

00:34:24.200 it's insanity right doing the same thing over and over elect conservative MPs and get the same result

00:34:31.700 Thanks very much, Corey.

00:34:33.120 Thank you, Jay.

00:34:34.080 Yeah, it was good seeing you.

00:34:35.240 We'll talk again soon.

00:34:37.340 All right, you guys.

00:34:37.860 Yeah, one more time.

00:34:38.580 That is Jay Hill.

00:34:39.600 Always great when he comes in.

00:34:40.900 Be sure to catch his column.

00:34:42.280 And he's been writing them regularly as well.

00:34:44.300 Yeah, watch those news stories.

00:34:45.820 I saw him and Val Meredith and the rest of all those pictures popping up in my social media scroll.

00:34:50.100 What are they doing in their back blast from the past?

00:34:52.880 But they're also bringing a blast of wisdom and experience to things.

00:34:55.700 So that's what's important in that.

00:34:58.700 And we've got to look at things from the West as a multi-front approach.

00:35:05.340 So, I mean, number one, you know, CB fixes all says it'll never work for Alberta, period.

00:35:08.360 That's the truth.

00:35:09.600 And I think what Jay and I are talking about, I mean, I'm not, by the way, boy, we've got enough on our plate.

00:35:14.140 I'm not talking about starting the process to form a new party right now.

00:35:18.220 And I'm not going to start one.

00:35:19.380 That's not my thing.

00:35:20.560 It actually was my thing.

00:35:21.800 I'm not going to do it again.

00:35:23.220 I hope somebody does.

00:35:24.880 But this is the sort of thing that would have to happen after the referendum.

00:35:27.480 And whether it's a strong vote for option two or not, we've got to get something.

00:35:31.640 But I look at it more like Jay mentioned, like the Bloc Quebecois, though.

00:35:34.860 It's not talking about, you know, it's saying we're going to maximize our influence within the system as long as we must.

00:35:41.580 But the goal is still going to be to get out of the bloody system.

00:35:44.060 There's no sense pretending any longer.

00:35:46.740 You know, for those of us old enough, and yeah, it's starting to show how great we're getting, the old reform party.

00:35:51.300 It was actually pretty effective.

00:35:53.020 when reform ended when they decided you know what we've got to go for the brass ring we got to start 0.96

00:35:59.080 operating into Ontario and going east then the party just went to crap to be honest and again

00:36:03.960 there are very many good members and people could say that is the the process that eventually led to 0.84

00:36:09.460 the election of Stephen Harper whereas we had a federal government that was less bad to Alberta

00:36:13.980 than one had been for a while but nothing changed systematically right Jay who was just here was

00:36:20.640 the government house leader in that government. You know, he was right next to Stephen Harper,

00:36:26.080 one of the most powerful people in the country. And they achieved what change they could while

00:36:30.680 they were in. But eventually, Ontario said, okay, that's enough of you guys and put the liberals

00:36:34.400 back in, gave us 10 years of Trudeau, now gave us Carney, and nothing within the system got changed.

00:36:41.060 Why did nothing get changed when you had people like Jay Hill in the federal government? Well,

00:36:46.280 it's because you can't change the system. They also knew that the second you try changing the

00:36:50.860 system, you're going to get thrown out of office by central Canada. Trudeau or some other liberal

00:36:56.460 would have gotten in even faster, even earlier. That's the same reason that Polyev's government

00:37:02.460 voted, you know, a bunch of them abstained, a bunch of them hid, and some voted in favor

00:37:07.720 on ending Rep by Pop in Quebec. When Quebec's population didn't warrant, they were actually

00:37:13.360 going to lose a seat in the House of Commons. That was a very telling moment that not a lot of

00:37:16.480 Canadians paid attention to. It was a few years ago. So when rebalancing based on population

00:37:21.060 in the House of Commons, I mean, we get screwed badly enough in the Senate, we already know, but

00:37:24.560 Quebec was supposed to lose a seat. So Quebec went bananas. And as usual, Canada bent over 0.57

00:37:29.880 backwards to accommodate them, including the Conservative Party. So, well, despite the fact

00:37:34.720 that you guys aren't reproducing effectively enough to warrant keeping that parliamentary

00:37:39.500 seat, we will put a motion forward to make sure that you maintain a certain amount of seats, no

00:37:43.280 matter what. If there are only 20 Quebecers left in all of Quebec, every one of them will be a

00:37:47.700 member of parliament because they have a guaranteed number of seats no matter what. And conservatives

00:37:53.000 voted for that. That's an embarrassment. A handful voted against, a whole whack of them

00:37:59.520 abstained, including Paulie. I'm just, we won't show ourselves to vote one way or another on it.

00:38:03.600 But why? Because they didn't want to upset la belle province because they're trying to win

00:38:07.560 the federal government. So we got to change things. Had it been a reform party in there,

00:38:13.280 They wouldn't have cared. We're voting against that. Would it have changed anything? No, but at

00:38:16.820 least they would have made a principled stand and also demonstrated again the futility of changing

00:38:21.640 things. So we've got a lot of things to work on, but one of the more immediate ones is definitely

00:38:25.720 the referenda that we've got to work on. Let's look at some other news items. Here's a big one

00:38:30.260 that's been on the Western Standard and everywhere else. This was, I think, the New York Times that

00:38:33.480 reported it or the Post of the Church. It was a 33-year-old Canadian woman with real pride in the

00:38:39.280 country i tell you she was on the jersey shore boardwalk and she uh confronted over and over

00:38:44.020 and harassed and then finally assaulted a teenage girl for wearing sweatpants that said trump

00:38:49.040 and ice on them she fled but you know well surveillance footage talk about those things

00:38:55.660 the cameras are everywhere guys including in people's hands and up on the sides and everything

00:38:59.580 you don't get away with too many things anymore she was found and uh because of that she turned 0.99

00:39:03.680 herself in a few days ago she was charged with assault endangering the welfare of a child because

00:39:08.920 Yeah, it was a minor she, you know, assaulted and harassment and obstruction.

00:39:14.220 But now she's in ICE custody, and her husband has literally been crying, oh, terrible tears.

00:39:20.180 They're going to deport my wife.

00:39:21.620 They're going to deport my wife. 0.97

00:39:23.520 What the hell did she expect? 0.87

00:39:26.160 When you go to somebody else's country, and I don't care if she married an American, 0.54

00:39:30.060 obviously ICE doesn't care either.

00:39:32.060 You don't go assaulting minors, you know. 1.00

00:39:35.140 Unfortunately, this idiot's going to be sent back to Canada. 1.00

00:39:38.200 We don't want her. 1.00

00:39:38.920 but they will put her here but this story when it first came out was on the sob story and oh my lord

00:39:45.660 see it's not just mexicans and illegals and everything ice has taken custody of this canadian 0.98

00:39:49.940 woman yeah this canadian woman's a psychopath who assaulted a minor on a boardwalk she embarrassed 1.00

00:39:55.820 canada unfortunately we'll have to take her back like the bratty child kicked out of a restaurant 0.99

00:40:00.580 or something welcome to canada who does she think she is um it's it's it's ugly but it's a story 0.99

00:40:09.260 that's getting a lot of attention it'll be interesting to see what happens her husband's

00:40:12.080 pleading i don't think in the world of trump that they're going to turn around say no you know her 1.00

00:40:16.160 husband cried enough crocodile tears will allow her to stay because we want this violent woman to

00:40:21.600 stay with us unfortunately she will be back here let's talk about some of the futility of change 1.00

00:40:28.600 and bad policies. It's not just the federal government, though the feds are behind a lot of

00:40:31.800 it. BC, look at them for self-destructive economy, screwing themselves, property that they're giving 1.00

00:40:37.380 away, you know, race-based access to provincial parks, all the wonderful things. They're killing 0.62

00:40:43.440 their forestry industry. That's been happening for a while. So now, unfortunately, a large pulp

00:40:48.940 mill in Prince George is going to be shut down permanently. 300 jobs are going to be lost there.

00:40:54.000 and uh they're not coming back and what's going on that i guess their forestry minister

00:40:59.780 does nothing but tiktok videos over there and things like that but never actually did anything

00:41:03.860 with the forestry area but they've been making it pretty clear from the opposition and it's the

00:41:08.000 truth this is like the energy industry and everything else the government is regulating

00:41:12.280 ourselves out of business it's you know as a the opposition member said this has been crippled by

00:41:19.760 soaring log costs, excessive regulation, permitting delays, and growing competition

00:41:24.480 from overseas. So there's not many things. Competition from overseas is going to happen

00:41:31.940 anyways. So that means you've got to make yourself more efficient and compete. It wasn't caused by

00:41:36.980 tariffs. It was bad governance. You see, here's another one. I got to hit the commenters. Okay,

00:41:41.040 here we go. No matter how many times I say it over and over again, people aren't listening.

00:41:44.320 These surveillance control centers, Handel Metcarr, the commenter saying,

00:41:47.600 we use tons of water for cooling. The meta center won't use any water. Let me say it one more time.

00:41:52.100 It will not use any water. You said no one mentions it. Yeah, no one mentions it because it

00:41:55.560 will not use any water. Why are we into conspiracy theories with these things, guys?

00:41:59.520 They're computing centers. They aren't surveillance control centers. I saw a commenter talking about

00:42:03.660 how meta is going to surveil and watch and keep our data and everything. And that person commented

00:42:07.400 from a Facebook account. Think harder. It's here. They're just data centers.

00:42:17.600 the fact that you're watching this digital broadcast rather than having a TV antenna on

00:42:23.060 your roof anymore is because of data centers. They're going to be somewhere. They have to

00:42:27.980 process the data. We send it out. It gets processed. It gets sent back to you. When you type something

00:42:33.700 in to ask advice on how long to boil an egg at the elevation you're at and you get an AI answer

00:42:38.520 back to you, it's because that question was processed in a data center and sent back to you.

00:42:43.500 they're already here. If your issue is surveillance, then we've got to talk about

00:42:48.900 legislation. We've got to talk about privacy rights. We've got to talk about keeping government

00:42:55.060 in check. I fully agree with all of those things. But to try and say you're a Luddite who wants to

00:43:00.120 try and stop data processing in your province and thinking that it's going to have any impact

00:43:05.280 whatsoever on the erosion of those rights, you were very misguided as to where the problem lies.

00:43:11.420 problem lies in our legislative changers not in what is essentially just a large bunch of

00:43:17.780 computers gathered in a spot with a generating plant next to it which if you chase out of here

00:43:23.520 we'll just set up shop on the other side of the border then you still have all of those risks

00:43:28.160 but you lose the money and yes we got to pay the bills so um you know there's a good one from

00:43:36.520 great kazoo good to see you know uh yeah ai is the internet 2.0 it can be used for bad stuff for

00:43:41.140 sure absolutely and it probably will be uh so we got to watch for that we got to figure out how to

00:43:45.540 deal with it you know this is but the ai has ability to democratize many things too yes it's

00:43:50.380 something we can't stop it so let's figure out how we work with it yes hi for one welcome our ai

00:43:56.740 masters yeah i know i'm gonna get it all uh speaking of us let's see senate so let's talk

00:44:01.840 about charles adler and how many people heard about him speaking to sellouts lately uh in the

00:44:05.720 senate you know supposed conservative look at that talk about the broken system right

00:44:10.060 adler who worked with sun news network and was conservative and a radio host and the whole works

00:44:15.820 and then suddenly flips over says i'm a liberal and manages to get a senate seat in the end of it

00:44:21.960 you know he spent a couple of years promoting liberal stuff um and he's in the senate now he's 1.00

00:44:26.880 been saying things like if you buy this garbage this desperate loser is selling you're an imbecile 1.00

00:44:30.400 and other statements like that on social media even the senate ethics code is finally cracking 1.00

00:44:34.800 down on that crazy old man maybe we'll get there finish out with another exaggerated hyperbolic 1.00

00:44:38.740 idiotic posting from somebody sick world that money is more important than life well in the 1.00

00:44:42.720 modern world money is essential to maintain life you will not get health care without money you 1.00

00:44:47.600 will not get food without money you will not put a roof over your head without money you will not

00:44:51.340 get the gas to heat your home in winter without money nor air condition it in summer so yes money

00:44:57.100 is as important as life because in this modern world we aren't hunters and gatherers and grazers

00:45:02.540 we need money we need industries and we've got to generate them whether you like them or not

00:45:09.220 If you want to see how it is in the places like that,

00:45:11.140 you can go to the third world and check out some of those spots

00:45:14.060 and see how well it's going for all of them.

00:45:15.940 And Pepe, yes, I am an expert on the subject. 0.97

00:45:18.160 And I will leave it at that, you paranoid, crazy people. 0.88

00:45:20.380 I do appreciate you tuning in today.

00:45:22.340 The AI centers are coming anyway, so let's embrace it,

00:45:25.160 make some good money at it, and become more prosperous.

00:45:27.740 Thanks for tuning in.

00:45:28.620 I'll get on your case about a different subject next week.

00:45:31.860 And be sure to tune into the pipeline tonight.

00:45:33.760 We're going to break down a few more subjects

00:45:36.060 and political items as usual on this show.

00:45:38.820 So thanks for tuning in.

00:45:39.640 See you next week at this time again.

00:46:06.060 Thank you.

Western Standard - July 16, 2026

Fighting the creation of data centres is cutting off our noses to despite our faces

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