00:04:37.840If any blame for our day's situation is to land beyond his own actions,
00:04:41.020it's with the academic institutions that facilitated his falsehoods.
00:04:44.140In their zeal to raise a black man to the highest levels of academia,
00:04:47.540universities barely offered cursory examination of his credentials.
00:04:51.680By elevating him so rapidly and so publicly,
00:04:54.320Cambridge and the broader academic culture that celebrated the hire
00:04:57.320created the conditions for the later scrutiny.
00:05:00.460If media could so quickly cut through the web of lies our day had spun,
00:05:03.880Cambridge should have been able to do so long ago as well.
00:05:06.040But they purposely blinded themselves for putting DEI goals ahead of scrutiny of credentials.
00:05:11.040They put Arday into a position where his fall would be inevitable, and it didn't take long before it happened.
00:05:15.380A quieter career at a less visible institution might never have attracted the same level of attention.
00:05:21.420Arday was skilled in the art of BS, and he could have probably found tenure in a different university until he retired, but his ambition surpassed his sense.
00:05:42.540In fact, there's even a petition calling for the government of the UK to impose a law limiting how many articles the media might be allowed to write on any one individual over a period of time.
00:05:50.260The petition's absurd, but then so is the premise of most DEI-inspired policies, and that hasn't stopped the proliferation of them.
00:05:56.560There are many figures who have overcome challenges and who are worthy of the admiration of citizens.
00:06:01.660Their accomplishment should be celebrated and should be used to inspire others in difficult situations.
00:06:06.440But R.D. was not one of those figures.
00:06:08.400And the efforts to posthumously turn him into a victim don't do him or anybody else any favors.
00:09:31.700So, you know, it might not be a good thing to follow, a good model to follow.
00:09:37.540Well, I haven't seen them collecting tires yet, so that's a good thing.
00:09:40.960We've got Premier Daniel Smith saying if the referendum, if the question of do you want to have a referendum to have a referendum, if it passes, then she's aiming at spring of 2027 to hold the binding referendum.
00:09:56.860She wants it over and done with before the next election.
00:09:59.900So that would be a quick turnaround, wouldn't it?
00:10:05.720Alex, our BC reporter, has got part two of the British Columbia Teachers Association racism training.
00:15:32.800I mean, it'll be more of an educational format, I gather.
00:15:35.520Yeah, the idea, Corey, is say it's on September 19 to 20, and it's a virtual assembly.
00:15:43.720People can participate by it'll be live streamed to be some delegates to cross examine people making presentations.
00:15:52.140But the main idea is to put forward these various options that face the West for dealing with its current concerns and aspirations.
00:16:01.580And we'll have a presentation on the secession option.
00:16:06.800We'll have a presentation on this sovereign province within the federation, which has been the premier's position, the Alberta government's position.
00:16:16.900There'll be a look at, there's been these letters sent to Kearney over the last year.
00:16:21.900There's about 25 items. We call it the list option where people are the premiers and some of the business executives said, if you did this or if you did that, it would alleviate some of the tensions.
00:16:35.260And then there's the remain or stay option. And we're asking the obvious question there, remain and then stay and do what?
00:16:42.700So the idea is to have these presentations, have some cross-examination of them, and let people, hopefully it will inform their discretion with respect to the referendum.
00:16:55.260Okay, so there is then, it's an open discussion by the sounds of it.
00:16:59.440It's not necessarily the event in itself taking one side or another.
00:17:03.960Oh, in fact, we're trying to be very careful on that, Corey.
00:17:06.820If it seemed to be slanted or pitching one approach to the other, then, of course, the other people won't participate.
00:17:13.800So we're trying to keep it as objective as we can.
00:17:18.660Absolutely. And then it's not just centered on Alberta.
00:17:22.080You have former Premier Gordon Campbell on co-hosting that with you as well.
00:17:26.360Well, yes, because a lot of these concerns, the systemic constitutional unfairness, the federal intrusions in the areas of provincial jurisdiction, particularly natural resources, these concerns are shared much broader than Alberta.
00:17:43.320The worry about this is just as strong, according to the pollsters in Saskatchewan and in much of British Columbia and in rural Manitoba.
00:17:52.520So we have delegates, people that are going to do some of the cross-examining from each of those provinces, although the majority will be from Alberta because, as you said, in Alberta's case, there's going to be this referendum on October the 19th.
00:18:07.520Yeah, well, and we have nine questions along with the 10th, which is the one asking about moving further towards a Clarity Act compliant referendum.
00:18:19.440A lot of those nine questions, though, as you've mentioned, we've got constitutional problems.
00:18:24.680This is a hang up that's been going on since, you know, talking about a Triple E Senate in the past, being able to move those things forward.
00:18:32.000And there's a regional interest in eastern Canada to maintain the status quo.
00:18:37.100I mean, it serves them better Senate-wise anyways.
00:18:41.420The final question, I guess, question 10, it offers an opportunity for leverage even if people aren't necessarily looking to go yet.
00:18:49.240I mean, I understand you don't necessarily take a side, but it's something for people to consider.
00:18:55.300Well, yeah, it's one of the options out there.
00:18:59.560And there'll be questions and discussion on suppose some province did get a clear majority on a clear question to secede.
00:19:09.840That's most likely to occur in Quebec before whatever happened in Alberta.
00:19:13.720Of course, Quebec's got a provincial election prior to October the 5th where this is going to be the whole debate.
00:19:20.820Should it be a sovereign country outside the Federation or should it be a sovereign province within the Federation?
00:19:26.140But that'll be certainly one of the issues, and it'll get into what exactly happens if some province did get a clear majority on a clear question.
00:19:37.660And that's where the Clarity Act comes into focus.
00:19:41.680One of the people on our little organizing committee is Jack Major, who was on the Supreme Court at the time it ruled on the Clarity Act.
00:19:49.960Basically, what it says, if someone ever got to that position, say it's more likely to be Quebec, the federal government is under an obligation, according to the court, to negotiate in good faith with that province.
00:20:04.380That would then require some constitutional amendments, which requires seven of the provinces with 50% of the population.
00:20:10.420In other words, if somebody ever got to that, it would blow up the current constitution, maybe create the opportunity for a reconstitution.
00:20:18.780who knows but uh they'll be attempting to make some of that clear because i think some people
00:20:25.360feel if you if somebody did get a clear majority on a question that you could just waltz off into
00:20:31.340independence land unfortunately it's it's not quite that simple no it is a complicated process
00:20:38.380uh but so is is trying to fix things from within the system one of the commenters uh asked a very
00:20:44.680good question uh saying how does alberta's sovereign jurisdiction uh while still within
00:20:50.400canada work you know i mean that's that's been talked about for a long time but we haven't seen
00:20:56.360a lot of actions moving towards it actually things like a pension plan or things that quebec has done
00:21:00.580police well except cory quebec has spent millions of dollars on this and hours and hours that is
00:21:07.580they're a lot further along this route than us but the previous been fairly clear enough on a few of
00:21:13.060the things that that means. First of all, I believe it means increasing and strengthening
00:21:19.520the activity of the province in every area that the current constitution assigns to the provinces.
00:21:25.160Secondly, it involves pushing the envelope in these joint jurisdiction areas, which are
00:21:30.680agriculture, environment, and immigration. That's why I think the first five questions on that
00:21:36.160referendum ballot are dealing with should the province do more in the area of this joint
00:21:41.780jurisdiction of immigration. And then a third area, and here's where you're right, that has
00:21:46.440not been talked about much, it ought to be talked about more by the federal people, is the federal
00:21:52.920government, there are federal statutes which authorize the federal intrusion in areas of
00:21:58.180provincial responsibility. The Impact Assessment Act is the federal statute that authorizes the
00:22:04.220federal government to get into natural resources. The Canada Health Act is the act that
00:22:10.340authorizes federal intrusion in the health jurisdiction, which is a provincial jurisdiction.
00:22:15.960The Canada Infrastructure Bank Act and the National Housing Act are the federal statutes
00:22:21.800that authorize federal intrusion in the area of municipal governance, which is a provincial area.
00:22:27.720And one of the suggestions is that if the federal government is serious, if the Carney government
00:22:31.860is serious in reducing this tension with the provinces, one of the things it could do is
00:22:37.640amend those statutes either to repeal them or to reduce their intrusiveness so there's about three
00:22:44.100aspects all of this involves strengthening the sovereignty of the provinces within the
00:22:48.820federation it'd be interesting to see whether the federal government has anything to say on
00:22:52.920with respect to being being receptive to that kind of change yeah so so back to the assembly uh
00:23:01.200there's going to be a number of other speakers presenters on different things have you nailed
00:23:05.220some down yet or you're still in that process we're in the course of invitations but we're
00:23:10.720pretty sure that there'll be a presentation on the sovereign province within the federation
00:23:16.220there's two of the the secessionist groups that we're virtually certain will be willing to make
00:23:22.200presentations we're still trying to nail down the the remain and stay option because the question
00:23:29.900there isn't just remain or stay it's remain and stay and do what and there's a number of groups
00:23:34.640advocating in that area, and we're trying to sort that out.
00:23:37.480But the important thing, I think, for your listeners and your viewers
00:23:41.660is this thing will be live streamed, and if you put those dates down,
00:23:47.020September 1920, there's a website that explains all of this,
00:23:50.840AlbertaAndTheWestAssembly.ca, and people can tune in to this thing,
00:24:02.260and they'll be surveying done of the people that are live streaming
00:24:05.360so that they'll get a chance not only to ask questions
00:24:07.740but to express their opinion on the various subjects that are being brought up.
00:24:14.040Great. I was going to ask about that, the interactivity of it.
00:24:16.860I mean, some of this modern technology makes this sort of thing.
00:24:21.220It's not like a giant convention booking a hall,
00:24:23.780getting people there monitoring microphones.
00:24:26.220There's a real opportunity actually to solicit questions from viewers and so on
00:25:07.140in which the younger people are a lot more familiar with than I am for communication,
00:25:11.480this is using the technology that they are very familiar with
00:25:14.860and using it to engage in the democratic procedure.
00:25:19.000I'm hoping this thing can kind of demonstrate the applicability of that technology,
00:25:23.600and it could be used to deal with other issues,
00:25:25.400particularly to try to pull younger people into this is their future that's being decided not not
00:25:31.280mine yeah so will there be an admission price or registration uh how are the means that somebody
00:25:35.940well if they go to that website they can register and what the registration does is means
00:25:40.300they'll keep getting notices yeah september 19th 20th this is what it's about please tune in
00:25:46.620but there's no there's no charge or anything like that yeah which is another great advantage of this
00:25:52.160new technology because i mean to offer free admission for thousands of people at a open
00:25:56.620event would cost a small fortune and you have another event you were going to be looking at
00:26:01.800scheduling after the referendum as well so well after we're going to wait until after the referendum
00:26:07.840itself because whatever that decision is another big input into this decision what's the best path
00:26:13.560forward for the west so we'll have one more session of this assembly after october 19th we
00:26:18.840haven't set the date yet and put forward propositions okay based on all this input from
00:26:26.440this assembly and from the referendum and the question will be to the delegates if you had to
00:26:31.640make a recommendation today to your provincial legislature on the best path forward given all
00:26:38.000this options and information what would that be and that'll be the aim of that last session and
00:26:45.540then the recommendations that come out of that will go to the the provincial legislatures and
00:26:51.260the provincial government so i i know you're trying to stay carefully non-partisan with this
00:26:56.460uh but will there be any participation with elected people whether in government or in
00:27:01.400opposition things well we have yeah we discussed that core we we haven't got any elected people
00:27:06.880among these delegates but but all the output of this will actually go to the legislatures and
00:27:12.780And we've been saying to elected people, you'll get a kick at the can after we've got all this input put together.
00:27:19.840But it'll occur in your legislature, not in this assembly, partly because we're trying to keep the political polarization that happens so easily once you get a room full of elected people or even former elected people like me.
00:27:38.840Well, we're both familiar with rooms full of politicians.
00:27:42.780They're a necessary evil, but it can also take things off the rails pretty quickly.
00:27:50.420I imagine there'll be some degree of controls over the discourse or ways that, you know, questions get through and they can be efficient and such in the process.
00:27:57.940Yes, Gordon, it's almost like an assembly, like an elected assembly.
00:28:02.960Gordon Campbell and I are the co-chairs, so we'll be like the speaker and the delegates will be like the members.
00:28:09.820And, of course, one of the controls the Speaker has in the House of Commons
00:28:13.840or the legislature, he can cut you off if he decides you're making a speech
00:28:34.200And you can certainly lend, you know, I wasn't saying the sense of deja vu
00:28:37.640in a bad way in a fully anyways there's a lot of experience that's been gained you've been
00:28:42.600fighting this battle for for some years now anyways and uh uh you know i i guess just this
00:28:49.540this trying to find a different path rather than hitting our heads against the wall over and over
00:28:54.240again is what people really want to do yeah that that'll be the big question it'll be the question
00:28:59.020these presenters if your option was accepted exactly what has to happen to move it beyond
00:29:07.820talk and and studies and recommendations and reports what what a lot of westerners are
00:29:14.500impatient with these issues are well defined there's even solutions defined but the roadblock
00:29:21.620particularly if it involves constitutional amendments that that is the roadblock what
00:29:26.800One other encouraging thing on this, as you know, to amend our Constitution, you need at least seven provinces with 50 percent of the population from the provincial side to push an amendment.
00:29:37.340You've still got to get it through the parliament.
00:29:40.020And right now, among these provincial premiers, Wacom, this new premier in Newfoundland, Premier Frechette in Quebec, or even if there's a new PQ premier, they're all in favor of decentralization.
00:29:54.800Premier Smith and Premier Moe, you've got four strong premiers that are in favor of at least
00:30:00.220trying to get the federal government out of this intrusive role. You could probably pull along
00:30:04.960Houston from Nova Scotia and maybe Doug Ford from Ontario, depending on what kind of day it was.
00:30:11.220But now you're starting to get up to this six or seven premiers who, whatever else they disagree
00:30:18.420on agree on a more decentralized federation and that that has not happened in the past so that's
00:30:26.820one encouraging route towards constitutional amendment well we'll certainly wait and see
00:30:33.380this could be a step that starts moving us towards it so i guess before i let you go one more time
00:30:38.620where can people find information on this assembly uh so that they can take part or observe it yes
00:30:44.640That albertaandthewest.ca, that website, will give people the information on it
00:30:51.800and say they can register there to get reminded that this thing is going to be on on September 19 and 20.
00:45:09.140It had to do with you being a pig and looking to be violating the food that people in public are going to be consuming so you could get clicks on your YouTube video.0.97
00:45:19.020So the backlash you got was well-earned, well-deserved, had nothing to do with your race.1.00