Western Standard - Premier Smith addresses crowd at Stampede breakfast

00:00:00.000 it is wonderful to see so many people here today so once again thank you for waking up so early

00:00:06.560 and joining us of course the promise of free pancakes is a strong motivator i also want to

00:00:12.080 give a shout out to some of our other political friends who joined us this morning we had premier

00:00:16.640 scott moe from saskatchewan premier doug ford from ontario and the leader of the official

00:00:23.040 opposition pierre polyev joining us here to flip a few pancakes and serve a few folks some breakfast

00:00:28.320 so thank you for joining us now please give a warm welcome to your host and the premier of

00:00:34.960 alberta danielle smith well thank you so much for the very kind introduction from our amazing

00:00:45.120 mla for calgary shaw and minister of environment and protected areas rebecca schultz give her a

00:00:49.920 round of applause for all the great work that she's doing we have plenty of reasons to celebrate today

00:00:56.640 it's stampede season the best time of year when we can start the day bright and early with amazing

00:01:02.080 food and fantastic music we've got special guests of koi of course joining us my friend ontario premier

00:01:09.040 doug ford my friend saskatchewan premier scott uh scott moe as well as pierre polyev the leader of the

00:01:15.360 conservative party he uh they're all here to take in the greatest outdoor show on earth and to deep and

00:01:21.440 to strengthen the deep friendship between our provinces and our nation we are all happy to

00:01:26.240 give them a very warm alberta stampede welcome thank you also to the musicians in blueswack and the

00:01:32.480 stetson band for sharing your amazing talents with us this morning i am so grateful for all the

00:01:38.480 volunteers working on the lines to be able to feed a lot of hungry people this morning some of you

00:01:44.800 might recognize them as elected representatives but we also have elected representatives from our

00:01:50.800 neighbor in the south from iowa and ohio and texas and utah and montana so if you see them give them

00:01:57.360 a hearty hello as well i made the joke we invite you up so that we can do a little business and then

00:02:03.840 we put you to work but that's kind of the calgary stampede way isn't it pancake pancake breakfast are

00:02:09.200 explicitly included in the job description of politicians and they do a tremendous job of

00:02:15.280 dishing them up every summer uh i hope you're having as wonderful a time as i am at stampede

00:02:20.800 calgary's biggest party couldn't happen without a small army of people working around the clock

00:02:26.160 led by the amazing stampede president stuart o'connor who also joins us here today

00:02:31.600 stuart we appreciate you and your team making this year's celebration another smash hit i've been saying

00:02:37.680 everywhere i go it looks like the crowds are double in size i'm pretty confident that you're

00:02:41.840 going to top last year's attendance record uh and of course stampede is so much more than calgary's

00:02:47.600 favorite get-together it's a powerful reminder of who we are as albertans the farmers and ranchers

00:02:54.400 and cowboys who built our province i love the theme of this year because they are the ones who took us

00:03:00.080 from grit to greatness and we cannot forget where we came from or how we got here the western way of

00:03:06.720 life is part of us it's in our bones it's in our culture and our language the chuck bear wagon and

00:03:12.880 barrel races the buck and bronx and the bulls and the dust and sweat they're a reminder of our roots

00:03:18.480 and the toughness of those early albertans and their descendants the western way is as much a part

00:03:24.000 of alberta today as it's ever been and even if uh many of us are a little bit far removed from the farms

00:03:30.400 and ranches now it's all a mindset it's a willingness to work hard and win against all odds

00:03:37.840 even in years that brought seemingly insurmountable challenges droughts and floods and a water main

00:03:44.400 breakage last year the stampede has abided by the saying the show must go on missing only one year in

00:03:52.000 more than a century and this is the inheritance that we keep alive and well at stampede and which

00:03:57.760 we extend to include even the newest newcomers to our province that is the alberta way too

00:04:03.600 we always keep our traditions strong folks we're in the middle of 10 days of magic and excitement

00:04:10.080 i hope you're not worn out yet because there's a whole lot of stampede days to come and i hope you

00:04:14.720 can spend as many of them as you want at stampede there is a whole lot look to look forward to thank

00:04:20.160 you so much for coming out and enjoy the rest of your day next i would like to welcome steward o'connor

00:04:33.520 president and chair of the calgary stampede board thanks very much rebecca good morning everyone

00:04:42.560 it's wonderful to be here at the premier's breakfast

00:04:46.080 as we gather to kick off on another exciting day during stampede 2025 and on behalf of calgary

00:04:53.600 stampedes thousands of volunteers and employees we are absolutely delighted to be here at the premier's

00:05:01.440 breakfast a tradition that continues to bring our community together this year we are very proud to

00:05:10.080 once again welcome visitors from across alberta canada and around the world to experience the

00:05:16.800 greatest outdoor show on earth the calgary stampede happens in the community just as much as it does on

00:05:24.800 stampede park and we are extremely grateful for events and breakfasts like this that share in our

00:05:31.440 annual celebration this year we started off with a fantastic stampede parade presented by suncor

00:05:39.280 led by our 2025 parade marshal shania twain a canadian music icon and we've just had an incredible tim

00:05:49.520 horton's family day and look forward to welcoming even more of our community during tc energy community

00:05:55.920 day tomorrow and bmo kids day on wednesday our diverse programming in western hospitality would not be

00:06:06.080 possible without the support of our partners and especially the community and we are grateful

00:06:13.200 for the government of alberta's continued support of the calgary stampede and we look forward to working

00:06:19.600 with our government partner supporting albertans to year-round programs and community initiatives

00:06:28.000 to drive tourism and investment support agricultural and youth programs showcase western hospitality and

00:06:36.720 make a lasting economic impact thank you to each of you here today for being part of this annual

00:06:43.120 celebration the calvary stampede is a symbol of what we can achieve when we come together and it is

00:06:50.800 truly an honor to be part of something that gives so much back to the community and to the people who

00:06:57.440 make this city great enjoy the rest of your morning and i hope to see you on the park in the days ahead

00:07:02.480 thank you very much thank you so much stuart thank you premier i have to say as a calgarian as an mla in

00:07:14.880 this amazing city stampede is one of my favorite things about calgary there is nothing like it it is

00:07:21.120 pure magic from the pancakes in the morning to the networking that happens to the rodeo the chucks

00:07:26.640 and everything else it has to offer so i hope you are all enjoying stampede as much as we are

00:07:32.000 let's give one last heartfelt thank you to all of the volunteers who made this morning possible

00:07:37.920 have a great day have a great day and happy stampede

Western Standard - July 07, 2025

Premier Smith addresses crowd at Stampede breakfast

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript