A comedy show cancelled for being offensive, Alberta Premier Daniel Smith's power play on pipelines, and why charter schools are the best option for your kids. Plus, a look at why you should send your kids to a charter school.
00:00:54.460Yeah. All right. Well, we got a week where we didn't have any trouble figuring out what to talk about today.
00:01:04.060Hasn't made a lot of news other than on our pages, but Canadian comedian Ben Bankus, who's actually kind of made it semi-big time.
00:01:14.600He's been gotten all over the states, but not. He's doing a Canadian tour coming through.
00:01:18.520I had booked some tickets, I think eight tickets, for Western Standard Calgary staff to go and see him when he came and would perform at the Grey Eagle Casino.
00:01:30.580For a joke, he posted on Instagram and Twitter to X on National Shame Day, which Western Standard employees do not get off, unless they're caught surfing.
00:01:45.040But, yeah. A comedy show cancelled for being offensive.
00:02:36.780And they have gotten very stiff sentences, stiffer than some pretty damn serious criminals, including rapists, thieves, robbers, people who commit very serious assaults.
00:02:52.140Well, we know what's really important, what the government takes seriously in Canada.
00:02:56.180You can give people fentanyl on the streets that you know will kill them and kill them, which I think should be classified as murder.
00:03:03.980And you're going to get, in many cases, a lighter sentence than organizing a peaceful protest with bouncy castles to demand your freedom back.
00:03:13.220But we're going to start something a bit closer to home here in Alberta.
00:03:17.040Alberta, the teachers for the public schools are on strike.
00:03:23.360Lucky me, I don't send my children to a government Alberta Teachers Association-run school.
00:06:41.540We gotta figuratively, purely figuratively, start shooting some hostages to let them know that we are serious.
00:06:47.900Because every single day that the strike goes on, the Alberta government should convert a government ATA public school into a charter school.
00:07:45.640But that's not what's important to me.
00:07:47.300What's important to me is my kids getting a good quality education and being able to be good, productive, free citizens in the world when they come out of it.
00:08:42.840You know, we're already getting our wish because that whole area of education that is outside the public system has grown substantially in the last five years.
00:08:54.420You know, it varies around the province, but I'm told that in Calvary, certainly in the kind of the western end of Calvary, there's something like 30 percent of kids are being educated outside the public system.
00:09:09.260And it would be in schools such as you were referring to, the classical academy, but also Christian schools.
00:09:16.480Some people just homeschool their children and find it works out better for them that way.
00:09:21.980The thing that I am, I have a sort of a horrible theory about, but this is more than about the money.
00:09:30.040The education industry, for that is what it is, and by that I'm talking about not only the civil servants who work in education in the ministry, but also the teachers themselves, the ATA.
00:09:45.680There is a critical mass within that, and John Hilton, O'Brien calls it the blob, whatever you call it.
00:09:52.700It's an industry, and it's not just the money.
00:09:58.280They don't like the idea that parents elect NLAs, NLAs find themselves an education minister, and they set the curriculum because these people have got ideas of their own.
00:10:24.120I mean, that's interesting, Chris Sims from the Taxpayers Federation also wrote a piece and was saying it, look, you know, she's saying, get winter boots, teachers, because it looks like Smith's settling in for the long haul with this one.
00:10:34.280The attitude from the government so far is, okay, you know what, we're going to help parents with a few bucks so that they can get alternative care for their children during the strike.
00:10:41.380They're saying, we're going to help you weather the storm, like we aren't rolling over for this demands right now.
00:10:46.720So, that's a different take than governments who often capitulate pretty darn quick when it comes to something like this.
00:10:52.120So, I think this one's just warming up.
00:10:54.480At least, I know maybe it's a bit insider Alberta here for you coming from BC, but we had, Corey alluded to this, the government is taking the revenue that's essentially being saved by not paying these teachers while they're on strike.
00:11:07.760And it's using it to, at least partially offset the cost of the parents who have to put them in childcare or do extra driving around.
00:11:42.620But I'm trying to figure out his politics on this move where, you know, he just says, I don't know, is he proposing to continue to pay them?
00:11:51.580Are we just going to pay the teachers while they strike?
00:11:54.520I mean, they'll then strike for all time.
00:11:56.340I'm not really sure where he's coming at this from.
00:12:00.100I've been trying to figure out where the ATA is coming from.
00:12:04.100I know I talked to some kids who live in the area near me and they've been given the propaganda.
00:12:10.140I remember I first became politically active in the fifth grade as a kid growing up in small town Ontario.
00:12:15.580There was a teacher strike when Mike Harris was the premier.
00:12:18.580And it politically activated me because the teachers were pushing a bunch of propaganda on us.
00:12:23.520And it was the first time I had authority figures that I thought were not being truthful with me.
00:12:30.160I was like, this, this, this seems like bullshit.
00:12:33.740And they were telling us to, you know, come out and give them hot chocolate and sandwiches on the picket lines.
00:12:39.160I actually, I had little glass vial stink bombs and I'd walk in and pretend to tie my shoes and I'd drop stink bombs on the picket line.
00:12:46.620Not because I really care about politics, but because I didn't like my teacher for lying to me.
00:12:50.460But that was my first act of terrorism.
00:12:54.060So, um, anyway, I just, I, I, the politics of this are bizarre.
00:12:59.360I think it's, it's somewhat, uh, what Corey's saying is the ATA is used to having a lot more control.
00:13:04.880They were given a huge amount of control, uh, over things under Alison Redford.
00:13:08.920And that persisted on it, doubled down a bit more, uh, with Rachel Notley.
00:13:13.060Uh, but it really began with, uh, yeah, in earnest with, with, uh, with Alison Redford as premier, who owed her job as premier into PC leadership to the Teachers Association here.
00:13:22.960Um, but also I just think of this, the ATA is just kind of spoiling for a political fight.
00:13:27.780I think they just want to fight the UCP and they, they've kind of boxed themselves in now where, you know, the, the, the UCP can't give them anymore.
00:14:59.000Um, and I, and it was a collection of about six years where my child was going through elementary school.
00:15:03.940Um, and she didn't have a year that wasn't interrupted at least once.
00:15:08.780Um, I really regret not sending her to a charter or private school.
00:15:13.100Um, and this is, you know, I, I felt guilty about pulling her out away from her friends.
00:15:18.580Um, I would suggest every parent just goes through the fire, just move them out to a private or charter school.
00:15:26.120This is, as we learned in BC, because what you've done in providing some sort of, I think, stipend, I guess, to parents, um, uh, or voucher, um, to help them a long way.
00:15:37.900It's something we have done in BC, everything that is, uh, on the stage in, in Alberta, with this art, with this fight, with the ATA is really reflective of every choice and decision that my former colleagues and my former bosses made in British Columbia.
00:16:00.800Um, and when we realized that this was no longer about money, but was about our effort to take control back.
00:16:07.760of the teacher's college, things started to change.
00:16:11.760Um, and my suggestion as sort of looking at this, and I am surprised that your teachers did not vote with the recommendations with the offer that was recommended, uh, by the union, uh, bosses.
00:16:23.660Uh, that's something I haven't seen in British Columbia before, but I think this is revenge tactics, revenge politics.
00:16:32.120Um, and, um, Nigel, you wrote a great piece about this today and referred back to a, um, interview, uh, that you had, I think, roughly a year ago now, um, where you spoke to, uh, a young woman who was talking about charter schools.
00:16:52.220I remembered her last name and unfortunately I couldn't remember her first name.
00:16:55.480Um, but I found that to be intriguing because that's what we found out.
00:17:00.480Um, and you know, I came from a coalition party, blue liberals, red Tories, fiscal conservatives, and, um, my ministers of education were predominantly liberals.
00:17:12.580And they turned out to be the hardest on these unions, but I will say it is about revenge politics.
00:17:19.120It is not about the money that you're offering.
00:17:24.920The problem that Daniel Smith's going to have is most parents in Alberta do not want to be sending their kids to a classroom that's heaving at 37, 38, or 40 students per class.
00:17:36.200Nobody does, and not every parent, um, especially as we're looking at the economy today, can afford, even Alberta, even in prosperous Alberta, can afford to look at a charter or private school.
00:17:48.580Actually, charter schools in Alberta have no tuition.
00:17:52.660There's no tuition in charter schools in Alberta.
00:17:54.640The only question is, do we have enough charter schools?
00:17:56.700Which is why I think we should start converting public schools into charter schools.
00:18:01.280All we need is really the buildings for it.
00:18:04.760Everyone wants to send their kids to there, and there's no tuition.
00:18:08.380You're missing 1,200 spots in charter schools right now, and you might as well just double that by the time, because by summer, that's probably going to double as well.
00:18:16.380So you're right to look at that, and I think that's a fantastic thing.
00:18:18.980I wish that was something that was offered in British Columbia.
00:18:21.580But I would say that I think if you can look at the cap, I think easing the cap without giving them control is some pretty, it would be some amazing political judo.
00:18:33.600But what they're looking for is control, control over what they're teaching, what they're talking about.
00:18:39.340They refuse, all teachers in this country and their unions and or federations refuse to get back to traditional teachings.
00:18:54.820When we talk about the teachers wanting control, let's distinguish between the teachers' organizations and some of the great teachers that we all know personally who really aren't into this.
00:19:06.440They're not the ones who want to put the dirty books in the school library.
00:19:13.700So those are the people that we're fighting with.
00:19:16.640So Tamara Leach and Barber, we already knew some time ago they were found guilty in the biggest mischief trial in the history of the world.
00:19:27.280They were sentenced just the other day.
00:19:29.240Well, Derek, I think our editorial had it about right.
00:19:51.060So this was a political prosecution and the government wanted to deter other people.
00:19:57.340I mean, Tamara Leach and Chris Barber were handed conditional sentences for leading one of the most peaceful, heartfelt protests that this country has ever seen.
00:20:07.920Their only crime was refusing to stay silent when government power ran roughshod over ordinary Canadians.
00:20:16.060I mean, we quoted Alan Borowoy, the late Alan Borowoy, great defender of civil liberty.
00:20:26.620And he was once asked, he actually stated this.
00:20:31.180He said, what else do people have than peaceful protests when government power runs roughshod over them and they don't listen?
00:20:41.440And that's the question that's at the very heart of this moment.
00:20:44.740Tamara and Chris stood for freedom, our freedom.
00:22:08.500But they did much less than many, many other protests that have taken place over the last 10 to 15 years where there were no prosecutions at all.
00:22:21.260And they've, you know, we note this in our editorial.
00:22:23.880We cite quite a few examples, Corey, where, or sorry, I'll go to Elise.
00:22:30.380They cite quite a few examples, Elise, where rapists, people who have attempted murder, people who have committed major acts of physical violence, have received significantly less severe sentences than Leach and Barber.
00:22:51.860And it's such a sacred cow in Canada, you're not allowed to question the objectivity and fairness of the justice system.
00:22:59.600If you question it, you're questioning the constitutional foundation of Canada.
00:23:03.760You're somehow beyond the pale to question it.
00:23:06.800I think at this point, we're not, we don't even have to question it.
00:23:13.180So a good example would be the story, I think, that we once, we discussed, while it was still warm and sunny outside, was the gentleman that went before court.