Western Standard - UCP AGM Day 2

00:00:00.000 Now is the current Chief of Staff for Energy and Minerals Minister, Brian Jean.

00:00:05.220 Vitor, you've been around politics for a long time.

00:00:07.480 We worked together way back in 2010, 2011, 2012, to the Wild Rose Days.

00:00:13.940 You've been to a lot of annual general meetings for political parties.

00:00:18.200 What do you think of this one? How do you size it up?

00:00:20.240 I've been to a ton. I've organized a lot.

00:00:22.800 And, you know, I did five-plus federal ones, all of the Wild Rose ones,

00:00:27.400 and every ucp one since this is amazing the crowd size the goodwill um the fact that it's new people

00:00:35.960 coming in and sort of exercising their their ability to get involved in politics i mean my

00:00:42.440 entire political career i've talked about how not enough people get involved in politics well well

00:00:47.960 that's changing and we saw lots of wonderful normal people sort of showing up getting involved there

00:00:53.800 There were 2,000 people in the room last night to debate, discuss, and vote on governance.

00:00:58.660 I mean, that makes my heart sick.

00:01:00.900 Yeah.

00:01:01.440 Look, there are nearly 4,000 people here, as you know.

00:01:04.280 It's a crazy turnout.

00:01:06.860 Nothing like it in Canadian history, even at the federal level.

00:01:10.600 No, this would be a huge convention at the federal level.

00:01:12.720 You know, I talked to a lot of people walking around last night, and many of them said,

00:01:17.740 to your point that you just made, and I'll ask you to follow up on it,

00:01:20.300 we got involved because we kind of took government for granted.

00:01:23.800 you know we assumed things were going to go in the right direction we trusted those we voted for

00:01:29.480 uh something happened there and something shifted there there is a big group of people now that are

00:01:34.360 saying look we believe in danielle smith we believe in what the ucp is doing and we want

00:01:38.840 we want to come and have our voice heard they uh people have confidence in in the government uh

00:01:43.880 people have confidence in danielle but they also know that they need to be involved they need to

00:01:48.360 be seen um there's just this feeling that oh if i'm not involved there's a risk the government

00:01:55.160 will drift away from me and for the longest time a lot of people they they didn't care about

00:01:59.880 government and then covid kind of happened and they discovered the government cared about them

00:02:04.200 yeah and it could it could make decisions that impacted their lives and they felt like they

00:02:08.760 weren't getting a chance to be involved and be in the discussion and uh i think most people are

00:02:13.640 past covid but they still want to be involved in the discussion let's talk turkey a little bit and

00:02:18.360 I want to talk about the carbon tax carve-out.

00:02:21.940 I'm sure most of you are aware of what's happened, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government have decided to exempt the carbon tax on home heating oil, which is really for the maritime provinces.

00:02:34.260 But yet not for natural gas, and those of us that depend on natural gas here in the West.

00:02:38.820 It seems asinine to me, frankly, that this would happen, dividing Canadians.

00:02:45.480 but I want your thoughts on it and where you see this going.

00:02:50.480 There's two elements to this.

00:02:52.040 I mean, one is just the pure dumb politics of it

00:02:55.240 and the pure cynical politics of it.

00:02:58.620 He's basically trying to bribe Atlantic Canada votes back.

00:03:02.260 The Liberals have always counted on having at least two-thirds of all the seats in Atlantic Canada,

00:03:06.380 and they're at risk of not doing anywhere near that well.

00:03:08.420 So this was just pure bribery.

00:03:11.100 but then the other part of it is that it's really actually very bad government and it's very bad

00:03:16.220 constitutionally and it's very bad as a policy statement he actually runs the risk of the

00:03:21.260 supreme court reversing itself on the carbon tax the supreme court twisted itself in a pretzel to

00:03:26.800 give him permission to do a carbon tax on the grounds that it was a peace order and good

00:03:32.180 government thing we had to have a relatively uniform policy across all of canada and then

00:03:37.260 Justin Trudeau cancelled out that argument.

00:03:39.500 So he's in a world of hurt, both politically and legal.

00:03:43.940 All right, let's bring it back to here.

00:03:45.960 One more question before we go.

00:03:47.200 We've got Environment Minister Rebecca Schultz standing by.

00:03:49.440 She's going to join us in a second.

00:03:50.640 I'm going to ask her about these very things.

00:03:52.620 Hello, Minister.

00:03:53.640 First, I want to ask you about the motion that Minister Schultz brought forward in the legislature,

00:04:00.480 basically saying let's scrap this carbon tax.

00:04:03.880 It should be equitable for everybody.

00:04:05.140 More on the motion and the fact that the NDP voted against it in Alberta.

00:04:10.620 It was weird.

00:04:11.740 So first, let me congratulate the minister.

00:04:13.380 She's been doing an amazing job of speaking out on behalf of Albertans on this file and leading that fight with Ottawa.

00:04:20.080 She's just been killing it.

00:04:22.080 But yeah, the NDP had introduced a relatively similar motion.

00:04:26.660 They told us they wanted to do an emergency debate on this.

00:04:29.160 They said things in the media that suggested there wasn't going to be too much difference between us and them.

00:04:33.800 and then we bring them a motion to debate and vote on and they vote against it but not only do they

00:04:39.340 vote against it about a third of their members didn't bother to show up to vote so the first

00:04:44.540 vote in the new legislature after the election and a third of the NDP don't bother like showing

00:04:50.480 up to cast their vote I if I was somebody from one of those writings if I had been involved in

00:04:55.720 electing an NDP member and I certainly wouldn't be but if I were one of their voters I'd be really

00:05:00.720 and white. They elected 38 of them. 38 of them should have been voting. They should have voted

00:05:05.060 yes, but instead we only had like 25 or 26 show up to vote no. Yeah, very good point. So listen,

00:05:10.120 you and I could talk politics all day. Absolutely. We've got a few standing by. Thank you for taking

00:05:15.040 some time. No, my pleasure. Good to see you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Vitor Marciano,

00:05:18.740 Chief of Staff to Energy and Minerals Minister Brian Jean, and Vitor has been around political

00:05:23.100 circles for a long, long time and a solid conservative voice in Alberta. One of the

00:05:29.380 things i want to follow up on vitor mentioned the vote as we as we're going to welcome in

00:05:32.680 environment minister rebecca schultz here momentarily this motion that was brought forward

00:05:37.640 in the legislature on the carbon tax 46 united conservative party members uh ucp mlas the one

00:05:45.360 independent voting in favor 26 nds voting against it uh come on in minister have a seat uh so

00:05:53.200 really a big surprise listen we're going to kick right into the uh the divisive stuff on the the

00:05:58.800 carbon tax first of all good to see you thank you for coming appreciate it so great to see you do

00:06:02.940 you ever rest uh not a lot uh i had some kids activities early morning this morning and of

00:06:09.320 course here for all of the excitement that we have in store for us today well we always appreciate

00:06:13.860 your time and uh you know vitor was just saying complimenting you on the work that you're doing

00:06:17.920 on the file i know how busy you are thank you for all of that um the agm first of all let's touch

00:06:23.080 on it nearly 4 000 people what do you think it's amazing how amazing like even yesterday at our

00:06:27.840 panel kicking it off at two o'clock on friday afternoon registration has just opened and there

00:06:32.320 was standing room only wild it's so good it's like a family reunion i was saying earlier but many of

00:06:39.760 the members of our family were getting to meet for the first time and um and boy we're there from all

00:06:44.400 over the province so it's really cool hey i just asked me tour about this this motion um tell i

00:06:49.680 don't know if you remember the wording exactly but tell us more about the motion that you brought

00:06:53.360 forward on the carbon tax the motion that we put forward was really one that recognizes the fact

00:06:58.400 that the carbon tax is driving up the cost of really everything right from gas to groceries

00:07:04.800 to utilities and then calling on the federal government to of course scrap the carbon tax

00:07:10.480 and you know with what we've been seeing uh across the country you know we saw the federal

00:07:14.800 ndp side with pierre polyev on their carbon tax motion i thought you know this is a great

00:07:20.320 opportunity for the ndp to join us and and show that they've been listening to albertans who do

00:07:24.960 not support a carbon tax you never have and uh you know again they just they voted against it

00:07:30.640 yeah i'm surprised by that um maybe i'll i'll think out loud for a second which is always

00:07:35.600 dangerous but you you would think the saskatchewan ndp you bet have sided with premier scott moe

00:07:42.240 and the conservatives and now even uh jagmeet singh's federal ndp have said yeah we need to

00:07:48.320 we need to do something about this to make it more equitable we call to scrap it entirely but

00:07:53.920 disappointed i'm disappointed in rachel notley and her tribe is it fair to say that their finger

00:08:00.480 is just not on the pulse of what albertans are feeling oh i i think you're exactly right and

00:08:05.040 saskatchewan's a great example where the ndp has supported the government in their opposition to

00:08:10.480 the carbon tax they've recognized that things like the clean electricity regulation are just not

00:08:15.360 doable yet here in alberta rachel notley and the ndp they they chose justin trudeau once again

00:08:22.480 you know i i just think it's so tone deaf based on what we're actually hearing from everyday

00:08:26.960 albertans right across the province that you know at a time like this especially where affordability

00:08:32.640 is a top concern they want to see that carbon tax gone and and you know quite frankly a consumer

00:08:38.240 carbon tax it is not doing anything to reduce emissions like like right now canadians they

00:08:43.120 they deserve a break. Well, there's where the rubber hits the road, 100%. It doesn't. And in

00:08:48.160 fact, as the Premier has said many times, and I know I've heard you say the same thing, if we could

00:08:53.060 get more of our product to international markets, to other places on this globe, we would actually

00:08:57.620 help clean up emissions, get people off coal-fired plants, make a big difference. Let's talk about

00:09:02.820 the net zero calls from the federal government. By 2035, they're expecting us to do this. It's

00:09:09.840 It's impossible to do it.

00:09:11.660 The cost that it would mean to Albertans may be touched on those things.

00:09:14.600 Yeah, you know, they just have this pattern of making these wild announcements

00:09:19.780 to appease their climate activist friends, right?

00:09:23.280 They fly around the world.

00:09:25.280 They're at the G8, at the UN, making these announcements.

00:09:28.800 And then they just tell the provinces, you know, we'll make these commitments

00:09:31.380 and then you can figure it out.

00:09:33.100 Well, on electricity, their net zero clean electricity grid by 2035

00:09:37.600 is just completely not doable.

00:09:39.840 The technology doesn't exist. It hasn't been tested anywhere. It would really put pressure on affordability and grid stability. So the risk there, I mean, at a cost, and you're exactly right, cost estimates are that this would be trillions, over a trillion dollars, certainly billions, but likely over a trillion.

00:09:58.500 So who's going to pay for that? It's everyday people, whether it's on their taxes or their bills.

00:10:04.380 And, you know, when we're talking about grid reliability, that's actually serious.

00:10:08.400 Those are real health and safety concerns that in the middle of the night, think about the month of January.

00:10:13.440 It is dark. It is cold. Albertans expect to be able to clip on a light switch and have power in their homes.

00:10:19.660 And like that's just a non-negotiable for us. Seems pretty reasonable.

00:10:22.960 Seems pretty reasonable. Listen, one more to let you go.

00:10:27.500 So just a message to our members.

00:10:32.080 We've got so many watching online.

00:10:33.520 We're live on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and obviously we're going to carry the premier speech here in a bit.

00:10:38.040 Just a thought to those that didn't make it, to those that did, to our family.

00:10:42.140 What would you say?

00:10:42.760 You know, I just want to say thank you so much.

00:10:44.880 I mean, being here in this room yesterday and this morning, it is just so exciting to see our passionate, driven, conservative members from right across the province coming together.

00:10:57.500 to support us, to make sure that their voices are heard

00:11:00.680 and that we continue, you know, as a united conservative team

00:11:03.960 and certainly as MLAs across the province

00:11:06.520 to represent our grassroots membership.

00:11:09.360 And I think it's awesome to see so many people wanting to get involved

00:11:12.320 and so much excitement for our future.

00:11:14.700 Well said. Thank you for your work.

00:11:16.300 Thank you so much, Bruce.

00:11:17.460 My pleasure.

00:11:18.500 Environment Minister Rebecca Schultz joining us.

00:11:20.420 And boy, is that lady busy on her file

00:11:24.300 and all the things that she's doing standing up for Albertans.

00:11:27.000 And I think as we look ahead to the premier's speech today, which is coming at one, and again, we're going to carry for you live, we will see a big theme on pushing back to Ottawa, or standing up to Ottawa and pushing back against some of their outrageous policies, the net zero grid, the cap on our oil and gas production, all of the things we do well in Alberta, and frankly, help us to contribute to the federation.

00:11:50.620 It would seem like the federal Liberals want to step on our hands and prevent us from helping Albertans and helping Canadians.

00:11:57.300 I'm sure we'll see the Premier touch on that.

00:11:59.440 Come on in, Minister, have a seat.

00:12:01.360 We've got another guest joining us now, the man of the hour.

00:12:04.340 Everybody wants to talk to you.

00:12:05.760 Finance Minister Nate Horner, thanks for coming by.

00:12:07.900 My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

00:12:09.520 Yeah, so listen, I know how busy you've been because there's been a couple of bills passed in the legislature.

00:12:14.820 Is there two or three already with your name on them?

00:12:16.780 Well, they're tabled. They're not passed yet.

00:12:18.640 I think we have four on the floor now out of the Treasury Board of Finance.

00:12:23.940 Okay, so let's chat about them.

00:12:27.820 Many of our members are pretty knowledgeable.

00:12:31.920 They follow the things that are happening in the legislature.

00:12:35.300 But talk on the tax bill, first of all.

00:12:37.900 I guess this was the Premier's promise and commitment to Albertans.

00:12:40.860 Yes, yes.

00:12:42.240 We're amending the Taxpayer Protection Act.

00:12:44.560 So since 1995, I'm sure most Albertans know that we did have legislation in place where

00:12:50.940 you would need a referendum to bring in a general sales tax.

00:12:54.440 We're amending that legislation to also include the corporate tax rate and threshold and personal

00:13:01.240 tax rate and threshold.

00:13:03.240 If the government wanted to increase taxes in that way, they would have to first go to

00:13:08.640 the people and ask in a referendum.

00:13:10.760 That's Bill 1.

00:13:11.760 speak in a referendum, some talk on the Alberta pension plan and exploring that possibility,

00:13:17.920 maybe touch on that and the fact that obviously we're still gathering feedback from Albertans on

00:13:22.800 the issue. Definitely, and yesterday was an interesting day. Obviously, we had our FPT via

00:13:27.760 Zoom with Federal Minister Christian Freeland and the other provincial finance ministers

00:13:34.640 at the request of the Ontario Minister. It was very interesting. I'd say the biggest takeaway

00:13:40.480 is that the federal government has agreed that they would involve the chief actuary

00:13:45.260 and get an opinion on the legislation to try to give clarity to Albertans

00:13:49.860 that are learning about the potential of this around the number.

00:13:54.200 So that was the big takeaway from the meeting yesterday.

00:13:58.820 And it may change how we engage with Albertans.

00:14:01.940 Mr. Dinning and his panel is still out in the field.

00:14:06.140 I think there's three more telephone town halls scheduled throughout November.

00:14:12.060 I think those will continue, and then we will probably ask Mr. Denning to provide some kind of an interim report or assessment to Cabinet,

00:14:22.040 just to get a good understanding of where Albertans are at and what they've learned while we await further clarity from the Feds.

00:14:29.540 I think what's interesting about this, it's funny, the emotion and fear of a subject has an impact on people.

00:14:39.380 And there's no question about it.

00:14:41.640 You know, I love the saying, you can't counter emotion with logic.

00:14:46.260 But I look at a province like Quebec.

00:14:48.740 They have their own pension plan.

00:14:50.560 So, you know, we're not going into uncharted territory with what we're exploring here.

00:14:55.920 No, Quebec has always had their own pension plan.

00:14:58.680 They were never part of the CPP, but there's always been a withdrawal formula and process

00:15:06.340 within the CPP Act.

00:15:08.200 And if you look back to the discussions that the premiers and finance ministers of the

00:15:12.860 day back in the 60s had, it was absolutely necessary to them that they knew that that

00:15:19.080 was there.

00:15:19.780 They would not have joined the pension plan if they knew they couldn't unwind themselves

00:15:24.400 at some point if they felt they needed to.

00:15:26.640 So I think that's important.

00:15:27.840 But you're not wrong. This is a very emotional issue. That's certainly not lost on me.

00:15:33.800 And what I've said and what the premiers said is that we would never take something to the people

00:15:40.940 without first knowing that it had substantive support from Albertans,

00:15:45.960 but also that they had complete clarity on what they were being asked and what the implications would be.

00:15:51.600 And I think that's really important for every Albertan to understand,

00:15:55.160 And, you know, regardless of where you might sit on this, if you're very against, if you're very for, if you're in the middle wanting to learn more, we hear you.

00:16:04.340 We want to provide that clarity, but we would never ask you a bad question.

00:16:09.680 All right. Very well said.

00:16:10.820 Listen, a couple of things we should touch base on.

00:16:13.760 Auto insurance premiums, some relief for drivers coming?

00:16:17.840 Yeah, so we put a pause on on January 25th of 2023.

00:16:23.100 The pause will expire at the end of the calendar year.

00:16:28.200 We're pursuing longer-term reforms, but in the meantime, we did want to bring in some

00:16:32.700 short-term changes to provide price protection to Albertans.

00:16:36.120 So what we've done is we've given the Automobile Insurance Rate Board some more teeth, I guess

00:16:42.440 we could say.

00:16:43.440 They'll have the ability to ask insurance companies for rate reductions if they need

00:16:51.540 necessary. Also provide some further profit safeguards I guess from excess profits on the

00:17:01.300 back of Alberta premiums. And also we've provided price protection for what we're calling good

00:17:09.780 drivers. I know that's a little bit difficult to define, but we worked with the rate board

00:17:17.060 and industry to come up with these definitions. It's very important to the Premier that

00:17:21.540 Good drivers know that their rate could only increase at the rate of inflation for Alberta for this year while we pursue these longer-term reforms.

00:17:32.340 So many things going on in your portfolio, for sure.

00:17:36.500 So listen, it's good for you to come on and provide some depth and chat with folks.

00:17:42.620 We're going to break away from that for a second, Minister.

00:17:44.860 We've got nearly 4,000 people here.

00:17:46.640 this is a this is the largest gathering uh annual general meeting for a party a political party in

00:17:53.840 canadian history um maybe your thoughts on that and what's what's the vibe you're getting when

00:17:58.640 you go around and chat well it's it's incredible and i i guess the vibe that i'm feeling is a lot

00:18:03.760 of positive energy i think people are very pleased with premier smith um everyone i bump into is

00:18:10.800 talking about what a great job she's doing and so you know i think i think that's what i'm hearing

00:18:16.160 it's uh it's kind of a and we're still in this rebirth since the election with the new leader

00:18:20.640 and i feel excitement yeah listen it's fabulous you got a big group come from your constituency

00:18:26.800 um fairly large yeah considering that a decent drive to get here yes it's impressive it's it's

00:18:31.840 really uh listen thanks for your time i know you've got lots to do you got other interviews

00:18:35.040 appreciate you coming by appreciate it thank you good work finance minister uh nate hoarder joining

00:18:38.960 us so much going on you're live at the ucp annual general meeting nearly 4 000 people registered

00:18:45.760 here it is the largest turnout in uh in political history for an agm it's it's quite remarkable if

00:18:51.920 you weren't able to join us this time we wanted to be able to bring it to you so we're doing this

00:18:56.640 live broadcast we are live on uh on youtube on facebook and on twitter trying to show you uh

00:19:03.200 you know some of the things behind the scenes we did go around and chat with some folks last

00:19:06.720 night we'll show you more of that in a few minutes bringing on some special guests we're going to go

00:19:10.880 live here with conversations until one o'clock the premier will give her speech at one o'clock

00:19:17.680 um and then we'll we'll do a bit of a wrap and um it'll be great so much more to come i see

00:19:23.040 another guest coming in here so uh gives me great pleasure to introduce you to uh marshal smith

00:19:29.600 who is the chief of staff good to see you march good to see you bruce thanks for having me thanks

00:19:33.280 you're coming on look there's so much I could talk to you about maybe I'll start

00:19:37.720 with this that the vibe here nearly 4,000 people you've been around politics

00:19:42.640 for a long time have you ever seen anything like you know Bruce I've been

00:19:45.280 in politics for almost 30 years I have never seen anything like this it is at

00:19:52.360 times electric there's a lot of people here it's amazing to see conservatives

00:19:57.520 come together like this like it is really really something it was fun being

00:20:00.820 the hospitality suite you and i are both teetotalers so but there were a lot of people

00:20:05.780 having a lot of fun uh and some heavy heads this morning for sure but it's like it's like a big

00:20:10.660 family reunion and we're meeting a lot more people from the family that we might not even have known

00:20:15.220 it is you know it's really uh inspiring to see obviously we are a coalition party uh there's

00:20:23.060 you know different views one of the things i love about conservatism is that there's room in the

00:20:29.940 room for different views which is great i mean often you know on the left uh unless you uh you

00:20:38.580 know subscribe to the orthodoxy you're not allowed to participate and so that's a very different

00:20:44.660 thing about our party that uh you know a lot of people are welcome love it listen want to talk to

00:20:48.820 you about um the alberta way uh the addiction the recovery the methods that we're putting in place

00:20:55.060 in Alberta it's different and but maybe your story first Marshall if we could like so people

00:20:59.800 can identify I mean you sure you know this space better than most uh you you had a tough go um you

00:21:07.460 had a you have a great story that you were able to you know pull yourself back up and now you're

00:21:11.560 leading the way for others yeah I mean I appreciate that I mean I obviously a lot of people know

00:21:17.780 addiction and recovery is very near and dear to me uh I'm in recovery from addiction I you know I

00:21:23.600 spent several years of my life as a homeless addict on the streets of Vancouver obviously

00:21:31.520 those were really difficult times in my life that was you know almost 20 years ago and I think in

00:21:38.800 July I celebrated 19 years of recovery which is which has been great and you know today I find

00:21:46.640 myself as Chief of Staff to the Premier of Alberta which is a little bit amazing and unexpected but

00:21:52.320 those are the gifts that recovery gives to you like those are those are uh you know the things

00:21:58.000 that you can do uh when you um you know work hard and get your life back and strive so we we are so

00:22:05.120 lucky uh if ever there was an expert in a field it's you in recovery and addiction so more on on

00:22:11.920 the alberta way what we're trying to do here in our philosophy as it differs from the lefts from

00:22:18.000 the indies yeah look our our uh the alberta model or so it has become uh known uh is starting to

00:22:26.240 become known the world around we're getting a lot of interest from other jurisdictions on what we're

00:22:31.600 doing here um our model is grounded in a very deep belief uh that we will not leave anybody behind

00:22:39.680 that nobody is beyond uh uh recovery right that recovery is possible no matter how far down the

00:22:48.080 hole you've gone and and the reality is the beliefs of the left are just simply not that way uh they

00:22:55.840 don't believe that they believe that we just need to take a um uh a uh an approach that uh keeps

00:23:04.880 people comfortable uh you know and safe while they continue to kill themselves uh that is certainly

00:23:11.840 not something we ascribe to let's follow up on that because i gotta tell you there's there's

00:23:15.760 few things uh that really cut to the core of people like the issue of safe supply uh yeah

00:23:23.280 for those of you that don't know i mean safe supply i guess is the is the foundational belief

00:23:27.920 that continue to provide drugs for people right in inappropriate doses and and they'll be better

00:23:33.520 off somehow. It won't result in crime. We're taking care of them in that fashion. It is not

00:23:40.480 the way to get people recovered. Correct. That's right. Well, look, safe supply is leftist

00:23:47.680 terminology. We don't use those words because we don't believe that there is such thing as a safe

00:23:54.800 drug supply. But they use the term safe supply. That's not a medical term. It's a marketing term.

00:24:03.520 And it's a term that is designed to market their policy.

00:24:07.640 Their policy is to take pharmaceutical drugs, pharmaceutical versions of drugs, heroin, crystal meth, cocaine, opioids, and give those to addicts so that they can use them instead of buying drugs on the illicit market.

00:24:30.020 And obviously, sorry, Karen.

00:24:31.580 Well, look, we went through this with OxyContin. OxyContin was the original safe supply.

00:24:41.500 And the left uses the same words that Purdue Pharmaceuticals used to market OxyContin.

00:24:50.240 They're using the same terminology.

00:24:52.420 They say that public health will benefit when there is a legal regulated market of opioids.

00:25:00.660 They say that we shouldn't be afraid of that, that that's opiophobia, and don't be such a teetotaling prohibitionist.

00:25:07.980 They say that, you know, only the people for whom these are prescribed will use them.

00:25:14.660 Those assertions are impossible to reconcile when laid up against the millions of deaths that have been caused by free-flowing OxyContin into the community.

00:25:25.820 That's what's happening in British Columbia right now.

00:25:27.940 Luckily, here in Alberta, under the leadership of our Premier and former Minister Mike Ellis

00:25:34.120 and now Dan Williams, we have made that illegal in Alberta.

00:25:38.900 So the so-called safe supply is not allowed here, and we're already starting to see significant

00:25:45.940 harms in BC.

00:25:47.560 We won't allow that to happen.

00:25:48.560 Listen, few things give me as much pride in being a member of this team as the work

00:25:53.600 we're doing in that area.

00:25:54.600 Yeah, I appreciate that.

00:25:55.600 You're a large reason why, so thank you.

00:25:57.220 more question for you we're going to throw to a video here in a minute of some folks we spoke to

00:26:01.560 last night asking them about the premier but i put you on the spot a bit look you work as close with

00:26:06.120 her as anybody pretty close your thoughts on her leadership on the type of individual she is how

00:26:11.880 she manages all of this ah your guess is as good as mine she has wonder woman powers uh look the

00:26:18.820 premier is one of the most disciplined personally disciplined uh political leaders that i have ever

00:26:25.180 work with she is disciplined in terms of her the hours she keeps her sleep her

00:26:30.820 diet her schedule I admittedly she is a lot to keep up to but but she is and she

00:26:40.840 balances that out by being a lot of fun and you know we have a great time doing

00:26:46.240 what we do for the people of Alberta she's amazing to work for and but you

00:26:50.600 got to keep up this so bring some running shoes yeah I hear you thank you

00:26:54.340 Thanks, Chris. Appreciate it.

00:26:55.340 All the best. Have a good convention.

00:26:56.480 Marshall Smith, Chief of Staff to Alberta Premier Daniel Smith, our guest,

00:26:59.700 and the big reason why Alberta is doing so well on the recovery and addiction side

00:27:05.120 and what we're trying to do to help Albertans and get through this crisis.

00:27:10.660 Another interview coming up.

00:27:11.840 First, we were on the floor last night.

00:27:13.620 We spoke to a bunch of folks about the Premier, about Danielle.

00:27:17.180 What is it that you like about Premier Danielle Smith?

00:27:20.720 What draws you to her?

00:27:22.280 Here's a sampling of some of the responses we got.

00:27:24.900 And why you think she's succeeding?

00:27:27.300 I followed her campaign, and I liked how she answered questions.

00:27:30.660 She was honest.

00:27:31.900 She never shied away.

00:27:33.980 She always answered very truthfully.

00:27:37.300 I think she's for the people, and she's just a very intelligent and wonderful person,

00:27:43.600 and she's doing a great job so far, and I couldn't be more proud of her.

00:27:47.920 What is it about Danielle Smith that you like?

00:27:49.960 I appreciate Danielle's can-do spirit and her leadership style.

00:27:55.460 I think she speaks the way I want to hear a leader speak.

00:27:59.120 I think that she absolutely has her best intentions put forward every day.

00:28:05.920 And I just really admire and respect her.

00:28:08.380 And, you know, the reason is I'm fortunate in the role I have in my day-to-day.

00:28:11.520 I've met the Premier a few times.

00:28:13.320 And, you know what, just meeting her, you know she actually cares.

00:28:16.240 You know that she genuinely cares.

00:28:17.860 She cares for the best of the province.

00:28:19.960 the best for the party taking the province for everyone.

00:28:23.100 The key thing for me is I feel like I'm included in the process.

00:28:26.280 What is it about, Danielle, what is it about Premier Smith

00:28:28.520 that you like to ask, Preet, and you think Albertans are enjoying?

00:28:32.560 Because they're really coming on site.

00:28:34.420 Well, the first and the most important thing,

00:28:37.660 she always stands for Albertans, and that's a big thing.

00:28:40.780 With even the carbon tax, with the Alberta pension plan,

00:28:45.700 that's all for us, for each individual.

00:28:48.620 UCP is a big part of Alberta, and Daniel Smith has done a lot for Alberta.

00:28:55.080 I started listening to her a lot on her radio shows.

00:28:57.800 I like the way she operated on her talk shows, and when she started to run,

00:29:02.320 I went to a lot of her rallies with her groups and everything else,

00:29:06.780 and I voted her in.

00:29:10.020 I think the Premier's demonstrating now that she's standing up for Alberta,

00:29:14.520 She's standing up within our federation.

00:29:16.720 And I'm very pleased that she's our premier.

00:29:19.060 And I look forward to supporting.

00:29:20.540 So this is what Daniel is.

00:29:22.380 Daniel is a true Albertan who do understand the value system of Alberta,

00:29:27.660 who's a fighter, who understands the needs of Albertans,

00:29:30.800 and ready to fight without other.

00:29:32.780 Unlike our prime minister, she's not an empty vessel.

00:29:35.500 She understands the issue.

00:29:36.560 She gets it.

00:29:37.240 And she has the pulse of people across every corner of the province.

00:29:40.540 She listens.

00:29:41.100 She actually cares about what people are saying.

00:29:42.640 What do you see in her? What draws you to her? What do you think draws Albertans to the Premier?

00:29:48.340 Well, a very unique thing for me was I got to meet Danielle a long time ago, and she was the, of course, the MLA for the riding that I now represent.

00:29:57.300 So, Danielle, you know, Premier Smith and I over the years have had a lot of conversations about exactly that, is bringing back the Alberta advantage, and she has done just that.

00:30:07.180 She's that leader that's hyper-focused on making sure that the Alberta youth has a future,

00:30:13.980 that we're going to have balanced budgets, and that those kids that are going to school right now

00:30:19.120 and they're educating themselves are going to have a job when they get out and high-paying jobs

00:30:22.800 so that they have a future here.

00:30:24.680 Tell me more about the Premier.

00:30:32.160 Minister of Arts, Culture, and Status of Women, Tanya Furr, joining us now.

00:30:35.600 Now, look, that was some of the reaction from some of the people we were talking to last

00:30:38.780 night, their thoughts on Premier Danielle Smith.

00:30:41.180 How about we start with that?

00:30:42.360 Look, how have you viewed her leadership?

00:30:45.120 What kind of things do you see in Premier Smith?

00:30:47.740 She's extraordinary.

00:30:48.720 I don't know how she does it all.

00:30:50.500 People, the more people I talk to that get to meet her and get a chance to see what she's

00:30:54.300 all about are so impressed by her genuineness, her commitment, her common sense principles

00:30:59.920 and her passion for Alberta.

00:31:01.240 And that's what brings all of us Conservatives together.

00:31:03.420 arts culture and the status of women really is a big ministry what would some of the things be

00:31:11.340 that you're focusing on right now your mandate letter what are you trying to accomplish yeah

00:31:15.140 for sure so premier recognized the importance of arts by adding arts to the ministry title

00:31:20.540 i'm meeting with so many stakeholders right now focusing on how we can focus on and celebrate

00:31:25.360 more alberta artists and how we can make sure we make arts and cultural culture as affordable

00:31:30.980 and accessible. I was not. I actually was not as affordable and accessible to as many Albertans as

00:31:37.180 possible. Listen, you're doing great work. Comment on this convention. I've been asking everybody

00:31:42.320 this. You've been to a lot of them. This is remarkable in terms of turnout, nearly 4,000

00:31:48.580 people. What's your takeaway? The turnout is incredible. The way it's been organized has

00:31:54.880 been amazing, but it's the feeling of unity and people coming together and excitement for what

00:32:00.240 the values that we do all share as conservatives and how we love our province and you can just

00:32:05.460 feel the energy in the room i can't wait for premier speech which is i know i can't wait it's

00:32:10.060 coming listen minister thanks for dropping by thank you appreciate it good to see you uh minister

00:32:13.860 tanya fur again arts culture and the status of women yes we are counting down we're getting

00:32:19.100 closer to the premier speech speaking at one o'clock we're going to carry it live and then

00:32:24.860 we'll have a little discussion after the speech so we're going to stay with you uh if you've just

00:32:29.240 joined us again. We're live on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, live at the AGM for the United Conservative

00:32:34.360 Party here at the BMO Centre in Calgary. We actually had to move here. The initial venue

00:32:40.160 couldn't house, couldn't handle the amount of people that we had coming. So nearly 4,000 people

00:32:45.240 and we're so thrilled to be able to bring you in. Come on in, Minister. We're so thrilled to be able

00:32:49.520 to bring you into the AGM with us. We've got Minister Rick McIver of Municipal Affairs joining

00:32:54.200 us. Minister, good to see you. It's great to be here. First full disclosure, I have known this

00:33:00.080 gentleman 20 years or more. I remember moderating political forums back in my TV days. I don't

00:33:07.820 think I'll tell the full story, but I remember moderating forums when you were running for

00:33:13.900 mayor. Listen, Ned, you've been around in a long time, so this question for you means more, I think,

00:33:19.760 than most what are you seeing differently that we've got nearly 4 000 people here what are your

00:33:24.860 thoughts on this well i i think there's uh different new people members that that weren't

00:33:31.280 maybe involved here a couple three years ago that are here now uh i i suppose they got some

00:33:38.120 different attitudes and some different ideas and that'll all probably show itself in the

00:33:42.100 voting on the resolution we're a big big tent party and uh unity is important speak to that

00:33:48.820 and I guess the ability of this premier and individuals like yourself to bring everybody together?

00:33:54.580 Well, it does matter.

00:33:56.380 We need to be a big tent party, and we need to have unity and stick together.

00:34:00.660 And what I think for me is most important to remind myself of and everybody else is that the party only has one leader,

00:34:06.820 and that's the premier.

00:34:08.800 And anybody that doubts that should remind themselves that Danielle won a fair and square leadership contest less than a year ago.

00:34:16.460 She won the general election just half a year ago.

00:34:20.260 So there's no doubt who's leading this party.

00:34:22.480 And we need to, listen, we all need to give her our advice,

00:34:26.220 whether we agree with her or disagree on any particular issue,

00:34:29.280 any particular day, but we need to be behind her

00:34:32.440 and we need to move forward together for the benefit of all Albertans.

00:34:36.020 Yeah, well said.

00:34:36.880 I've disagreed with her a time or two for what it's worth.

00:34:39.800 Well, you know, I don't know enough to keep my thoughts to myself, right?

00:34:44.020 Well, that's it.

00:34:44.660 But that's what makes you so unique.

00:34:46.260 you look you've been you've been a public serving member in some capacity for a hell of a long time

00:34:53.460 um what keeps you going what keeps you at this you know it's a crazy way to live but i i feel

00:35:00.340 like i'm blessed i mean i get to do work that i think matters to people it makes a difference

00:35:04.980 uh i'm not sure everybody in the world gets to do that i mean all work has dignity and it all

00:35:10.380 matters but but uh i'd rather be at the table or pounding the table and and making my point

00:35:17.980 than reading about it or seeing it in the news the next day and saying well if i had been there

00:35:22.760 i could so i still don't get my way right all the time but it's it's real it's rewarding and

00:35:29.280 listen i ran this time for the sake of my kids and grandkids because because what we do in

00:35:35.880 government actually matters for the future and somebody my age my future kind of I feel like it

00:35:42.160 is what it is you know obviously I can't predict everything but my kids and grandkids and everybody's

00:35:47.440 kids and grandkids are what we need to be thinking about because that's really what's gonna make a

00:35:53.500 difference for Alberta as we go on and that's what gets me up in the morning because I really feel

00:35:57.040 like I, in my way, can make that better.

00:36:00.440 How about the difference, Minister, in our United Conservatives?

Western Standard - November 05, 2023

UCP AGM Day 2

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