The News Rundown
- This podcast began with the inauguration of Donald Trump and since then the Canadian media has tried through several Conservative leaders and Conservative Premiers to find the Trump figure in Canada.
- Back in March before Jason Kenney announced his resignation as UCP leader there was his quote and leaked recording saying, "The lunatics are trying to take over the asylum. And I'm not going to let them."
- His fear was that if he were to step down as UCP leader, extremist elements would take over the party.
- Many in the media saw this as a swipe against the party’s grass roots but something has been taking hold in Alberta for a long while.
- Consumers of Jason Kenney’s radio show or Facebook live streams would know that each episode (mainly of the live stream) would bring out these people.
- The people who believe COVID vaccine conspiracy theories, the people who believe that the World Economic Forum and Klaus Schwab are puppeting world leaders.
- Polling suggests that there’s some form of a 3-way close race going on between Danielle Smith, Brian Jean, and Travis Toews.
- Late this week Danielle Smith released an ad targeting the “woke establishment” and the government in Ottawa.
- The ad promotes Danielle Smith’s proposed Sovereignty Act that would let the province ignore laws it doesn’t like.
- The copy of the ad sounds like a traditional political ad but the imagery includes images of Freedom Convoy organizers and Klaus Schwab.
- Other UCP leadership candidates by and large disagree with the Sovereignty Act but it has done what it has needed to do.
- Don Braid writing in the Calgary Herald asked if Smith’s campaign was a paper tiger.
- Albertans need to be acutely aware that the path the media is taking with Danielle Smith is precisely the path that the media took with Donald Trump in the United States.
- They are going to continue to doubt her and should she start attacking the media, we can expect a similar level of discourse in the province.
- The Smith campaign claims they’ve sold about 7,000 memberships over 10 days.
- Brian Jean’s campaign says that all campaigns sold fewer than 6,000 memberships in 10 days.
- There has also been the spectacle of both Travis Toews and Danielle Smith pointing fingers at each other suggesting the other suggested a sales tax in the past.
- The reality is that both have but any sales tax would need to get passed a referendum.
- These last three bullet points are what the media has been focused on.
- What they need to be focused on is the fact that Canada’s Trump style candidate has emerged.
- Danielle Smith can attack Justin Trudeau, she can attack woke culture in her own words, but bringing in imagery and directing the ad at Klaus Schwab effectively gives a voice and candidate to each person who phoned in or sent a question in to Jason Kenney’s livestream asking about COVID vaccine conspiracies, governments being paid off, or if Justin Trudeau is really a puppet of the World Economic Forum.
- People in Canada have questioned if such a movement was possible in our country and the media erroneously so many times painted other people as Canada’s Trump-like candidate and it appears they’re making the mistake once more.
- People are allowed to have whatever beliefs they want as long as they don’t harm others or the institution of government.
- But many inside Edmonton and Calgary underestimate how many people will be moved by the Danielle Smith campaign.
- The story at this point comes back to Jason Kenney’s quote: "The lunatics are trying to take over the asylum.”
- The math of forming a government in Alberta comes down to winning a majority of seats in two of Edmonton, Calgary, or rural.
- The NDP won in 2015 by winning Edmonton, a majority of Calgary seats, and a few in smaller towns and suburbs.
- The UCP won in 2019 by winning rural and almost all of Calgary.
- Messaging from Danielle Smith today is unlikely to pick up any seats in Edmonton.
- Calgary usually elects progressive mayors and in large part can be represented by the definition of “progressive conservative” meaning people who value an economy-first government but skew moderate on social issues including the environment and are on the whole more moderate overall.
- UCP members risk losing the next election if they take a path that forgets the realities of Alberta’s two biggest cities.
- Supplementals:
- For those wanting to travel around Canada this summer, it's been a pain accessing transportation to get where you want to go. For many across Canada, there have been delays at the airports, including lost luggage, lack of staff causing long security lineups and federal government restrictions that exacerbate the problems. In BC, we can also add problems with BC Ferries to the list, where there have been hundreds of cancelled sailings over the past month alone, ostensibly due to "staffing shortages''.
- The BC Ferries board fired CEO and President Mark Collins, who had been in his role since 2017. Board chair Joy MacPhail, who was appointed to her role less than a month ago, said in a statement: "As a board, we believe it is time for renewal, fresh ideas and a renewed commitment to the highest standards of customer service, safety and affordability. We thank Mr. Collins for his hard work and dedication to B.C. Ferries. We wish him well in all future endeavours."
- MacPhail, keen eared listeners will note, was a longtime NDP MLA from 1991-2005 and was a cabinet minister in the 90s during the NDP's Fast Ferries scandal that contributed to the collapse of the NDP government in 2001.
- For MacPhail to be the one pulling the strings on this decision is suspicious, as the timing of the decision to fire Collins suggests that it was one of the marching orders when she accepted the appointment to the board on June 20 and the position of chairwoman on the 30th.
- As an NDP cabinet minister in the 1990s, MacPhail was a member of the Treasury Board committee of cabinet when it approved the ill-fated fast ferry project. She and her NDP colleagues overrode advice from the Finance Ministry staff that “the fast ferry option be deferred until B.C. Ferries could demonstrate that the technology has been proven and the risks to the province are minimized.”
- Later, when the project went sideways, she was in a group of New Democrats who shut down an inquiry into the debacle by the public accounts committee of the Legislature. Still later, as deputy premier and minister in charge of ferries under NDP Premier Ujjal Dosanjh, MacPhail finally admitted the fast ferries were a “failed experiment.” She then wrote off the hundreds-of-millions of dollars invested in the fleet of three ferries and put them up for sale at a substantial loss.
- Jill Sharland, who was previously vice-president and chief financial officer, has been appointed interim president and CEO effective Friday. Sharland joined the corporation in 2020, having previously worked for LifeLabs, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and Rogers Communications.
- B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said Friday that it has cancelled 173 sailings over the past 28 days. In its statement, the board said the dozens of cancelled sailings prompted the decision to remove Collins as the CEO.
- The Ministry of Transportation said in a statement that delays and cancellations "have a significant impact on coastal communities and residents who depend upon B.C. Ferries to access essential goods and services." The firing comes after Transportation Minister Rob Fleming tabled changes to the Coastal Ferry Act in February intended to increase public oversight of coastal ferry services. This legislation is intended to further tighten control over B.C. Ferries, strengthening the powers of the cabinet-appointed board of the ferry authority. The legislation was left on the order paper when the House adjourned in the spring. It could easily be enacted by the NDP majority in the fall session starting Oct. 3.
- Still, even with MacPhail heading up the board and the NDP attempting to have greater control over the former crown corporation, it is hoped by passengers and BC Ferries workers alike that the change in CEO will spark a new direction for the company that will fix the problems that have been getting worse since the downturn in travel a few years ago.
- Regardless of the issues, it seems that we once again have politically motivated interference in BC Ferries, and it will remain to be seen if the issues that have been plaguing the vital link between coastal BC communities will be resolved or not.
- Supplementals:
- Here at Western Context we pride ourselves with providing a depth of story coverage from what you’d find in an urban core to what you find out on the farm.
- It might be the summer but the Trudeau government is pressing forward with changes to the agriculture industry that will reduce the use of fertilizer.
- The goal is to reduce the use of fertilizers to help fight climate change.
- This is another case where the provinces are leading one way and the federal government is leading another.
- The governments of Saskatchewan and Alberta released a joint statement expressing disappointment and highlighting expensive crop yields.
- Alberta Agriculture Minister Nate Horner said, "This has been the most expensive crop anyone has put in, following a very difficult year on the prairies. The world is looking for Canada to increase production and be a solution to global food shortages. The Federal government needs to display that they understand this. They owe it to our producers.”
- This news came as a shock to many since fertilizer emission reduction was not a topic on the agenda for the annual meeting of Ministers of Agriculture across the country.
- The Ministers pointed out that Western Canadian producers are b asking fertilizer inputs on realistic targets based on moisture availability and don’t over-fertilize which can cause environmental problems.
- Most agricultural land in Western Canada falls under a plan called 4R Nutrient Stewardship which is a made in Canada plan that promotes environmental stewardship through best practices in science based nutrient management.
- Typically one might think this is an issue that only the west feels strongly about but even Ontario Agriculture Minister Lisa Thompson pointed to a lack of flexibility and consultation on the federal target.
- We need to be clear that the federal government wants a reduction in emissions, not necessarily fertilizer use, but farm production groups say that can’t be done without reducing fertilizer groups.
- This is an issue in much the same way that oil production in Canada is.
- We can produce food for the world and to drive our economy just like we can produce energy. It emits carbon but our producers for both industries act as clean as they can.
- An alternate idea that was put forward by some provincial governments and organizations representing farmers is that fertilizer be reduced by intensity - i.e. how much food is produced compared to the fertilizer used.
- Farm groups have already said that crop output will fall, farm income will drop, and food prices will increase at the grocery store.
- For those who follow international news, similar reduction plans were the catalysts for farmer’s protests we’re seeing now in the Netherlands and other European countries.
- It’s important that Canadians have all the facts before another cause in Canada gets hijacked by media sensationalism and the true story is lost like what happened with the convoy protestors back in January and February.
- In one final bit of interesting news on this story, the federal agriculture minister, Marie-Claude Bibeau prior to entering government ran a small business focusing on tourism.
- Agriculture Ministers from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario, all ran successful farms and ranches before entering politics.
- As we say here, it is always a welcome sight when people with skills in the private industry are handed portfolios that suit their area of expertise in government.
- Supplementals:
Firing Line
- ArriveCAN is a legacy from the dark times that the Trudeau government keeps digging their heels in on, and refuses to cancel. Instead, they insist it is here for good. Travellers hate it. Border guards say it’s a waste of time. Even some doctors say it should go. But, like it or not, ArriveCAN is the digital beast that just won’t die, at least as long as the Trudeau government remains in power.
- Canada has lifted most of its travel restrictions for fully vaccinated travellers. Even so, people entering the country are still required to input their travel and vaccination information on the ArriveCAN app. Travellers who fail to do so could face a 14-day quarantine and even a $5,000 fine. Since the app was introduced in 2020, it has sparked complaints that it's cumbersome, has glitches and creates barriers for those who are technically challenged.
- The app was supposed to be a short-term solution to make sure everyone who entered Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic followed the government’s strict 14-day quarantine rules. It was launched in April 2020 and made mandatory in November of that year. But as vaccination rates rise, and as other public health measures fall, the app has quietly morphed into something else, and anyone who hoped the app might soon disappear is likely going to be disappointed with the results.
- Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said during a June 28 press conference that: “ArriveCAN was originally created for COVID-19, but it has technological capacity beyond that.” Mendocino’s remarks signal plans to use ArriveCAN as part of the Liberal government’s efforts to “modernize our border” and “shrink the amount of time” it takes to go through customs, though the app has caused unnecessary delays and confusion instead.
- A recent update to the app, which the government released without fanfare, allows passengers arriving at Toronto Pearson and Vancouver International airports to complete their customs declaration forms before landing in Canada. This may not seem like a big change, but it’s a radical shift from what the app was originally intended to do: collect public health data. In total, CBSA has spent over 27 million on building, maintaining and advertising ArriveCAN.
- Bianca Wylie, a technology expert and partner at Digital Public said: “This is a bait and switch. We should be advocating to get rid of it and, at the minimum, make sure it’s turned into a voluntary technology. The fact that the government is experimenting during a public health crisis, rather than prioritizing full investment in things that we know will work, is problematic. If technology isn’t doing what it was supposed to do, you should shut it down.”
- Auditor General Karen Hogan said in a December 2021 report that because of “errors or inconsistencies in the collection of traveller contact information” about 80,000 on-arrival test results and 57,000 post-arrival test results couldn’t be matched to ArriveCAN traveller data. This means that in many cases the government was unable to contact people to follow up with them about their test results and to let them know about quarantine requirements.
- The report also found that there was little followup with non-compliant travellers, even after law enforcement got involved, and that public health officials were unaware of what actions police took in the majority of cases.
- Of the roughly 140,000 people PHAC flagged to police as “priority referrals” for potentially violating quarantine rules, the agency didn’t know what, if any, enforcement action was taken in about 57,000 cases. The auditor general said this was a failure because it reduced the government’s ability to effectively monitor and enforce quarantine measures.
- This is on top of the fact that many travellers don't fill out the ArriveCan app before coming to Canada, which causes more delays. President Mark Weber of the Customs and Immigration Union, which represents border workers, said 30-40% of travellers coming into parts of Canada — specifically into Windsor, Ont. — are either incorrectly filling out the app, forgetting to do it or don't know it's a requirement.
- Weber said the number of people not in compliance is causing headaches for officers: "They have to help them complete it, have them complete it inside the office, which means cars backing up. It is causing delays and it's adding to an already serious situation with our low staffing levels."
- He said that border workers are doing the best that they can to get people through. But they're "discouraged" to find many people still aren't filling out the app, he said.
- Weber said: "We're in a situation where we're kind of not doing our actual work as border service officers anymore. All of our time is being spent on the app. Travellers are arriving quite irate, obviously. When they're waiting in line for hours, it's understandable. But a lot of that is being taken out on our officers."
- Brian Masse, NDP MP for Windsor West, said the app needs to be removed, as it's not protecting the public and it's harming local tourism. Masse said: "The app is something that is not efficient. It doesn't make us any more safe. In fact, it could lead us to being less safe as we move to more automation and we don't even have human-to-human contact as people are coming into our country. It's worthless in terms of public safety, in my opinion. [The app is] also branding us as an unwelcoming destination. Our branding right now as a country of a destination is being destroyed."
- There are also multiple instances of travellers entering or re-entering into Canada and being erroneously told to quarantine, even if the travellers were fully vaccinated and didn't test positive for COVID-19. For some, the app doesn't even work at all.
- For the Trudeau government to insist on keeping ArriveCAN long after it had outlived its already limited usefulness is nothing more than stubborn and intractable defiance. It's just the latest in a series of terrible decisions made by the federal government since 2020 in the name of public health that have not done what they needed to. It's time to scrap ArriveCAN, and any other punitive measures, and get our airports and vital transportation links working correctly again.
- Supplementals:
Quote of the Week
"The app is something that is not efficient. It doesn't make us any more safe. In fact, it could lead us to being less safe as we move to more automation as people are coming into our country. It's worthless in terms of public safety. [The app is] also branding us as an unwelcoming destination. Our branding right now as a country of a destination is being destroyed." NDP MP for Niagara West Brian Masse, on the failures of ArriveCAN
Word of the Week
Glitch - a small problem or fault that prevents something from being successful or working as well as it should
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Show Data
Episode Title: A Glitch in the System
Teaser: Danielle Smith’s leadership campaign could change the UCP and Alberta, BC Ferries fires its CEO after many cancelled sailings, and Trudeau pushes for a reduction in fertilizer usage. Also, glitches in the ArriveCAN app cause more delays for travellers.
Recorded Date: July 23, 2022
Release Date: July 24, 2022
Duration: 56:50
Edit Notes: Erin, Remove news, Wasp
Podcast Summary Notes
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