Alberta
The Awed Couple: Can Ottawa Force Alberta To Stay In Its Lane?
Fact: Alberta and Saskatchewan were to enter Confederation in 1905 as a province named Buffalo. But Sir Wilfrid Laurier feared a landmass that big would threaten the domination of Quebec and Ontario in Canada. And so Buffalo was split into the two provinces we know today.
Of all the riddles that make up Canada’s current prime minister one of the most intriguing is how the grandson of a man, Charles-Émile Trudeau, who made his fortune in Montreal gas stations is now hellbent on destroying the same industry.
In this obsession to end fossil fuels, Trudeau does have the company of many other heirs to fortunes created by oil and its products. The ranks of Green NGOs and political movements are thick with names like Rockefeller, Getty, Morgan, Flagler and more, heirs with a guilty conscience about perceived climate-change destruction.
But while most of these families have chosen discreet roles in their quest, Trudeau’s climate infatuation has propelled him to prime minister of Canada since 2015. In that time “Sunny Ways” Justin has obsessively pursued his goal of transitioning Canada from the fossil-fuel giant to an imagined Shangri-la of gentle breezes and warm sunshine.
Nothing can shake him of his messianic role as saviour of the Frozen North. Likewise, no public disgrace or controversy can shake his loyal supporters who supported his father in the same manner. Buttressed by the lapdog NDP caucus he spouts buckets of enviro-nonsense to a docile media (which he has bribed to stay quiet).
Because subtlety is not a strong suit he even named a former Greenpeace zealot and convicted felon as his Environment minister. Which has naturally put him directly at odds with that portion of the country that exploits fossil fuels and (don’t tell anybody) floats the boat of federal budgets.
So when Justin proposed a Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act to turn energy workers into code writers and social workers by 2035 there was a degree of pushback amongst those who would lose their livelihoods. That plan was revealed last week by EnerCan (who makes up this dreck?) minister Jonathan Wilkinson.
Promising to convert Calgary’s public transit to all-electric, Wilkinson (former leader of the New Democratic Party‘s youth wing in Saskatchewan) proposed the ‘Sustainable Jobs Act’ advisory council that will provide the federal government with recommendations on how to support the Canadian workforce during transition to a ‘net-zero economy.” You can guess who’ll be on the advisory council, but don’t count on any Ford F-150 drivers.
Enter Danielle Smith, newly re-elected premier of Alberta. Smith and her advisors have declared as unworkable the federal government’s unilateral prescription for a carbon-neutral society by 2050. While they recognize the need for transition the Alberta solution is predictably less draconian than Trudeau’s Pol Pot prescription for moving the population back to a more bucolic lifestyle.
Specifically, Alberta wants “to achieve a carbon-neutral energy economy by 2050, primarily through investment in emissions-reduction technologies and the increased export of Alberta LNG to replace higher-emitting fuels internationally.” (Presumably Alberta will be joined by Saskatchewan in this pushback.)
Then came the hammer. “As the development of Alberta’s natural resources and the regulation of our energy sector workforce are constitutional rights and the responsibility of Alberta, any recommendations provided by this new federal advisory council must align with Alberta’s Emissions Reduction and Energy Development Plan.”
Translation: Federal legislation has to be in synch with provincial plans, not the other way around. In short, try to impose some Michael Mann fantasy on the province and it’s a no-go. Don’t like it? See you in court. In Alberta. Not Ottawa.
Will this constitutional gambit work? While Smith’s mandate from the recent election is hardly rock-solid, she does have the benefit of time in her four-year term. Trudeau has no such luxury, and launching a court case in Alberta would likely stretch past his mandate ending next year. Yes, the impertinence of Alberta would play well with his base in the 514/613/416. But let’s be honest, they are voting Trudeau even if he (in the words of Donald Trump) grabs them by the privates.
One thing you can be assured of when it comes to the PM. He will not be forcing any Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act on the Ontario auto industry to aid its transition to EV vehicles. There will be no helpful suggestions on the death of the automobile for the new mutlti-billion dollar VW battery plants cashing federal cheques in Windsor. He knows his voting base won’t buy it. But those Alberta saps?
The telling impact of this jurisdictional fight will be where Trudeau’s rival, Pierre Poilievre, comes down on the transition issue. With his election depending on the swaths of voters in the GTA shoulder ridings— where Trudeau’s mooting about crybaby Alberta will get a full airing— does he lend his support to Smith’s pushback?
Put simply, is backing Alberta sovereignty in the oil patch a vote-loser for a party still looking past “Hate Trudeau” as an election platform? You could see Poilievre rationalizing that he’ll get the seats in the West no matter what, so why not leave Trudeau to wrassle the Alberta bear alone?
Risky for sure. But if he gets the PMO seat in 2024 Poilievre can always play kiss-and-make-up later with Smith and her government. Can’t wait.
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Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, he’s a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his new book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via http://brucedowbigginbooks.ca/book-personalaccount.aspx
Alberta
Alberta court upholds conviction of Pastor Artur Pawlowski for preaching at Freedom Convoy protest
From LifeSiteNews
Lawyers argued that Pastor Artur Pawlowski’s sermon was intended to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, but the statement was characterized as a call for mischief.
An Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that Calgary Pastor Artur Pawlowski is guilty of mischief for his sermon at the Freedom Convoy-related border protest blockade in February 2022 in Coutts, Alberta.
On October 29, Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Gordon Krinke sentenced the pro-freedom pastor to 60 days in jail for “counselling mischief” by encouraging protesters to continue blocking Highway 4 to protest COVID mandates.
“A reasonable person would understand the appellant’s speech to be an active inducement of the illegal activity that was ongoing and that the appellant intended for his speech to be so understood,” the decision reads.
Pawlowski addressed a group of truckers and protesters blocking entrance into the U.S. state of Montana on February 3, the fifth day of the Freedom Convoy-styled protest. He encouraged the protesters to “hold the line” after they had reportedly made a deal with Royal Canadian Mounted Police to leave the border crossing and travel to Edmonton.
“The eyes of the world are fixed right here on you guys. You are the heroes,” Pawlowski said. “Don’t you dare go breaking the line.”
After Pawlowski’s sermon, the protesters remained at the border crossing for two additional weeks. While his lawyers argued that his speech was made to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, the statement is being characterized as a call for mischief.
Days later, on February 8, Pawlowski was arrested – for the fifth time – by an undercover SWAT team just before he was slated to speak again to the Coutts protesters.
He was subsequently jailed for nearly three months for what he said was for speaking out against COVID mandates, the subject of all the Freedom Convoy-related protests.
In Krinke’s decision, he argued that Pawlowski’s sermon incited the continuation of the protest, saying, “The Charter does not provide justification to anybody who incites a third party to commit such crimes.”
However, defence lawyer Sarah Miller pointed out that that Pawlowski’s sermon was protected under freedom of speech, an argument that Krinke quickly dismissed.
“While the appellant is correct that peaceful, lawful and nonviolent communication is entitled to protection, blockading a highway is an inherently aggressive and potentially violent form of conduct, designed to intimidate and impede the movement of third parties,” he wrote.
Pawlowski was released after the verdict. He has already spent 78 days in jail before the trial.
Pawlowski is the first Albertan to be charged for violating the province’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act (CIDA), which was put in place in 2020 under then-Premier Jason Kenney.
The CIDA, however, was not put in place due to COVID mandates but rather after anti-pipeline protesters blockaded key infrastructure points such as railway lines in Alberta a few years ago.
A new team of Alberta Sheriffs will work alongside police to keep crime out of central Alberta communities by targeting problem properties.
Since 2023, Alberta’s government has invested more than $27 million to help fight crime throughout the province. Building on these efforts, the government is now expanding the Alberta Sheriffs’ Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) unit with the creation of a new team of investigators in Red Deer. The creation of the Red Deer SCAN team is the latest in a series of measures aimed at enhancing public safety and increasing the Alberta Sheriffs’ ability to support police throughout the province.
The move puts more resources on the ground with a team of qualified experts who will investigate properties where illegal activity has been reported and shut them down through court orders when needed. The Red Deer SCAN team – made up of four Alberta Sheriffs – joins existing SCAN teams in Calgary, Edmonton, and Lethbridge, which have proven immensely effective in working alongside local police to shutter problem properties throughout the province.
“Alberta’s government will always maintain a zero-tolerance stance toward crime of any kind, and the expansion of the Alberta Sheriffs’ SCAN unit reflects that. With the creation of a new SCAN team in Red Deer, we’re expanding the unit’s coverage even further and putting more boots on the ground where they’re needed. Let this be a message to all criminals: you are not welcome here. Communities in the Red Deer area have a right not to be plagued by drug and other criminal activity that create dangerous environments, and Alberta’s government will do whatever it takes to keep people safe.”
The Sheriffs’ SCAN unit operates under the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act, which uses legal sanctions and court orders to hold owners accountable for illegal activity happening on their property, such as drug trafficking, human trafficking and child exploitation. SCAN augments and supports local police to both investigate and close properties where evidence of criminal activity has been confirmed.
“Ensuring safety for law-abiding Albertans is of utmost importance for Alberta’s government and requires a comprehensive approach to effectively combat and prevent criminal activity. This involves enhancing law-enforcement resources, fostering community engagement, implementing crime prevention programs, and promoting collaboration between Alberta Sheriffs and local police. This SCAN team is a game-changer in central Alberta and puts criminals on notice that they are not welcome here.”
“The Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act holds property owners accountable for activities on their property that threaten public safety. Alberta’s SCAN teams support policing efforts by addressing illegal activities on these properties. This additional team will enhance RCMP community safety programs.”
When a community member reports a problem property to SCAN, the unit begins an investigation. Once the investigation confirms the activity, investigators contact the property owner to try and resolve the issue informally. If informal efforts are unsuccessful, SCAN can apply to the courts for a community safety order to impose restrictions and conditions on the property and its owner, which could include closing the property for up to 90 days. Any criminal activity uncovered when dealing with these properties is turned over to the police to investigate.
“Over the years, SCAN’s impact on community safety has been profound. More often than not, we see individuals in these problem properties carrying out drug operations and other criminal activities beside homes, schools, playgrounds and other places where Albertans’ safety should never be in question. Crime has no place in any Alberta neighbourhood, and we look forward to working with our policing partners in the Red Deer area to help keep central Alberta communities safe.”
SCAN continues to see tremendous success, having closed problem properties in Lethbridge, Calgary, Spruce Grove and Medicine Hat in the last six months alone. Since May 2024, Alberta’s government has publicly announced the closure of seven problem properties by SCAN, including three in Calgary, two in Lethbridge, and one each in Spruce Grove and Medicine Hat.
“Creating a safer environment for our citizens improves the overall quality of our community in Red Deer. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Alberta’s government, SCAN and all our law enforcement partners who work tirelessly every day to keep our communities safe. This is great news for the City of Red Deer, and together, we can make our community safer. I encourage residents to report any suspicious activity to the SCAN unit.”
The Red Deer SCAN team’s operational boundaries encompass the city of Red Deer and its surrounding communities and rural areas, providing coverage to the central area spanning Ponoka to the north and Olds to the south.
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