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Alberta

Red Deer South UCP constituency board member resigns in response to COVID-19 restrictions

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A political firestorm is brewing in Alberta.  The province’s response to COVID-19 is leading to a growing rift amongst members of Alberta’s UCP.  In an effort to slow the spread of COVID the government’s approach has been to protect hospitals by limiting interactions between people. This has lead to thousands of job losses and months of painful uncertainty for small business owners.  Increasingly, individual UCP politicians and Constituency Associations are calling on the Premier to take a new direction. They want the province to shift focus to provide comfortable quarantine sites for vulnerable citizens and the people who work with them, while the rest of Alberta returns to normal.  In an effort to protect the fragile economy, a number of constituency associations are considering their strongest possible move.  They’re deciding whether they should call for a leadership review which would be a direct challenge to Premier Jason Kenney.

In Central Alberta, Calvin Goulet-Jones a member of the Red Deer South UCP Board has resigned.  In his resignation letter (below) Goulet-Jones says the UCP has abandoned the core principals which brought conservatives from different parties together.   Janis Nett, President of the Red Deer South UCP Board says other members of the board support the decision Goulet-Jones has made, but they also support Red Deer South MLA Jason Stephan and the party.  Nett says remaining board members are hoping a change in direction can be accomplished without fracturing conservatives into two more more parties in the next provincial election.  The Red Deer South Constituency Association meets later this week and a discussion about how best to convince party leadership to change direction will be on the agenda. 

Below is a post from the Facebook page of former Red Deer South Constituency Association board member Calvin Goulet-Jones.

Here is an excerpt of the my resignation letter to the local UCP board. I share this as a reminder of what the UCP was built on. For context, the content within the letter is relevant to the end of January. Please also note that this was not an admonishment of local board members, but a recognition that I can no longer be involved at this time for the reasons I state below.

It is no secret that times have changed and I strongly believe we have lost sight of the principles I feel we all hold dear. I am saddened when I look at the core principles that the UCP was built upon. I am saddened because it is so evident that the UCP has abandoned their foundation. They are no longer the party that Albertans elected.

Let me elaborate on the principles the UCP was built upon and where we find ourselves today.

Principle 1 – A robust civil society made up of free individuals, strong families, and voluntary associations.

We live in an era right now where individuals are not free. In fact, we live in an era where the freedom to earn an income is fined, where putting in an honest day’s work to put food on the table results in intimidation and strong families are being weakened as a result. This may not affect you, but it affects our society. When freedom is taken away from one individual it is taken away from all of us. Our society is neither robust, nor is it civil. In fact, it can be argued it is breaking down at the hands of our government.

Principle 2 – Freedom of speech, worship and assembly.

No one can take away the freedom to worship, including the government, however they certainly can put a major damper on it. Our government has intimidated and bullied churches severely beyond what could ever be deemed reasonable. Not only in Alberta but across this country the freedom to corporately worship has been taken away. The point is that this is a core principle of the UCP and the government seems to have not given it a second thought.

Principle 3 – Affirm the family as the building block of society and the means by which citizens pass on their values and beliefs and ensure that families are protected from intrusion by government.

The family is the building block of society, meanwhile families are suffering and children are bearing the brunt of the governments decisions. While the child help line has received an unprecedented amount of calls for help our government applies bandaids. This government is deconstructing the building block of society, mental health issues are rampant, and they have shifted the burden of covid and placed it upon the most vulnerable: Our children. They are affected by the very specific decisions that the government makes more than they will ever know.

Furthermore, the government’s logic is beyond reason. To say that a loved one may babysit your kids but that same loved one may not stay for dinner is absurd. To impose a fine to an individual who is struggling with loneliness and needs familiar company, yet allow a contractor to enter homes is mean spirited. I can go on, but I cannot imagine anyone can truly say that this government is busy ensuring that individuals are protected by the intrusion of government.

Principle 4 – Economic freedom in a market economy which encourages the creation of wealth through free enterprise, and protection of the right to own, enjoy and exchange property.

This government has shut down businesses and are bankrupting the individuals who own them. What’s more, this government has taken it further and has called those people who are soon to be homeless ‘selfish’. Alluding to the idea that they are greedy for wanting to earn an income. I find it very sad that the UCP has abandoned this principle as it is cornerstone policy that the UCP was built on. Free markets and private sector job creation. Instead, the UCP continues to actively work towards shutting small businesses down.

Principle 5 – Limited government, including low levels of taxation to help generate economic growth while allowing Albertans to enjoy the fruits of their own labour.

This government has given itself an unprecedented amount of power to intervene in any and every situation it deems fit. This is not limited government. The UCP speaks of low taxation while putting in policies that result in businesses and individuals earning a pittance. This government has literally made it a crime for certain people in our society to enjoy the fruits of their own labour by threatening fines and threatening prison.

Principle 6 – Fiscal responsibility, including balanced budgets, debt reduction, and respect for taxpayers’ money

The government has stifled growth and has ballooned debt. There was a reasonable point (back in March/April) where I can understand some of the decisions that were made. No one, including the government knew what was going on. We are well beyond that point though, yet the government continues to double down. Balanced budgets are a thing of fantasy, and we seem to live in a dream world that Trudeau himself would be proud of – that the government has an endless amount of money.

Principle 7 – Protecting public safety as a primary responsibility of government.

“Two Weeks to bend the curve.” “Stay home, stay safe.” “We are all in this together.” Three catch phrases used by our government to convince the public that abandoning your principles is worth it. Instead, this government is creating a never seen before amount of unrest. People are not happy. People are losing their homes and becoming desperate. It would be easy to say that this is because of the virus, but it is not. It is because of the specific decisions that our government is making.

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Alberta

Maxime Bernier says it’s ‘astounding’ Alberta is ‘pushing’ COVID boosters, tells Danielle Smith to stop it

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

The People’s Party of Canada leader tells the Alberta government: ‘It’s over! Get over it!’

People’s Party of Canada (PPC) leader Maxime Bernier said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith should tell provincial health bureaucrats to “back off” and stop “pushing” the mRNA COVID boosters on “anyone,” considering a recent announcement from health officials recommending yet more COVID shots.

“I find it astounding that Alberta public health bureaucrats are still pushing the mRNA boosters on anyone, and especially on children who have never been at risk, almost two years after almost all other pandemic measures have been ended,” Bernier told LifeSiteNews.

“Danielle Smith’s government should tell its bureaucrats to back off and stop stupidly feeding a needless sense of fear surrounding the virus that lingers among certain groups of society. It’s over! Get over it!”

Earlier this week, officials from Alberta Health Services (AHS), whose chief medical officer throughout the COVID crisis, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, was fired by Smith in 2022, updated its COVID booster recommendations to every “three months” starting at babies only six months old.

“Starting April 15, 2024, select groups of Albertans at high risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 will be eligible for an additional dose,” the AHS noted on its website.

AHS health officials still assert that all “vaccines are safe, effective and save lives,” and that one can get a COVID shot at the same time as a flu vaccine.

On April 16, Bernier commented on the AHS’s new COVID jab guideline changes on X, in which he asked, “What’s going on in Alberta with their “conservative” government?

Bernier, who was a firm opponent of both the COVID shots and mandates, told LifeSiteNews that AHS’s recommendations are puzzling, given “more and more scientific evidence is emerging of dangerous side effects when injecting from these experimental substances.”

“Even though these are only recommendations, and nothing is mandated, this ‘guidance’ by government agencies influences people’s decisions,” Bernier said.

Those under 18 still need written or verbal consent from their parents to get the shot.

AHS is recommending booster jabs for seniors, healthcare workers as well as those with underlying medical conditions. They also recommend that First Nations people and “members of racialized and other equity-denied communities,” as well as pregnant women get the shots as well.

The COVID shots were heavily promoted by the federal government as well as all provincial governments in Canada, with the Alberta government under former Premier Jason Kenney being no exception.

The mRNA shots themselves have been linked to a multitude of negative and often severe side effects in children.

Danielle Smith took over from Kenney as leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) on October 11, 2022, after winning the leadership. Kenney was ousted due to low approval ratings and for reneging on promises not to lock Alberta down as well as enacting a vaccine passport. Smith was opposed to COVID jab mandates.

Bernier: It’s ‘deplorable’ some provinces still mandate COVID shot for Heathcare workers

While Alberta does not mandate the COVID shots for healthcare workers anymore, British Columbia still does as well as some health regions in Ontario, a fact that Bernier called “deplorable.”

“I find it deplorable that nurses, doctors and other healthcare workers in B.C. and Ontario still have to be vaccinated to work in hospitals and that thousands of them have not been reintegrated,” Bernier told LifeSiteNews.

“The authoritarian covid measures adopted by all governments have been traumatic enough for millions of Canadians. All of them should be lifted.”

Last year, LifeSiteNews reported on how the details of the Canadian federal government’s COVID-19 vaccine contract with Pfizer for millions of doses of the mRNA-based experimental shots were recently disclosed after being hidden for over three years.

The contract with Pfizer shows the government agreed to accept the unknown long-term safety and efficacy of the shots. The details of the Pfizer contract do not disclose how much the government spent on the jabs.

A bill introduced by Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre that would have given Canadians back their “bodily autonomy” by banning future jab mandates was voted down last year after Trudeau’s Liberals and other parties rejected it.

Adverse effects from the first round of COVID shots have resulted in a growing number of Canadians filing for financial compensation over injuries from the jabs via the federal Vaccine Injury Program (VISP).

VISP has already paid well over $11 million to those injured by COVID injections.

Earlier this year, LifeSiteNews reported on how officials from Health Canada have admitted that there is “residual plasmid DNA” in the COVID shots after a Conservative MP asked the agency through an official information request if the DNA fragments were in the shots.

As for Bernier, earlier this month he called out Poilievre for dodging a question regarding Canada’s participation in the United Nations’ pro-abortion Paris Climate Agreement.

Throughout most of the COVID crisis, Canadians from coast to coast were faced with COVID mandates, including jab dictates, put in place by both the provincial and federal governments.

After much pushback, thanks to the Freedom Convoy, most provincial mandates were eliminated by the summer of 2022.

There are currently multiple ongoing class-action lawsuits filed by Canadians adversely affected by COVID mandates.

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Alberta

Canada’s advantage as the world’s demand for plastic continues to grow

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From the Canadian Energy Centre

By Will Gibson

‘The demand for plastics reflects how essential they are in our lives’

From the clothes on your back to the containers for household products to the pipes and insulation in your home, plastics are interwoven into the fabric of day-to-day life for most Canadians.

And that reliance is projected to grow both in Canada and around the world in the next three decades

The Global Plastics Outlook, published by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), forecasts the use of plastics globally will nearly triple by 2060, driven by economic and population growth.  

The use of plastics is projected to double in OECD countries like Canada, the United States and European nations, but the largest increases will take place in Asia and Africa. 

“The demand for plastics reflects how essential they are in our lives, whether it is packaging, textiles, building materials or medical equipment,” says Christa Seaman, vice-president, plastics with the Chemical Industry Association of Canada (CIAC), which represents Canada’s plastics producers.  

She says as countries look to meet climate and sustainability goals, demand for plastic will grow. 

“Plastics in the market today demonstrate their value to our society. Plastics are used to make critical components for solar panels and wind turbines. But they also can play a role in reducing weight in transportation or in ensuring goods that are transported have less weight in their packaging or in their products.” 

Canada produces about $35 billion worth of plastic resin and plastic products per year, or over five per cent of Canadian manufacturing sales, according to a 2019 report published by the federal government.  

Seaman says Canadian plastic producers have competitive advantages that position them to grow as demand rises at home and abroad. In Alberta, a key opportunity is the abundant supply of natural gas used to make plastic resin.  

“As industry and consumer expectations shift for production to reduce emissions, Canada, and particularly Alberta, are extremely well placed to meet increased demand thanks to its supply of low-carbon feedstock. Going forward, production with less emissions is going to be important for companies,” Seaman says.  

“You can see that with Dow Chemical’s decision to spend $8.8 billion on a net zero facility in Alberta.” 

While modern life would not be possible without plastics, the CIAC says there needs to be better post-use management of plastic products including advanced recycling, or a so-called “circular economy” where plastics are seen as a resource or feedstock for new products, not a waste. 

Some companies have already started making significant investments to generate recyclable plastics.  

For example, Inter Pipeline Ltd.’s $4.3 billion Heartland Petrochemical Complex near Edmonton started operating in 2023. It produces a recyclable plastic called polypropylene from propane, with 65 per cent lower emissions than the global average thanks to the facility’s integrated design. 

Achieving a circular economy – where 90 per cent of post-consumer plastic waste is diverted or recycled – would benefit Canada’s economy, according to the CIAC.  

Deloitte study, commissioned by Environment & Climate Change Canada, estimated diverting or reusing 90 per cent of post-consumer plastic waste by 2030 will save $500 million annually while creating 42,000 direct and indirect jobs. It would also cut Canada’s annual CO2 emissions by 1.8 megatonnes.  

Right now, about 85 per cent of plastics end up in Canada’s landfills. To reach the 90 per cent diversion rate, Seaman says Canada must improve its infrastructure to collect and process the plastic waste currently being landfilled. 

But she also says the industry rather than municipalities need to take responsibility for recycling plastic waste.  

“This concept is referred to as extended producer responsibility. Municipalities have the responsibility for managing recycling within a waste management system. Given the competing costs and priorities, they don’t have the incentive to invest into recycling infrastructure when landfill space was the most cost-effective solution for them,” she says.  

“Putting that responsibility on the producers who put the products on the market makes the most sense…The industry is adapting, and we hope government policy will recognize this opportunity for Canada to meet our climate goals while growing our economy.” 

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