The Separatists’ Secret Plan to Sell Out Alberta

0:00The alleged offer of Alberta oil, royalties, and access to fresh water in exchange for a slush fund to help with transition expenses is nuts. Not only is it nuts, and I choose the word carefully, but if you want to start throwing around words like traders and trees and this is a perfect example. This is a relay project. Real Talk starts right now. Here's Ryan Jasperson. Real Talkers, we are two weeks out from Alberta's referendum on a referendum. That's coming up October 19th and a remarkable story published in the Globe and Mail just a few days ago. We've got a lot of work gone into this. It's obvious. Carriedtate Grant Robertson and Nathan Vanderclip, the correspondence working on it with files from their other colleagues. You can check it all out at the globe and mail.com about the growing connections between Alberta's separatist movement and how political operatives state side down in the United States have been traveling to Alberta and welcoming unofficial unsanctioned, unelected Alberta delegations down state side.

1:23And how much of this separation movement really and we'll dig into this today. How much of it goes way beyond Albertans grievances with Ottawa. The center of this all is some familiar names David Parker, Mitch Sylvester, Dr. Dennis, Mojury and Jeff Ratth. You've been hearing these names throughout our extensive coverage of this referendum. And you're going to be hearing more about them today as we welcome superior to Betty coming up at just a moment. You remember David Parker, the Alberta activist who helped build Danielle Smith's political comeback, who became convinced that that voter mobilization technology developed by Republican operatives down in the United States and Michigan could finally get separatism over the hump. You heard about this a lot during that voter data leak that data breach. Remember that. I know that there's a lot of chapters to this. But Parker broker to meeting further reporting at the globe and mail between Alberta separatists and the Americans behind that 10x votes initiative drew born is a name that you may have heard of one who is openly advocated for the United States to annex Alberta.

2:30Alberta and this tech would eventually be adapted in Alberta as the Centurion project. We talked about that when that data breach happened. The second story reported by the globe. There's a few different storylines here. A massive privacy breach that followed. Okay. Now that was the one that outraged. Well, countless people and that is still left a lot of people wondering who has their data and what might they do with it that names the addresses of nearly 3 million voters in Alberta phone numbers other sensitive information elections. Alberta says that that data appears to have come from that voter list that was leaked that was provided initially to the Republican party of Alberta. The breach serious enough to trigger concerns inside Canada's security agencies. You heard a city council in our home city. Aaron Piquette out of Edmonton pointing to actual Albertans anecdotal stories of people that say they were frightened for their safety because their information was exposed.

3:31Now the Washington connection here and I don't know if you want to start ranking which is most egregious which is craziest which is most concerning because it all is but Dr Dennis Mojry and Jeff Wrath and Mr. Wrath has talked about this acknowledged it. He said it on this show that he traveled down to Washington DC meeting with US State Department officials now. Mojry says they discussed potential benefits to the US from an independent Alberta including access to oil pipelines land potentially the ability to run a rail line through to Alaska and even Alberta's fresh water. Now there's infighting and not everybody's happy here. Mitch Sylvester you've probably heard him if you've been listening to radio shows of the past couple of days doing every interview that he can to say hey, we didn't do this. We had nothing to do with this Jeff Wrath. I mean there's trouble in paradise right now Jeff Wrath unhappy with Dennis Mojry and what he's talking about either way.

4:32They came away from these meetings convinced that there's significant support for Alberta independence inside the Trump administration like tell us something we don't know right. So here's what I'm finding particularly interesting about this today and there's a lot about this is shocking but not surprising. You know what I mean? You know the difference there and that is that there's not even agreement among Alberta separatists about whether this American embrace is a good thing. Mitchell Vester is a good example he's saying it defeats the purpose says it doesn't make sense to join the United States now Michael Binyan is another name that you need to know and I know we're throwing a lot of names at you but this is why I want to point you back to the globe story the investigative piece elephant in the room at the globe and mail dot com because they've done a wonderful job with this. But Binyan says that the Americans involved a French player says that he's openly criticized the Washington outreach but Republican politicians world figures tied to Donald Trump are openly talking about Alberta independence and in some cases outright annexation.

5:43So today we endeavor to find out is this simply an Alberta separatist movement that's looking for allies or is there a genuine American interest in destabilizing or absorbing Alberta how much influence did or has American political technology have or had on the separatist campaign two weeks out from this big vote. And what should Albertans make of a fact that a movement campaigning for sovereignty appears to have some of its most enthusiastic supporters outside of the province and in the capital of the United States we're going to dig into this the separatists secret plan to sell out Alberta with superior to Betty in 30 seconds before we do want to let you know this episode is presented by rapid x financial. Bitcoin's moving again and it happens fast and your trust in an exchange can't be a gamble and that's why we're proud to partner with rapid x financial this is a made in Alberta solution by the same people that brought you those rapid cash ATMs you see those for 25 years plus rapid x financial gives you three different ways to trade there's their online platform we're showing to you now that's rapid x financial dot com they've got an over the counter desk if you're making it discrete larger value trader if you could use some human guidance.

7:06And then of course the rapid x crypto ATMs as well they're secure their fin track registered you can read more about what that means on their website and critically they're non custodial meaning you always control your keys if you know Bitcoin you know that's huge if you're going to be trading online at rapid x financial dot com like I do make sure you keep the promo code Ryan 50 in mind that's Ryan 5 0 that's going to knock 50% off all fees for your online. Interact e transfer trades that's Ryan 50 Ryan 5 0 online at rapid x financial dot com. First episode of every week courtesy of our friends at Mercedes Benz Edmonton West we're proud to welcome my longtime trust real radio colleague former senior advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the show it is Supriya D'Vetti happy Monday to you good to see you. Yeah you too bad and so heck of an investigation over the weekend day by the group right and this is one of those where you you take a bit of time you top up your coffee and you get into it because it is a long read it's well researched and the details I mean are explosive at the core of it and we can pick our angle because there's a million of them.

8:21Unsanctioned unelected unauthorized delegation down in the United States allegedly offering up Alberta oil royalties and access to fresh water in exchange for transitional allowance like on a scale of 1 to 10 how bonkers is this to you. Like 20 million like I just this is basically everything that you know has been talked about. Peace meal and separately and with some in you window and with some reporting but with you know anonymous sources that aren't being named not for attribution this globe story really ties everything together you know your intro really laid it out quite nicely about all the different moving pieces about the different actors about the different factions that you know there to your point there is some disagreement within the movement but I think the largest takeaway here. Is the fact that there is at least some contingency within the Alberta separation movement that's willing to sell out the province for American backing of the independence movement.

9:26So you know you're you're hearing in and one of the things that I think is particularly significant here is pushed back from some of the figures that have been named in the story right like Mitchel Vester an example is proactively reaching out to news organizations of the past couple of days since this story his surface saying it was I didn't do that that doesn't make sense to me there's not a common consensus there's not a common goal there's not one single organization that's driving this. Candidly I feel like as somebody who wants to fight for Alberta in Canada somebody who is fighting for Alberta in Canada that's a good thing. Yeah it's not to say that they're not organized because they are formidable organized in some capacities and I don't think that they should be underestimated but that matters right. Yeah and I mean this is kind of what I've been saying from the jump to you with respect at least the difference between the sovereignty movement in Quebec and the sovereignty movement or the separation secessionist movement in Alberta is that at least you know to some degree within the Quebec movement there's been a lot of legitimacy to towards independence because of the

10:26way it's structured right you have the back to Quebec as the as the main sovereignty party in the province at the provincial level then you have the block. Quebec at the federal level so at least there is a leader there's a spokesperson you have policy conventions in which you know they vote on policies just like any normal political party would do so there's at least a coherent set of you know ideals and principles that they can move towards whereas the Alberta secessionist movement is you know you pointed it out multiple times the globe story makes this clear there are different factions are different figures there are different folks that may have a different movement folks that may have their own you know visions for the province and how that would play out and I think we're seeing some of that tension in real time it's you know it's not unlike other movements in the past the one that kind of comes to mind is like the occupy Wall Street movement where it was kind of you know various factions coming together sure there was some sort of common over laying goal but there wasn't a ton of agreement on

11:38tactics and strategies and messaging and you know that's sort of what what ended up happening to that movement this movement to your point I don't think we should be underestimating it but I think it is somewhat you know lucky for the rest of us that are pro united Canada that they are is disorganized as they are and the Alberta separation movement because the alternative would be much scarier I think yeah and let's also point out that let's say hypothetically on an after October October 19th a majority of Albertans vote to move toward another referendum I don't think it's going to happen it could happen everybody that cares deeply about this better get out and vote but let's say that that does happen then you've got a provincial government you've got a united conservative party in an interesting position right because you'll have a premier Danielle Smith who will say well I'm just you know acting on the will of the people on the express will of the people we got to move this forward but it would obviously change the dynamic it would change the mandate in a sense of Alberta's governing party right I would imagine so do you think let's say this does go ahead I mean I sort of played this out in my own had a couple of ways do you think the premier stays on like is this not like a kind of a huge indictment of her own leadership here if you can keep the province together I don't know I think that she would 100% stay on and I think that it like here's the thing is like you're not going to be

13:06you know you can sort of like flirt with the certain territory right like like like right now I feel like her and her party have been flirting with separatists but but Smith at the same time has said like you know I hope she's like you know she says 700,000 people wanted this referendum if you ever want to make people's heads explode in Alberta by the way your next visit out here just say 700,000 people signed a petition asking for referendum and then you'll see people's heads explode but she has she has said that I'm just doing what the people want yeah but I sure hope that people vote to stay in Canada she said I sure hope that people can you know vote to stay in Canada and then there's kind of like a wink wink nudge nudge because of all of the things that have happened that have been made possible by the United Conservatives to make it easier for the separatist to get Alberta in a referendum position but my point only is is that if if the majority of those and again this is a huge if but if the majority of voters on October 19th give the government a mandate to move toward a binding referendum on separation then the party the government becomes the one that's making them move and then how on earth are you not the party that's working toward a pursuing separation if you perceive that to be the mandate that the voters have given you

14:21like it feels like right now the United Conservative Party you've got some MLA's right you've got some government MLA's that have been wide open about how they feel about this and it's created a headache for Danielle Smith saw just last weekend I mean you and I talked about it a short time ago interviews I think with David common with Ashikapelo several interviews after some MLA spoke up and either encouraged people to vote for separation or didn't deny the fact that that's how they felt that they feel Albert is better off alone and interviews have wanted to ask the premier why haven't you kicked them out of your party why haven't you said something why haven't you demanded that your MLA's toe the line and she said the same thing that she said to me on breakfast television in 2012 when whatever candidate said the gaze would burn in a lake of fire and she said it's not my job I'm not going to tell my elected you know I'm not going to tell my my representatives I'm not going to tell party members I'm not going to tell volunteers what to think what to believe she says that there's a healthy disagreement with the healthy political party so she hasn't really taken a position and she hasn't kind of whipped her MLA's so to speak but I think if you get into a position like that where you're perceived to have the green light I think it would change the dynamic of the entire party I mean everybody in Alberta right now I mean particularly

15:39the official opposition are calling the UCP a separate disparty but once you start moving toward a binding referendum on separation made possible by the UCP you are the separate disperial how are you any different than the party kebab Kwa in that circumstance yeah I mean I don't I don't think you are but that's also why I think she kind of has to resign no like how do you want to be the person after you've expressly said that you would like the province to remain within a united canada how can then you be the person that's going to be moving towards an independent Alberta or at least creating the conditions to get Alberta towards independence it just seems like a completely diametrically opposed you know Phil is too philosophical holdings that you can actually hold in your head at one point so you say men that you would have certain traps you would have you would have like a full blown separatist that would run to lead that party or you say somebody else who has expressed a company in well either or I don't know like I don't I would imagine though if you are like a UCP you know member and you're

16:44very tied to the party and this is something that perhaps you were on the fence about you weren't like full blown into separation but once you saw that this was going this way you're like okay don't you want a leader that is going to be more successful like I don't know like how are you going to lead the party that's moving towards us when you said yourself your heart's not in it yeah it just seems like a weird attention yeah and I mean and then there's also the obvious I mean I feel like we're maybe getting ahead of ourselves a little maybe because also if I'm a separatist I'm like get out of there you said you didn't want this yeah I guess but I would also say that I mean here's two situations like I can't talk about the separatist vote being in my majority position on October 19th and then talk about it how it would be a minority position in front of Alberta voters right like that which is why I think I have some confidence that it's not going to go that way and I'm relying on my fellow Albertans to step up in a big way and either get your mail in ballot sent in if you haven't already or be willing to and budget

17:46time to stand in line and wait on October 19th to have your voice heard but I would say this is if a full blown separatist ran for and won the leadership of the United Conservative party I think you'd have an absolute disaster on your hands making it even worse no offense to anyone is the the languishing sort of the spinning their tires in the mud and EP would then appear to be the other option and then a vote for Canada turns into a vote for the NDP and there's a lot of people in Alberta that simply would not do that on principle I mean it could be and it might be a huge mess yeah do you see this story in the globe do you see this more as Alberta separatists that are exploring opportunities in the United States or seeking help from American conservatives or do you see this or maybe and do you see this as an American political movement that's developed a

18:50real interest in Alberta is it is it both I think it's both I think this is likely US administration who's been you know very explicit about their sort of expansionist imperialist goals and objectives they've been very blatant about this I think I've said this on this show before but Trump's very first inaugural address in his inauguration speech there was a line in there that everybody's sort of downplayed but it said like the United States will once again consider ourselves a growing nation one that increases our wealth expands our territory builds our cities blah blah blah but it's you know and then you look into like their their security strategy and their their their their defense strategy and the Don Roe doctrine and all this other stuff that they've done and and they're telling us that they've you know have wanted to at least capitalize on on some of this and then I think the Alberta separation movement kind of are just a very useful

19:52set of folks to the expansionist kind of dream and of course it helps that there are like-minded folks on on both sides of of this so there's like kind of a natural sort of ally ship there but I certainly think that it's it is both I don't think it's either or and I think it's quite unfortunate that um you know there are at least some very prominent folks within the Alberta separation movement that are very willing to sell out Alberta and its people and its resources to the United States. We're hanging out with Supriya Divetti and our feature interview presented by Mercedes-Benz Emminson West I want to jump into our live chat here powered by Park Power. Meta Modern says the premier's talking about both sides of her mouth to hedge her bets to maintain her own personal power like what's so confusing about this you guys that from Meta Modern. Meantime JD is convinced as the silent majority will speak loud and clear. JD is convinced that the silent majority is separatist in Alberta. I would actually Johnny I remember I

20:53told you this before to stop me if I ever go here. I was about to say I'd bet my house on it but we had a quick family meeting a while ago Supriya. Carrie let me know no more betting the house on anything. Tough but fair. Tough but fair. Solid family policy. Yeah. And I agree. Susan says the leader of a party is responsible for the direction that that party goes and this movement goes as far back as the freedom convoy. Susan says by the way there's millions of dollars missing. Jordan says separatists need to form their own party. Jim says Smith has already committed to a negotiation with First Nations leading to a binding referendum. The majority of First Nations want absolutely nothing to do with this. I mean the the Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations has made it crystal clear how they feel about this. Sherry Bees says this is all part of the far rights move to justify the invasion of Canada by the Americans. So Tucker Carlson is saying that Canada's a communist country and that Alberta needs to be rescued. Sherry Bees has done

21:57on bus stand yelling. There's obviously a lot to cover here in this story and I want to credit the Globe journalist for for such a comprehensive bit of investigative reporting. The the part that really jumps out at me like if you had to sum it up in one sentence. And Jeff Rath is spinning his tires in reverse here trying to distance himself from it. Saying that the the the once celebrated cardiologist Dr. Dennis Mojury has lost his mind says that he's speaking around this. But the alleged offer of Alberta oil royalties and access to fresh water in exchange for a slush fund to help with transition expenses is nuts. Not only is it nuts. And I choose the word carefully. But if you want to start throwing around words like traders and trees and this is a perfect example. Am I wrong? No, no, this is the perfect example. And I mean you'll you'll remember this one one thing that kind of set the alarm bells in my own had off about the entire

22:59separation movement was when the Wall Street Journal. This was some months ago at this point, but they had reported that the Alberta separate leaders of the Alberta separation movement had gone down to DC and met with State Department officials. And in one of those meetings, it was conducted in a skiff, a skiff being a like the secured sort of information facility where you receive classified briefings in. And I was like, that's not where normal stakeholder meetings occur. There is something incredibly odd and off about this. And we should all be very concerned. And now we're learning this. So it's like, yeah, that's why that meeting was in a fucking skiff because they're trying to sell off Alberta. And it's like, this is one of those things where I think, you know, and again, I've said this, but like to our peril here in not in Alberta in the rest of the country, I think we've been downplaying some of the urgency around this as well as how far some of these separatist leaders are willing to go with their end goal of creating an independent

24:04state. Yeah, we've got some critics in the live chat, which I think is good. We welcome the criticism. I welcome diversity of opinion, even if you're terribly wrong, but Kyle's watching our livestream here presented by California closets. He says, for Jesperos next act, he'll show you he could do a backflip through a lube with a firecracker. JD says, this is nothing, but fear mind agreeing. Yeah, I mean, actually, if you could do that, I love it. 100% would do that. I don't like my chances, especially 49 years of age, you know what I mean? The hops aren't what they used to be. But there's going to be a lot of people right now, including Jeff Rath, and including some folks in our live chat, who I'm sure are either sympathetic to the separatist movement or will vote or have voted already for Alberta to leave, that'll want to convince you that this is absolutely nothing. This is rumors. This is fear mongering. This is, this is media elites that are out of touch with the grassroots that are trying to stomp on the future of Alberta and this, that and the other. What do you think that a revelation like this does though to the separatist movement? Like, if

25:06you're someone that believes strongly that an independent Alberta is a stronger Alberta, and then you're hearing about all these ties and these meetings and these conversations with the Americans and these concessions that have allegedly been offered up without authority, by the way, let me continue to point that out. I mean, does it maybe hurt the separatists aside from the obvious, which would be mobilizing federalists? Like, you think that separatists here get turned off and go, wait, we never agreed to any of this with the states? I think there's likely a contingency of, you know, separate separatist supporters that will likely be turned off at the fact that these meetings were, you know, held to begin with and that these offers were made up without authority, without consultation, without any of that. So yeah, sure, but I don't know if that's going to be a sizable chunk. I worry that because of the way our information ecosystem is fractured and the way people receive their news for the most part, that if you are already on the separation side of things, you're not necessarily reading the Globe and Mail investigation in its entirety or even in

26:07its original format, you're likely getting distilled versions via influencers of the political bent of which you already agree with, right? So that's kind of what I worry about is that regular everyday alburtons aren't going to necessarily be able to consume this information in its entirety, but we'll get, you know, paired down versions depending on where they already lean and then it already just gets, you know, reinforced to you via the algorithms. I think what's what's especially concerning about this as a whole is that depending on your prior preconceived notions about this, to your point Ryan, about whether you do think this is just a media elite thing, you could look at the entirety of the reporting on this and go, well, we've already sort of known this. They're just trying to make a big deal out of it in the lead up to the election and I think that's incredibly worrying. We're hanging out with Supriya DeVetti here. We've got a whole bunch of real talkers. I want to give you the the the floor as much as I can. I mean, Jim is 100% correct when he says Jaspo, you know, talking a lot about October 19th, he says it's referendum week

27:12starting on October 13th and Jim's right, if people check out elections.ab.ca, I'm showing it right now. They can learn more about your voting options, which include advanced polls and that those will open on the 13th of October runs through from October 13th to the 19th. Again, that's elections.ab.ca. We've got Canadian Spider-Man in our chat. That's kind of exciting, who says we are separating to be free, free from Ottawa and free from Washington. Prapter fires back says Canadian Spider-Man don't be naive. Got a whole bunch of others that are sharing their personal position on what will be driving their votes tonight. And we do have Supriya some questions about Quebec. An interesting story in the Montreal Gazette. I want to ask you about that in just a second. Plus David, maybe I'm not sure if you guys saw this just this morning announcing a new income tax bracket for high income British Columbia resident. It says he can

28:12raise another billion dollars for healthcare. I'm curious to know what you think of it as an election strategy. More with Supriya divetti coming up in just a second before we get there, real talkers, you know how proud we are to partner with our friends at Y-E-G. That's Edmonton International Airport. And right now I want to draw your attention to flyyeg.com slash travel. You know your next destination might be closer than you think. Discover inspiring destinations and seamless travel options when you begin your journey at Y-E-G. That's Edmonton International Airport. Stop dreaming. Start experiencing the world for yourself because pictures never do it justice. Sometimes you really need to see it to believe it. Picture yourself in paradise. Maybe NASA, the kind of destination that makes the decision easy. White sand, beaches, crystal clear water and enough sunshine to make you forget what month it is back home. From snorkeling along coral reefs swimming with sea turtles to catamaran cruises, local rum tastings and day trips

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31:17I'm proud to work with. A group I'm proud to support. You know, what if one experience could change the direction of a young person's life? That's what Junior Achievement does every single day. J.A. is helping students build real, world skills in financial literacy, entrepreneurship, work readiness. They're giving young people the confidence to see a bigger and brighter future for themselves. And volunteers are bringing those lessons to life by sharing what they've learned over their lifetime. J.A. provides the materials and support. You bring your experience. Consider giving a few hours to a classroom. Book your volunteer orientation today by visiting their website. That's jaynorthalberta.org. Slash volunteer. Supriya, do you have any hanging out with us as we take a look at? Well, I guess we're talking about separatist movements across the country. Supriya, aren't we? But we wanted to take a look

32:17at what was going on in Quebec, allegedly a short time ago. This was reported in the Montreal Gazette. People can read that story. US Consul's leaked text message reveals a scheduled meeting with a PQ leader was canceled. Oh, what could have been? Yeah. So this is a good get in a good scoop by Marty Patrick and in the Montreal Gazette. Also, just so folks are aware, today Quebec does go to an election and the PQ is very much poised to win and are poised to win a majority. So this, you know, the separation aspect will get even more interesting. But yeah, to your point about this report of the Montreal Gazette, I mean, earlier in the week, it was denied by the PQ leader, Paul St. Pierre at Plomondal, that he was going to schedule a meeting or had scheduled a meeting in back in March in the spring with the State Department. And so he outwardly denies it. And then what does Marty do? Marty goes and gets the actual text message from the US side of things that

33:22confirms that there was in fact a meeting with Betsy McCoy officials back in March and that it had been canceled. So it does make, I think, the leader here look a little bit dumb kind of makes it look like he had something to hide that he was trying to, you know, I guess lie in without trying to imbue motives or anything, but he had apparently known about a meeting. It was canceled and then lied about that meeting. So doesn't really look too great. I don't expect it to really impact the result of the vote because as, you know, somewhat confounding as this may be for folks outside of the province of Quebec, just because people are voting for the Betsy McCoy doesn't actually mean that they're all in on the separation movement necessarily. It just means that the last 10 years of Quebec under the CAC, the current government hasn't been great. There are a lot of things that have deteriorated with respect to education and healthcare and I think Quebecers are frustrated

34:23by that. So we may end up with a separatist government in Quebec with a majority mandate where the majority of Quebecers may not even agree with a separatist sort of leaning. So it's it's very interesting, but I think the the tie-in to what's happening in Alberta is that obviously if you're the US and you see two very different separation movements on two different sides of the country, you can play them against each other. And I don't think that Boadswell for us as a country and I don't think that Boadswell for us just, you know, in terms more immediately in terms of our trade concerns with the US. Yeah, no kidding. It kind of feels like the Detroit Red Wings right now where everybody wants out Dylan Larkin wants out Simon Edvinson wants out. Don't worry, I won't make you dig into the sports metaphors, but it's a tough look if you're the Detroit Red Wings, if the Detroit Red Wings are Canada, you know what, I'm going to stop right there because Canada's got solid leadership right now and the Red Wings don't with respect to former oil or Sean Horkoff.

35:26What would you say is the main difference between what you're seeing in Alberta right now and what you're seeing in Quebec right now in the context of the separation conversation. Like I mean, one huge one obviously is that the party, Quebec, why has a very clear mandate. They have very clear party values. Everybody knows what they're all about. There's no surprises and they're running candidates in an election on that platform under that banner saying if we win, here's what we could or here's what we will do. That's a major difference between Quebec and Alberta, but what about what's driving the sentiment and maybe how realistic you see all of this becoming? So you can correct me if I'm wrong on this, but once similarity I do see with respect to movements, I know you have three for differences, but the once similarity I do see is that those that are hold separation in the independence movement dearest and for them it's like a real, you know, it has on de, and they are very passionate about it. They tend to skew a touch older. I'm not

36:31saying that's always the case, but you know, generally, you know, it's like boomer and above, or like older gen X and above, whereas you're not necessarily seeing a ton of like gen Zs or like younger millennials really come into the fore at least in Quebec, and I would imagine that's somewhat similar in Alberta. And I think that's because folks that are younger probably see opportunities for themselves in not just, you know, in a united Canada, but like as like Canada's position in the world and being able to offer them opportunities to like study and travel abroad or to to work abroad or whatever the case may be. So I think that's one similarity. And the difference I think the main one is exactly what you pointed out, and I don't mean to harp on this because I don't mean to deligitimize folks that really do feel as though they would fare better in an independent Alberta than in a united Canada. I'm not trying to downplay those feelings, but there is a difference between doing something properly and legitimately and getting a political party and having the organization and having the, you know, the boots on the ground and the

37:35volunteer capacity that comes along with it of having a real political party running, you know, candidates in every election, and then at the federal level doing the same thing with respect to the Black Quebec Coit, and you know, kind of running a rag-tie group of folks that can't even agree on whether they should be meeting with, you know, the State Department in Washington. Like it just just doesn't seem that the Alberta separation movement is organized even in like the most basic of way where they can't even really agree what's going to happen next and what they're actually about. Yeah, I mean, I, well, I can see like a probably a growing faction of Albertans that would demand an election that would absolutely insist on an election where anything to advance beyond the October 19th referendum. Do you know what I mean? Because there was no way, I mean, Daniel Smith did not campaign, number one, didn't campaign on a referendum, but definitely did not campaign on leading Alberta out of Canada. Like there's not a chance. And so I think a lot of people and for those that might say, well, a referendum is in a sense of de facto

38:39election. No, it's not. And you don't have a party. I mean, I would be pretty confused if I voted for a united conservative representative. If I voted for united conservative MLA because I believe that they believed in small and efficient government and making life easier for my business and having kind of a steady, eddy approach to social policy. And then all of a sudden, the next thing I know is they're leading Alberta or attempting to lead Alberta out of Canada. Like that would be wild. So that would be one huge difference for sure. I'm curious to pick, Johnny's brain on this because I saw you kind of like your eyebrows raised. I was just free. I was saying, surprise the ages of ages of I'm gonna dare you. We don't like ages among the show that shatters on going. What would you say? Like this is obviously a hundred percent anecdotal. This is not official. This is your observation. But do you think it's fair to say that like in your experience, have you seen the louder, prouder separatists skewing more toward a certain age demographic? I don't know if that's the case because I don't know. I've seen like a lot of like younger

39:42kind of blue collar guys in my orbit. I've talked a lot about it. People in my life that I know personally that are dead. They're under the age of 40. I don't know. What do you think, Johnny? What have you seen? I mean, I don't know. Like have I met any young hip separatists? Not really. But I do know a few who are, you know, I don't want to date myself. But I'm not, people when, you know, kids wouldn't call me young. They call me hunger for sure. But there are some, there are some younger. But I mean, no, I haven't talked to any 18 to 25-year-old separatists. I don't know any. So yeah, I would guess Supri is on the right track that they just, they skew older, right? They're people who are worried about things that younger people maybe maybe don't think about as much. And if they do, they're not thinking about it being as rash as needing to separate for the country to get it. Maybe felt strongly about how they feel for a long time. And now there's momentum behind it. So it's all bubbling to the surface. And I don't mean this

40:44next comment. I want to be clear about this. I don't mean this in like a disparaging way. I never want to smirk or sort of pat on the top of the head. Somebody that's new to politics or new to community involvement because I think it's great when people get involved. And I want to encourage participation in democracy. But you and I have chatted about this before. Supri, I do think that there's a common theme and easily identifiable of people that had no involvement in politics and no awareness of politics and tell COVID and tell the freedom convoi and tell all of the things that happened sort of from, you know, 2019, 2020 up until now that have now become greatly inspired. You know, by I think external forces and by their understanding of who's calling the shots and what's happening and what's wrong with politics. And I think that that there's a wave of that driving Alberta separation as well. Like the then diagram of people that were

41:45protesting, you know, vaccine mandates and people that want to see an independent Alberta is basically like overlapping circles. Yeah, which is why I think it's rather unfortunate that there were certain political forces within Alberta that were, you know, placating a lot of that movement from the jump because it's just come back to bite them in the butt. Like Jason Kenny, like he owns some of this. I think Danielle Smith owns some of this. I think with respect to the way this movement has played out, it's really hard to, you know, look at some of the central political figures in Alberta, whether provincially or federally for the last few years and think that they haven't actually stoked some of the flames of this. And yeah, sure, I'm very, you know, grateful for Mr. Kenny lending his, his voice and his platform to speaking out quite, you know, vociferously and passionately against a divided Canada and for a united Canada. But it's like, bro, you kind of,

42:51some of this is on you. Well, yeah, I mean, I mean, yeah. And then they're also the ones that, I mean, you remember Ken, for him, comments about like the inmates are running the asylum. And it was a lot of the same names. I mean, I'm sure that David Parker gets quite chuffed when he hears his name mentioned like this, because he loves to take credit as the organizer that led to the demise of Jason Kenny. And now I'm sure that he's threatening. I mean, you see it all the time, Jeff Rath is doing the same thing on his social media constantly. Like they're going to come for the queen, right? Like Danielle Smith is forgetting who put her there. And you know, her 10 year could be short. And I would be curious, like who comes after Danielle Smith. It's kind of like a, and I'm not comparing the politicians. I think they have different strategies, different styles, different delivery. But it's like that conversation in the United States of who comes after Donald Trump, because you look at a politician that has kind of a unique way of doing things. There's certainly like Danielle Smith has established herself as a, you know, and we'll see how history tells that story like 10 years out from this referendum. I'll be 20 years out. I'll be

43:55curious to see how Danielle Smith's quote unquote legacy is told and is remembered in Alberta. But, but you know, we're she to be run out of office by way of like, let's say a leadership review that doesn't meet the mark, but like internal kind of party levers being pulled. I'd be curious to see who leads the United Conservatives next. Like do you get like a full blown, you know, the Alberta version of the PQ where the United Conservative Party becomes officially the separatist party. And then what do you have like then where is the mainstream stay in Canada conservative option? Pete got three wants it to be the progressive Tory party of Alberta. And it would make sense because they've got some party structure, but like is Pete got three the leader there? Like it leads to a million questions again all off of the caveat. I do think I'm getting way ahead of myself with this, but I think it's advantageous and important for people to be thinking a few moves ahead when they're talking to their friends and family ahead of like the real talker said referendum

44:57week October 13 through the 19. I just think it's important for people to think like what are the stakes here? This is about so much more you can tell. I mean, I'm sure you can feel it in my, the urgency in my voice. There's a lot of people that are like send a message send a message. It's like this is so much more and you are sending a message by voting a certain way, but it might not be the message you think you're sending and to whom are you sending the message in the first place. Well, yeah, and I mean like look, let's not forget that it was just last week that the Pacific link pipeline was announced, right? I mean, you had the energy minister on. What do people think happens to private investors that were possibly considering investing in this project if a referendum on a referendum is called what do they think happens to this sort of sentiment, right? Like I just it just think two steps ahead and I feel like nobody's really thinking two steps ahead in any of this. It's all emotion and like yes, we need this without like, okay, well, what actually what is

45:59the tangible impacts of this? What are they going to be on home prices in Alberta? Like I can tell you in Quebec, for example, the last referendum plummeted home prices in Montreal. Like it's like, it's like a joke that if you bought your house in one of the nicer neighborhoods in Montreal in like 95, 96, it was precisely because of a flight of capital, right? Like there's a reason why the bank of Montreal is headquartered in fucking Toronto for Christ's sake and that's because of the referendum, right? It's because of the independence movement. Like if you want to look at what independent independence movements or separation policies can do to a province's finances and coffers and economic opportunities like look no further than you know, Quebec in the 70s and then Quebec once again in the 90s. Like I don't understand how any Canadian can look at that and go, yeah, you know what? That's what I want plummeting home prices and no investor like sentiment, like stability

47:03sentiment in my province. Like these are not good things. You know what you hear in Alberta right now when you say, when you offer the cautionary note that separation would plummet home prices, you know what you hear in response? Good. Oh, well, yeah, I guess. Yeah. Everyone says good. They say home prices on the table. Nobody has thought this through. Like honestly nobody has thought this through. That's my key takeaway from this episode is that there is no cohesion, there's no plan. There is no loyalty to Alberta and nobody has thought this through. What did you happen to hear my interview with minister Tim Hodges? I don't know if you heard it, but he did not want the question. Like basically I was like, would this pipeline have happened without the threat of Alberta separation and what happens to the pipeline if Albertans vote to go to a second referendum? And he was just like, I circled back. I asked the question twice. People can check out the interview. It's last week. You check it on our YouTube channel or our podcast archive. But

48:05I was like, yeah, okay, but you know, you pick your spots when you got to step on someone's toes and interrupt the answer. But I was like, he was giving us like, you know, and I don't blame the minister. I'm not making fun of him. But it's like, you know, we are building Canada strong. And we believe that a stronger and I was like, no, no, no, no, no, minister. Yeah. But like if Alberta's vote to go to a binding referendum on separation, what happens to the pipeline? And he's like, we remain convinced that a stronger counter is with a stronger Alberta, this that the other. But the obvious answer is that it is dead in the water. So you've got a commitment for a, I'm going to call it a $44 billion pipeline. They're saying 35 to $44 billion. I'm not sure the last time anybody saw any sort of public infrastructure project that came in at the floor of the quoted price right under budget and ahead of time. I mean, hey, Lord willing. But I don't see this band of yahu's, these separatists that are allegedly offering up Alberta's most important and most valuable natural resources. And I'm going to rank water ahead of oil by

49:08the way on that front. I don't think that there's any way that these clowns are going to be able to line up a pipeline deal that looks better than the $44 billion that Alberta and Ottawa and Pembena and everybody else are collaborating on here with opportunity for for nation investment. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, everybody knows the story. But I just thought it was really interesting from the the energy minister, Tim Hodgson on real talk. I would say what he didn't want to say, but what he probably believes deep down inside is that this thing is a joke. This thing is it's not a joke. They're not treating it like a joke. But it's a waste of time. Let's get it over with. It's obviously not happening. The pipeline is happening. And the separatists will be eating crow when they see that shovels are in the ground and we can actually make something like this happen. Do you agree or disagree? No, I agree with that. And I mean, a plus plus to the minister for actually avoiding answering the question. Like I know from a very perspective, it's annoying. But from like, you know, a staffer perspective, I'm sure as calm staffers were very pleased with him. I think,

50:10you know, when you're looking at this, they can't obviously state the obvious. But what's been interesting to me and the prime minister's language has sort of evolved on this is that initially when talking about this, like you'll remember when all the MOU stuff, like in the lead up to the MOU and the MOU being signed, there was a lot of talk about national unity. And now he talks about it in, he says national interest instead of national unity. And I don't know if that's just because, you know, the prime minister has a bajillion things in his head at any given time and it's possible. It was just like an organic shift in some of the language. But I wonder if it's also because perhaps they know that this won't necessarily totally qualify any of the separatist sentiment. Because as folks will remember, I mean, Danielle Smith, one announcing the MOU at her own AGM, was booed quite reciprocously. So I don't know. I don't expect, I didn't expect the announcement of the pipeline to sort of quell any separatist sentiment in the province of Alberta, unfortunately. But I think that the real like tangible aspect of this is that if Alberta does move forward

51:17with a referendum on a referendum or whatever the case may be, I mean, you're going to plummet the chances of a successful pipeline one way or another. Like also how is Ottawa supposed to negotiate with a UCP government or whomever, you know, let's say they end up going to an election? If the province is going to separate, like I just don't know what that looks like. Well, I have a theory, by the way, I did want to mention one quick thing. If people want to go back, I mean, majority people will listen to our podcast. But if you watch our interview with Tim Hodgson, the Energy Natural Resource Minister on YouTube, and when I'm asking him about the what if, what if, separation, what if you can see him, like, you know, when someone's making eye contact with the camera, and then you know, somebody looks up, like just just slightly above the camera. And I was like, somebody is showing him something. It's, I don't know what it is. It's like a handwritten note that's like, don't say it. Talking points, talking points. I just notice his eyes go up just

52:20the tiniest little bit. Anyway, these are the nerdy things that I notice. I wonder if on the national unity versus national interest conversation, work with me on this theory. National unity is worth fighting for. And it's the noble, obvious rallying cry, right? It's what sort of like, but you know, it tugs on our heartstrings. And it reminds us of like, like, patriotism and World War II and all, you know, 1972, Henderson Scores, all this stuff, right? But maybe there's polling or maybe there's like, comms people that are smarter than me that have said, you know what? Like the plea to national unity. And I'm not saying I believe this. I'm not saying I feel this way. But maybe it's not resonating as much with the undecided voters in Alberta or maybe even Quebec. Maybe that's not resonating as strongly as like the prosperity doctrine, the prosperity gospel. Like the word national interest is like what's best for us from a business standpoint,

53:24from a bottom line standpoint. The national unity thing is one thing. And the Canadian flag, and the anthem, and everything else, right? We stand on guard for the, but I wonder if that's a conscious choice to remind people that one of Canada's strengths is its, you know, natural resources. It's international, you know, the whole like EU thing. It's relationships, Canada's reputation on the world stage. It's not, you know, da da da da. Do you think there might be something to that? Yeah, I think so. I also though, just wonder if from just a purely pragmatic standpoint, if the evolution in language happened because it's like, well, we're just isn't actually necessarily going to improve national unity because presumably there's going to be some level of opposition to the pipeline that will be organized and mobilized in nature. Like, you know, so I, I would imagine that this won't actually make an argument for national unity, but can very easily be made for the national interest because it's all the reasons that you just

54:26said with respect to the, you know, our bottom line. And I think that whole pragmatic sort of approach that, you know, the Prime Minister himself, but also just his entire front bench has been taking is that times have changed. And we need to adapt to the changed times. And in these change times, we need to prioritize our economic interests or our national economic interests ahead of perhaps some of the things that might make us feel warm and fuzzy inside. I should have never brought up the Van diagram of anti-vaxxers and separatists because our life chat has just gone to shit. Oh my gosh, I don't even know why I brought that up. I should bring up chem trails and fluoride and water just to see if we can really get this thing cooking. But yeah, interesting comments here. I saw one from super chat Ken that said that he's sort of observed that most separatists says can't appear to be in my demographic. I guess that's just tall dark and handsome Ken. He says what an amazing shock that they have to get American health insurance with their stew of

55:27comorbidities and pre-existing conditions. Ken says, careful what you wish for. Yeah, maybe not wrong. Hey, so before we, I want to ask you what's happening in BC and David E.B.'s pitch on a new tax bracket, but before we do realistically, like your thoughts on Pacific links. So this pipeline. So now it goes to so it was declared and we asked the minister this. I said, are you, are we confusing national interest with basically done deal? Can't remember how I asked it exactly, but you know, a lot of people are like the pipelines happening. The new pipeline specifically, no, it's not shovels in the ground yet. Though it could be and they sound motivated for sure. Daniel Smith is gleefully welcoming the news. Mark Carney looks pretty happy about it. Obviously, Albert is oil and gas industry and communities that benefit from it, which is basically everybody are pretty stoked about it. But there's still they say going to be months of consultation and there's going to be public hearings. And we know that not everybody on the west coast is keen on

56:28this. Though more keen at a southern route than the northern route, Daniel Smith initially wanted. What do you think are the chances that actually gets built and what's maybe a story line or two that you'll be following over the next number of months? Yeah, I mean, so one storyline I'll be following is the sort of organic opposition that does end up bubbling up to the pipeline and what I guess face that sort of takes. Will it be the environmental side of things really making the southern resident killer whale the feature of this, which is three pods of orcas, essentially, that live in the Salish Sea and the surrounding area that would be greatly impacted a lot of environmental experts saying that they could be wiped out completely if this were to move ahead. So is it going to be that? Is it going to be the fact that there's a bunch of, and I wouldn't suggest this, but a bunch of, you know, richer upper middle class Vancouver rights that just don't

57:30like the idea of it and they become the face of it, which I don't think would be a successful protest movement necessarily. Or would it be folks that are pointing out that like, you know, we're hindering a lot of this moving forward on carbon capture. And like carbon capture hasn't really been proven at scale yet, right? It kind of has a history of over promising and under delivering. So it really remains to be seen what impact this will have on our emissions, you know, going forward. But I think with respect to the government, both in, you know, Edmonton and in Ottawa, like this does seem to me like a pretty much a done deal. Like sure, you do have consultations that they're going to have to, they're going to have to undergo. But I mean, the whole point about listing this as a project in the national interest is that previous considerations and previous timelines have kind of been issued, you know, for this notion of a very streamlined process. With the goal of getting these sorts of projects done. So yeah, like you don't want to, you don't

58:30want to say it's 100% a done deal, I guess. But like on a balance of probabilities, is this pipeline get done with shovels in the ground? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I mean, Klein to agree with you, otherwise, like you just said, what was the point of designating projects in the national interest anyway, right? Yeah, the carbon capture thing is interesting. We asked minister Hodgson about it if people missed it. They can check out our interview. It's late last week. He basically said, like there's no pipeline without pathways. There's no pathways without the pipeline. He says they are one project. We've had real talkers sharing their thoughts on carbon capture with us. I welcome that continued feedback, whether it's a comment on our Spotify or YouTube episodes or an email to talk at Ryan Jesperson.com. So Priya, before we thank you for your time, I got to ask you about this. It's just a developing story as we speak BC NDP leader David E.B. He wants to stay premier. He's called that early election. He's promising a new top income tax bracket for people earning more than a million dollars annually with the top rate rising to 24 and a half percent

59:34on income above a million dollars. So the NDP says costing it out, it would affect less than 4% of earners. I'm surprised that 4% of earners make over a million dollars by the way. Me too. It says that it would eventually raise about a billion dollars a year for health care, BC's conservatives clapping back already saying that it could drive doctors and other high income professionals out of the province. Your initial thoughts on it as a campaign strategy. Seems desperate. I only say that because of the way the last two weeks. I've really played out for E.B. and the NDP, right? It had they come out with this, I think earlier on and made it a cornerstone of their campaign that they're going to tax a wealthy in order to improve the social safety net for British Columbians or raising a certain amount for health care. And that will mean shorter wait times or an ex amount of extra family doctors or nurse practitioners or whatever

1:00:36the case may be, then sure may be. But this kind of seems like they're just like, yeah, we'll do this. And because now it'll maybe do this, but we don't really know. The 4%, I would really be curious on that math of a million plus somehow being 4% because my understanding is that, and this is probably about data from like 10 years ago, but if you're thinking about like the 1% in Canada, it's like those that make 200,000 and above. So the math on that really doesn't work out to me unless there's like a hyper concentration of millionaires. And yeah, sure, Vancouver is very wealthy, but like for all of British Columbia, that just seems like a very large number. Yeah, it seems large to me and I don't know. I mean, I just think so it's an increase of about 4% on earnings over a million. So maybe they're talking about just totally gross revenue. I'm not sure part of me just because like the human brain works selfishly wonders if this maybe helps, just work with me for a second. This is gross. If it maybe helps Alberta address, it's like

1:01:41doctor shortage, you know, like with a more competitive tax structure. Like I don't know. I mean, I would say that if you're making over a million dollars a year and you're living in North Vancouver and life's pretty good, as you drive your S class into the hot, I'm not saying that doctors don't work hard, but you know what I mean? Like, you know, driving into work and it's like, oh gosh, there's that pot of killer whales again. Like it's just like the best day ever. You know, should we go to Whistler or yeah, you know, I don't know if that's a compelling enough reason to blow up your life and leave, like the conservatives are saying, I also don't know, like you said, if this is a serious like revenue strategy for the BC NDP, like we found the billion dollars we need to preserve health or if it's more like, and I hesitate to say virtue signaling, but if it's more a move like here's who we think should pay more. And we would do something to ensure that, you know, they're not saying the elites, it's important tax revenue, but here's who we think we should should pay more. And this is sort of something that we're going to pin on our campaign.

1:02:42I'm not sure. Yeah, I don't know. And it just seems like again, like if your David E.B., I bet he wishes he had a flux capacitor and a delorean right about now. So he could go back and have called the election when Carolei Finley was still the actual leader. Or do you think maybe not called the election at all? Oh, maybe, but it had had he called it while she was the leader. She would she would have had to go through with it. And then he would have been up against like a completely, you know, disjointed disarrayed conservative party. And the timing was so bad then because the election was called like days after she resigned. And then you remember we talked about this in a previous episode, I'll let folks that maybe knew to real talk know that you join us first episode of every week in our livestream presented by California closets. But this was like rumored to be coming and then she resigns. And then it still comes. And then the the explanation from sources within the BC NDP was basically like the ball was rolling. And we couldn't stop it. And I just just you know, I don't know. I don't know. Lieutenant governor. I don't think don't do it. False alarm.

1:03:44We're not doing it. Yeah. I don't know. Anyway, it's good to see you. Thanks for doing it. We'll talk to you again on Tuesday post Thanksgiving long weekend. Sounds good buddy. Talk to you. Got it. That's the creative Eddie joining us in our feature interview presented by our friends at Mercedes Benz Edmonton West Emily G says Jess why I'm listening is she says I'm a little bit behind in the livestream right now. She says but make sure you bet your farmhouse. Not your house which is great advice. I see Johnny wins every time I'm about to say I bet my house on it. Sasky James says that Pacific link pipeline is sure not getting the attention it could have with all the separatist stuff going on. He says that article there in the globe and mail shirt changed the channel. I mean, it's all part of the same conversation though Sasky James, right? I mean, it all goes hand in hand. I mean, the Quebec election today is going to be fascinating. You got BC's election looming. You got the rent. And by the way, BC provincial and municipal

1:04:47elections like a week apart, which is nuts. We'll be checking in with more BC based correspondents as well Moa Meer joining us in a recent episode hung out with Supri and I just last week. That episode did really well by the way. It really caught out really resonated with people in for good reason. We'll continue to get perspectives from BC. And then of course, right here in Alberta as well. And not to say that there's not compelling stuff happening. The rest of the country is what we haven't even talked about. Really Donald Trump and the trade war at all. Hasn't it been nice? Hasn't it been nice? Hasn't it been nice? You watch your mouth, John Hicks, with your mega jokes. People are going to start taking that personally. You're going to find your look featured in the next Globe and Mail exclusive investigative report. This separatist thing, it's it's either outcome for me is great. Okay. We stay apart. Stay apart of Canada. Love it. Love Canada. Yeah. Become the 50th for a state. Love it. Love America. That's getting cut out of the podcast.

1:05:52What I did want to ask you, but because we talked about it with Rob. Yeah. When he was breaking rich. Yeah. Are you going to be mailing belt? Are you going to go get a little right in the line? Mail in ballot is sitting on my counter right now. It's ready to go. It arrived on Friday. We're talking you on Monday. Canada Post has recommended that you get him in by the ninth of October. I'm going to get mine in this afternoon. It arrived on Friday. It got out of its Monday. The thing about it is what I'm really curious to see. People talk about voter turnout. A lot of times we've seen in municipal elections where people aren't as motivated. I think what it is in a lot of cases is either there's maybe not an issue that resonates with somebody strongly and personally or maybe there's maybe the incumbent isn't perceived to have sort of been egregious in their performance. In other words, people, I guess what I'm saying is like in some cases when people are okay with

1:06:55the status quo, then voter turnout is quite low. And in many circumstances, like you can think like real talkers. This is obviously an engaged audience. We can think of times where we've seen voter turnout. It's like 58% or 61% people are like, oh, that's pretty good. Actually, it's like crazy. I'm curious to see. What's the last time we sell voter turnout? We're like this is great. 70% or 75% or 80%. I would say this, like elections Alberta confirming the updated numbers now is 650 odd, I mean, the number changes obviously, but about 650,000 mail-in ballots have been sent out. Like that is very significant. And I bet you that both sides on this one are wanting to claim that it's their motivated voters, right? Like is it the separatists or is it the pro-Canada crowd that have requested all these mail-in ballots? I don't know. Encourage people to check out again elections at ab.ca to see all of your voting options and to understand more, make sure you're ready for the week of October 13th and 19th and the 19th in particular. That's a big day. And also just

1:07:56to be mentally prepared, I know I'm talking about it a lot, but I want people to be prepared. Like bring your catheter if you need. You may be standing in line for hours. I will be live in line with a GoPro on a helmet. I'll be interviewing people. No, you're not allowed to do that. But yeah, but the mail-in ballot thing, it is concerning because like we know that's going to be a talking point for the separatists after this is over when, you know, God willing, we're all like, see, we told you, you know, you know, you don't have the numbers. I think that's going to be a talking point immediately after is, is, you know, questionable mail-in ballots, the amount of them, et cetera. But I think people are just, I'm hoping that that is excitement or at least, you know, it's people wanting to show that they don't want this to happen, that they don't want separation, showing that, yeah, we want to do it. We want to do it properly. We want to do it ahead of time. I don't want to get stuck in a line. I don't want to be told the wrong information. I don't want to have, you know, I want my, like you, in time, on time,

1:09:00ahead of time, voting the way they should know to the nine. God, I sell like Dr. Sussan right now. You go. Well, it's like, I mean, there's a lot of people that are talking about, you know, I've been getting some criticism, which I'm fine with guys. Don't worry. I haven't criticized my entire professional career. It comes with the territory of people who are saying that I, you know, because we're, we're, you know, I'm not working with Stephen Carter or this, or the Alberta's voice, I lose track of all the names. I want to get it right. Alberta's voice. That's the note of the nine, right? Note of the nine, stay in Canada. Alberta's voice dot CA. That's one of the groups that's, that's really fighting for Alberta to stay in Canada. Yeah. And people have been reaching out, saying, oh, it's slogan-earing and it's a slogan. And if you're, if you're intellectually lazy, you rely on slogans. I mean, you say that if you don't like the slogan, or if the slogan doesn't align with your perspective, but campaigning involves slogans, obviously, and note of the nine, stay in Canada is as crystal clear as it gets, right? You want note of the nine and option one on question 10. That's it. And the reason I think why a lot of people feel strongly about, you know,

1:10:05getting out and motivating people is because the stakes are high and it really matters. And then there's this interesting point from all the good handles are used. Who's watching our live stream, presented by California clauses on YouTube says, Separatists don't want to win the referendum. Like, losing's better because it maintains the grievance narrative and it allows for the endless grift from all the good handles are used. We'll get to more of your comments on this. I saw an interesting one from Kim who told us in our chat, a Separatist told Kim that the reason he wants to leave is because the quote, Laurentian elite doesn't care about Alberta and those elites consist of ancestors from England and France. It's like, what are we even talking about right now? I will say this. Jason Kettys name popped up. Maybe his culpability in the early days of courting the Separatists. I mean, to be fair to Kenny, man, who had that on their bingo card me saying that, but Jason Kettys had to unite the conservative parties. The wild rose in the

1:11:06progressive conservatives to topple Rachel Motley, right? In 2019, to restore Alberta to conservative governance. That was the whole plan. In doing so, open the door to, as was once described to me, I've shared on the show before I won't name the source, but someone close to Kenny as all the corruption of the PCs and the craziness of the wild rose and combining the two into one wonderful cookie dough and in doing so, open the door. Many of you're saying Kenny opened the door to the inmates running the quote asylum, like to quote Kenny on his way out as Alberta premier. But he is stepping up now and he is pleading for Albertans to do the common sense, right move and to vote for Alberta to stay and our friends at the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce are presenting on the 13th of October an event that you have to check it out. It's here at Edmonton

1:12:07chamber dot com. You know, we're proud Edmonton Chamber members here. It's our business's most valuable investment. It would be yours as well. If you go to Edmonton chamber dot com, number one, you can become a member. If you're not already, take my word for it. Well worth it. You can also browse their events calendar and coming up on the 13th of October, it's former Alberta premier's Jason Kenny and Rachel notley. I mean, formerly political foes, maybe still, but they're combining forces for a conversation on the cost of the Alberta referendum. Like, you know, it's going to reshape Alberta's economy for a generation. Could anyway. So what does it mean for investment? What does it mean for jobs? What does it mean for your business and the entire provincial economy? Jason Kenny and Rachel notley spent years on opposite sides of Alberta politics, but they're combining forces Tuesday, October 13th, a week from tomorrow at the Royal Glenora Club. The lunch starts at 11 30 a.m. You can register to get your tickets today at Edmonton chamber dot com.

1:13:10Our friends at Northward Investment Council know that Canadians are noticing the trade disputes, the tariffs, the political friction, the separation talk, and a growing sense that Canadian interests are not always being treated with the respect they deserve. Now this isn't just a political question, it's a financial one as well. You know, for example, what does a changing Canada US relationship mean for your investments? Your retirement, your family's future. Northward Investment Council is an independent Canadian firm based in Alberta providing objective advice focused on your interests. Whether you're thinking of changing advisors or maybe you just want a second set of eyes on your strategy, you owe it to yourself to connect with Northward Investment Council for Canadian advice and independent thinking. You can get that conversation started today and learn more on their website. That's NorthroadIC.com. An important message from our friends at UKAN Youth Services are charity of choice for 2026. You know, we spent a lot of time talking about the cost of crime and homelessness

1:14:13and unemployment and addiction. We should also be talking about the value of prevention. UKAN Youth Services works with young people at critical points in their lives connecting them with employment, training, trusted relationships, and intensive support. If you believe that prevention and opportunity matter, we encourage you to learn more and support UKAN Youth Services online at UKAN.ca. You can't talk about building Alberta. You can't talk about Alberta's economy without talking about the international union of operating engineers, local 955. This is about 12,000 hard working Albertans that are building and maintaining Alberta's pipelines that are running heavy equipment, heavy crane operators. They're working in municipalities. They're working in law enforcement. They're working in renewables. I mean, they kind of do it all with real union representation

1:15:13since 1948. An incredible history. You can learn more about it today, whether you're an employer and employee or maybe you're looking for work, check out their job board at joinus today.ca. As of today, as we're talking to you right now, 115 jobs available. That board is updated literally every day. You can browse it online. That's IUOE local 955 at joinus today dot c a. And before we get back to the show, a reminder that every Thursday here on Real Talk Play, Alberta presents Alberta wins. We're getting submissions every day to talk at RyanJusperson.com. Tell us the story that makes you proud to be an Alberta. Alberta wins with play Alberta because all revenue stays in the province, funding the programs and services that Albertans rely on every single day. So whether you play bet or buy with casino sports or lottery, that's the only app in Alberta offering all three. Know that your fun also goes to funding important programs. You can learn more by visiting

1:16:16playalbertadotca slash real talk. Playalbertadotca slash real talk. Remember, you've got to be 18 or over to play. And if you gamble, use your game sense. I know we've been joking about me going down and voting in line on the actual election day in the 19th, but we all know I'm not going to do that. It's going to be a busy day here. Obviously, it's a Monday for us. It's going to be things are going to be going through the roof. You're going to do the advance polls. Yeah. So no, I'm not going to do the mail about, but the advance advance voting. I just did it. Well, elections that A.B. So easy. I went right to the website, put in my address boom. It shows me, you know, Tuesday to Saturday of that week, the 13th of the 17th, I can go to actually a church, the Grace Lutheran, and a beautiful building. I love you're getting everyone your personal information. Why? They just know what ward I mean, I'm in the same, I'm in the same area as you. It's not a big deal. People know where we are. People know we're in this building. Yeah. Yeah. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you for doing your civic duty. And we want to encourage people to do it. I mean,

1:17:19just be mentally prepared for what's going to come with the territory. If I'm any cell, the 19th, it's going to take some time, but make a day of it. Go stand in line with your friends and neighbors. I mean, I don't know. I would, if you're not doing mail about, I would do the advance voting because like that Monday is going to be standing in a line. It's going to be insane. Yeah, absolutely. JD in our live chat powered by park power says, man, this show gets nervous. When you mention your drinks ready, everybody, the world economic forum, globalists, YouTube, Closhwob, and Justin Trudeau. Whenever anyone says to me, like, we're having an argument in there, like, you should YouTube. I'm like, Oh, God, another YouTube scholar. Closhwob and the WF does not make me nervous, JD. Prapter wonders. Do you guys know what caption? Capture's carbon better than anything. Trees says we need to figure out which trees capture the most carbon and plant a ton of them from Prapter. Y-Trim says, thanks to Sabrina for saying that about carbon capture

1:18:25and storage. Everybody glazes over it without saying the facts like she did. I disagree that everybody glazes over it. I think that we've heard a ton of pushback and cynicism around carbon capture. As a matter of fact, I addressed it directly with the energy minister when he's on just a couple of days ago. Not everybody sold on that science. Not everybody thinks it's real, which is why I think it's particularly significant that minister Hodgson said that it is one project, Pacific Lincoln pathways, or is there calling it now oil sends alliance? Like, the one doesn't happen without the other. And so if that, if carbon capture, like, if that's not a thing, then the pipeline's not a thing. And if the pipeline is a thing, then pathways is happening, then that's hugely significant. So obviously a story that we're going to be keeping an eye on already are. Trees are great for carbon capture. I've always said the best way to capture carbon. Just stick a fern in the back of your muffler. You're fine. You're fine. Just put a bunch of succulents on your dashboard. Jillian says voters need to stop fighting for billionaires on the EB file.

1:19:30Where is a person earning over a million dollars going to move to Quebec? Pick up and move all their clinics. Jillian says millionaires ain't going nowhere. I would say like a 4% increase on taxes paid on earnings over a million. It's not nothing, but is it enough to get you to pack up and leave your beautiful home in West Van with, I mean, I'm describing all these like hypotheticals, yeah, I'm not convinced Jillian. I don't know. And there was like the millionaire class going to be EB's voter anyway. No, right? I mean, generally speaking, I'm sure you could find some, but probably not. So Jillian's probably right. Denise wants to get us thinking on the first nine questions. And our episode today on that referendum, he says, how close to the Americans with this province be with politically appointed judges and a brown shirt police force that from

1:20:32Denise. Gizmo says I like attacks for people in additional tax or higher tax, making more than a million dollars per year and says, and it should be even higher for billionaires. J H Cili Pants, McGee says peer polioeves the only major politicians exposed the truth of how the ultra wealthy use inflation to transfer wealth away from the lower class. We'll see what polioeves cooking up over the next while. Spin it. Tough road a hole for that guy, right? Imagine being peer polioever right now. Didn't interview with an American podcast just last week. I'll let you guys know when it's out when it's released. You'll see me promoting it on my social media. They they're endeavoring to find out who's an interesting interview, by the way. The very first thing the guys talking to his American audience, obviously, and he says our next guest, he says is the voice of Alberta and Alberta is Canada's Texas. So he starts looking at this and he starts wondering like, where is all this stuff going and what's the purpose and point of all this and what do Americans

1:21:37need to understand about the root of all this? And I think it's interesting to know that like the majority of Americans, this is not even on their radar. This is that's the impression I get from this guy. I'll share more about it. I don't know if he's keeping it under wraps right now. We'll share more about it when the pods ready to come out. But this is not on their radar. If you stop the average American and said, Hey, what do you think about these alleged plans to hand over access to Alberta's fresh water to Americans and they would be like, what's Alberta? And what are you talking about? I told you this before. I have I have family in the South. They're like, we have no idea nor do we like not to be rude, not that we don't care like we don't care about those people. We just literally, we have no, it's not even in our vision at all. Yeah. Alberta girl says, Oh, please, you guys, says American fingerprints are all over the separatist movement. Where is David Parker anyway in witness protection with the CIA? Isn't he in Texas? Guys, well rumored to be, I don't know personally, but yeah, there's rumored to be like on the lamb ever since that voter information

1:22:39was released, right? RCMP looking into it. And if Alberta isn't the Texas of Canada, what is right? Yeah. How about this from Tony? Says, well, Tony, I thought about this. I love that you're pointing it out. She says on a different note, if Rob Breakin Ridge ever subs for you again on a Friday, he's got to do the flame thrower. Can you imagine? I don't know if you can get you can't do. Look, I love me some rock breaking rich, but he's very, he's very subdued. He's got to, he's got a temperature. He's got a heartbeat. He's got a BPM. He's got his like, you know, he's got his target heart rate, but an esteemed and established professional. I have a world of respect where he wouldn't be sitting in the host's chair if I didn't risk. I got a ton of respect for Rob Breakin Ridge. But I don't know if I can hand him like, Hey, Rob, here's 35 F bombs to read over the next five minutes. Then again, and please do it in your best gutter roll rock and roll voice. Then again, I love when people surprise me. I, what if he just broke out of his show? What if he just started screed? You're like, Oh my God. I've never seen this side of Rob. Yeah. Oh, also let you know

1:23:42that your comments about the United States did not farewell in the life. Obviously people know I'm obviously people know are joking. I love Canada. I love Alberta. No to the night. Yeah, no to the night. That's right. End vote to stay. Before we wrap, we encourage you all the time. I mean, every single episode we mean it. To send us your thoughts, let us know what you think about what you've heard in particular in emails to talk at Ryan Jesperson.com. That's where we're guaranteed to see them. And we got this awesome email from Alberta Maverick. And I wanted to wrap with this today, this from Alberta Maverick wrote in Friday, just after our episode wraps as Jespot, I am speaking from the heart when I say I'm thankful to be Canadian. And as a true Alberta Maverick, I love the nickname says I support and declare thankful to be Canadian week from October 4th to the 10th. So he's kicking it off right now says I've had the domain name Maverick for the past 30 years. And I want to be clear says Alberta Maverick, I'm not affiliated in any way shape or form to the

1:24:45separatist Maverick political party defunct or continuing. So people may recognize they changed their name from Wexet a while back. Alberta Maverick says, you know, nine years ago, 2017, we celebrated Canada's 150th birthday personally. I shared 150 posts through the year on why I loved and still love our great country of Canada. And over the next few days, I will be sharing some of the highlights leading up to a thankful to be Canadian Thanksgiving weekend commencing October 10th. He says, just to let you and my fellow real talkers know I support Canadian unity. I support our prime minister. Best we've had in a long time says I support the Alberta NDP efforts on their vote for Canada. Most recently, in Sherwood Park on the 22nd of September, he says, check out the photo up front. He says, no other party's doing this. Johnny, we shared that photo. You've got the big group photo of folks fighting for Canada. Maverick says, I do not support the UCP separatist agenda. I do not support the referendum. It's a waste of taxpayer

1:25:51resources. And it could be much better spent on more favorable programs for people in need. Says I support the spirit of Alberta Canada fostering that community spirit. And I support this nation wholeheartedly. I truly hope most Albertans will see the light on October 19th. Signs off kind regards Alberta Maverick. So I loved this. I love the initiative. I love the lead up to Thanksgiving weekend where Maverick and others will be celebrating how thankful they are to be Canadian. And so we're on board with you Alberta Maverick and we shall declare alongside you this week to be thankful to be Canadian week right here on real talk as inspired by Alberta Maverick Heartland Big Sweet Treats. I'm in. Yeah, this is yeah, I shared some event details there on an event coming up. All kinds of stuff, real talkers. If you have an initiative underway or

1:26:54something you feel strongly about in the context of your love for your home province, your love for your home country, let us know and we're happy to promote it. As we wrap this episode wanted to let you know, we will be sitting down one on one in our next show live from the historic Mercer Warehouse in downtown Edmonton with landslide Annie. That's right. The former deputy prime minister of Canada, former Edmonton center member of parliament, Ann McClellan will join us. We're also going to convene the real talk round table to take a close and important look at what's happening in Alberta's capital city. Still to come later this week, journalist Carol off, Jan approved and and our friends from build Edmonton Metro. We hope you'll join us. Real Talk is hosted by Ryan Jesperson, executive producer Josh Dunford, technical producer John Hicks, general manager Katie Cook Chivers, a count coordinator Lawrence

1:27:55Lugo, human resources Lena Shepherd, website design Mike Johnston, voice over by me, Carrie Skeleton, member emerita Julie Rohr, real talk is recorded in Edmonton, Alberta on Treaty 6 territory, the traditional and ancestral territory of the Cree, Denne, Blackfoot, Soto and Dakota Suit, home to the Mati settlements and the Mati Nation of Alberta. Real Talk is a relay project. For more, check out RyanJasperson.com