Over the last 24 hours I had the opportunity to meet President @realdonaldtrump at Mar-a-Lago last night and at his golf club this morning. We had a friendly and constructive conversation during which I emphasized the mutual importance of the U.S. - Canadian energy relationship, and specifically, how hundreds of thousands of American jobs are supported by energy exports from Alberta. I was also able to have similar discussions with several key allies of the incoming administration and was encouraged to hear their support for a strong energy and security relationship with Canada. On behalf of Albertans, I will continue to engage in constructive dialogue and diplomacy with the incoming administration and elected federal and state officials from both parties, and will do all I can to further Alberta’s and Canada’s interests. The United States and Canada are both proud and independent nations with one of the most important security alliances on earth and the largest economic partnership in history. We need to preserve our independence while we grow this critical partnership for the benefit of Canadians and Americans for generations to come.

This👇”story” is an object lesson for why trust in legacy media has plummeted, and alt right media audiences have grown. Here CTV “digital news producer” @AngeMAmato (she/her) writes a story about “experts” calling the use of Sec. 33 “a threat to democracy.” Who are the experts? A left wing academic, and a left wing activist. The latter, Howard Sapers, is a former Liberal MLA (which the article does not mention) for a party that is so marginal, it has not elected an MLA in over a decade. For good measure CTV goes on to quote two left wing union bosses, who of course are predictably outraged. A more accurate headline would be “Four people on the left angry about use of Notwithstanding Clause.” Which is the opposite of news. It’s the ultimate “Dog Bites Man” non-story. Did the CTV producer make any effort to post a balanced story by asking for comment from academics / lawyers / think tanks who support use of Sec. 33? Did she call the @CDNConstFound or the @MLInstitute’s Judicial Power Project? Did she attempt to reach any of these four scholars, who just published their views in a @nationalpost op-ed last week? macdonaldlaurier.ca/its-the-… Did she have an editor who asked why her story lacked any attempt at balance? And did anyone at CTV pause for a moment to ponder how tendentious it is to accuse a democratically elected legislature of acting “undemocratically” by invoking a power whose entire purpose is to ensure democratic accountability? She provides some historical context about prior use of Sec. 33. Why does that context not include the fact that most democratically elected provincial governments (including Alberta under Premier Lougheed, and Saskatchewan under NDP Premier Blakeney) agreed to adopt the Charter *only if* it included the Notwithstanding Clause to allow democratically elected Legislatures to ensure a democratic check and balance against the abuse of undemocratic, unaccountable judicial power? Why does she not mention that for the first 33 years of the Charter era, the Canadian Courts ruled that there was no constitutionally protected right to strike? Why doesn’t she quote an expert pointing out that Allan Blakeney defended the Saskatchewan Legislature’s 1982 use of Sec. 33 to end a strike as “a legitimate use of the Notwithstanding Clause?” Or refer to Peter Lougheed’s 1987 commitment to use Sec. 33 if the courts invented a right to strike? Many thoughtful criticisms can be levelled against Section 33. Being undemocratic is not one of them. So why do we see so much agitprop like this masquerading as news from so many legacy media outlets? IMO, there are two possible answers: 1) They are blind to their own biases; and / or 2) People like @AngeMAmato believe that they have a moral imperative to be “progressive journalists” which trumps the boringly old fashioned professional imperative to be objective and balanced. Whatever the reason, “journalists” like this have no one to blame but themselves for growing distrust of legacy media, and the consequent emergence of non traditional media platforms.

The San Jose Sharks are acquiring Cody Ceci and a 2025 third-round pick from the Oilers in exchange for Ty Emberson. 👀