PremierDanielleSmith
Now that the flames have been brought under control and the smoke is clearing, the extent of damage in Jasper is becoming visible. Preliminary estimates are that 30% - 50% of the buildings in Jasper lie in ashes and charred ruins but the full extent won't be known for weeks, possible months.
Premier Smith held an emotional press conference, fighting back tears and pausing often as she considered the damage and loss not only for the residents, but for all who have memories of visiting Jasper, including many Edmontonians
Some of the CBC's great coverage can be accessed below.
TUCKER CARLSON ROASTS TRUDEAU AND FREELAND
IN EDMONTON SPEECH
By Kerry Diotte - Troy Media | Jan 25, 2024
A wildly popular pundit vilified by the political left got a right-royal welcome Wednesday at Roger’s Place in Edmonton.
A capacity crowd filled the downtown arena’s lower bowl and floor to cheer and hear former Fox News host Tucker Carlson roast Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland, lambast Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) law and tee off on topics ranging from mass immigration, to woke ideology, to the importance of Christian values in a turbulent world.
The man who reportedly earned $45 million annually hosting the highest-rated U.S. cable news show in history on Fox derided Trudeau as “your completely bizarre, cross-dressing prime minister black face.” Calling Trudeau “ridiculous and transparently phoney,” Carlson confessed he never met him, “although I know his cousin (California Governor) Gavin Newsom.”
Carlson was preceded on the stage by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who, in a short speech, urged Carlson to tell Americans to choose Canadian energy over importing oil and gas from dictatorships.
The broadcaster, who was fired by Fox in April 2023, made a keynote-style speech at the Edmonton event before joining a panel discussion featuring Conrad Black and Dr. Jordan Peterson.
Carlson told the crowd – estimated at 10,000 by organizers – that he knew Freeland when they were both journalists in Washington, D.C. and she was unimpressive.
“No amount of evidence of her stupidity and wrong decisions and idiotic views could dissuade her that she was awesome and you were not,” Carlson quipped.
Because of politicians like Trudeau and Freeland, Carlson said Canada and other Western civilizations are facing a creeping type of fascism that erodes freedoms – as was evidenced under COVID-19 mandates.
“Yet, Chrystia Freeland is wise enough, clever enough in her serpent-like way to make it all about your protection and safety,” he said.
Government “attacks on your rights – which is an attack on your children – is cloaked in the language of therapy, self-help and compassion.”
The man who now makes his living hosting shows on X (formerly Twitter) said Canada is failing its own citizens by bringing in more immigrants and refugees per capita than any other country in the world at a time when the nation is already in crisis.
That, he said, has strained the housing market and severely wounded Canada’s sacred health care system.
“It’s so overburdened that it’s easier to get into the MAID than it is to schedule a surgery. It’s easier to be killed by the government than healed by the government.”
He admitted he’s been roundly criticized by some as “a racist” for his views on immigration, but he insists he is not. He said he’s not seen an economic case for mass immigration in Canada or elsewhere. Yet, even asking questions about immigration numbers can cause vicious attacks from the left, he admitted.
“They just shout slogans in your face if you ask the question and they call you a racist.”
Carlson appeared earlier in the day at a smaller event in Calgary sharing the stage with Premier Smith.
Before appearing in both cities, he posted a video on social media saying he was coming to “liberate Canada” from the tyranny he feels Trudeau and the Liberal-NDP coalition have inflicted on the country.
He posted a video of himself calling a government phone number and leaving a voice message he wanted to pass along to Trudeau by saying: “We are coming to liberate Canada, and we’ll be there soon. Mercí.”
His appearance in Edmonton sparked a petition on change.org that was said to have been signed by more than 17,000 people asking that Roger’s Place ban him from appearing, alleging it jeopardized people’s safety.
It read, in part: “Tucker Carlson is an American, right-wing ex-Fox News anchor who has been widely criticized for his racist, homophobic and sexist remarks. Hosting this show is a direct violation of safety for queer people, BIPOC and women within the walls of Rogers Place.”
Kerry Diotte is a veteran Canadian journalist, conservative activist, twice-elected member of Parliament and former city councillor.