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Hi I’m hell Roberts this is Bridge City News here’s some of the top stories we’ve been following Mayhem ensues in Kansas City as a mother of two was killed and many others were injured during the chief Super Bowl Parade calary Tor MP Michelle rle Garner referred to Federal

Environment Minister Steven Gio as crazy town we will explain why and this is national flag of Canada day we are from a veteran at the Lethbridge legion about why the Canadian flag means so much your nation your Province your Southern Alberta from the heart of Lethbridge it’s Bridge City News with Hal Roberts

Thanks so much for joining us law enforcement surged to the area of a shooting at the end of the Kansas City chief Super Bowl Parade as terrified fans ran for cover on Wednesday at least one person died a mother of two and more than 20 others were injured police say

It was a personal dis between several people that got out of hand when gunfire erupted nearly 1 million people went to downtown Kansas City on Wednesday afternoon to join in the celebration as the chief’s football team won their second consecutive Super Bowl one witness says At first she thought that

Somebody may be playing a joke until she saw the SWAT team make an appearance well the only thing I really saw was it become a chaotic and um I hear down down down everybody down and I’m like somebody’s joking you know this is what I’m thinking and about the same

Time all of a sudden I see the SWAT teams jumping over the fence and I’m like okay this might be real police in Kansas City say they detained three people including two youths and recovered several Firearms no one has been arrested however in connection with the shooting more than 800 police

Officers were providing security for the event Canadian manufacturers of masks and other equipment supplied during the covid-19 pandemic are not happy they say the trau government misled them about purchasing and helping to sell their products those companies are now seeking more than5 billion dollar in Damages from Ottawa the alleged Canada’s

Negligent misrepresentations resulted in about $88 million in investment losses and a further $5.4 billion in projected lost Market opportunities over a 10-year period the federal government will have an opportunity to file a defense to the unproven allegations as the court case proceeds Federal conservative leader Pier PF outlined his party’s plan on

Aord housing in point Clair Quebec on Thursday PF says Canadians are finding it difficult making mortgage payments he says many are now amortising their mortgages for much longer than just 25 or 30 years there are now mortgages that are amortised over 90 to 120 years that means three generations

Of a family would be required to pay off one mortgage that would have been Unthinkable before Justin Trudeau my common sense plan is to require that these deals incentivize less bureaucracy and more home building the deal should require municipalities permit 15% more homeb building per year if they beat the

Target they should get a bonus if they miss the target they should get a penalty small municipalities should be exempt from the penalties but eligible for the bonuses calary conservative MP Michelle rle gar took to social media to blast Federal environment Minister Steven gibo Gio says he wants the federal government

To stop investing in new road infrastructure and is encouraging more Canadians to walk and not drive to their destinations Garner wrote on X formerly known as Twitter quote every time I think he’s reached Peak Crazy Town he corrects me now gibo later clarified his remark saying that he meant to say

Ottawa will not put up the cash for large road projects what I said is and I and I I I specified that I should have been more specific in in in that conference that I that I gave last week in in Montreal I was referring specifically to projects like the but in

That same conference I specified that we still have funds obviously to maintain and and enhance our our road Network across the country but I was talking specifically about projects like the that the the CAC government in Quebec wants to wants to move forward with which is something myself and many of my

Quebec cabinet colleagues have said time and time again this is not a new policy at all gibo also said his government wants to move more people out of their cars and into public transportation which the government has spent billions to build critics argue that may work for

Larger cities but not so much for Rural regions however prime minister Justin trau and Manitoba Premier wab Cano signed a new healthc care agreement today worth 633 million around 434 million will support the province’s three-year plan on improving Health Care while $199 million for bolster Senior Care can’s

NDP government was elected last fall in a promise to improve health care and hire more doctors and nurses I have to say I am really really happy about this announcement I’m happy because healthc care is our government’s top priority and to have the federal government

Commit that we are going to walk on this path to ensure that there’s more doctors and more nurses for you is good news for the province of Manitoba having more nurses more Allied health professionals more physicians in the province means that we’re going to be able to reduce

Weight times now the two governments last year agreed on a plan that would see $1.22 billion flow to the province over the next decade for shared Healthcare priorities there would also be a $72 million immediate one-time top up to address urgent issues including surgical backlogs schools were closed for a

Second straight day in St St John’s as parts of the new finlanda Labrador Capital dig out from around 40 cm of heavy snow close to 50 cmers fell at the airport in Gander and winds in the Bonavista area have been clocked at around 115 kilometers an hour enironment

Candidat says Gander could receive up to 75 cmers of the white stuff by Friday the same low pressure system is still unloading on parts of Nova Scotia with schools closed across cape rettland well here in Southwestern Alberta we a few light flurries earlier today with cooler temperatures Janette

Rocher is now with an early look at the forecast Janette it appears as though the Mercury may be climbing a little as we make our way to the weekend yes uh let’s get out of these minus temperatures shall we because that’s exactly what’s about to happen this weekend and Beyond however this evening

Still looking like winter we’re still looking at very bitterly cold temperatures overnight uh overnight low ofus 23 now with that wind chill value we’re looking at minus 31 that means risk of frostbite and then also looking at a 30% chance of flurries this evening as well so definitely still looking like winter as

We get into tomorrow Friday looking at a high uh during the daytime of minus 8 however in the morning still going to feel that minus 30 wind chill and lots of sunshine though it’s not until we get into the weekend and beyond that we’re going to see some really lovely

Temperatures and I’ll be back later in the show to give you all those details great thanks so much Janette the state run news agency in Lebanon says the civilian death toll from two recent Israelis strikes has now risen to 10 the crossb exchanges between Hezbollah and the Israel Defense Forces has continued

For more than four months former US president Donald Trump Revisited his recent comments about NATO as he left a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday a judge has decided Trump’s hush money trial will go ahead beginning on March the 25th Trump says when it comes to Nato other countries need to

Pony up the dough NATO countries have to pay up they have to pay their bills the United States is in for $200 billion and they’re in for $25 billion the economy as you know they their economy when you add them up add up countries uh that

Make up NATO it’s about the same size as our economy so we’re in for 200 billion they’re in for 25 billion and it’s much more important to them because we have an ocean in between it’s a much more much different thing so the NATO countries have to pay up they’re not

Paying up they’re not paying what they should and they laugh at the stupidity of the United States of America where we have a guy that gives $60 billion every time somebody comes and ask for the City of New York along with its schools and public hospital system are

Suing Tech Giants including meta Google Tik Tok and Snapchat officials say they’re blaming their addictive and dangerous social media platforms for fueling a mental health crisis in kids officials say that crisis has resulted in disrupted learning and has drained resources the lawsuit says Children and adolescents are especially susceptible

To harm because their brains are not yet fully developed over the past decade we have seen just how addictive and overwhelming the online world can be exposing children to content they are not ready for disrupting the educational process and seriously damaging their self-esteem and well-being our most recent data found

That young people in New York City are experiencing anxiety hopelessness and even attempting suicide at rates we have never seen before the legal action is the latest and lawsuits file by a number of states and school districts claiming that social media companies exploit children by designing features that keep

Them addicted to their platforms well this is national flag of Canada Day at the stroke of noon on February the 15th 1965 Canada’s red and white Maple flag was raised for the very first time on Parliament Hill now later on the same day in 1996 national flag of Canada day was declared

Government officials say the Canadian flag is a symbol that unites Canadians and reflects common values we take pride in which includes democracy inclusion and Equity a veteran at the Canadian Legion in Lethbridge also shared what the Canadian flag means to him during a flag racing ceremony earlier on Thursday uh something that Canadians

Always think of July 1 as Canada day but often this day uh slips by so we want to recognize that day it’s very important the flag is a symbol of the Legion as well and also very important to Veterans the flag upon which ultimately if they pay the sacrifice uh their coffin is

Draped in the national flag of Canada and so that symbol represents on the world stage and in space uh our country just by looking at that Maple flag according to the Federal Government website the Canadian flag is the only flag in the world with a maple leaf on

It and that red and white are the national colors of Canada Premier Daniel Smith announced that our province has launched a new tourism strategy she says it is important to beef up Alberta’s visitor economy from 10 billion to $25 billion by the year 2035 Smith says that will occur through the implementation of

More sustainable development including allseason Resorts which will give Alberta tourism operators even more of a Competitive Edge and over the years we’ve increased funding for travel Alberta to support increased air access in the last three years travel Alberta has expanded exped the number of Airline seats into the province from Key destinations across

The United States Europe and Asia with this increased funding they will be able to continue generating and driving visitor demand to our incredible Province they’ll also expand their efforts to develop and promote our province’s amazing destinations with a focus on expanding tourism growth across communities in rural Alberta from the

Peace country to the Badlands to the southern Rockies our province has so much to offer the strategy also includes measures to continue growing indigenous tourism opport commities across the province and make it easier for indigenous operators to access capital for large scale projects Alberta set to welcome more than 200 of the world’s

Best speed skaters to the ISU world speed skating championships which are taking place today through Sunday at Calgary Olympic Oval officials say 20 countries will be represented during the tournament the oval will see 19 Canadians including five albertans taking part officials say they anticipate more than 1500 Spectators

Over the 4-day event which will give an economic boost of around $4.3 million to the Stampede City Albert’s tourism and Sport Minister Joseph scow says this is the first world speed scanning Championship to take place in Calgary since 1998 36 law professors and other staff from two Alberta universities are

Calling on the province to reconsider policy changes affecting transgender youth the open letter includes the University of Calgary and University of Alberta law schools they say that the restrictions will harm the education health care options and Sport and Recreation opportunities of two spirit transgender and gender diverse Children

And Youth you know many parents are actually celebrating the recent announcement from The Province regarding gender identity and no more surgeries for minors you can include shell andry in that group she’s a parent and part of Freedom Hub Lethbridge Landry says the backlash we’re hearing is real regarding

The recent policy announcement but at the end of the day we need to protect our kids there is a lot of backlash yes a lot of things we see online um may include more of that backlash just because of censorship and um the people who have the opinion or the the parents

And the community members who support this are being censored and so their voices aren’t being heard to and they’re looking like the minority when in actuality it is um those who are pro gender transition for minors that are the minority and we cannot Pander to the minority

Just to um appease them when it’s putting our children at risk make sure you catch the full interview with concerned parent and freedom Hub leftridge leader shell Landry coming up later in our broadcast we’ll be had clouds and light flurries again across much of Southwestern Alberta again today

Warmer temperatures however are on the horizon a full look at the weather pictures coming up we had more light flurries and left Bridge again today and it was fairly cool Janette Roch is in out with all of the weather details Janette fortunately a warming Trend along with more sunshine

Are on their way as we head closer to the weekend yes but we are still looking at the slight possibility of some flurries overnight as we get into Friday though we’re seeing some nice clear skies high of minus 8 still seeing that high windshield value particularly Friday

Morning but as we move past Friday look at these temperatures that’s when we’re going to jump up into those pluses high of two degrees on Saturday nice clear sky for us down to 1 on Sunday with a mix of sun and Cloud up to four on

Monday and then look at that 7 degrees on Tuesday and a high of eight on Wednesday to round out that 7-day forecast loving that that’s more like springtime weather okay adverti for this time of year 2 degrees average low minus 11 uh the record high on this day

Happened back in 1991 and it was a 14 degree day and then look what happened in 1979 it was a not a 14 degree day it was minus 32 that was the record low for this 7:43 that’s when the sun rose this morning sun set this evening at 5:49

P.m. getting so close to that 6:00 hour looking at 10 hours and 8 minutes of daylight now so beyond the 10hour mark there okay looking at clear skies on the west coast tomorrow 7 degrees for a high in Victoria um also looking at some 30

To 50K winds there 20 to 40K winds in Vancouver with a high of 8 degrees clear skies across Alberta tomorrow high of 1 in Edmonton minus for a highend Calgary also both of those cities seeing some high wind chill values particularly in the morning uh same thing for the rest

Of these Prairie cities minus 8 for a high in Sask partly cloudy skies there Regina looking at a high of minus 9 but close to minus 30 looking atus 31 with the windshield value in the morning and same thing for Winnipeg close to minus 30 there with the windshield but min-2

Is the daytime high with clear skies as we get to the central part of the country seeing more snowfall so 60% chance of flurries in Toronto high of zero minus four for our high in Ottawa looking at a 40% chance of flurries and a uh 30% chance of snowfall expected in

Montreal tomorrow with a high of minus one as we get into Atlantic Canada now minus three for one for uh high in frerick partly cloudy skies they Halifax looking at a 30% chance of flurries minus three minus four for a high in charlott town and minus1 tomorrow for

The high and St John St John’s I should mention also under a winter storm warning this evening and that should be clearing up by the morning still expecting another 2 cm by the morning uh and then those flurry should taper off by noon so there you go that’s what’s

Happening the Canada Pension Plan investment board says it fund earned a net return of 3.4% in its latest quarter it ended the third quarter of its 2024 Financial year with 59.8 billion dollar in net assets that’s up from $ 5761 billion at the end of the previous quarter

The chief executive of CPP Investments says strong performance of global equity and fixed income markets during the final months of last year contributed to the fund’s continued growth the annual pace of Canadian housing starts in January fell 10% compared with the month before Canada mortgage and housing Corporation says housing starts came in

At around 223,00 units for the first month of the year that compares with roughly 249,000 for December of 2023 the annual rate in toron was up 179% boosted by an increase in multistart units but Montreal fell 28% and Vancouver dropped 55% due to drops in multi-unit construction now here’s a look at today’s

Markets the TSX was up 333 points on the day to finish at 21,2221 was up 348 points to 38773 the P 500 was up 29 on the day to 5,029 and the NASDAQ was up 47 points to 15,964 to 7811 us per barrel natural gas

Was down2 to $159 US Gold was up 1206 to $2,440 us an ounce and silver was up 55 to 22.92 us an ounce feed wheat is at $8 22 per bushel Barley’s at 607 canola is at 1260 and corn is at 737 per bushel live cattle were up a dollar to

18340 Peter cattle March contract was up 88 to 24710 and Lan Hog’s April contract was up 48 to $85 the Canadian dollar was down slightly over the past 24 hours to 7426 us recapping one of our top stories Canadian manufacturers of masks and other equipment supply during the

Covid-19 pandemic are not very happy right now they say the trau government misled them about purchasing and helping to sell their products those companies are now seeking more than $5 billion dollar in Damages from the federal government the alleged cada’s negligent misrepresentations resulted in about $88 million in investment losses and a

Further 5.4 billion in projected lost Market opportunities over the next decade you know there’s been a lot of discussion lately surrounding 15minute cities some people are very much for them While others are very much against the concept coming up we’re going to chat with policy analyst Mark joffy from

The KO Institute about this unique urban planning concept that has many Canadians talking listen when you see news happening in your community be sure to drop us an email at info bridg city.ca and if you missed any of our local stories check out our website bridg City news.ca

Edmonton has recently unveiled plans to incorporate the 15minute city concept into its urban planning strategy but could this potentially impact your freedom to move within or around your own City joining me today from the lovely Walnut Creek California is Mark Joff a policy analyst from the KO

Institute thank you for being with us today Mark thanks for having me Michael it’s great to have you here to chat about something that seems to be alarming people a bit can you briefly explain the concept of 15minute cities to those who might be unfamiliar with it

Sure and I actually live in a 15minute city so uh I can tell you it’s not all bad so the basic idea is that uh urban areas should be designed so that people can get to the things that they want to do like uh education uh shopping uh restaurants and

So forth uh with a 15minute walk or bicycle ride from their home and so you know that’s pretty much something that a lot of people like a lot of people also I’m sure you know in uh in in parts of Canada would rather be uh away from

Other amenities and uh and and living by themselves but for many people uh who live in urban areas it’s attractive to you be close to the things that you want to do so I don’t think the concept itself is uh necessarily bad right so

Could you give us uh maybe a few of the main advantages of the 15 minute City model sure first of all um you know it promotes uh personal health because you’re you’re walking or or bicycling now of course with ebikes and with E Scooters you get a little bit less

Exercise so um that could be compromised depending on on how that works uh theoretically you know the air is cleaner um there’s less uh Global uh global warming going on because there are fewer cars driving around uh generating greenhouse gas emissions so there are uh there are a lot of there

Are a lot of benefits I think uh another one that uh Advocates will will will quote is the idea that you’re just closer to other people and so you’re going to have more interactions with your your F your neighbors right I think you know that I

Think that one uh I from my own personal experience you know I see a lot of people on the street it doesn’t necessarily mean I interact with them so I’m not really quite sure that that that that uh really follows right it almost sounds to me like it’s bringing back uh

Some components of small town living would you agree with that yes I mean historic Ley uh going back to the Middle Ages we lived in small villages and it definitely was a 15minute uh Community maybe it was even a five minute Community because there just wasn’t that

That many things around so yes I think it does hearken back to an earlier time well and I was also thinking of of how towns used to have uh centers maybe a park or a pavilion maybe my wife and I just watch too much Gilmore Girls but

That’s kind of the idea of what I think of when you mention 15minute cities Luke’s got to have a diner close to the Center pavilion but are there some disadvantages maybe with implementing 15minute cities well I think it depends on how it’s implemented so you to the extent

That uh we’re relaxing zoning laws to require more mixed use uh type of development you know some people are going to object to that but uh I personally wouldn’t it uh the problem becomes when it gets more coercive than that so uh you know the the celebrated case happened in Oxford England last

Year where they came up with the idea that the the the whole city was going to be divided up into a series of 15minute communities and to enforce that they were going to limit the number of times you could drive from one part of Oxford

To the other and if you drove above a certain number of times you would have to pay a fine and so that begins to you know get more big brothery top down you know control and I think that really gets a lot of people uh worried and I think that’s a legitimate

Thing to worry about yeah people don’t want to be fenced in and fear is definitely a factor in a lot of people’s lives sounds like this idea could have uh either the utopian plan or maybe dystopian but I wanted to ask you um relaxing zoning laws and having mixed use buildings

Actually sounds like a good thing for urban environments could you talk a little bit about the advantages of that sure well let’s start with uh the disadvantages since uh I’m a I’m a bit of a pessimistic person so let’s start with the downside because actually a lot of my neighbors

In Northern California and throughout the state who generally agree with my kind of small government approach uh really really really hate the idea of the State of California telling local communities to drop their zoning law and there’s a big celebration here and I don’t know if this is something that you

See in Canada so much there’s a big celebration of the idea of the community of single family homes where you know everyone’s has a lawn they have a place for their kids to play and so forth and that might not be a 15minute community because it may be that there’s just so

Much residential that that shopping is just more than a 15minute uh you know walk or or bicycle ride away so you know a lot of people like that type of of lifestyle and I you I don’t want to necessarily denigrate it I think that uh you know in in a market

Environment we’ll have situation we’ll have choices we’ll have people who will be able to live in communities like that and we’ll have people like me who want to live in apartments and be able to walk to walk to everything so I think that that as long as it’s not coercive

And as long as there’s a variety of options available you know it all should be uh okay now as far as the advantages are are concerned you know again uh thinking about uh more of a dense urban area like uh San Francisco or New York where I’m

Originally uh from it used to be that you know you there’d be uh a a grocery store on the corner a barber shop other kinds of businesses and then it started to become you know with the zoning coming in starting I think more in the

1920s that that kind of uh of mixed use was really denigrated and the idea was we need to have like a sharp separation between where people live and where people do their business and I think some of that was inspired by the fact that there are sometimes negative

Externalities you know bad things that come out of businesses like noise es smells and that sort of thing now I think a lot of that has gone away so maybe in the old days you’d be butchering you know animals live and it and there would be blood and odors and

So forth you don’t really see that anymore it’s mostly packaged Goods in a in a Marketplace so I think some of that might have had some legitimate Foundation at the beginning I don’t think it really uh applies now and I think there are other ways of prevent of protecting residents from externalities

Other than a really harsh regime of zoning so yes I think mixed juice is is a great thing and I I hope more cities embrace it yeah and definitely the smaller government and bureaucracy would be great too I I would like to ask you about across the pond so to speak and

Are there examples from Europe of other than Oxford that have been implementing the 15 M 15 minute city concept uh yes Paris Paris yeah Paris uh as really been doubling down on it uh uh during uh Co they put in a lot more uh bike Lanes again which are fine although uh

The disadvantage there is that that often reduces the amount of available parking uh I’m not close enough to the situation to know whether it’s creating problems and that you know people just don’t have a place to park I mean you can substitute uh herbs side parking with multi-level parking structures and

I you know I don’t think it’s too much to ask people to pay one or two you know Euros or two or three Canadian dollars to to park but you know if you just eliminate parking and you don’t replace it and then people are driving around the the the block constantly you know

Generating more greenhouse gas emissions that’s that’s counterproductive so bike Lanes you know can be a good thing as long as they’re thoroughly utilized and as long as they don’t uh reduce parking to below uh you know minimum acceptable level uh you know then on the down side

Uh they’ve started to do you know carfree Sundays which is something that we see in San Francisco a lot uh I just think that creates a lot of unnecessary inconvenience I mean it it’s sort of nice you get a nice picture of everybody walking along this the river San or

Whatever where in in San Francisco here it’s in um in the major Park that we have they close off a lot of the roads in the park uh yeah I think it it makes everyone feel good well it makes people on one side of the debate feel good and

I think it just creates a lot of inconvenience for others and it’s probably very bad for business because some people you know may be 30 minutes away or 45 minutes away and would like to patronize businesses and now can’t because they don’t have that driving option on Sunday

That’s right so have there been maybe some specific responses that you’ve heard from the Paris TR uh transformation over to 15minute cities I have not seen a lot of criticism of it but I haven’t look to carefully so it’s I’m I’m sure there are people who don’t

Like it there seems to be a lot of populism in France right now a lot of of people objecting to various government edicts I wouldn’t be surprised if that was among them right now considering existing infrastructure and also uh let’s say the habits of people who are used to vehicle transportation and other

Things like that do you see this as being applicable the world over with a planning model like this well uh you know another case of uh of a city trying this is Melbourne Australia so that shows another continent uh they they’re doing 20 minute neighborhoods so it’s a little

Bit of a of a variant Australia is a pretty low density country in general so I don’t know um you know how much of it can apply there well and then you know you’ve got you know India and China which are just incredibly dense countries and you almost imagine that they uh a

Lot of their a lot of the people living there live in something like a 15minute city already a lot of people there don’t have cars yeah so they really have to be able to walk to everything that’s right now one of the issues that we have here

In Southern Alberta is the uh rural landscape and and the bedroom communities that are around us um do you think there’s a provision or maybe planning with these 15minute CI to impact that Urban rural connection or maybe it’s a divide I think the I think the people who Advocate 15minute cities

Want to see us building up rather than building out and so that actually is much more consistent with the idea of preserving uh the rural spaces you know others and I I would tend to put myself in in that in this Camp would be for uh

You know some development of of of rural areas if uh if population pressure is what it is now I mean the last time I looked at Alberta’s demographics it wasn’t like there was a huge increase in population going on I don’t know that’s changed so I’m not really sure that

There’s really that much need to develop new new areas do you think that there’s maybe a role that technology plays in developing or let’s say extrapolating out this idea of the 15minute city that’s that’s really a great question because uh during covid I thought a lot about you know technology

Displacing our need to go into the office and do other inperson activities and I think some of that didn’t really pan out uh one idea that uh I wrote about was you know the idea that we would all get these you know meta branded uh virtual reality GL uh goggles

Whatever devices and uh you know we’d be having these Zoom style meetings except they we would have avatars and everything would be in 3D and it would feel more like an office and um uh to my great surprise because you know they invested an enormous amount of money in

That yeah that did not catch on that really been a total um failure so it does seem that people want to physically be with people that’s so I don’t you know I don’t I don’t know how much technology really I mean although there’s still definitely a lot of

Technology displacement going on I mean I’m I’m talking to you from you know my home that’s right and uh a lot of shopping trips that I do now are are aviated by simply going onto Amazon absolutely or you know some other online vendor and the you know the box shows up

In my house a day or two later so there definitely technology reduces our need to drive places right it’s it’s definitely the fact the case yeah now one other thought that I had the the largest city near us is Calgary Alberta and one of the uh Hot Topics there has been expanding light

Rapid rail Transit and it seems to me that people realize that that is a hot button topic they don’t get large volumes of ridership so perhaps 15minute cities is actually a more cost effective and workable solution for larger centers would you agree with that or what would

Your take be yeah I have a couple of thoughts about that first of all uh some 15 minute City Advocates import Transit so we talked about walking biking or scootering uh some of them will say walking biking scootering or using Transit so uh you know that is generally

Part of the just more of an anti-car philosophy what you know what can you do to replace car trps you know I’ve not looked at uh Light Rail in Canada I’ve looked at a lot of Light Rail systems in the United States and uh they they they

Have the same problem that you just mentioned the lack of writers ship and uh at least in the US I think this is less of a problem in Canada but in the US we have a huge problem with uh high costs so you know you could have systems

Going in at you know 50 million 100 million $200 million dollars a mile uh and then you know when it gets into heavy rail we have a couple of systems uh one in New York and one in San Francisco uh or I should say sorry

San Jose that are uh looking at over a billion to two billion dollars you this US dollars right per mile and in at least in the case of San Jose system the ridership is going to be very limited so uh you know it’s not really a cost-effective use of taxpayer money to

Be building these uh systems I know one thing that you’ve done in Canada that’s been Superior to what we have in most of the United States now with one exception is embracing uh driverless uh Transit Vehicles so I know the Vancouver system for example uh is driverless we have the

First one now in the States but it’s in Hawaii where it’s really not needed but there a driverless system there if Calgary is thinking about that at least it’s going to reduce the operating cost of it yeah well hey even the artificial intelligence wants to be in Hawaii got

To hand it to those driverless buses or trains uh Mark unfortunately that’s all the time we have for today thank you very much for joining us to chat about 15minute cities thanks for having me me Michael anytime Alberta Premier Daniel Smith has been taking a lot of heat lately after

Announcing that our government will be making changes which will boost parental rights when it comes to transgender and personal pronoun issues for minors now to chat about this in more detail is shelle andry who’s a parent herself and one of the leaders of Freedom Hub Lethbridge Shel welcome to Bridge City

News thank you thanks for having me here you bet now first of all why don’t you explain to our viewers what Freedom Hub is all about so Freedom Hub is just a community group that I started in um 2021 and so it’s kind of a spot where people can come together build community

And support each other in our rights and um it’s really important to just know people in your community right so I kind of wanted to build that now Premier Daniel Smith was talking a bit about gender reassignment surgery and the fact that it’ll be banned in Alberta for

Those 17 and under uh Smith says since this is a life-altering decision with permanent consequences that it’s best left for adults to decide not children not minors critics are calling this a very cruel decision what are your thoughts I think the critics are a little confused as to what it means to

Protect children um I absolutely love what Danielle has put forward and I think that it is definitely time to see uh our politicians step up and help protect children and parental rights and the children’s rights because this is about our parental rights to protect the children right so as a minor they’re not

Able to make certain decisions for themselves um you know they might think that they know what they want but children change their mind as they grow and develop and it is very important that we make sure that we’re not putting them In Harm’s Way just to appease public opinion because that’s how people

Get hurt there’s so many children who have had reassignment surgery or taken hormones and lived to regret it so it’s it can be very dangerous to do this to children and in encouraging uh trer gender transition in minors is very dangerous so I absolutely love that our

Premere has stepped up to the plate and put forth action to protect children and parental rights there appears to be a lot of media attention focused on the lgbtq2 plus Community their supporters who call the premier’s decision deplorable many within that Community there’s also reaction outside of our

Borders here in Alberta and even outside of Canada what feedback are you observing outside out of the mainstream media I’m observing that in our community people are happy with um these policies um there is a lot of backlash yes a lot of things we see online um may include

More of that backlash just because of censorship and um the people who have the opinion or the the parents and the community members who support this are being censored and so their voices aren’t being heard to and they’re looking like the minority when in actuality it is um those who are pro

Gender transition for minors that are the minority and we cannot Pander to the minority just to um appease them when it’s putting our children at risk now puberty blockers and hormone therapies would also not be allowed except for those who’ve already begun the process shell again those opposed

Say this discriminates against the trans community particularly the puberty blockers which are very times sensitive what are your thoughts on these kind of treatments oh well my thoughts are that uh it’s it’s so dangerous to give children any kind of drugs or treatment that could cause long-term damage and

We’ve seen that there’s evidence of that so it’s very very important that we keep a stand on this and um educate those who are opposed because they probably don’t understand the implications of these hormone therapies these drugs that they give to children are the same drugs that they would give

To a pedophile to medically castrate them um it would make children infertile for the rest of their lives so if they grow and decide well I actually want kids they won’t be able to and that’s not a decision about having kids to make when you’re a kid because kids don’t

Even have that on their purview they they aren’t thinking about I want to be a a mom or a dad and some kids do think about that but it’s not really until you’re past that puberty stage um you know closer to maybe 18 19 20 or even 25

Or some people wait till 30 before they’re like yeah actually I want to have kids um so it’s important we don’t take that option away uh it’s irreversible and these hormone therapies cause extreme Health damage you know there’s it shortens the lifespan um of a person who has these treatments done and it

Breaks down their bones it’s it’s just really detrimental to the physical being of the person especially minor children you don’t want to be messed around with those um natural chemical um hormones in the body by adding in extra things and we do have research data on how these affect

Children um but we need more you know and it’s not a good idea to continue giving children these um medications until you know maybe there is more research coming out in 20 years or 30 years when we can see the effects that have happened on the children who

Have already undergone these things um but we don’t want our children to be Lab Rats you know it’s really important to make sure we protect their health and their safety and not just their physical well-being but also their mental well-being um there is an increased rate of depression suicide and other

Long-term or um well life-ending effects of giving children these hormones and it doesn’t change how they feel it just changes them physically the mutilation is separate from the feeling the psychology the emotion it’s more important to give these children the help that they need the support that they need the counseling making sure

They know we’re there for them and that we love them and by no means is it discriminating to show a child that you love them and to protect them and I think that discrimination has been thrown around so much in so many different Arenas that a lot of people

Have started to forget what discrimination actually is and protecting children is not discrimination it’s the opposite it’s protecting those transgender kids or the kids who may transition one day it’s protecting their right to to to learn and grow know who they are have a healthy body have a healthy mind have

The support that they need so when it is time say when they turn 18 after they’re 17 when their body is more developed they have a little bit more of critical thinking experience and ability um and the support system that they’ve built um throughout their teen years where they’ve been considering

These things it is a process you can’t just jump in throw these kids under the knife or give them a bottle of of hormones and expect that there’s going to be a a great outcome for everyone because also you have to think about everybody is different so not everyone’s

Going to respond to the hormone treatments the same some people might have different physical adverse reactions than others and it’s just so important to just allow them the time to grow and to become who they are without the medical interference now sh Alberto will require parental consent for students 15

And under who want to change their names or pronouns at school now students 16 and 17 would not need consent but their parents will still have to be notified now the main concern from those opposed seems to be that this would cause trans students to be outed to their parents

Who may disagree with their choices now some argue this could be very dangerous for students what are your thoughts well they say it would be dangerous for students so um from what I’ve heard they’re implying would be dangerous for the students because of their families and their

Parents which I feel is far from the truth there I mean don’t get me wrong there are probably some families and parents who would absolutely not accept their child’s decisions or feelings and not be supportive and that’s when we need to make sure that there is help for

Them and a support system that we can build but the majority of parents will not turn on their children and make things harder for them as a mom I know I will do whatever I can to make sure that my child’s well-being is put first I will make sure that I’m building a

Relationship with them and not just around this issue I think that this isn’t an issue of um you know accusing every parent that they’re going to be mean or hate their child or or cause problems for them if they disagree with them but I think we need to really

Support parents in teaching them how to communicate with their children especially you know the youth that maybe going through these questions or um trying to find their identity so if we have support for parents and support for the family as a unit as well so that they can understand each other

Communicate and create that support system so shelle what would you say to kids who have seen School school is their only Haven where they feel that they can truly be themselves where they actually feel safe maybe safer than at home well I think that they should create a support system at school then

You know like we have we have systems in place in school and I think they can always be improved upon but creating a support system for that student through their friends through their teachers or a counselor or um maybe some other adult volunteers I don’t know if that would

You know if they’ve got obviously checked um to enter the school and to create a support system in the schools for these kids who feel they cannot go to their parents but I think it is important that parents know if their child is claiming a different name or a

Pronoun at school that’s different from their school records it’s important for the school to communicate with the parents about their children on all issues that may may get um that may grow into something bigger so if it’s something that can affect the child’s health well-being their education their social um aspects

Around school and family it’s important the school is communicating with the parents so that they can create that support system for them and if the school feels the parents may not be um receptive or supportive to the student um then they can arrange to have some supports put in place and I know

That the schools do have great support systems they do have um a lot of connecting resources I’ve used them with my daughter in school and they’re really happy and willing to communicate with you and work out plans and the students need to also maybe be more made more

Aware of that that they do have support systems in school um if they feel like they can’t talk to their family or the parents um it’s just so important that communication is kept open and if parents are shut out of the conversation before it gets started they don’t have

The option to support their child that’s taking away an opportunity for the child to feel love and support and it’s so important like I can’t stress how much I feel that’s important I I have really strived to create a good relationship with my child as I’m sure most other

Parents have and the few parents that haven’t that may struggle with knowing how to talk to their kids about these things you know there there are community supports and if they don’t have access to them or aren’t aware of them maybe these uh Community Support Services could be boosted in

Advertisement or promotion on the school newsletters on the school website you know like if you need help communicating or um talking to your kids about these things or things that they’re going through it would would be really beneficial to have that system where parents can actually know where to

Access that and where students can know where to access that now in the classroom schools will be required to notify parents when teachers will be teaching on gender identity human sexuality and sexual orientation parents will need to give consent and they’ll have the option to maybe opt their kids

Out of that class some say this is creating some division how do you see it well I don’t think it’s creating Division and I think that it’s in line with how things have always been when it comes to discussions about SE the sexual nature in school you know even way back

When I was in school you know we had theme five parents had to sign a permission form you you know to opt you in for that class this is no different um it’s just a little bit um I would say expanded because times have changed there are different things happening um

For youth now that or well some of the things are the same but I mean it’s it’s a increased amount of what’s Happening um with youth right now in society as time goes on things will continue to change but it is a really good system in

Place that has been a long time in uh in a long time and getting permission from parents for sexual content classes has always been a thing and this policy is just rein forcing that it’s not adding anything new now Premier Smith also has an interesting proposal when it comes to

Sports and uh trans women competing against uh biological females in sports this will not be allowed now the provins will look at allowing trans kids to compete in co-ed leagues critics say this will really paint trans youth as villains but others say it’ll really protect the Integrity of female sports

How do you see it see h I think that’s a great thing and not just to protect the Integrity of female sports which is the focus on attacking that you know the female sport um is what I’ve noticed is the target um I don’t think that it’s targeting women

Sports to have co-ed um sports available I think that it’s opening an opportunity so it can decrease discrimination and it can create more opportunities for kids be involved in any sport or activity that they would like to where they may feel uncomfortable say if they’re a trans female would they feel just as

Comfortable playing on the boys team you know I think that would even open discrimination against them you know if there’s boys on the team who are thinking like oh well but you’re actually a girl you can’t play on this team I mean you’re you know you boy but

You know you know they kind of throw that around and twist it up where this person may feel attacked or unsafe and we saw that a lot in the past with going through all the gay rights and things you know and I think that it’s there has

Been a big fight in the past for rights for gay rights and I think it’s great that we have those now you know as somebody who is lgtb I just I think that it’s great that we have the support and we have the same rights as everyone else

And it took a long time to get that recognized and this movement to try to shame anybody who doesn’t jump on board or um fall in line with 100% with the beliefs of this transgender Community um well not just the transgender Community but the I would say more like the left

Community that is pushing this idea that there’s this transgender um attack and there isn’t I think that it’s just something that people are shining a spotlight on to create more problems and Danielle Smith’s proposal of these policies is the opposite it is showing support for transgender children

It is showing support for the families it’s showing that we can find solutions to work together and there doesn’t need to be the division there doesn’t need to be discrimination against anyone and we just need to support each other you know and love makes the world go around if

You really think about it it’s the only way to make success and to grow shell andry is one of the leaders of Freedom Hub Lethbridge and a concerned parent Shell thanks so much for joining us today from Lethbridge thank you and behalf of all of us here at Bridge City News I’m hell

Roberts God bless and thanks for watching