Cory Morgan: Alberta’s DEI ban is ‘overdue’
Cory Morgan says the proof of whether Alberta's ban on diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practices in public institutions will be in how Premier Smith implements the changes.
Alberta's plan to ban DEI from public institutions is the easy part, says Rebel News freelancer Cory Morgan. Making it stick is harder.
Cory joined guest host Sheila Gunn Reid on The Ezra Levant Show to talk about Alberta's bill and the questions he asked Premier Danielle Smith at Tuesday's press conference.
Cory asked Smith about NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi, who he said had called merit “code for not hiring ethnic people or women.” Smith said Alberta's public service has had merit-based hiring for years, and the bill extends that policy “to all of the institutions that we govern.”
“Every single person who's been hired can feel confident that they were the best person for the job,” she said. Anyone who feels discriminated against can still go to the Human Rights Commission.
He also asked whether the government would release demographic data on hires and promotions. “I don't think that we track people based on race within our system,” Smith said. “It would be an odd thing, I think, for us to track our employees on that basis.” She said mandatory DEI training will be removed and replaced with training relevant to the position.
Sheila said Alberta is the first province in the country to do this, and called it overdue. Cory said he thinks Smith also wanted to turn the page on the referendums as the legislative session begins. “It's a great common sense policy anyways,” he said. “It's the implementation that'll be where the proof of everything really is.”
Sheila called DEI “the bigotry of low expectations.”
“I'm a woman. I'm in a position of management here at Rebel News,” she said. “I think I got there through hard work and good choices. I didn't need somebody picking me because I checked a diversity box.” Cory said such policies can leave people who earned their jobs wondering whether others doubt them.
Cory said he had wanted to ask whether the whole departments built around DEI would be eliminated. He said the policies won't go away “unless you really take some of the moving parts out of the mechanisms in those institutions.”
On Smith's answer about tracking, Cory said the institutions the government plans to regulate do track demographics. “That's how they set their quotas,” he said. Still, he said, the government shouldn't impose a checklist, which “leads to this problem in the first place.”
Sheila said the bill's regulations should cut the funding behind DEI programs instead of moving it elsewhere, and that there should be consequences if agencies keep doing it quietly. Cory said he hopes the government follows through “rather than just using it as a good political spoil in the legislature.”
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COMMENTS
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Joe Kotylak commented 2026-10-29 19:55:05 -0400 FlagDanielle Smith is the best person for the job. Criticism will not change that. She is doing a great job. -
Bruce Atchison commented 2026-10-29 19:34:13 -0400 FlagThose opposing Danielle Smith had better be careful. If they vote her out, there’s a high probability they’ll get in somebody worse. It’ll be too late then.
