OLDS — Five United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership candidates outlined some of their respective plans and aspirations during a forum in Olds on June 28.
Sponsored by the Mountain View Freedom (MVF) group, the three-hour public event was held in the Cow Palace at the Olds Regional Exhibition.
Emcee Dan Harder estimated that between 350 and 400 people attended the forum.
The candidates were Danielle Smith, Brian Jean, Todd Loewen, Rajan Sawhney and Bill Rock. They are vying to replace outgoing UCP leader Jason Kenney, who stepped down after narrowly winning an earlier leadership race.
The candidates outlined their plans for leading the province, should the party win the 2023 election. They also addressed a number of questions submitted to MVF prior to the forum.
Rock said as UCP leader he would defend and advocate for the rights of residents to lawfully oppose government programs they don’t agree with.
“Every Albertan and every Canadian should have the right to congregate and the peacefully protest without prosecution or persecution, and this is not happening,” said Rock.
Jean said as UCP leader, he would push for more “personal, financial, professional, community autonomy” for Albertans.
“Autonomy is about our ability to act according to our values and interests on our priorities,” said Jean. “Our campaign will talk about transparency and accountability in government so that our MLAs can and will truly represent you the people, so that the caucus can represent voters to the government.”
As UCP leader, Smith said she would introduce an Alberta Sovereignty Act which she says will help Alberta better protect provincial rights.
“If we are going to be a senior partner in confederation lets start acting like it,” said Smith, saying the act would “declare that we will not enforce any policy or law passed by the federal government that violates our provincial right, our jurisdiction and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms for our people here.”
Sawhney said she believes she can unite the UPC prior to the next election.
“We know that a win in 2023 is predicated on unity, unity amongst all of us, unity in caucus,” said Sawhney. “I have a proven track record of extensive team building and I have a good reputation with all of my caucus colleagues. I feel that I am that person who can defeat (Alberta NDP leader) Rachel Notley. I can actually go toe-to-toe with Notley, step into that space and compete for those centre-right voters.”
Loewen said he would focus on “building a team of people who stand together on principles and values” if he were elected leader.
“My view of leadership is this: do the right thing and do what you believe in. and use their many talents, rather than dictating from the top down,” said Loewen. “Work with the people to build a vision based on those core values. And what are they? How about standing up to Ottawa? How about protecting your freedom? How about protecting property rights? I believe it should be principles above politics.”
Questions posed to the candidates included how they would address inflation and cost of living pressures.
Smith said, “Saudi Arabia and Nigeria are able to offer lower prices of gasoline and the diesel for their customers, so why can’t we? That’s what we have to look into doing.”
Sawhney said, “There is no doubt that monetary policies in Ottawa have contributed to this terrible inflationary environment that we are all in and we know that we have to make sure that fuel tax subsidy stays in place for a longer period of time to help everyday Albertans.”
Loewen said, “We need to get our economy back to work. We should be the leaders in the country and in the world as far as economic prosperity and fiscal management. We need to be leaders again.”
Rock said, “The carbon tax is killing our farmers, it’s killing our industry, it’s killing our small businesses.”
Jean said, “I’m going to get rid of a significant amount of fuel cost to you because I believe that these resources belong to you and you should have the benefit of them.”
Other questions posed to the candidates included how they plan to support Alberta industry, how they plan to support the rights of Albertans, how they plan to support Albertans’ mental health, and how they plan to unite the party.
Leadership candidates Leela Aheer, Rebecca Schultz and Travis Toews were invited to the Olds forum but did not attend.
UCP members will vote for a new leader in October. The next provincial election is scheduled for May 2023.
Harder said a video of the Olds forum will be posted on the MVF social media.
