Tara Sawyer is a farmer, a business owner, and an agricultural leader running as a United Conservative Party candidate in Olds Didsbury-3 Hills in the upcoming by-election. In this episode, we talk to Tara about her campaign, the issues she's tackling, and what she thinks of her opponent, Cam Davies.
00:00:00.000So just in the pure interest of giving you both sides of the story, we want to be fair and balanced here at Juno News.
00:00:08.640And so after interviewing Cam Davies, the leader of the Republican Party of Alberta, we thought it would only be fair to talk to his opponent in the upcoming by-election.
00:00:18.780So I am very pleased now to be joined by Tara Sawyer.
00:00:22.360Tara is a farmer, a business owner and an agricultural leader running as a United Conservative Party candidate in Olds Didsbury 3 Hill in the by-election that is taking place on Monday.
00:00:33.120So, Tara, thank you so much for joining the show.
00:00:36.180Thanks very much for having me. I appreciate it.
00:00:38.360I could tell you're out campaigning and we caught you in your car.
00:00:43.360So first of all, why don't you just tell us a little bit about yourself and what brought you into the world of politics?
00:00:49.160Yeah, so my family farms here in the Acme, just outside of Acme, in the riding of Olds Didsbury 3 Hills.
00:00:59.680And our family's been farming here since 1903.
00:01:03.540And my background with our kids raised our family here.
00:01:08.120And my family's pretty passionate about, you know, policy and having a farmer's voice at a table and, you know, representing the rural people.
00:01:18.160So we've done, I've done a lot of advocacy work.
00:01:21.380My background with being the chair of Alberta Grains before that Alberta Barley Commission before we amalgamated has been being the voice for wheat and barley farmers of Alberta.
00:01:31.440In fact, in this region, region two where I am, that's who I represent.
00:01:34.420So I've been representing the farmers of this region for over eight years already and fighting the liberal government on issues that affect farmers.
00:01:43.980And I feel really strongly, I have a strong sense of community.
00:01:48.940You know, we're active in our community with volunteering and just giving back where you can.
00:01:54.160And I just, I feel really strongly about being able to represent people.
00:01:58.980So this opportunity to run, and especially right now at such a pivotal time, I'm deeply honoured to have this opportunity.
00:02:07.640Well, it's interesting because, you know, I think that the separatist cause is sort of overshadowing some of the other big issues in, of the day in Alberta.
00:02:18.240And so I'm just wondering, Tara, like when you're going from door to door, when you're talking to people in the riding, what are the issues that you're hearing?
00:02:25.540What are the big concerns on the ground?
00:02:27.080Yeah, I'm hearing from people, you know, of course, they're concerned on health care and education.
00:02:34.280And, you know, there's families that are struggling to, you know, pay for groceries and jobs.
00:02:40.960So they're frustrated with, you know, the decline we've seen in our oil and gas industry.
00:02:46.220I was at a door yesterday and the gentleman had just been laid off after years and years.
00:02:54.900I mean, that's the type of things that in our riding and our seniors are concerned with housing and those supports.
00:03:03.200Those are topics that I got on all the doors.
00:03:07.820And, of course, that discussion on separation in Alberta and Alberta getting a fair deal is what, you know, people are talking to me about.
00:03:17.540Well, certainly after the federal election, I think we were all surprised.
00:03:20.680Watching Justin Trudeau, you know, what happened to him, what he did to our country and to his own party, it seemed like the conservatives were a shoo-in and that we were going to finally have, you know, a change and maybe a path to prosperity.
00:03:34.400I think we were all a little surprised to see what Mark Carney was able to do.
00:03:38.980So I'm wondering, like, what do you make of Cam Davies, your opponent in the riding?
00:03:45.140You know, he's the leader of a party, a new party that he created, the Alberta Republican Party.
00:03:49.500And I guess they're basically saying that the UCP doesn't take the separatists seriously enough and that, you know, that's the way to go.
00:04:00.480So what do you make of Cam Davies and his party?
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00:04:30.640I'm not going to disparage other candidates.
00:04:34.740I think the statement, if that's what they're saying, is incorrect, because I think the Premier and our party have been very clear that we're putting Alberta first and that we want a sovereign Alberta in a united Canada.
00:04:49.060And being a sovereign Alberta means we want to be getting what should be ours, that the federal government has gotten in the way of.
00:04:57.480We want them out of our way to let us be a prosperous province.
00:05:01.940I've heard the frustrations of the people.
00:06:33.200We're still suffering some backlash from a lot of what the NDP did as people try and do better.
00:06:39.460So, yeah, that's what I would say is, you know, a lot of what I hear coming from that other party is exactly what we're already saying.
00:06:50.180Like, we're already doing these things.
00:06:51.440And I would point out, you know, the other piece is as someone who lives in this riding, whose business is in this riding, no one cares more than me to make sure that not only this province, but these people that I can potentially represent are represented strongly so their voice is heard.
00:07:12.640Right. And I mean, the party just had a vote on Premier Smith's leadership, and I think she got 91 percent approval.
00:07:22.340So it doesn't seem that the party is unhappy with the way that the premier has been leading things.
00:07:26.800It's just maybe impatience on behalf of some.
00:07:30.640I'm wondering, Tara, what did you make of Prime Minister Mark Carney's meeting with the premiers, the first minister's meeting, and his new bill, C-5?
00:07:40.820It seems to me he's signaling a change federally in terms of wanting projects built.
00:07:46.460We actually just did a poll here at Juneau News.
00:07:48.440Unbelievably, we reached over 6,000 Canadians, and I think it was 98 percent of them said they wanted more pipelines built, including 96 percent of people in Quebec.
00:07:59.540Across the country, overwhelming majorities of people are tired of the policies that have harmed our economy and made it really hard for young families and for everyone to get by.
00:08:11.280So do you think that Carney is signaling a change?
00:08:14.880Do you see that as a success for the conservative movement?
00:08:17.380Or are you still weary of the party that he represents and some of the people around him?
00:08:22.560I'm always going to be wary of a liberal government, but I do think I will begrudgingly give credit.
00:08:30.480He's at the table, step one, which is more than we can say that Trudeau ever did.
00:08:36.580Now, and I will say, because I was in Quebec, it would have been in March, in my role with Grain Growers of Canada, I was down for the PGQ AGM.
00:08:46.760And I can tell you, speaking to the farmers there, who, first of all, were really excited to see someone from Alberta coming and being able to interact,
00:08:54.980and they were giving me fist bumps saying we need that pipeline from east to west.