Western Standard - EXCLUSIVE： UCP leadership candidate Rebecca Schulz

00:00:00.000 Children's Services Minister and MLA for Calgary Shaw. Hey, Ms. Shales, how are you doing?

00:00:04.300 I'm doing really well. How are you?

00:00:06.280 Very good. Thanks. Just doing my Monday rant. It's therapeutic. It gets it out of my system.

00:00:11.640 It's a good way to start the week.

00:00:13.660 Yeah. I like it. And there's always lots to get me worked up, but I'll try and keep things calm

00:00:19.240 for when we talk here. So your campaign's just kind of kicking off. You've put your foot forward

00:00:24.580 for the UCP leadership. I guess one of the first areas you kind of went into, and it's a big area

00:00:30.120 that I'm asking every candidate about, is the party unity, internal unity, keeping things together.

00:00:35.780 Because of course, winning the leadership's one thing, winning the general election's another.

00:00:39.660 And if the party still looks like everybody's at each other's throats, people probably aren't

00:00:42.980 going to vote for them. Yeah. And that's really my first and foremost focus is keeping our party

00:00:48.640 united so that we can really make sure we're in a good position to take on Rachel Notley in

00:00:54.360 2023. And one of the things I've been saying is that, you know, it's been a tough couple of years.

00:00:59.900 I know that. But it is time as Conservatives to come together to stop vilifying each other and

00:01:04.660 focus on who our opponent really is. And that is Rachel Notley in the NDP.

00:01:09.380 So there's some contentious policy points that are kind of coming up or things where people are

00:01:14.620 taking different stances. I've seen from candidates addressing Ottawa, alienation, things such as that.

00:01:20.420 It's definitely a top issue. People are concerned. Where do you land on that? How can this government

00:01:26.020 defend Alberta against a federal government that's not always favorable to us, I guess you could say?

00:01:31.720 Yeah, we do have to stand up and continue to fight for our constitutional rights. We're not really

00:01:36.460 asking for anything special necessarily. What we're asking for is the constitution of our country to be

00:01:41.660 followed and respected. I think one of the things that I want to be clear on is I'm not going to make

00:01:46.840 promises we can't keep. I think we need to continue to team up with like-minded provinces because there

00:01:52.780 are other provinces looking for the same things largely that we are. I think we've got to recognize

00:01:57.800 that a lot of good work has happened, like appointing our own chief firearms officer. I mean, that's

00:02:02.540 obviously important as we see Justin Trudeau trying to weigh in on firearms laws and really rule-abiding

00:02:09.440 firearms owners in this country. We've also got good news on Bill C-69 with the Alberta Court of

00:02:16.540 Appeal saying that that's unconstitutional. That is good news in our fight for a fair deal. But I'm

00:02:21.980 going to be focused not on headlines, but on results for Albertans. You know, the child care deal that we

00:02:27.240 signed with the federal government, I did not sign on the dotted line. I didn't accept the first deal

00:02:32.160 that they pushed across the table our way. And, you know, I fought for what made sense for Albertans.

00:02:38.500 And I can tell you that what would really hurt Alberta, especially when it comes to the federal

00:02:43.900 government and making sure that Albertans are getting a fair deal is having an NDP government

00:02:48.420 next year. Yeah, absolutely. Having the NDP in would be horrific. We already had a four-year

00:02:54.040 taste of that. Absolutely. But dealing with the federal government, I mean, that is one of those

00:02:58.200 difficult ones. And you saw as Children's Services Minister, though, they take our money

00:03:01.360 and then they offer a program back and say, well, if you don't embrace the program, we're just going

00:03:05.180 to take your money and spend it somewhere else. So you're basically throwing away your own money if

00:03:08.740 you don't take part. It's kind of a backhand way of pigeonholing us into federal policy. But how can

00:03:14.360 we push back to make sure those policies reflect our needs rather than what the federal government's

00:03:18.220 imposing? Well, and here's what I always say is that we need unwavering conservative values to be

00:03:23.880 at the forefront of our platform and what our party stands for. That said, we've also got to use

00:03:29.060 common sense of making decisions. So when I would hear from Alberta families and yes, even conservative

00:03:33.460 supporters, they said, look, we're not we're not OK with leaving almost four billion dollars of our

00:03:38.340 hard earned tax money in Ottawa to pay for child care in every other province across the country,

00:03:42.500 except for here. They see that as an economic advantage for us to make sure that parents,

00:03:48.520 yes, women, but, you know, men, women alike, parents can take part in the labor market, right, 0.98

00:03:54.600 that they can take part in these new jobs that are being created every single day here in Alberta.

00:03:59.380 Childcare is very expensive and it is, in fact, a barrier for many when they're looking to go back to

00:04:04.260 school or get into the workforce. So that's where, you know, we had to use some common sense.

00:04:08.040 We did fight very hard, especially on making sure that private operators, entrepreneurs

00:04:13.400 were included in this system. Last week, I got a call from a reporter out of Ontario saying, look,

00:04:19.560 I've got operators in three other provinces saying they wish that they had the deal Alberta had.

00:04:24.040 So for us, it was the behind the scenes work, the hard work to make sure that we're listening to what

00:04:28.120 Albertans want us to focus on. But making sure we don't have a maiden made in Ottawa or made in Quebec, 0.96

00:04:33.720 anything here in Alberta, we had to focus on what is going to work for Albertans.

00:04:39.320 Okay. Well, and speaking of big budgetary numbers and that, recently the budget had come into balance,

00:04:45.000 but there's still a large get there. What policies would you be putting forth to work towards,

00:04:51.000 you know, if we're looking at fiscal responsibility, hopefully maybe some debt retirement?

00:04:54.040 You know, and I would say, even back when I was door knocking in 2019, I had people say,

00:04:59.480 you need to balance the budget. And I said, absolutely. I agree with you wholeheartedly,

00:05:03.640 fiscal conservative, but just so you know, we're going to make decisions that are difficult. Some

00:05:08.040 of them you're probably not going to like. And in me, you're going to have someone who will continue

00:05:11.480 to show up, take your phone call, stand on your doorstep and hear your perspectives on that.

00:05:15.640 We have done a lot of hard work over the last couple of years that has to continue.

00:05:21.320 We hear a lot of people saying, you know, the heritage savings trust fund, we've got to save

00:05:26.200 for future generations. We have to continue to keep government spending down. And when I look at that

00:05:32.120 as a parent of two young kids, my kids are three and seven. It is an imperative because when, you know,

00:05:38.360 they are in our positions making decisions, I don't want them to be paying off our debt. I want them to

00:05:44.040 have the flexibility to meet the demands of their generation and their time. You know, it is

00:05:50.040 important, but I would also say that we have to continue to invest in things that people rely on.

00:05:54.920 I mean, rural healthcare is important. Having family docs is important. Having a good education

00:06:00.520 system for our kids. You know what? That's important too. But I think that we can show that we've got

00:06:05.080 compassion, common sense, but can also balance the budget and keep us on a good fiscal trajectory.

00:06:10.920 Great. So we're still in the, you know, things seem to be recovering. We're getting better and

00:06:16.760 the world's winding down, but COVID still exists. There's always the warnings. It has its ups and

00:06:21.160 downs. Are there different ways if COVID starts surging again in the future, how would you look

00:06:27.080 to address that as premier? You know, I think we still, obviously we have all become very aware of

00:06:33.720 some of the capacity issues within the hospital system, AHS. You know, that reform is going to

00:06:40.200 take some time, but I think people know that there is some very real urgency to addressing some of those

00:06:45.400 issues because, well, both we saw that health restrictions, especially in these last few waves,

00:06:52.680 didn't stop transmission or it may be slowed down, but we also have to recognize that it didn't have

00:07:00.120 the outcomes really, and that it had a significant impact on people's overall mental health and

00:07:07.320 wellbeing. And so, you know, that's what I hear from people all the time. It's important for my kids to

00:07:12.520 be able to play sports. It's important for them to have school be as normal as possible. So I can tell

00:07:18.440 you that I've heard that feedback. You know, I really have, and I think we need to continue to listen to

00:07:24.280 our frontline healthcare workers because they have some really great ideas on how we can create

00:07:29.160 capacity within the system and do a better job on that front so that we can keep people's lives normal.

00:07:35.400 Great. And since you brought up healthcare capacity, and this is a question I've been asking

00:07:39.080 every candidate so far, it's kind of issue specific, but it's something I've been writing on for a long

00:07:42.760 time and frustrated with is our ambulance services. I mean, we had that recent tragedy with the elderly

00:07:47.400 lady passing away with an ambulance that took over 30 minutes to get there. And we'd heard that there were 0.79

00:07:53.480 18 ambulances at that time sitting in hospitals, trying to offload. Yet, all we get in response

00:07:59.880 is, well, we'll strike a committee and wait four months. Like we just, to be honest, one of the

00:08:04.360 frustrations I think with the UCP people have had is a lot of talk and not a lot of action. We don't

00:08:09.000 want more committees. We want to see something solved. How would you address that?

00:08:13.320 You know, I've heard exactly that almost word for word is we don't need panels and committees. We need

00:08:19.160 action. And so my style is this, and I think anybody who's worked with me in children's services,

00:08:25.000 you know, in my previous role would know this, that, you know, I'm not about getting necessarily

00:08:29.400 the perfect policy. Let's roll something out. Let's move quickly. You know, childcare deal,

00:08:35.080 a good example. We were not the first to sign, but we were one of the first two provinces to roll

00:08:39.480 out those savings to parents, which was a big deal. We need to take action. And then we need to,

00:08:45.080 you know, take a look at where things are working or not. And when you mention, you know, I had EMS

00:08:51.240 frontline paramedics say it's a hall monitor policy is what they called it, where they're essentially,

00:08:56.440 you know, stuck waiting to offload patients instead of being able to go and address,

00:09:02.840 you know, ambulance calls. That's important. And so I know that that committee is working

00:09:09.000 really, really hard to make some fast changes in that area. And I would say my colleagues,

00:09:14.840 you know, RJ Sigurdsson, Tracy Allard, they have been meeting with my frontline

00:09:20.680 paramedics, but also managers, you know, in EMS who have very real examples and changes that they

00:09:28.280 want to see made. They said, look, I don't need 10 point plans or 42 point plans. We just need to make

00:09:33.800 some changes now. We also added a number of new ambulances to the system pretty quickly there,

00:09:39.240 which will help reduce some of the pressure. But you're right, those things are urgent and we need

00:09:43.080 to work on them right now.

00:09:44.360 Okay. Another contentious area with government, it seems to happen. Well, this has been

00:09:50.360 ever since I was old enough to read newspapers, but curriculum battles, they go back and forth with

00:09:54.280 children in schools. People feel it's been politicized on the part of the NDP or on the part of the UCP.

00:10:00.360 Do you think we could find some resolution where parents might be content and happy with where

00:10:04.520 the curriculum sitting? You know, I think there are some areas of the curriculum that people like.

00:10:10.360 Financial literacy, that is important. It's, you know, again, as a mom of a seven-year-old,

00:10:14.680 I mean, I get that. Those are important things for my kids to know. The math curriculum, the focus on

00:10:20.040 language arts, reading, you know, I don't hear a lot of opposition to those areas. I do think, you know,

00:10:27.000 we have to make sure that when we say we're taking ideology out, that, you know, we're not putting,

00:10:32.440 you know, we're not putting in a different type. I think, you know, really what I hear about that is

00:10:38.520 sometimes the concern isn't exactly the decision that's made. It's how, like, how did we come to

00:10:45.880 that? How are we communicating it? And I think, you know, it's sometimes conservatives. I mean,

00:10:51.560 we have really great ideas and, you know, I believe that we don't win when we run on liberal

00:10:57.160 light platforms. We do well when we stick to our conservative values, but I do think

00:11:03.800 that we have to be able to communicate that very well and people need trust in the process. And I

00:11:09.480 think that comes from clear communications, being straight up with Albertans. I think that can help

00:11:15.240 to create that trust in the process. People make sure, or people really feel like their voices are heard.

00:11:21.080 Great. And then I guess kind of a final question with municipal relations. The federal or the

00:11:27.160 provincial government's had some pretty rough relationships, I guess you could say, with the

00:11:30.920 Edmonton, Calgary mayors over the years. I mean, some ups and downs. Can we streamline some of that

00:11:36.120 so it's not a constant battle? Or is it just, I know there's some ideological differences that are

00:11:40.440 always going to lead to some degree of sparks? You know, I think there's always going to be

00:11:45.960 relationships amongst different levels of government. We're always going to have different

00:11:49.320 priorities. So there's always going to be differing opinions at different levels. I do think we have

00:11:54.440 to work to refresh and renew our relationships there. They obviously need some improvement in

00:12:00.920 some areas. And I know our current Minister of Municipal Affairs is working really hard on that.

00:12:06.280 I think whether we're working on issues in some of the major urban centers or, you know, addressing

00:12:11.640 issues like rural crime, we need those relationships to be strong so that we can solve some of those problems

00:12:16.680 together. Great. Okay, well, just kind of in wrapping up, then I appreciate you coming on,

00:12:23.160 talking to us. And of course, the main goal, though, is to ensure that we have a good government. I mean,

00:12:28.520 next election, we're looking a year from now, you're going to, you know, whoever is the winner is going

00:12:32.520 to have to move really fast. Just in a nutshell, then make your pitch on why you're the best person

00:12:37.640 to give us a good government in the next election. Yeah, I think, you know, we need a leader,

00:12:41.800 not just for the next election, or the next two years, we need one for the next generation

00:12:45.880 of our conservative movement. And that is absolutely in the best interests of our party.

00:12:49.880 But of course, for Alberta, we need somebody who will continue on our path of economic growth,

00:12:55.240 somebody who will continue to defend Alberta's constitutional rights and make sure that we

00:12:59.160 remain a leader in this country, but also working on unity. And one of the first commitments I made

00:13:05.160 was to get out there to Dornock and every single one of the 87 ridings right across this

00:13:09.720 province, meet with our grassroots constituency association boards, their board presidents,

00:13:15.640 make sure that our members and all Albertans really feel like they have a voice at the decision

00:13:21.320 making table. And I think what this comes down to is we have an amazing team. We have excellent

00:13:27.560 representatives right across Alberta, they are talented, they are smart, they are hardworking. And I

00:13:32.760 think, you know, it's important for me to to explain a little bit about my style is that it's not all

00:13:37.960 about me. It is about all of the people who stand alongside me who do this important work every

00:13:44.360 single day, and making sure that our team can come back together and focus on defeating the NDP next

00:13:49.800 year. Great. And where can people find more information about your campaign if they want

00:13:54.040 to learn more or take part? Yeah, of course, it's RebeccaForLeader.ca.

00:13:59.000 Great. Well, thank you very much for coming on to talk to us today. There's still a good few months of

00:14:02.600 campaigning to go. I hope we get a chance to talk again before the campaign's over and see how things are

00:14:06.680 developing. Yeah, absolutely. That sounds great. All right. Thanks. I'll let you get back on the

00:14:11.400 campaign trail there. Thank you.

Western Standard - June 20, 2022

EXCLUSIVE： UCP leadership candidate Rebecca Schulz

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