Western Standard - UCP Leadership Debate

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00:04:00.000 One heart beat, strong and free.

00:04:07.000 One choice for better, one voice together, strong and free.

00:04:15.060 We'll be right back.

00:04:45.060 Strong and free, how better we can be, strong and free.

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00:05:31.060 Good evening, good evening and welcome to our second and final

00:06:01.060 I am Cynthia Moore, President of the United Conservative Party.

00:06:09.420 We are here in the beautiful MacLab Theatre, part of the Citadel Theatre Complex.

00:06:15.660 The Citadel is one of the largest non-profit theatres in North America and a leader in

00:06:21.100 both Edmonton and Alberta's performing arts, with more than 250,000 people coming into

00:06:28.100 these spaces each season.

00:06:30.980 On a personal note, growing up, I attended many productions here as well as the Citadel

00:06:36.420 Theatre School.

00:06:38.520 We salute those whose vision created this remarkable artistic company.

00:06:44.400 We also acknowledge that we are located on Treaty 6 territory and within the Métis homelands

00:06:51.060 and Métis nation of Alberta Region 4.

00:06:54.640 This land is the traditional territory of many First Nations, such as the Cree, Dene,

00:07:01.480 Stoney, Sawtoe, and Blackfoot.

00:07:07.600 123,915.

00:07:11.520 That's a big number.

00:07:16.380 That is the number of UCP members eligible to vote in this leadership election.

00:07:24.640 123,915 dedicated Albertans, like you, who recognize the importance of this election,

00:07:39.960 not only to our party as we elect our new leader and premier, but more importantly,

00:07:45.780 to the future of this province.

00:07:49.020 A substantial number of you have bought three-year memberships and donated.

00:07:54.300 I want to thank you for your overwhelming support of the United Conservative Party.

00:08:00.440 We take the will of the membership very seriously.

00:08:03.420 That's what this leadership contest is all about, listening to you, discussing the future

00:08:10.700 of this province based on our shared Conservative values.

00:08:15.400 The questions here tonight are inspired by input from our membership.

00:08:19.700 But with membership comes responsibility.

00:08:24.440 You need to vote.

00:08:27.060 Your vote matters.

00:08:29.060 You can cast your ballot by using our mail-in option.

00:08:33.460 Ballots will be mailed to you this Friday to arrive after the long weekend.

00:08:39.400 So watch for them.

00:08:41.480 Or you can vote on October 6th at one of five in-person voting stations located around

00:08:46.960 the province.

00:08:49.460 This has been a very thorough process, and whoever becomes the leader on October 6, let's

00:08:55.220 give them our support and move forward.

00:08:58.300 Move on to focus on winning the 2023 provincial election.

00:09:03.920 Albertans have told us that they want to see this government re-elected.

00:09:08.400 We are a team, so let's work together.

00:09:12.060 I know you're excited to hear from the candidates, so let's get on with the show.

00:09:17.020 I'll be back after the debate

00:09:18.620 to give you important voting information.

00:09:21.780 Now, back by popular demand

00:09:24.800 from our first official debate in Medicine Hat,

00:09:28.620 our moderator, Jeff Davison,

00:09:31.440 CEO of the Prostate Cancer Center.

00:09:34.900 Take it away, Jeff.

00:09:38.840 Well, thank you, Cynthia.

00:09:41.020 Thanks so much for having me back.

00:09:42.620 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome and good evening.

00:09:45.020 Welcome to the second and final UCP 2022 Leadership Debate.

00:09:51.020 Thank you for joining us as we broadcast you from Edmonton, Alberta.

00:09:54.020 Edmonton, give yourselves a round of applause.

00:10:00.020 That's, by the way, the last time you'll probably want to applause tonight.

00:10:04.020 I do police the audience a little bit in this.

00:10:07.020 Tonight, we'll have the seven leadership candidates on stage to give us their position on a series of questions

00:10:14.020 submitted by UCP members from across the province.

00:10:17.120 Each candidate will be given an equal opportunity

00:10:19.520 to speak over the next two hours

00:10:21.680 in order to provide all candidates

00:10:23.260 a reasonable opportunity to speak to you,

00:10:25.320 the UCP members, and of course to all Albertans

00:10:28.020 because we're broadcasting across the province.

00:10:30.520 This evening, candidates will be asked for their views

00:10:32.960 on the future of the United Conservative Party

00:10:35.560 and a government led by them as premier of this province.

00:10:39.540 But before we can get into the questions,

00:10:41.460 let's first meet the candidates.

00:10:42.620 So, audience, I'm going to ask you to just hold your applause until the end, but allow me to introduce Leela Ahir, Daniel Smith, Travis Taves, Rajan Sani, Rebecca Schultz, Brian Jean, and Todd Lohan.

00:10:53.740 Go ahead, give them a round of applause, everyone.

00:11:08.460 All right, go ahead and get comfortable there.

00:11:10.340 I mean, I know you're all ready for a photo, but we'll do that after.

00:11:13.540 You know, it's nice, though.

00:11:14.440 That's the political smile I want to see in all of you.

00:11:17.180 All right.

00:11:17.940 First of all, I want to say to all the candidates here, thank you.

00:11:20.640 You know, I can tell you as a recovering politician, it's not easy being in the hot seat.

00:11:24.440 And it's certainly not easy circling the province day after day.

00:11:28.580 And I want to let you know, I think you've all worked incredibly hard and earned the right to be here tonight on stage to speak to your fellow Albertans.

00:11:34.640 And although only one of you will be selected as our next premier, on behalf of UCP supporters

00:11:41.140 and all Albertans, I want to thank each and every one of you for putting your name forward

00:11:45.140 in service to Alberta.

00:11:46.640 Give them another round of applause.

00:11:54.740 All right.

00:11:55.440 Okay.

00:11:55.740 So tonight's debate is about ideas, and it's about presenting a vision for Alberta's future.

00:12:01.180 So it's only right that tonight's debate is about putting the candidates in the driver's seat.

00:12:05.640 With seven candidates seeking leadership of this party, it's about giving each of them an opportunity to detail their plans to you, the members.

00:12:13.280 So let's cover the process we're going to go through here tonight a little quickly.

00:12:16.560 First, I'm going to invite the candidates to each give a one-minute opening statement.

00:12:20.100 After opening statements, each candidate will be given one of seven questions with two minutes to respond.

00:12:26.120 Following the completion of their two minutes, I'll put one more question to each of them and

00:12:29.720 that question will be the same for all of you. That question is who would you like to debate

00:12:33.880 on this topic? I'll then invite fellow candidates chosen to provide a one and a half minute answer

00:12:39.320 to the question I asked, which will position us for a head-to-head debate between those two

00:12:43.720 candidates. Then open debate will go for three minutes before we move on to the next question

00:12:49.320 and the next candidate and I'll remind all the candidates that the audience is looking for plans

00:12:53.320 and solutions not just a bunch of yelling at one another over top of each other that works in

00:12:57.480 ottawa it doesn't work here we're going to do this seven times in total once for every candidate

00:13:02.920 and there's no limit to how many times a candidate may be chosen in one-on-one debate so to keep

00:13:07.880 things a little more interesting each candidate is also given five 45 second rebuttals that they

00:13:13.160 can use over the course of the debate so a head-to-head debate could look like it's head to

00:13:17.480 head to head or head to head to head well you get the point but that's how this could look

00:13:22.520 my only rule for the rebuttals is that candidates cannot use them all at once

00:13:26.920 so to keep things fair if a candidate by the way is named in any debate that they're not

00:13:31.000 an active participant in i will bring them in and allow them some time to respond and

00:13:35.480 just a reminder to all of the candidates we've got a lot to get through tonight and

00:13:39.000 we will be keeping a sharp eye on the clock i think we learned that lesson last time right

00:13:43.640 so if you go over time i will ask you to stop talking but if you choose to keep talking we'll

00:13:48.200 just cut your microphone off and as i've said many times that's much more embarrassing for

00:13:51.640 you than it is for me at the end of all of this i'll ask each candidate in order of random draw

00:13:56.760 remember folks this is all random drawn how we're approaching the questions to give a two minute

00:14:00.680 closing statement which is their final pitch of the night to you the ucp members across alberta

00:14:06.440 last request all right members of the audience this one is for you i asked one thing from you

00:14:11.720 and that is that you refrain from reacting to answers from the candidates please no clapping

00:14:16.120 or cheering or booing let's all be respectful we're all on the same team time is tight and we

00:14:20.440 and we will not be stopping the clock.

00:14:22.680 All right, everybody ready?

00:14:24.820 We're going to kick things off with opening statements.

00:14:27.020 Mr. Lowen, you drew first.

00:14:30.120 Come on up to the podium.

00:14:31.120 You'll have one minute once you hit the podium.

00:14:34.020 The floor is yours.

00:14:35.260 Thank you very much.

00:14:36.380 Tonight people are looking for new ideas and a solid plan.

00:14:39.600 They're looking for someone who wants to make a change.

00:14:42.620 They're looking for someone they can trust

00:14:44.840 and who will stand up for them.

00:14:46.660 Not more of the same,

00:14:48.200 We are not reusing the same failed tactics of the past

00:14:51.260 and not someone who sat idly by while Albertans suffered

00:14:54.400 and watched our party in our province slip into despair.

00:14:57.880 Folks, I am here to bring you hope and to share my vision

00:15:01.520 to inspire the people of our province to once again

00:15:04.520 get behind our movement that just three short years ago

00:15:08.120 sent the NDP packing to help restore the Alberta advantage.

00:15:11.660 We have a long ways to go yet.

00:15:14.400 If we are going to succeed, we need to reconnect and rebuild

00:15:16.800 We are proud to have a full trust with folks in all four corners of our great province.

00:15:19.500 Folks in Edmonton, Edson, Calgary, Carsten, Balliview, Vulcan.

00:15:23.900 As Conservatives we are supposed to believe the government's first duty is to listen to you

00:15:26.720 and respect your ability to make the right choices for your family and community.

00:15:30.460 I'm running to give this party back to its members but more importantly I'm running to

00:15:34.320 give Alberta back to Alberta.

00:15:36.320 Thank you.

00:15:37.320 One minute on the dock.

00:15:39.860 Great job.

00:15:40.860 All right.

00:15:41.860 Mr. Jean, come on up.

00:15:42.860 You will also have one minute once you hit the podium.

00:15:45.700 Hello everyone, I'm Brian Jean and I'm running to renew a party that so many of us worked

00:15:54.300 so hard to create.

00:15:56.020 I'm running for the leadership of our party because I want to make Albertans the happiest,

00:16:00.800 the healthiest, the most free and the most prosperous people in Canada and the world.

00:16:06.120 I want to be your premier to help you have more autonomy in your life, to help you have

00:16:09.900 the opportunity to have more free choice for your future.

00:16:14.100 As a lifelong Albertan, I've strived to serve my community and my neighbours, whether as

00:16:18.080 a business owner, a lawyer, a community volunteer, a member of parliament, an MLA or a party leader.

00:16:25.380 I believe that the United Conservative Party has the best ideas, the best principles and

00:16:30.120 the best people.

00:16:31.500 If the UCP is led in a way that connects with everyday, ordinary Albertans, we will have

00:16:36.660 success.

00:16:37.780 We will serve and lead Albertans to prosperity for many years to come.

00:16:42.380 want the ucp to be a party that listens they want it to succeed that is what i plan to do with your

00:16:49.100 help thank you thank you mr jean all right miss schultz come on up to the podium

00:16:59.820 you have one minute for your opening remarks please go ahead

00:17:03.900 some of you believe that this race is a two horse race where we are making a decision

00:17:09.820 between poor political judgment losing elections making promises we can't keep or the status quo

00:17:15.820 the same old people same old places doing the same thing saying that we're going to get a different

00:17:20.380 result if that is the case i sure hope me included i hope we bought three-year memberships because

00:17:26.540 we will be back here again in one year or two and i don't want to see that i know you don't either

00:17:33.420 i am not ready to say goodbye to my calgary mlas being completely shut out of edmonton

00:17:38.780 or being a divided party so ask yourself this not just who are we going to choose right now

00:17:45.100 but who are your neighbors going to vote for in 2023 your kids your daughters we need a leader

00:17:51.740 who albertans can see themselves in who will defend our rights and resources who can beat

00:17:56.140 rachel notley and earn the trust of albertans in every corner of our province we need a fresh

00:18:00.780 perspective leadership for the next generation and a leader that albertans can be proud of

00:18:05.420 all right that's one minute thank you all right what are we talking about no clapping i get it

00:18:12.300 we're all excited but here we go all right miss sonny come on up one minute is yours when you're

00:18:19.420 ready thank you good evening everybody sasriaka namaskar aslamu alaykum ladies and gentlemen

00:18:26.700 danielle smith says she will pass a painful sovereignty act and brian gene wants to open

00:18:32.460 of the constitution these are the kind of things that require a mandate from albertans before moving

00:18:38.220 on an election of all albertans i also ask all mlas to commit to waiting for that vote i would

00:18:46.940 approach this differently one issue that we all talk about is equalization we don't need to amend

00:18:53.500 the constitution or ignore any laws the formula is up for review in 18 months i would start today

00:19:01.180 to draft an alternative formula

00:19:03.180 and talk to the other premiers,

00:19:05.480 starting with the six other conservative premiers.

00:19:08.720 Quebec Premier Legault said he wants Quebec off equalization.

00:19:12.100 He calls it embarrassing.

00:19:13.880 I agree.

00:19:14.940 Let's help them.

00:19:15.720 No laws broken.

00:19:17.340 No lengthy constitutional battles.

00:19:19.660 And only time to build strong families,

00:19:22.100 strong communities, and strong Alberta.

00:19:24.360 I know, it's tough.

00:19:25.100 It's one minute.

00:19:25.740 All right.

00:19:26.380 We just talked about clapping.

00:19:28.020 What is it?

00:19:29.440 All right.

00:19:30.080 mr taves come on up here i mean this is like policing my children come on folks all right

00:19:36.720 mr taves you ready one minute opening remarks the floor is yours i got into politics and sought

00:19:42.560 public office in 2019 for one reason we had an ndp government i was concerned that the prosperity

00:19:48.320 and the opportunity the freedoms that we had enjoyed may not be afforded to the next generation

00:19:53.360 to our children and grandchildren i believe the most important question in this leadership race

00:19:59.680 is who can which leader can unite the party and movement and go on to win the election in 2023

00:20:05.760 friends leadership matters track record matters and if you want to see how somebody will lead i

00:20:12.640 would suggest take a look at how they've led together we rebuilt this movement we formed

00:20:17.760 government and i had the privilege of serving albertans as their minister of finance through

00:20:22.240 some of alberta's darkest days we brought this province to fiscal responsibility with a balanced

00:20:27.360 budget and we positioned our economy to lead the nation in economic growth i will provide strong

00:20:33.120 principled leadership leadership that unites this movement and can win the election in 2023

00:20:40.080 thank you mr caves are we going to make this a thing honestly are we going to make this a thing

00:20:45.920 come on they said yes okay come on all right miss smith one minute the floor is yours go ahead

00:20:54.560 good evening everyone i think that what we are looking for in a leader is someone who will stand

00:20:59.200 up to ottawa someone who will beat rachel notley and someone who will restore our freedoms is the

00:21:04.480 reason why i pledged that we would have no lockdowns or mandates why i led with a proposal

00:21:09.760 on health reform and why i led with the idea of an alberta sovereignty act and what is the sovereignty

00:21:15.440 act it just says we want to be treated just like quebec some will say it's about separation but it

00:21:20.880 absolutely isn't. It is simply about defending our constitutional areas of jurisdiction and the

00:21:25.420 rights and freedoms of our citizens, just like Quebec. Some will say we don't need it. I'm going 0.64

00:21:30.920 to tell you that we do. We might be facing mandatory vaccination. We will say we will not

00:21:35.420 enforce that. If there's an emergencies act that wants to jail our citizens or freeze their accounts,

00:21:40.460 we'll say we will not enforce that. Arbitrary fertilizer cuts, arbitrary phase-out of our

00:21:46.300 natural gas for electricity and power, arbitrary caps on our energy industry, and perhaps even a

00:21:52.820 federal digital ID. We have the Alberta Sovereignty Act. We will not enforce that. We'll put Alberta

00:21:58.000 first. All right. That's one minute. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Ms. Smith. All right. Missa here.

00:22:06.780 We're going to have a talk about this after.

00:22:08.280 the floor is yours good evening i'm leela here and i'm here tonight to earn your vote i'm a rural

00:22:15.080 albertan born and raised and in 2015 i ran with the wild rose against the government that had

00:22:19.560 lost its way in 2019 i helped rebuild our party to return conservatives to government

00:22:25.080 i stood up to premier kenny when he put himself above everyday albertans and for that he threw me

00:22:30.280 out of cabinet you've seen me grab a bull by its horns and also stand my ground in the face of

00:22:35.240 unprecedented attacks against myself and my family. I will not back down and I will stand

00:22:40.140 up for what's right. Now we've mentioned the bull, so let's talk about the crap. The 0.99

00:22:44.600 Sovereignty Act is an attack on our Canadian and Albertan values. It's an excuse to leave

00:22:49.320 Canada when we should be looking for ways to leave Canada. We need to stand up for what's

00:22:54.000 right and work together for Albertans. We lost our way because Premier Kenney put himself

00:22:59.360 first and we cannot afford to choose a government of just one person a second time. If you

00:23:05.220 choose me as your next premier i will work hard every day to serve you to listen to you and to

00:23:10.180 bring albertans back together thank you all right give them all a round of applause get it out of

00:23:15.300 your system now hoot holler cheer whatever you want to do are you good you got that out yeah okay

00:23:25.540 all right okay we're going to start with our first debate question of the evening and miss schultz

00:23:30.260 This question is for you and I'll remind you, you have two minutes for your answer.

00:23:35.160 The question is on leadership and unity.

00:23:38.060 This first question is top of mind to all our members.

00:23:41.160 Unity.

00:23:42.080 Five short years ago, over 95% of members of the Wild Rose and PC parties voted overwhelmingly

00:23:47.560 to merge into the United Conservative Party.

00:23:51.040 The UCP formed government and Alberta is now leading the country in job growth.

00:23:56.000 We've got our first surplus budget in seven years.

00:23:58.560 Pipeline capacity has expanded and we're now shipping more product to the world than ever before.

00:24:04.340 What specifically, and I'm looking for specifics, will you do as leader to ensure this party stays united and moves Alberta forward?

00:24:12.640 You have two minutes.

00:24:14.180 Thank you, Jeff.

00:24:15.400 I mean, when you talk about where our province is right now, I look at the spring and the step of Albertans.

00:24:20.200 This is excitement that we haven't seen in a number of years.

00:24:23.460 Things are going well economically.

00:24:25.060 we've been talking about diversification for so many years and we're finally seeing it happening

00:24:30.500 yes things are great in oil and gas we're seeing investments in agriculture technology manufacturing

00:24:36.100 hydrogen film and television this is an exciting time and i'm grateful for my team and the hard

00:24:42.020 work that we all put in to getting where we're at today we did a lot of things right now did we get

00:24:46.740 everything right obviously not or or we wouldn't be here tonight i think albertans are looking for

00:24:51.300 a different tone and approach and i think that that will help with unity um i think what i bring

00:24:56.100 to this table that is unique is i know that it's not just about me there is no one person who is

00:25:01.700 going to make sure that we can win the next election and keep our party united this is about

00:25:06.180 all of you in this room all of our members right across the province our team of exceptional mlas

00:25:11.780 we have to put the decision making table back to mlas mlas have a very important job of representing

00:25:17.940 the diverse views of constituents right across the province uh ralph klein did that here i think we

00:25:23.460 can do that here again that's going to matter i think we need to focus on listening to our

00:25:28.100 grassroots party members my first commitment was actually to doorknock in all 87 constituencies

00:25:32.900 right across the province i'm working on it and keeping track uh meeting with every single one

00:25:38.020 of our constituency association board presidents and our boards why because we need to hear the

00:25:43.700 voice of the grassroots but we also need to do that work to win to campaign to beat rachel notley

00:25:48.820 in the ndp in 2023 now you know i would just say this that in knowing that it's not just about me

00:25:55.780 i i do think we've got to respect the views of our team i don't think we can go into our

00:25:59.780 the very first legislative session with a bill that other candidates on this stage don't support

00:26:05.060 i don't think that's good for unity we've seen that before we don't want to read it in the paper

00:26:08.900 we need to focus on our team and all of you our members right across this province and build that

00:26:14.260 into the way we do what we do all right well thank you no no don't do it don't do it i'll

00:26:20.420 get out of this chair all right the next question for you ms schultz who would you like to debate

00:26:26.020 on this topic uh travis tapes mr taves all right i'll remind you the question is what specifically

00:26:32.660 will you do as leader to ensure this party stays united and moves alberta forward you have a minute

00:26:37.700 and a half sure good you know what i appreciate being able to weigh in on this issue because i

00:26:42.500 believe again unity and leadership are the most important issues facing this party and movement

00:26:47.620 you know again i i got involved in politics for one reason we had an ndp government and i believe

00:26:53.140 there was two fundamental breakdowns that led to an ndp government both of them uh involved unity

00:27:00.260 and uh leadership in terms of unity we know what happened in 2019 we had a fractured conservative

00:27:06.260 movement and that fracture ultimately resulted or contributed to an ndp government but there

00:27:12.100 was also a breakdown of leadership because a mere mere months before the 2015 election

00:27:18.500 the leader of her majesty's official opposition the then leader of the wild rose party walked

00:27:24.340 the floor and i believe it was those two events that ultimately contributed to an ndp government

00:27:30.260 again leadership and unity matter i believe i can i'm very confident i can unite this party

00:27:38.180 in this movement and leadership style and tone matters my leadership style has been informed

00:27:43.460 by previous leadership experience and i know this that every voice around the table matters

00:27:50.020 that's the way we make better decisions that's the way we make best decisions that's the way you bring

00:27:55.540 unity to an organization friends i will bring strong principle proven leadership to unite this

00:28:01.540 movement this party and win the election in 23. all right thank you okay let's move into three

00:28:06.500 minutes of open debate ms schultz kick us off so i do agree with with much of what you said um

00:28:12.420 travis and i do think that our team matters and i know that we are aligned on that i also know

00:28:16.820 that you are a person of great integrity um somebody who i have really enjoyed serving

00:28:22.340 alongside over the last three years but when I listen to what I hear from

00:28:25.640 Albertans I do have a couple of questions one thing I hear all of the

00:28:29.000 time whether it comes to investment attraction or some of the changes that

00:28:32.840 we need to see in health care how are we going to how are you going to break

00:28:37.320 through some of the bureaucracy when we have decisions where bureaucracy ran the

00:28:42.320 show led the charge and we were left to clean up the political mess later or we

00:28:46.840 didn't enter the fallout with things like the teachers pension yeah or a two

00:28:50.940 All right, let's give him a couple seconds here.

00:28:53.120 So a few things there.

00:28:55.500 Here's the reality.

00:28:57.640 Unless board members, directors, and department heads within the bureaucracy are completely and totally aligned with government's mandate, we will fail to deliver on that mandate.

00:29:10.260 We've seen that.

00:29:11.060 The government made errors in not ensuring, not requiring that there was full alignment within department heads, within directors of agencies, boards, and commissions, including AHS, in the first month that we took office.

00:29:27.100 There were mistakes made, and we can never make those mistakes again, because we have a responsibility as elected members to deliver on the mandate that we promised Albertans during the campaign, and that means full alignment with senior bureaucrats.

00:29:41.060 in here well and i would say it does require full alignment of senior leadership within the

00:29:45.300 bureaucracy i was lucky to transform every area of our ministry not because i had all the best

00:29:50.180 ideas because i had some exceptional leadership that was absolutely on board with transformational

00:29:55.220 change and looking at how we do things differently i don't think we always saw that in government

00:29:59.940 and and the other question i would ask is there was something you know i get asked quite often

00:30:05.140 is are you in this for the long haul what happens if you don't win are you going to stay are you

00:30:11.700 going to continue to fight for our party i know that the answer for me is you know what i hope

00:30:16.340 to win this race i do because i do believe that albertans deserve a fresh type of leadership a

00:30:21.940 different approach humility creative thinking i have a question for miss schultz she's asking

00:30:28.580 a lot of extremely important questions one is a question of unity what's going to happen after we

00:30:33.940 win the election i can tell you this and i believe this for every member up here that i will remain

00:30:38.900 committed to this movement full stop a question for miss schultz you know she talks about making

00:30:44.340 progress in her department and she negotiated certainly some more favorable things in the

00:30:49.540 child care agreement with ottawa but she didn't fully negotiate an ideal outcome for child care

00:30:54.740 providers i would ask miss schultz what she would do different next all right let's give her the last 1.00

00:30:58.820 few seconds yeah i would say it was unfortunate that that negotiation is still happening until

00:31:02.820 the end of November but I felt like I had something to offer in this leadership race and I sure hope

00:31:07.380 that the minister who's doing that now is going to carry that final negotiation all right that's

00:31:11.860 debate all right thank you folks I know three minutes it goes by tight right okay so now we

00:31:16.500 offer 45 seconds worth of rebuttals I have Mr. Jean first then I have Miss Honey is there anybody

00:31:21.380 else is it here and Miss Smith all right Jean go ahead unity is received by how you treat people

00:31:31.700 by treating them with respect, by treating them to make sure that they actually have a voice around the table.

00:31:37.960 I have almost 15 years of experience in politics, leading federal teams and provincial teams.

00:31:43.780 I have led a caucus, and I would remind people that during that period of time,

00:31:47.580 I never had anybody actually quit my caucus.

00:31:49.620 We never actually had to kick anybody out of caucus.

00:31:52.080 That's what unity is about, because we listen to the grassroots,

00:31:54.460 and we make sure that caucus and the grassroots are in charge of that.

00:31:57.480 I have a track record of listening and consulting with people,

00:32:00.280 and making sure that they are heard.

00:32:02.300 And I may not be the flashiest person,

00:32:04.000 I may not be the best speaker,

00:32:05.620 but I can form great teams,

00:32:07.300 I can get the job done

00:32:08.540 and I can make sure that the people that are in charge,

00:32:11.080 the members of the party and Albertans

00:32:13.040 always have the last say.

00:32:14.440 All right, thank you.

00:32:15.500 All right, Missani, 45 seconds.

00:32:17.080 Thank you.

00:32:17.700 When a leader listens and respects their caucus

00:32:20.620 and when caucus can see their values and perspectives

00:32:24.800 incorporated into policy and regulations,

00:32:28.340 that is unity.

00:32:29.440 And true leaders also have a track record of success, more success and failures.

00:32:35.140 And I will remind you that past behaviour is a good prediction of future behaviour.

00:32:41.000 Choose stability, knowledge and experience over turmoil, recklessness and constitutional quagmires.

00:32:48.860 All right, there we go.

00:32:50.440 Ms. Ahir.

00:32:51.380 Thank you so much.

00:32:52.620 I've been elected for seven years and I got into politics because of floor crossing.

00:32:56.920 That's how I was elected.

00:32:57.960 That's how I got here.

00:32:59.440 And I just wanted to say to what Rajan was saying, being able to listen to your caucus is one of the most important things you can ever do.

00:33:06.220 These are people who have given up their lives, their families, birthdays, anniversaries to be there to be able to advocate for their constituents.

00:33:13.160 They are the gem of our caucus because they know what's going on in their communities.

00:33:17.980 When things started to fall apart, Todd Lowen was kicked out of our caucus.

00:33:23.720 I was one of the few people in that caucus who stood up for him to try and bring him back.

00:33:28.180 That's what leadership is.

00:33:29.440 Leadership is standing up against bad bills like Bill 81 against the best interest of what's happening at that moment for the people of Alberta, not the caucus.

00:33:37.740 Thank you. Thank you very much.

00:33:39.020 Ms. Smith, five seconds.

00:33:40.640 I just want to point out, I think what Rebecca was trying to get out of Travis is that he's not going, he hasn't committed that he'll run in the next election if he doesn't win.

00:33:48.580 He may support the movement, but I think people want to know whether or not you'll commit to running.

00:33:51.920 I would say that leadership is important because two long conservatives have been leading and

00:33:59.000 governing by opinion poll. Leadership by fellowship is not leadership. As you've seen during this

00:34:06.020 campaign, I've taken some bold positions. I've taken a position on the Sovereignty Act. I've

00:34:09.660 taken a position on lockdowns. I've taken a position on health reform. And you'll see

00:34:13.100 that every other candidate on the stage has followed my lead. That's what leadership looks

00:34:16.780 like. You take a bold position, you bring people around, you consult, you get feedback,

00:34:21.300 you modify, and then you allow people to disagree. That's the kind of leadership style

00:34:25.860 that I have. All right, 45 seconds. Mr. Taves, you were called out a few times there on whether

00:34:29.720 or not you're going to stick around. Maybe you want to 30 seconds to answer. Well, absolutely.

00:34:35.380 Number one, I'm absolutely committed to this movement, regardless of who wins this leadership

00:34:40.220 race. Unity in this movement and the success of the Conservative Party in the spring of 23 is

00:34:46.180 essential. In terms of my decision to run again, I would reserve the right. I will not be

00:34:51.240 disingenuous with Albertans. I would reserve that right after the leadership, but I will be

00:34:56.520 supportive of this movement going forward. All right. Thank you very much. Okay. That wraps up

00:35:02.200 question one. Let's move on to question two. Just a second here. Sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize. I

00:35:07.240 had you on the list and I'm not doing my job here. Please go ahead. No problem. Thank you very much.

00:35:11.080 Obviously, unity is really about trust.

00:35:13.860 It's about uniting around principles that we all share as conservatives.

00:35:17.900 I just want to tell a quick story.

00:35:19.160 When I was kicked out of caucus, the MLA that made the motion to kick me out of caucus,

00:35:23.600 I reached out to him several months afterwards, and we had a good chat.

00:35:26.700 It was maybe a little awkward and uncomfortable at the beginning.

00:35:29.220 But since then, we've actually become very good friends

00:35:31.380 and have been able to actually associate a lot with each other

00:35:35.280 and be able to bounce things off back and forth.

00:35:37.420 And I think that's what leadership is about,

00:35:39.320 being able to reach out to those that maybe have wronged you in the past and be able to patch

00:35:43.980 things up and make sure that there's unity going forward. I've kept a good relationship with much of

00:35:49.040 caucus and the cabinet going forward. And leadership is about surrounding yourself with good

00:35:54.020 people. And I think that's what we have to remember when it comes to leadership. Thank you.

00:35:57.920 All right. All right. Thanks, Mr. Lohan. Sorry I missed you there. I had you written down, but

00:36:01.580 not too much shuffling here. All good. All right. Question two. Okay. And a reminder, everyone,

00:36:06.580 The question is on crime and policing.

00:36:08.620 Tonight we're in downtown Edmonton,

00:36:10.620 just a short walk from Chinatown

00:36:12.620 where there has been an outcry in the community

00:36:14.620 over petty and violent crime.

00:36:16.620 Calgary's downtown is also at a crisis point

00:36:18.600 as people feel overwhelmingly unsafe,

00:36:20.600 in particular on transit,

00:36:22.600 due to escalating rates of opioid addiction.

00:36:24.600 Likewise, crime rates in our rural communities

00:36:26.600 remain stubbornly high,

00:36:28.600 and many are concerned with slow emergency response times.

00:36:30.600 What is the impact of crime and crime and crime?

00:36:33.600 with slow emergency response times.

00:36:36.440 What will you do to address crime issues across the province

00:36:39.180 and what specific solutions would you bring forward as leader

00:36:42.320 to make our community safer for all Albertans?

00:36:45.520 You have two minutes.

00:36:47.040 Thank you for that question.

00:36:48.660 First of all, we can all agree that crime is an issue

00:36:51.740 in both urban communities and rural communities.

00:36:54.980 Certainly, what we're hearing in the rural communities

00:36:57.360 is an escalation of crime.

00:36:59.280 I know that there are some communities

00:37:01.260 who believe that the RCMP is serving them to the maximum extent,

00:37:07.240 but there are other communities who felt that the RCMP has let them down.

00:37:11.760 And we have not gone to the issue, to the crux of the problem here.

00:37:16.000 In fact, government and some of my colleagues have jumped straight to the solution

00:37:19.820 without actually defining the problem.

00:37:22.180 Why is there a disconnect?

00:37:23.720 I think it's important to bring people back to the table.

00:37:26.780 and certainly Alberta municipalities and rural municipalities have all objected to the Alberta

00:37:32.880 Police Force proposition that is coming from the government. And we need to understand why.

00:37:38.340 Some of the comments made are that they're worried that the cost will be downloaded to them. And even

00:37:43.300 if they're not, it's still not acceptable because there is only one taxpayer. So I think it is time

00:37:49.160 to get back to the table to understand why is there a discrepancy and work together to find

00:37:54.080 the solutions now in the urban centers it is definitely a complicated situation because we

00:37:59.160 have the opioid crisis we have the numbers of those experiencing homelessness those numbers

00:38:04.960 have increased and of course crime has increased as well and i think there is a tremendous opportunity

00:38:10.020 for everyone and particularly in edmonton everybody's blaming each other and pointing

00:38:14.820 fingers at each other but when was the last time that the social service agencies sat down with

00:38:20.380 the municipalities and police

00:38:21.920 services and all recognize

00:38:23.420 that we have a problem.

00:38:24.880 And instead of pointing fingers,

00:38:26.580 and this includes the province

00:38:27.960 as well, the infighting

00:38:29.480 actually is disgusting.

00:38:30.760 It's time for everyone to come

00:38:32.320 together, sit down, and look

00:38:33.960 at who owns the expertise.

00:38:36.000 Social service agencies can do

00:38:37.960 a lot to help those who are

00:38:39.400 vulnerable and experiencing

00:38:40.660 addictions.

00:38:41.600 Let them take a larger role.

00:38:43.260 Give police services more

00:38:44.780 resources as well.

00:38:46.140 All right.

00:38:47.240 Thank you, Ms.

00:38:48.180 Sunny.

00:38:49.080 Okay, the big question.

00:38:50.380 policing and crime?

00:38:51.680 I would like to debate Danielle.

00:38:53.920 All right, Ms. Smith, you have a minute and a half.

00:38:55.960 The floor is yours.

00:38:56.880 The question again, just so you have it,

00:38:58.860 what will you do to address crime issues

00:39:00.620 across the province and what specific

00:39:02.400 solutions would you bring forward as leader

00:39:04.140 to make our community safer for all Albertans?

00:39:06.800 I think we need to begin with an Alberta

00:39:08.360 provincial police.

00:39:09.260 Number one, our members gave us direction

00:39:11.540 by voting in favour of an Alberta provincial

00:39:13.760 police at our AGM and they voted

00:39:15.820 in favour of adopting it to either

00:39:18.160 augment or replace the RCMP.

00:39:19.940 So let's start with augmenting, because I can tell you a few of the areas where we have

00:39:24.680 deficiencies. Number one, of course, is rural property crime. I think we all know that

00:39:29.780 our rural neighbors feel like they have to take matters into their own hands sometimes,

00:39:34.500 because we end up having the RCMP not close enough to be able to respond to a call. It's

00:39:39.660 terrifying for them. We've got one of our main communities in Alberta, Hardesty, has $110 billion

00:39:45.460 dollars worth of value going through it in those tank farms doesn't have a police an rcmp detachment

00:39:50.160 within 45 minutes these are the areas that we can plug the holes also in calgary and edmonton we have

00:39:56.420 a severe homelessness and mental health and addictions crisis i believe that we can train

00:40:01.260 our alberta provincial police in being able to respond to those mental health and addiction calls

00:40:06.060 so they can be an augmentation to calgary and edmonton and a point of access into the health

00:40:10.680 care system so that those who are struggling with addiction can get the health care that they need

00:40:15.300 I think that's a critical link that is missing in our current police services.

00:40:19.540 The RCMP should be focused on the crime that they can police best.

00:40:23.260 Cross-border gun smuggling, those guns getting into the hands of gangs in Calgary and Edmonton,

00:40:29.680 human trafficking, organized crime.

00:40:32.240 And let's leave the other types of rural policing and community policing to an Alberta provincial police force.

00:40:38.140 All right. Thank you.

00:40:39.280 Okay, so we're going to get into three minutes of open debate here.

00:40:42.000 No, no, no, we're not done with this question yet.

00:40:43.720 Three minutes of open debate.

00:40:45.940 Ms. Sonny, I'll have you kick us off. 0.98

00:40:47.860 Thank you, Jeff.

00:40:48.860 And there is much that I disagree with that.

00:40:50.920 But I do have a question.

00:40:52.620 Danielle, the Sovereignty Act will upend crime and policing in Alberta.

00:40:57.720 If you become premier, will you commit to holding off on passing the Sovereignty Act

00:41:02.740 until you get a mandate from the people of Alberta in a general election?

00:41:07.420 I believe that we have a mandate from the people of Alberta

00:41:10.980 to make sure that we get tough with Ottawa.

00:41:13.280 we've been looking for different ways to do that we've got a mandate through the equalization

00:41:16.560 referendum and i believe that uh having a bill which would simply state we have rights under

00:41:22.560 the constitution that are provincial sovereign rights to legislate we're going to enforce that

00:41:26.800 we've got as a signatory to the charter of rights and freedoms we're going to protect the rights of

00:41:30.400 our citizens we're going to enforce that there's nothing really unusual about that quebec already 0.80

00:41:35.040 does it saskatchewan and quebec have both declared themselves nations within a nation so i believe

00:41:40.160 that we do have a mandate from the people to do that by virtue of the fair deal panel and by

00:41:45.040 virtue as well of the equalization referendum i would i would completely disagree such a

00:41:49.760 consequential piece of legislation does require a mandate of all albertans in a general election

00:41:56.240 and equating the equalization referendum to a mandate for the sovereignty act is ludicrous

00:42:02.240 and uh just going back to what was being said about um crime and policing when alberta

00:42:07.600 municipalities in rural municipalities resoundly reject the idea of an alberta provincial police

00:42:14.640 force we have to listen that's been the whole criticism of government that we have not been

00:42:19.520 listening danielle you are not listening when you are enforcing the idea of an alberta provincial

00:42:24.400 police force without effectively engaging with those who are saying no i think rajan you've just

00:42:29.680 said that you don't accept the wisdom of our ucp members because our ucp members have voted on this

00:42:34.960 and given us direction and i would just uh borrow from uh from brian gene when brian gene talked

00:42:39.600 about the equalization referendum that was initially his idea and part of the reason he

00:42:43.680 talked about putting that forward in the first place was to initiate a process that would open

00:42:47.600 up the constitution so that we could have a conversation about all the things we need to

00:42:51.840 fix in our relationship with ottawa so that's why i would draw a connection that absolutely i think

00:42:56.480 we do have a mandate to make those changes yeah i would and we also all right let's let miss

00:43:00.720 I would completely disagree and let's get back to you know putting this legislation to Albertans so that they can actually reflect on it and which part which sovereignty act are we talking about the unconstitutional one or the constitutional one because when I'm out there talking to Albertans all across the province there is much confusion about this particular issue so I would like to ask you once again why is it that you won't consider bringing this to Albertans in a general election

00:43:30.720 So Albertans can weigh in on this consequential piece of legislation that will cause chaos.

00:43:35.960 All it really does is put Ottawa on notice that we will be defending our rights as defined by sections 92, 93, 94, 95, and 92A of the Constitution,

00:43:45.840 as well as defending the charter rights and freedoms of our citizens.

00:43:48.820 That is establishing a new relationship with Ottawa because we haven't done that in the last 30 years.

00:43:54.000 Okay. So we're going to move on. All right.

00:44:00.720 dial it back a minute all right so we've got we've got more on this question so mr taves i have you

00:44:06.500 for a rebuttal mr loan have you got yours up anybody else ms schultz uh is it here okay all

00:44:14.400 right mr taves 45 seconds is yours all right i a couple of comments um on on the rcmp and

00:44:22.040 enforcement and provincial policing as i've traveled around the province i've been deeply

00:44:26.260 troubled by the stories of crime rural crime for sure but what's going on in chinatown here in

00:44:32.100 edmonton is absolutely tragic we have to take action as a government to ensure that our streets

00:44:38.420 are safe that's absolutely critical i believe an alberta police service could be part of that

00:44:43.380 solution i believe the rcmp have been hampered by a culture of deep culture of risk aversion

00:44:49.620 and heavy bureaucracy from ottawa that's why i believe in alberta police service could well be

00:44:54.580 part of that solution, I would commit to working with municipalities to bring them along to

00:44:59.700 demonstrate the value proposition.

00:45:01.860 All right, thank you. Mr. Lowen, 45 seconds.

00:45:04.660 Yes, thank you. In rural Alberta, we definitely have a problem with rural crime.

00:45:09.460 With the pandemic, it's increased the use of drugs and, of course, drug-related crime.

00:45:14.660 We have to stop the catch and release in the court system right now. The police work hard,

00:45:19.220 they catch people, and then they're back out on the streets before they know it.

00:45:22.900 And so as far as what we'll do, what we need to do is we need to have our property rights, for instance, enshrined in our own provincial constitution.

00:45:30.580 I've committed to that.

00:45:31.760 We need to make sure that we have something that Ottawa doesn't have in the constitution and that is the property rights.

00:45:36.980 And as far as the provincial police, we need to work with municipalities, make sure they know that they're not going to be responsible for paying for the provincial police.

00:45:43.280 And we need to have that provincial police to set that a little bit more of a barrier between us and Ottawa.

00:45:47.480 And then we have a police force to respond to Albertans' needs.

00:45:50.200 All right. Thank you, Mr. Lowen. Ms. Schultz.

00:45:51.860 Yeah, and my thoughts on the provincial police are that, much like Rajen, what is the problem that we're trying to solve?

00:45:57.360 Are we trying to address rural crime, where rural crime response times is a top concern?

00:46:02.300 As is catch and release, as Todd has raised, those are the two biggest concerns.

00:46:06.380 Downtown Edmonton, Chinatown, I hear about the impact on investment attraction that the downtown has.

00:46:12.380 Employers concerned about their employees' safeties when they're walking through the downtown.

00:46:15.920 So what's the problem we're trying to solve?

00:46:18.080 We have the vast majority of municipalities against a police force.

00:46:21.040 I know that our municipalities are one of our biggest partners in addressing many of the challenges that we are trying to address right now.

00:46:28.120 So I think we have to look at investing those dollars maybe instead of changing the stripe on the side of the pants or the sticker on the side of the car to put additional boots on the ground and have the right conversations at the right time about the right problems to try to solve.

00:46:40.460 Thank you. I know it's tough. 45 seconds is fast.

00:46:42.840 Thank you.

00:46:44.160 Every single conservative knows that job number one is ensuring public safety.

00:46:49.920 And changing the name is not going to change the systemic and structural issues that we have in policing at this time.

00:46:57.620 Speaking with municipalities is one piece of it.

00:46:59.980 But there's an entire consultation across this province that has to happen.

00:47:03.620 Nobody speaks about cultural sensitivities, the engagement with people, domestic violence, sexual assault.

00:47:08.980 The fact that women who are being sexually assaulted, or anybody for that matter, in a rural area has to travel three hours in order to have the system be able to input her data after the assault has happened.

00:47:22.960 We have bigger issues to deal with here, and those systemic issues can be dealt with as long as we work on this together.

00:47:29.300 All right. Thank you. Mr. Jean, wrap us up on this. 45 seconds, Steve.

00:47:32.380 I agree with the idea of a provincial police force over the long, long run.

00:47:37.620 But anything that will see fewer police officers on the street is an unstarter for me.

00:47:42.680 With over 70 communities, rural communities in Alberta, say, no, don't take the RCMP away from us.

00:47:48.280 We're talking about bringing them along.

00:47:50.160 Why don't we talk about giving them more choices?

00:47:52.380 My campaign is all about autonomy.

00:47:54.720 Choices for people, choices for communities.

00:47:56.980 If they want the RCMP, let them have the RCMP.

00:47:59.120 It's a premium police force.

00:48:00.660 In the meantime, let's work towards a provincial police force.

00:48:03.200 We have the city of Edmonton, the city of Calgary, Lethbridge.

00:48:05.780 We have different police forces across this province that give good policing.

00:48:09.340 We need to integrate the communication.

00:48:11.300 There's no question at all.

00:48:12.700 But we need somebody who understands policing and crime.

00:48:15.380 And, you know, folks, I spent three years in the Justice Committee in Ottawa

00:48:18.620 and ten years as a litigator in Patrick Murray.

00:48:20.560 All right, that's time.

00:48:21.060 I understand it.

00:48:21.680 All right, give them all a round of applause for the question,

00:48:23.760 because I know you want to.

00:48:26.300 All right.

00:48:26.780 Okay, Mr. Jean, we're coming back to you for question three, and the question is on agriculture,

00:48:32.840 and I'll remind you, you have two minutes for your answer. Alberta's agriculture sector 0.65

00:48:37.220 is thriving, with farm cash receipts at their highest levels ever. This despite input costs

00:48:42.740 like fertilizer and fuel significantly increasing. Since 2019, there's been more than $1.5 billion

00:48:49.540 in new investment into the agri-food industry, creating thousands of new jobs and putting

00:48:54.780 high-quality food on our tables.

00:48:57.140 This progress, however, is now threatened by the Trudeau government's fertilizer emissions

00:49:01.540 targets that many say will drive up food prices, limit crop yields, and hurt every Albertan

00:49:08.640 looking to access affordable solutions to feed their families.

00:49:13.160 What specifically will you do to defend our agricultural sector from yet another

00:49:17.960 harmful policy from Ottawa?

00:49:19.940 You have two minutes.

00:49:21.480 Well, thanks very much.

00:49:22.520 agriculture is a big topic and there's so much to cover on this and it's such an important thing

00:49:27.100 for our future and our present. I will tell you this first of all that I put forward a detailed

00:49:31.160 suite of agriculture policies. I think the most detailed suite of agriculture policies that we've

00:49:36.020 seen in a long time from any contestant in a leadership race. Things like establishing across

00:49:41.780 commodity advisory board of grassroots farmers and ranchers. That would mean that they would give

00:49:45.860 the opportunity to give information to the minister and the premier firsthand and we would

00:49:50.140 make sure that that's across the province so we wouldn't get to this point in the first place.

00:49:54.100 In relation to fertilizer in particular, what I would do in this particular case is make sure that

00:49:58.680 we have a made-in-Alberta solution. You see, agriculture is actually a joint jurisdiction.

00:50:03.680 It's jointly shared by the federal government and the provincial government, so we have to make

00:50:07.120 sure that we have a made-in-Alberta solution, fertilizers in particular for fertilizer companies

00:50:11.600 in Alberta. We make it here with Alberta products, and then we have the jurisdiction to manage it

00:50:16.720 going forward, and I think that's one of many interesting ideas that we can do, and

00:50:20.860 we can do that to withstand the constitutional challenge, but we can also do it to make sure

00:50:25.060 we have the proper facts for the proper constitutional challenge, because we have to win that constitutional

00:50:30.220 challenge.

00:50:31.280 It's obvious why grain farmers are worried, because what this means is ultimately less

00:50:37.700 grain, less diversity in grains, less barley, less opportunities for feedstock for cow-calf

00:50:43.660 producers less opportunities for frankly for Alberta and Canada to continue to

00:50:49.820 feed the world people don't know this but we have a huge part in feeding the 0.99

00:50:53.700 world and these stupid moves by Justin Trudeau are going to starve the world 0.99

00:50:57.580 and Alberta has the opportunity to provide so much more so I say to you 0.99

00:51:01.960 this that we have to find every opportunity to challenge the

00:51:04.220 jurisdiction but if we go wrong the courts will rule against us and we can't

00:51:08.360 do it wrong that's why we have to do it right we have to set up the proper facts

00:51:11.860 make sure it's a made-in-Alberta solution that will withstand the constitutional challenges that

00:51:16.180 will come and will in turn have a constitutional challenge. We need to open up the Constitution.

00:51:20.980 We need to get there in order to change things for us for the better.

00:51:23.700 All right. Thank you, sir. All right. Next question. Who would you like to debate on this topic?

00:51:27.940 Todd Lowen. Mr. Lowen, I'll remind you the question. What specifically will you do to

00:51:33.700 defend our agricultural sector from yet another harmful policy from Ottawa? You have a minute and

00:51:39.460 I think the first thing that we need to say to Ottawa is no for once we need to say no to Ottawa

00:51:45.220 and actually stand up for Albertans and stand up for Albertans rights when we look at the 30% 0.70

00:51:50.400 fertilizer reduction that the federal government wants to impose on Alberta farmers that's not a

00:51:54.580 that's not a environmental policy it's a starvation policy we need to stand with our

00:51:59.520 hard-working farmers and ranchers and the best thing we can do is to keep government out of their

00:52:04.560 business. We have carbon taxes that our farmers have to put up with. Carbon taxes on grain drying

00:52:10.720 when they're using natural gas to dry their grain. That's totally unacceptable. We see a war on beef

00:52:16.800 now. I guess they want to see us eating crickets instead of beef. I'm not sure why anybody would

00:52:21.280 want to do that, but I guess that's the direction our federal government wants us to go. We need to

00:52:27.120 defend ourselves from Ottawa. We need to be able to stand up and protect our own property rights

00:52:33.760 here. And another thing I think we could use here is a right to farm act. An act in the legislature

00:52:38.840 that actually protects farmers so that they actually have a right to do their business and

00:52:42.720 do their business the way they feel is right. And so again, we need to say no. We've seen the

00:52:47.060 Saskatchewan Premier, Scott Moe, is saying no to Ottawa. I think he's been listening to me because

00:52:51.980 I've been saying this for quite some time now. And we need more people to say no, more of our

00:52:56.600 political leaders to say no to Ottawa and make sure that we stand up and protect our agriculture

00:53:01.700 Thank you, Mr. Lohan.

00:53:03.700 We will move into three minutes of open debate now.

00:53:06.700 Mr. Jean, kick us off.

00:53:08.700 First of all, I would like to say how much I appreciate my

00:53:10.700 friend Todd Lohan and how much I appreciate the

00:53:12.700 opportunity for him to get back in caucus.

00:53:14.700 I would like to see that done as soon as possible.

00:53:16.700 I don't understand why he left in the first place.

00:53:18.700 I hope that I can get the commitment from everybody here

00:53:20.700 on this stage to make sure that Todd has the opportunity

00:53:23.700 to get back there as soon as possible.

00:53:25.700 Like this particular issue, I really value his opinion

00:53:27.700 as I think most Albertans do.

00:53:29.700 As far as Albertans and agriculture, I'd like to do a couple other things.

00:53:34.320 And Todd, I'm wondering what you think about this.

00:53:36.320 And in particular, I'd like to make sure that Albertans are the only ones that have Alberta grazing leases.

00:53:40.600 I'd like to make sure that we have a develop a made-in Alberta solution and take back our immigration from the federal government 0.98

00:53:46.360 so we can have proper agriculture workers in Alberta that actually do what Albertans need on our farms. 0.99

00:53:51.880 All right. A couple things to throw in there, Mr. Lohan. What do you think?

00:53:54.120 Yes, thank you very much.

00:53:55.060 Yeah, when it comes to grazing leases, there's a lot of contention with grazing leases with public land, private land, and that relationship with the public.

00:54:02.680 And there's a lot of work that needs to be done there.

00:54:04.880 But I think when it comes, you know, I guess I kind of want to go back to the fertilizer issue.

00:54:09.140 And I actually think that if we used Justin Trudeau's BS, we could probably fertilize the crops with that.

00:54:15.400 But unfortunately.

00:54:21.580 All right, all right.

00:54:22.680 We're cutting into his time here.

00:54:23.840 Maybe the world couldn't handle the crops with all that fertilizer, but I think we have a long ways to go in our relationship with Ottawa and being able to defend against the incursions on our rights here in Alberta.

00:54:38.540 And again, we see it over and over again.

00:54:40.080 We've seen a federal government that's not just tried to destroy our oil and gas industry.

00:54:46.320 They're actually destroying it right now.

00:54:48.680 And now, of course, they're going for agriculture.

00:54:51.440 All right. Keep us on agriculture.

00:54:52.460 I disagree with Todd on this.

00:54:54.380 I think the worst thing to use would be BS from Trudeau

00:54:57.600 because we don't know what we're going to get

00:54:58.960 except for a lot of hot air,

00:55:00.260 and frankly, the end crop would be a big, big problem.

00:55:04.220 You guys are writing my jokes for me.

00:55:05.720 Listen, I think the best thing we can do for Trudeau

00:55:08.440 is to keep him out of Alberta.

00:55:09.720 I think that's the best thing we can do

00:55:11.500 for a prime minister that's not going to stick up for us.

00:55:13.720 I think it doesn't matter whether it's agriculture,

00:55:15.920 whether it's policing,

00:55:17.320 whether it's the opportunity

00:55:18.280 to keep their environmental cops out of Alberta.

00:55:20.640 We have to do that.

00:55:21.460 I don't know how we're going to do specifically everything we need to do

00:55:23.940 because we need to do it within the Constitution.

00:55:26.000 We need to make sure that our agricultural industry thrives

00:55:28.540 with made-in-Alberta solutions that can withstand it

00:55:31.080 because all of the solutions up here, folks,

00:55:32.740 every solution you hear has to go through the same path.

00:55:35.980 It has to go through the Constitution in order to make changes.

00:55:39.440 That's called the rule of law, and that's what we are under.

00:55:42.000 All right, final 30 seconds, Mr. Lone.

00:55:43.500 Okay, yeah, I don't think we need another advisory board on anything.

00:55:46.040 We need to just get government out of the way of farmers and ranchers. 0.99

00:55:49.900 And one thing is we can't apologize for our oil and gas industry or our farmers or our forestry industry here in Alberta.

00:55:57.820 We're doing the best job right here in Alberta right now.

00:56:00.420 And I think the rest of the world needs to catch up to us.

00:56:03.220 But to punish our farmers and agriculture sector by more restrictions and more regulations, I think is unfair.

00:56:10.660 We need to stand up.

00:56:11.560 We need to say no.

00:56:12.400 I agree.

00:56:13.380 Okay.

00:56:13.940 So for rebuttals here, I have Mr. Taves.

00:56:16.720 Anybody else?

00:56:18.460 Ms. Ahir?

00:56:19.600 Ms. Smith?

00:56:20.560 All right, Mr. Taves, 45 seconds.

00:56:22.560 All right.

00:56:23.340 Agriculture really is the backbone of rural Alberta.

00:56:26.160 It makes a tremendous economic contribution to the province.

00:56:29.180 We have world-class farmers and ranchers in an incredibly competitive industry.

00:56:33.940 We need to push back on Ottawa when they step into Alberta to look to limit production.

00:56:38.920 Right now, the world needs more responsibly produced Alberta agriculture production.

00:56:44.140 we have to ensure that we're giving Alberta farmers and ranchers the tools to do just that.

00:56:49.920 Look, I was pleased when farmers, ranchers, industry leaders,

00:56:53.660 our own Minister of Agriculture, Minister Horner, and others,

00:56:56.760 pushed back successfully on the ridiculous ground meat labeling laws that came down from Ottawa.

00:57:02.640 That's the approach we need to take.

00:57:04.420 I will push back and defend agriculture every day of the week if I serve as Premier.

00:57:08.940 All right.

00:57:09.740 Miss Ahir.

00:57:10.900 Thank you.

00:57:11.380 first farmers feed Alberta and Alberta feeds the world and the federal government can't have it

00:57:16.860 both ways you can't put forward a carbon tax not show your work and show that there's been any

00:57:21.640 emissions reductions and then go after another sector it doesn't work that way so they need to

00:57:26.220 show their work but quite frankly if they're going to do this they need to subsidize our farmers out

00:57:30.400 here for their field monitors I really believe that our farmers probably know how much nitrogen

00:57:34.900 is in the ground at any given time because it actually costs a lot of money to put fertilizer

00:57:39.100 are on the in the entire product is being is about food production we have food insecurity right now

00:57:45.500 and anything that attacks that is a very very serious concern regardless of the government

00:57:50.140 regardless of the situation so how about we talk to our experts let's talk to our farmers pretty

00:57:54.300 sure they could tell you right now how much nitrogen is in the ground all right miss smith 45

00:57:59.100 seconds i've been spending a lot of time reading the constitution as you can imagine and section 95

00:58:04.140 does talk about how the provinces take the lead right in my reading on immigration and agriculture

00:58:09.740 because it says that the federal government may from time to time pass legislation in this area

00:58:15.100 this is the reason it's important to establish the alberta sovereignty act so that we can go

00:58:19.180 back to the original relationship that we had with with the federal government and push back against

00:58:24.380 them in a meaningful way when they come through with a dumb rule like labeling our ground beef

00:58:29.100 is unsafe or by trying to force an arbitrary reduction in fertilizer use, we would just say

00:58:35.880 we will not enforce that. We've got a number of companies here in the natural gas business who

00:58:40.280 can very easily help to make fertilizer. We have the ability to support our farmers by approving

00:58:45.320 those projects so they are never left short. 45 seconds is tough. Any other takers? We're moving

00:58:51.240 on. All right. Get it out. Give them a round of applause.

00:58:59.100 all right question four mr lowland we're coming back to you and the question is going to be on

00:59:03.900 inflation the cost of living in alberta and around the globe is getting more expensive

00:59:09.260 significant price increases for gas food eating our homes and electricity coupled with skyrocketing

00:59:15.180 inflation have all negatively affected alberta families and in particular our seniors first

00:59:20.140 nations and other vulnerable communities if alberta's primary value proposition is an affordable

00:59:26.780 high quality of life? How will you work to ensure this for everyone? And what specifically would you

00:59:31.980 do to limit the negative inflationary pressures put on Albertans? Two minutes.

00:59:36.220 Yes, thank you very much. We've seen inflation, of course, rise across, well, around the world,

00:59:42.220 but particularly here in Alberta, we've been in a real tough position. We've seen the price of fuel

00:59:48.700 rise up. We've seen the cost of everything rise here in Alberta. And it's always easy to point our

00:59:52.940 We have $1.3 trillion of debt in Ottawa and they are printing money like it is going

01:00:00.040 out of style.

01:00:01.040 We always look at Ottawa and point our fingers at them.

01:00:04.100 Right here in Alberta, we have $112 billion worth of debt.

01:00:07.100 We are paying $2.7 billion a year in interest on that debt.

01:00:11.700 Interest rates are rising.

01:00:13.060 We have a situation right here in Alberta where we have been spending way too much money.

01:00:18.600 We have always complained about the NDP and when we look back at the last NDP budget,

01:00:22.540 I know conservatives were lighting their hair on fire, how much it was and how much was being spent.

01:00:26.660 But when we look at our own budget now, 10% more than the NDP did in their last budget.

01:00:32.920 And so we're seeing this excessive growth in the economy, or sorry, in debt here in Alberta.

01:00:39.880 And that's growing and growing.

01:00:41.320 And that's affecting the cost of everything right here.

01:00:43.660 So we need to take the surpluses that we have.

01:00:46.280 We need to pay down that debt as soon as possible.

01:00:48.300 We all look at Ralph Klein's days when he held the sign paid in full up and how proud we were to actually pay off our debt and get our province back under control.

01:00:57.840 But we've slipped since then.

01:00:59.160 We've slipped and we've watched that debt grow and grow.

01:01:03.160 And even our sustainability fund has been spent.

01:01:05.620 It's gone.

01:01:06.340 We look at the Heritage Trust Fund account.

01:01:09.000 We've spent the interest off it every year since it was first started back in Lougheed days.

01:01:13.520 Now, if we had just left that interest in the heritage savings account, we'd probably

01:01:18.980 have about $100 billion in it, but we siphoned it off every year.

01:01:23.020 And so we're great at spending, not very good at saving, and now we need to get back

01:01:27.200 on track so that we can start paying down our debt and make Albertans proud again and

01:01:32.560 get things back so we can start spending that money on things Albertans need instead

01:01:36.400 of on interest.

01:01:37.300 Thank you.

01:01:37.620 All right.

01:01:38.380 Okay.

01:01:39.080 Who would you like to debate on this topic?

01:01:41.880 Travis Davies.

01:01:42.600 All right, Mr. Taves, you'll have a minute and a half to answer the question.

01:01:46.220 If Alberta's primary value proposition is an affordable, high quality of life, how will you work to ensure this for everyone?

01:01:52.420 And what specifically would you do to limit negative inflationary pressure on Albertans?

01:01:57.400 Yeah, that's a great question.

01:01:59.080 I appreciate Todd choosing me to debate this issue because this is a question on so many Albertans' minds.

01:02:04.340 Look, as Minister of Finance, I was really clear.

01:02:07.660 in terms of fiscal policy from the government,

01:02:10.080 the best thing governments can do,

01:02:12.000 the most beneficial and durable thing governments can do

01:02:14.780 during times of inflation is spend less, borrow less, and tax less.

01:02:18.900 That's ultimately what we need to do.

01:02:20.520 That's what I did as the Minister of Finance on a couple of fronts.

01:02:23.580 Firstly, I had the privilege of suspending our fuel tax in this province,

01:02:27.960 saving Albertans $1.3 billion on an annualized basis.

01:02:32.360 I would make that fuel tax suspension program permanent

01:02:35.660 by the privilege of serving Albertans as premier.

01:02:38.360 Here's the other good news about that piece.

01:02:40.440 On an annualized basis, because the federal government collects GST on the total fuel bill,

01:02:44.760 we keep about $65 to $70 million right here in Alberta in terms of federal transfers

01:02:50.480 when we suspend the fuel tax.

01:02:52.720 That's a bonus.

01:02:53.900 The other thing we need to do, and I agree with Todd on fiscal sustainability

01:02:57.500 and fiscal responsibility, it truly matters.

01:03:00.720 What I disagree with him on is spending.

01:03:03.520 We held operational spending flat for the first three years of our mandate.

01:03:09.180 That's how we got to fiscal discipline.

01:03:11.660 That's how we got to a balanced budget.

01:03:13.660 We balanced the budget on $70, $69, and $66 oil.

01:03:18.120 Fiscal discipline will continue to matter.

01:03:20.680 Reinvestment in the Heritage Saving Trust Fund will matter,

01:03:23.400 but debt repayment is priority number one.

01:03:26.140 All right.

01:03:26.960 Okay, Mr. Lowen, kick us off.

01:03:28.880 Three minutes of open debate.

01:03:30.440 We'll start with you.

01:03:31.220 Yeah, thank you very much.

01:03:31.980 So, yeah, Mr. Taves, I guess I just want to maybe challenge a little bit on that.

01:03:36.280 You kind of said, well, we kept the line flat on operational spending.

01:03:41.700 But still, the NDP's last budget was $56 billion, and our last budget was $62 billion.

01:03:46.640 That's over a 10% difference, and so we're obviously spending more than the NDP did.

01:03:51.980 I would like to jump in here.

01:03:55.140 Sure, I'm going to jump in on this one because misinformation is not helpful for Albertans.

01:04:00.540 There was additional costs related to the pandemic that were health related.

01:04:05.040 I asked my department early days, break anything COVID related out of operational spending for two reasons.

01:04:11.860 Number one, we couldn't monitor our progress on bringing down operational spending and bringing discipline to our departments.

01:04:18.500 Number two, I was certain department heads would want to build in that additional spending into their baseline budgets.

01:04:24.600 So we broke that out.

01:04:26.360 Operational spending did remain flat over the first three years of our term.

01:04:30.540 Had we continued on the NDP track, had we continued...

01:04:34.400 It's pretty easy, like I say, to separate just one little thing of the budget.

01:04:38.020 But again, the budget overall went from $56 billion to $63 billion.

01:04:42.060 And you want to take credit for the taxes reduction on fuel,

01:04:45.640 but that was Matt Jones's idea, actually, and he brought that one forward.

01:04:49.560 Now, how about de-indexing income tax?

01:04:52.020 You de-indexed income tax, and that's cost taxpayers of Alberta

01:04:54.700 more every single day since you've done that in 2019.

01:04:59.880 And so that's something that needs to change.

01:05:01.920 All right, let's let him match.

01:05:02.600 So yes, we held operational spending flat for three years.

01:05:07.520 Had we continued on the NDP course,

01:05:09.700 we wouldn't have projected a $500 million surplus.

01:05:12.880 It would have been a $6 billion deficit.

01:05:15.740 That would have been the result

01:05:17.100 had we not taken office and made the hard decisions.

01:05:20.700 We inherited a fiscal train wreck, friends,

01:05:23.100 a fiscal train wreck.

01:05:24.220 We worked hard to bring fiscal discipline to our spending,

01:05:27.260 setting a fiscal anchor of aligning our operating expenditures

01:05:30.720 with that of other provinces, which by this year, fiscal year 22-23,

01:05:35.460 we will have arrived at eliminating a $10 billion differential.

01:05:39.700 That was job number one in getting to a balanced budget.

01:05:42.880 Absolutely critical.

01:05:44.280 What you did inherit was high oil prices,

01:05:46.260 which of course has been very beneficial to the Alberta government.

01:05:49.620 And that's great.

01:05:50.840 All right.

01:05:51.320 That's great.

01:05:52.120 I need to jump in here because our budget was balanced, Todd, on oil prices of $70, $69, and $66.

01:06:02.200 We're in $100 oil right now.

01:06:04.220 That's going to leave Alberta with large surpluses, provided we can deliver fiscal discipline, which will be essential.

01:06:10.860 We will have to use those finances, those surpluses to pay down debt.

01:06:14.280 I'm trying to figure out where the fiscal discipline has happened since the NDP's budget.

01:06:18.440 Where did that fiscal discipline come in?

01:06:20.280 I haven't seen that.

01:06:21.720 i would i would ask mr lowen to actually read the financial statements in detail it's very

01:06:26.600 clear he's not done that he needs to go and do that dial it back come on folks we got to get

01:06:32.440 through debate here you haven't responded to the 56 billion versus 60. all right that's it folks

01:06:36.680 okay all right just a reminder audience we don't stop the clock so we got to keep going here right

01:06:41.640 we'll save the clapping all for the end i'm giving you that all right okay so do we have

01:06:46.440 anybody who wants to use their rebuttals on this okay i'm gonna go left to right miss it here start

01:06:50.600 Thank you so much.

01:06:52.240 I would like to talk about the operational

01:06:54.240 spending that was flat.

01:06:56.040 You balance the budget on the backs of our

01:06:58.300 children, their education and our vulnerable.

01:07:00.680 These are the things that got turned back just so

01:07:02.620 you understand where those dollars came from.

01:07:05.080 It didn't come just from fiscal responsibility.

01:07:08.380 It came from the government not keeping pace with

01:07:11.420 inflation as Todd was talking about.

01:07:13.060 I would like to apologize for that because we

01:07:14.760 used it as revenue in order to reduce the cost

01:07:17.160 of government.

01:07:18.260 We did not re-index AGE because we had promised

01:07:20.600 that we have to do immediately as well as alberta seniors benefits and catch up and be able to move

01:07:24.760 forward the dollars in this province that you spend your hard-earned tax money belongs with you

01:07:30.360 and helping you to build your province and make things move forward for all of us

01:07:35.160 this is not in a moment where you look at the bottom line all right now it's 45 seconds miss

01:07:40.680 smith 45 seconds to you uh i have read the financial statements in detail as i have since

01:07:45.720 1995 and i can tell you what they do say is that we had 16 billion dollars worth of resource revenue

01:07:51.800 last year and we spent 12 billion dollars of it so we have not gotten off the royalty revenue

01:07:59.000 roller coaster and more work needs to be done there i'm pleased to see just before we came on

01:08:03.640 that we're announcing an even larger surplus glad to see that we're going to start putting some more

01:08:08.040 in the savings plan i would have liked to have seen a dedicated debt repayment plan a dedicated

01:08:12.520 savings plan but on the issue of affordability i would say that i think that both travis and

01:08:17.960 and brian have come up with some good ideas for how to reduce electricity and energy costs the

01:08:22.440 next thing big thing we have to tackle is affordable housing and one of the all right

01:08:28.440 we're not going to get it we'll come back to that later yeah 45 seconds is quick i know miss sonny 0.82

01:08:33.080 well i do agree that inflation has made life difficult for many albertans and canadians it's

01:08:38.120 It's a global phenomenon brought on by higher commodity prices, supply chain issues, lockdowns

01:08:43.520 in Shanghai, and we have an opportunity, particularly now that we're recording such great surpluses,

01:08:48.920 to make sure that we invest in Albertans.

01:08:52.280 Now, Jason Kenney announced that he was indexing tax brackets today.

01:08:55.420 That's a good first step, but I would also assert that we do need to index seniors' benefits

01:09:00.320 and index benefits for AISH as well, because it's important when we're a wealthy province

01:09:05.360 and we're a government and we have surplus revenues.

01:09:08.300 If we can help, we absolutely should help

01:09:11.560 those Albertans who need it the most at this time.

01:09:14.740 All right, thank you.

01:09:15.980 Ms. Schultz.

01:09:17.140 Yeah, and absolutely, affordability is one of the top issues

01:09:19.600 that we hear wherever we go,

01:09:21.000 and I think many of the candidates do agree with that.

01:09:23.340 I mean, when people are talking about the cost of gas

01:09:25.980 or a gallon of milk or staying awake at night

01:09:28.620 wondering how they're going to put their kids in activities

01:09:30.460 to benefit their mental health and well-being,

01:09:33.220 this is something that matters,

01:09:34.100 And I would continue to suspend the fuel tax and take advice from some of my colleagues like Brian on some of his plans for looking at how we can make utilities more affordable for families as well.

01:09:44.340 I was also happy to see the government re-index personal income taxes.

01:09:48.180 I also put forward as bill number one being a plan to get us off of that energy roller coaster that we can invest in our future.

01:09:55.120 We can put 35% of the surplus away to save, 30% to invest in things like affordability measures, and 35% to paying down the debt.

01:10:03.460 All right. Mr. Jean, last 45 seconds. Over to you.

01:10:06.440 I'd like to thank the hardworking men and women in our agricultural sector and our oil and gas sector because they actually balanced the books.

01:10:12.220 They gave us the surplus, and they should be thanked for that.

01:10:15.760 Inflation is the biggest issue we have to deal with over the next few years, and that's why I suggested one of the first things I did was say,

01:10:22.820 you own the oil and gas here in Alberta. Why would you pay royalties on oil that you own?

01:10:27.440 So anything you consume as an Albertan, the 380,000 barrels a day that we consume as Albertans would be royalty-free.

01:10:33.000 That would save us 15 cents or so a litre.

01:10:35.860 That would give us some of the cheapest, most inexpensive gas, fuel, all across Canada.

01:10:40.840 Make us transportation hubs.

01:10:41.840 I'd also reduce the transmission and distribution charges on your home bills.

01:10:46.260 Make sure that comes down by a third, just through surpluses, but one thing I wouldn't

01:10:49.460 do is I wouldn't bring in net zero that would bring 12 times more expense, net zero.

01:10:56.160 I would not force companies to bring their emissions to net zero because folks, that

01:11:00.400 is dangerous.

01:11:01.400 $600 a ton. We can't afford it.

01:11:03.960 I know. It's 45 seconds. It's tough.

01:11:05.840 All right.

01:11:06.880 Okay, give him a round of applause, everybody.

01:11:08.460 I know you got it in you.

01:11:10.380 All right.

01:11:14.440 Okay, question number five.

01:11:16.120 Miss Ahir, this one is for you.

01:11:17.740 You'll have two minutes for your answer.

01:11:19.320 And the question subject is education.

01:11:22.060 Education, and equally, the opportunity for choice

01:11:25.180 within the public education system,

01:11:27.240 are a cornerstone of conservative politics.

01:11:29.920 post-secondary education is the natural next step in the 21st century economy.

01:11:35.280 Share with us your specific thoughts on education and feel free to talk about the entire continuum

01:11:40.760 or pick a specific area you think needs attention, but please give us solutions to what you see

01:11:46.360 are challenges within education today. Thank you very much and thank you for the question.

01:11:51.480 All of us in this room, and all of us actually on this stage, are a product of teachers.

01:11:57.700 And anyone who has grown up in Alberta, raised your kids here, and have gone through the public system like I did, understand the importance of our teachers and understand the importance of our system and our educators.

01:12:11.080 I absolutely believe in school choice.

01:12:13.860 And I also am a huge believer in our public system.

01:12:18.080 This is about strong education systems, and especially whether you were born here or whether you are an immigrant and you just arrived yesterday.

01:12:25.280 we just need to make sure that there's an even playing field for everyone so some of the things

01:12:30.160 that we hear about pretty regularly is about letting our teachers teach right now as you can

01:12:35.040 imagine in our education system there are multiple issues that are going on we have extreme complexity

01:12:40.720 in the classrooms between new people that are coming in with english as a second language

01:12:46.080 children like my own that are neurodiverse to the inclusion within classrooms and especially

01:12:51.040 and particularly coming out of COVID.

01:12:53.740 We have so many

01:12:55.040 issues that teachers are dealing with

01:12:57.120 and I think if we could just give a huge

01:12:59.080 shout out to our teachers, our administrators

01:13:01.000 and organizers, and when

01:13:03.120 you do a round of applause, make sure that that's

01:13:05.040 for them because of everything that they've

01:13:07.000 been through, but more than that, the resilience

01:13:09.120 that they have shown throughout this entire process.

01:13:12.000 When we talk about

01:13:13.120 education, the next word that has

01:13:15.180 to come in is funding.

01:13:17.120 We cannot be balancing our

01:13:19.140 budgets on the backs of our children

01:13:20.800 and their education regardless of whether we are in a surplus or if we are in a space where we are

01:13:28.000 lacking dollars in this province our children may not ever suffer from austerity teachers are our

01:13:34.480 partners they're not our adversaries and we need to trust our school boards to be able to make the

01:13:39.200 right decisions and alberta is competing competing with quebec and bc right now for international

01:13:43.960 ratings in math science and language and they have never cut their funding in the 21st century

01:13:49.680 All right. Thank you. Right on time. All right. Who would you like to debate on education?

01:13:54.680 I would like to debate Rajen, please. All right. Miss Ani, you have a minute and a half. Again,

01:13:58.960 the question is share with us your specific thoughts on education and feel free to talk

01:14:03.280 about the entire continuum or pick a specific area you think needs attention, but please give

01:14:08.300 us solutions to what you see are some of the challenges within education today. Yes. Thank

01:14:13.960 So, first of all, I've already spoken about my commitment to restart the curriculum review.

01:14:19.960 I do believe that it has been controversial from the beginning.

01:14:23.960 There are good elements to it, but obviously it hasn't been rolled out properly.

01:14:27.960 And we need to ensure that those who are intrinsic to the system, I've said this many times before,

01:14:32.960 and that includes teachers and academia and superintendents,

01:14:36.960 that they are on board with curriculum changes.

01:14:39.960 changes. Now let's talk about post-secondary education. I was talking to somebody recently

01:14:45.540 who pointed out to me that when you have a jurisdiction where you have high tuition,

01:14:50.020 you should also have high student aid. Right now in Alberta, that is not the case. We have

01:14:55.480 high tuition and low student aid. So one thing that I would like to do is to strategically

01:15:00.280 inject some funding into student aid so we can help students at a time when inflation

01:15:05.580 has hit them in so many different ways. The other program that I'm quite proud of in

01:15:09.740 government and it was in the 22 23 budget is a program that encourages health care workers

01:15:16.220 to work in rural communities in exchange for forgiveness of some of their student debt i

01:15:21.820 think this is an excellent program rural communities need more health care workers

01:15:26.140 that's a reality and to incentivize young people to choose a career in health care and serve those

01:15:32.140 communities that need it the most is an excellent way to ensure that we address that labor shortage

01:15:37.660 i think we need to double down on this particular program all right ready for debate we've got three

01:15:43.500 minutes is here why don't you kick us off yeah thank you so in speaking and we were a few of

01:15:49.740 us were at the i think most of us were there at the panel at the um with the ata one of the things

01:15:55.660 that became very apparent was the lack of consultation on our curriculum and when you

01:16:01.180 think about how important that is and if you talk to school authority school boards all of us in

01:16:05.180 here know we have kids, we have grandkids, we have families that are being impacted by this.

01:16:10.080 The biggest concern that came out from this was the inability for us to actually be able to not

01:16:14.900 only market what we were doing, but to share that information and to bring teachers and curriculum

01:16:19.880 advisors and school authorities on board. But one of the main things that came up and what we have

01:16:25.800 to be able to commit to is to grow funding based on population growth, inflation and enrollment

01:16:30.940 growth and i know that rajan was talking about inflation but all right well let's let's let her

01:16:34.700 talk about that thank you i don't think there's anything that leela is saying that i don't uh

01:16:39.980 agree with absolutely there wasn't enough consultation on the curriculum we have heard

01:16:44.460 that from from many folks and i had set up a working group actually in my constituency

01:16:49.020 comprised of teachers and conservative teachers they supported me in my nomination and they came

01:16:53.980 back with a series of recommendations and one of the biggest recommendations obviously was to start

01:16:59.980 from the beginning but i do want to go back to the importance of advanced education because we've

01:17:04.780 talked about k-12 there's a lot of agreement on that we want to ensure that we keep our kids here

01:17:10.620 we're having a problem with brain drain that is something that is going to impact how we can grow

01:17:15.980 our economy and i don't disagree with anything that rajan is saying education right across the

01:17:23.820 the board not only that do we need to look at what Roger is talking about with

01:17:29.160 advanced education but we have to consider the supports that are in the

01:17:32.500 classroom as well too and this is one of the things that we don't talk about

01:17:35.240 enough our teachers are not able to teach they are dealing with multiple

01:17:40.440 issues and the complex classrooms in particular that were underfunded not

01:17:45.140 only by our government but were used as an ability to be able to balance the

01:17:49.500 budget. When you have a school authority and you have reserve funding, you hear all about the

01:17:55.500 reserve funding throughout the province and all of the school authorities, why are they not being

01:18:00.100 given the flexibility to use those dollars as they need to? Instead, there's this dictatorship

01:18:05.160 coming from on high telling them that you have to use this particular dollar for this. I think,

01:18:10.500 again, we're all in agreement, or most of us are, in terms of the funding that is required to be

01:18:15.180 re-injected back into the education system and a concerted focus on reviewing the curriculum

01:18:21.480 I just do want to go back to the importance of post-secondary education once again because

01:18:26.540 and I'm just going to tie this all back to one of the worst things that could possibly happen

01:18:31.300 is if we have this thoughtless legislation that is brought forward that is going to cause

01:18:36.480 additional chaos that's going to prevent people from wanting to move into our province you know

01:18:41.780 So livability is something that people look at when they want to move into this province.

01:18:46.120 And education is one of those.

01:18:47.920 Okay, let's move on to our 45-second rebuttals.

01:18:50.120 Mr. Lowen, anybody else here?

01:18:52.200 Mr. Taves, Ms. Smith.

01:18:53.200 All right, Mr. Lowen, go ahead.

01:18:54.220 Yes, thank you very much.

01:18:55.160 I think one of the main things we do need to realize with our education system,

01:18:58.580 we need to respect the choice in education that we have in Alberta.

01:19:03.060 And we need to have our education focused on the basics

01:19:05.440 and not so much on the social values and family values and things like that.

01:19:09.960 It is interesting when we talk about the curriculum, the curriculum has been going along

01:19:14.420 for quite a while, now it's been announced and made on the table, and now we see a lot

01:19:18.540 of the cabinet ministers backpedaling on the curriculum when they never said anything

01:19:21.880 about it before, so that's interesting to see, but one of my main concerns right now

01:19:26.520 is our post-secondary education system, where it's not graduating the professionals that

01:19:30.980 we need, for instance in health, we have to bring doctors and nurses from all across

01:19:35.540 the world and we're running short right now but our post-secondary education system isn't keeping

01:19:39.860 up that needs to change all right mr tach 45 seconds all right first principle parents are

01:19:45.220 the individuals primarily responsible for their children's education full stop no it's only 45

01:19:52.900 seconds don't jump in now i support choice in education and if i serve albertans as premier

01:19:57.940 i will bring in transportation funding for independent schools i support curriculum reform

01:20:03.700 a focus on core disciplines of numeracy, literacy, and a fact-based education.

01:20:09.700 Activist ideology has no place in a curriculum.

01:20:12.920 It has to be removed.

01:20:13.920 All right, all right, audience.

01:20:15.140 Come on.

01:20:16.100 Let's dial it down, folks.

01:20:18.200 Remember, we got 45 seconds.

01:20:19.740 These are quick answers.

01:20:20.640 Clap at the end.

01:20:21.280 Lastly, we didn't cut education funding.

01:20:23.660 I'm sorry.

01:20:24.320 That's reset now for Ms. Smith.

01:20:26.180 They seem to like what you had to say, but, you know, we got to move on.

01:20:28.740 Well, the thing about K-12 education is it may be the only area that Ottawa hasn't interfered in to try to tell us how to run things.

01:20:36.600 That's how every single one of our social programs should be run.

01:20:39.760 And that is the reason why we have an Alberta Sovereignty Act, is to push them back into their lane so that we're able to deliver our programs the way we want to deliver them.

01:20:48.520 Where I'm worried the most about in the fall session is that we've seen in Western University,

01:20:53.160 that university make the decision that they're going to force their post-secondary students to

01:20:58.440 be vaccinated to attend classes if i'm elected we will not do that not in post-secondary not in k-12

01:21:05.320 no more masks no more lockdowns no more taking kids out of their activities and we have to

01:21:11.160 be sure that we test every child and give them the tutoring support to bring them up to grade

01:21:15.640 level and the learning loss they've had all right we got to catch you there mr g

01:21:18.840 well 45 seconds is not very long um but i just don't understand and one of the questions i had

01:21:26.200 for the cabinet ministers is why did the relationship get so bad with our teachers

01:21:29.640 and administrators it just doesn't make sense to me so talking about what we need to solve we need

01:21:33.400 to solve the relationship and that means it's all about communication it's all about meeting with

01:21:37.160 them i couldn't believe that ministers wouldn't meet with the ata to have discussions it's about

01:21:42.360 looking for outcomes looking for opportunities to find common ground to bring people together

01:21:46.680 To be less divisive in our education system, I think that's pretty easy to do,

01:21:50.420 especially if we take politics out of the education system.

01:21:53.360 We didn't like it before.

01:21:54.440 Why would we like it now?

01:21:55.380 It's not good for our kids.

01:21:56.360 I have a three-and-a-half-year-old.

01:21:57.580 I can't imagine anything more important than getting our education right.

01:22:00.980 We need to make sure that our post-secondary is there for Albertans,

01:22:04.620 and I would make sure that Albertans get our post-secondary spaces first.

01:22:07.200 That's it.

01:22:07.780 Okay, Ms. Schultz, 45 seconds.

01:22:09.580 Yeah, and I would agree that parents know what is best for their kids.

01:22:12.340 That's why I am a supporter of parent choice,

01:22:14.740 And I think when we talk about opposition to parent choice, the question is actually usually about funding.

01:22:19.720 So what I hear in my constituency, what I hear across Alberta is teachers saying, you know, I have a number of complex kids in my classroom.

01:22:26.520 Parents saying my kid is in that classroom and they need support.

01:22:29.920 Meanwhile, government is saying school divisions make the decision.

01:22:32.620 School divisions saying government's not giving them enough money.

01:22:34.960 We have that conversation instead of actually trying to solve the problem that we've got, which is class size and complexity.

01:22:40.580 and making sure that tax dollars are, in fact, going to kids and teachers in the classroom.

01:22:45.680 I do believe in the importance of mental health, supporting mental health and true wraparound supports in schools.

01:22:50.240 And post-secondary is important.

01:22:51.720 We need to continue to incentivize innovation, research, and value for tax money.

01:22:56.520 All right. Well, thank you.

01:22:57.340 I'm being told by the people in my ear, Mr. Taves, we did reset the clock quick,

01:23:00.540 so you have 15 seconds if you want to say anything last minute on education.

01:23:03.780 I do. We held education funding flat for three years,

01:23:07.080 but we honoured our commitment and we didn't cut education funding that's an ata fallacy all right

01:23:12.840 okay there we go all right give them a round of applause and you know

01:23:21.560 okay before we get into question six just to remind all the candidates missa here you only

01:23:26.680 have one rebuttal left uh as does mr gene okay we've got two questions to go the first question

01:23:31.880 here question six is on arts and culture and it's for mr tapes all right tonight we find ourselves

01:23:38.600 at the citadel theater in an excellent example of arts and culture thriving in alberta festivals

01:23:44.920 cultural heritage events and even movie production is enriching all of our lives across the province

01:23:51.240 conservatives are often criticized for not doing enough for the arts yet the ucp government for

01:23:56.520 instance has done more to advance film and television production in alberta than any

01:24:01.000 other government in our province's history resulting in a soon-to-be billion dollar a year

01:24:05.880 business whether it's live festival performances or the value created by creative industries

01:24:12.200 help us understand your vision and perspective on the future of arts and culture in alberta

01:24:17.160 you have two minutes all right i mean firstly i find it ironic that an individual who's an

01:24:21.960 accountant a rancher and a previous finance minister gets the arts and culture question

01:24:26.280 You know, when it comes to culture, I often think agriculture right off the bat, but seriously, seriously, I recognize the importance of a strong arts and culture sector.

01:24:38.520 I know that tens of thousands of Albertans absolutely thrive on a strong sector, thrive going to theater, pursuing disciplines in the arts, and it is critically important.

01:24:52.220 You know, at a time when we're looking to attract other people from Canada and around the world into the province of Alberta, it's critical that we have a very robust arts and culture scene, and I recognize its importance.

01:25:05.680 And, you know, arts and culture are quite broad.

01:25:09.640 Arts and culture include going to the opera at the Jubilee.

01:25:13.180 It also includes protecting our history and ensuring that we can protect our heritage at our museums, such as the Glenbow or even the Sam Center at the Calgary Stampede.

01:25:24.240 But it also includes ensuring that our youth have an opportunity to take dance lessons, play an instrument, learn an instrument, and even pursue a love of theater.

01:25:34.400 We've done much for the film and television industry.

01:25:37.220 We brought in a renewed reinvigorated tax credit that has worked.

01:25:41.780 We've taken a film and television industry that was about $100 million a year

01:25:45.960 and moved it to an industry that is getting closer to a billion dollars a year.

01:25:51.720 Friends, if you are passionate about theater, drama, and the arts,

01:25:55.920 right now is a great time to pursue a career in Alberta.

01:25:59.740 That time is now.

01:26:01.060 Look, the best thing we can do for a thriving arts and culture sector is ensure that we have a robust economy.

01:26:08.400 So Albertans with high-paying jobs can go out and pursue their passions, go to the entertainment they want to, and support the arts and culture scene.

01:26:16.280 Businesses and individuals also support capital projects when we have a strong economy.

01:26:21.080 All right. Okay. So who would you like to debate on arts and culture?

01:26:24.620 You know, I'm going to go to a previous culture minister, Lila here.

01:26:31.060 All right, Miss Ahiri, you have a minute and a half, whether it's live festival performances

01:26:35.800 or the value created by creative industries.

01:26:38.400 Help us understand your vision and perspective on the future of arts and culture in Alberta.

01:26:43.060 Go ahead.

01:26:43.560 Thank you very much.

01:26:44.720 Arts and heritage and cultural industries, recreation and sports contribute.

01:26:48.800 Just so you know, the culture industry is part of a strong economy.

01:26:54.460 It's not as a result of one.

01:26:56.180 It's actually part of the entire economy.

01:26:59.700 $6.1 billion in our economy and creates more than 65,000 jobs a year.

01:27:08.960 And those are older statistics.

01:27:10.800 It has grown immensely, especially post-COVID.

01:27:14.480 Just to give you an idea as well, too, in our province, for the 4.3 million people we have,

01:27:20.840 1.3 million of them are volunteers and many of them are in that sector because, as Mr.

01:27:26.460 Taves was saying, people are driving to ballet and to hockey and all of those parents and everybody

01:27:31.640 who contributes, thousands of ours, I'm sure many of you have, contribute to that economy. I'd also

01:27:36.880 like to bring up that when arts and culture thrive in our province, Alberta thrives. And not only are

01:27:44.320 we seeing that homegrown talent here, and I wanted to talk a little bit, just for a few seconds,

01:27:48.820 about the film tax credit. I remember, and you know, Mr. Taves, you can probably talk about this

01:27:54.900 little bit when we first came to you to talk about that tax credit and that tax credit was turned

01:27:59.160 away because they didn't believe in a tax credit they didn't believe that for every dollar that we

01:28:03.580 put into the film industry that five would be created i'm really glad that the tone has changed

01:28:08.160 and that that came around but boy oh boy was it ever hard to convince a conservative finance

01:28:13.660 minister to invest in film we're gonna we're gonna stop there before we get into open debate here

01:28:19.320 miss smith i should have reminded you you have one rebuttal left as well should you choose to

01:28:22.660 it for this question all right open debate mr davis kick us off you know i i won't apologize

01:28:28.420 for having to see the value proposition on a filament and television tax credit because i

01:28:34.180 believe handling alberton's taxpayer dollars needs to be done very responsibly and carefully

01:28:40.100 but there was a value proposition and when that was adequately demonstrated we went forth and

01:28:45.460 approved the funding in the budget and it proved to be the right decision because right now we're

01:28:49.940 We're seeing, again, not only hundreds of millions pushing almost a billion dollars of film and television productions in Alberta annually,

01:28:58.420 but we're seeing permanent studios and infrastructure built, investment coming back to Alberta.

01:29:03.860 So it's interesting that we're having this conversation because when we were having the discussions originally with the sector,

01:29:09.560 when they came here, when the sector is moving, imagine that all over the world, everybody is competing for these dollars right now, everyone.

01:29:16.500 And there are things that are changing in the United States right now where they're changing their tax laws and everything.

01:29:21.680 In fact, even rolling back human rights in certain states in the United States.

01:29:26.620 People are leveraging that and coming to Alberta.

01:29:29.160 It is now a billion-dollar industry.

01:29:31.220 And we did show our work.

01:29:33.120 We did prove that this was possible.

01:29:35.140 We did bring that forward.

01:29:36.260 I'm very grateful that we actually had the ability to find this as we came forward.

01:29:40.460 But having said that, how many billions of dollars did we miss out on by not jumping in at the very end?

01:29:45.880 With all due respect, your first business proposition, the valuation you provided did not cut it.

01:29:52.780 And that's why it simply wasn't perfect.

01:29:53.460 You see the eye rolling?

01:29:54.340 That's exactly what we saw when we brought in the value proposition the first time.

01:29:58.940 So here's my premise.

01:30:01.160 I believe in the value of a thriving arts and culture sector.

01:30:06.380 And we know that's a broad spectrum.

01:30:08.340 Everything from opera to ensuring that families have opportunities to enroll their children in drama, dance,

01:30:14.900 or play an instrument, you name it.

01:30:17.400 It's broad, it's important to the province.

01:30:19.900 But this is my other observation.

01:30:22.340 You know what?

01:30:22.920 That sector thrives when we have a strong economy

01:30:25.320 for two reasons.

01:30:26.220 Number one, when we ensure that we have

01:30:28.200 a very competitive business environment,

01:30:30.380 it attracts investment.

01:30:32.000 It attracts investment into areas of the arts

01:30:35.540 and entertainment, which grows in the economy.

01:30:37.800 When you're talking about a competitive environment,

01:30:39.220 particularly for the film industry,

01:30:41.340 they actually come to you with their value proposition,

01:30:43.460 what they're looking for.

01:30:44.120 They're just looking for an even playing field that is not only here, but across the United States.

01:30:49.240 Talk to any Bollywood film organizer that wants to come to Alberta.

01:30:52.060 They all want to come here because of our beautiful, beautiful areas that they're able to do all of this.

01:30:57.340 And it's billions of dollars that are possible to be able to come in.

01:31:00.280 But we weren't willing to look past that until the – I'm not really sure what –

01:31:05.620 There are –

01:31:06.260 originally there are lots of people who will come to alberta if you pay them to come

01:31:17.540 what we need is a valid business isn't that what we did with oil and gas

01:31:24.820 i'm sure the sector will be happy to hear that the minister paid them to come all right all right

01:31:29.780 all right yeah well it's like we've all learned how to debate hey all right 45 second rebuttals

01:31:37.140 miss sonny i have you are there any other takers mr lowen miss schultz miss smith all right miss

01:31:43.460 sonny kick us off hey thank you so several weeks ago the city of calgary was recognized as the

01:31:48.740 fourth best place in the world to live and this is based on livability indices and those livability

01:31:54.900 Indices include education, healthcare, infrastructure, entertainment, and culture.

01:32:00.280 So investments in culture are not frill or frou-frou.

01:32:03.240 There is definitely a valid value proposition there.

01:32:06.220 Absolutely.

01:32:06.840 And there's more expenditure done by companies like Amazon, on Google, on investments in culture.

01:32:13.220 And when you're looking to attract investment, especially now that our film industry is growing,

01:32:18.160 people who can live anywhere in the world, like San Francisco, Tokyo, London,

01:32:22.220 they will choose to come to Alberta

01:32:24.720 because of our livability index

01:32:26.720 and that includes investments in culture.

01:32:29.500 All right, Mr. Law, 15, 45 seconds.

01:32:32.000 Yes, thank you very much.

01:32:33.500 When it comes to culture,

01:32:36.440 I think it needs to come from the people

01:32:37.960 and not from government.

01:32:38.980 So I don't know how much government

01:32:40.100 should be involved in deciding

01:32:41.260 what needs to be done for arts and culture.

01:32:43.960 But one thing I see that was frustrating

01:32:45.320 over the last couple of years

01:32:46.280 is we had a lot of our kids

01:32:48.060 that were stopped from going to dance lessons

01:32:49.880 and music lessons because of the COVID response.

01:32:52.220 And I think that was a horrible shame.

01:32:54.920 Now, my brother's a music teacher,

01:32:56.620 and so I got to hear it firsthand almost daily

01:32:59.240 while he was without business for months and months and months

01:33:02.860 because kids couldn't do that.

01:33:04.620 But also when it comes to culture, we have to think about religion too.

01:33:08.260 And again, we had churches shut down.

01:33:09.700 We had pastors jailed.

01:33:11.160 And this government and these ministers were involved in that.

01:33:13.800 And we even had the Minister of Justice

01:33:15.480 actually endorse one of the candidates too.

01:33:17.920 And so that was frustrating to see.

01:33:20.220 Ms. Schultz, 45 seconds. 0.76

01:33:22.960 You know, I agree that this is absolutely an important aspect that brings people here to Alberta, quality of life.

01:33:29.620 People come for opportunity and jobs and that hope and optimism, that promise of Alberta that if you're willing to work hard, you can be who and whatever you want to be.

01:33:37.800 But it's great to know that we have a thriving theatre and music and dance and cultural sector.

01:33:44.420 That helps not only keep people here, but attract people here as well.

01:33:48.060 So, yes, the film and television tax credit, it really did change the game for us.

01:33:51.900 And I was grateful for those on this stage, but also those like Minister Schweitzer, the Premier, who supported those changes.

01:33:58.100 It put us back on the map, whether we're talking about Ghostbusters, The Last of Us, Fargo.

01:34:02.420 But it's also about fishing, hiking, museums, history.

01:34:05.360 And we have a great story to tell.

01:34:07.180 We need to continue to tell that story as it's a huge economic driver for us.

01:34:10.520 Thank you very much.

01:34:11.520 Ms. Smith.

01:34:13.440 Oh, thank you.

01:34:14.200 I should probably set the record straight about where the tax credit idea came from.

01:34:18.240 It was Blake Peterson, one of our MLAs, but I was Wild Rose MLA.

01:34:21.820 It got a unanimous approval in the legislature.

01:34:25.620 I'm quite pleased that the government finally implemented it.

01:34:28.580 One of the things I find interesting about how we're talking is that we're talking about

01:34:32.040 culture as an import rather than an export.

01:34:35.600 We're talking about people coming here to tell their stories.

01:34:38.460 To me, and this idea was planted with me by Todd Babiak, one of our novelists in the Edmonton

01:34:43.180 area we need to think about culture as an export we have so many great stories to tell from our

01:34:50.140 muslim community coming here to fur trade with our first nations from the the sikh men and women 0.96

01:34:56.220 who helped recover after frank slide to the chinese immigrants those are the stories we

01:35:02.460 need to be lots of things on 45 seconds all right okay so we've now got mr lowen mr gene

01:35:08.060 Ms. Schultz, Ms. Sani, Ms. Smith, you've used all yours, and Ms. Ahir, everybody has one left,

01:35:14.060 so this is it, question seven, the final question. But before we do that, get it out of your system,

01:35:18.700 go on. Okay, question seven is a big one, and the question's for Ms. Smith. All right,

01:35:29.660 you'll have two minutes to answer this question. It's on energy and the future economy. We're all

01:35:36.220 incensed by Ottawa's recent comments about no business case for gas to Europe as if Ottawa

01:35:41.660 knows anything about the energy industry. I think all candidates would agree that this is an

01:35:47.020 outrageous position for our federal government to take and you've all expressed your plans with

01:35:52.140 respect to relations with Ottawa. Let's talk then about how you see our world-class energy industry

01:35:59.180 contributing to the future economy and how will you ensure greater diversification of energy in

01:36:04.380 order to grow the Alberta Advantage. Ms. Smith, you have two minutes. You're going to be even more

01:36:09.100 outraged when you realize just how badly we were treated by Justin Trudeau. I knew that the

01:36:13.900 Chancellor was coming and I had some people trying to work on getting me to meet with them while he

01:36:18.780 was visiting Alberta. They cut out the Alberta part of the trip. They made sure that it was only

01:36:24.540 in Eastern Canada. They did a token press conference talking about how we might in the

01:36:31.020 future use wind turbines to create green hydrogen. This was an absolute slap in our face. And we have

01:36:37.440 to remember this, that every single time we try to ask Ottawa to engage with us, they push back

01:36:44.980 against us. Heck, when we passed the equalization referendum saying that we wanted to start a new

01:36:49.740 relationship, what did they give us? They gave us Stephen Gilbeau, the most anti-oil and anti-fertilizer

01:36:55.180 and anti-natural gas minister we could possibly ever have. So this is why the Alberta Sovereignty

01:37:00.680 act is important it gets us in a sovereign frame of mind and what would happen is if we were in a

01:37:05.880 sovereign frame of mind well you know what would happen we would stop expecting ottawa to come in

01:37:10.760 and build economic corridors for us we would build them ourselves we've been out talking about this

01:37:14.440 since the 1930s ernest manning raised the idea let's start doing it let's work with our friends

01:37:19.000 in saskatchewan and manitoba let's work with our first nations partners there's 14 of them

01:37:23.160 that want to work with us on a corridor that would go to churchill we could do another corridor

01:37:27.320 Thunder Bay, another corridor to Tuktoyaktuk, and another corridor to Port-au-Prince-Rupert,

01:37:31.800 we would be able to build rail lines, we would be able to build pipelines, we would be able to

01:37:35.640 build transmission lines, broadband internet infrastructure. And we turn the table on Ottawa.

01:37:40.600 Do you see what Ottawa does to us? They invade our jurisdiction time and time and time again.

01:37:45.640 They make us go to court, spend lots of money, and also take years of time keeping their law in

01:37:52.680 place where we try to overturn it. I would double dog dare them to take us to court if we were

01:37:58.120 starting to build pipelines with our First Nations partners and bringing our, not only our product to

01:38:02.920 market, but also bringing good paying jobs and prosperity to those communities, because I tell

01:38:07.840 you, we would win it. All right, that's two minutes. Hold it to the end here, folks. Hold it

01:38:13.900 Until the end, let's hold it to the end.

01:38:16.740 Double dog dare, I haven't heard that one in a while.

01:38:22.040 Who would you like to debate on energy

01:38:24.040 and the future economy?

01:38:25.180 I'd like to debate Travis.

01:38:27.420 All right, Mr. Taves, the question again.

01:38:29.780 How do you see our world-class energy industry

01:38:32.060 contributing to the future economy

01:38:34.060 and how will you ensure greater diversification of energy

01:38:36.760 in order to grow the Alberta advantage?

01:38:38.760 You have a minute and a half.

01:38:39.660 Sure, I appreciate being able to contribute

01:38:42.360 and debate on this question.

01:38:43.760 It's a very important question.

01:38:44.960 Firstly, with respect to our world-class energy industry,

01:38:48.340 I don't believe that economic diversification,

01:38:51.720 whether it's within energy or whether it's more broadly in the economy,

01:38:54.920 and a robust energy industry are mutually exclusive.

01:38:57.860 I believe that both can thrive.

01:39:00.080 In fact, we're seeing that now.

01:39:01.200 We're seeing the energy industry start to get its legs under it again

01:39:04.240 after really seven really, really tough years.

01:39:07.360 At the same time, we're seeing economic diversification

01:39:10.480 in this province at rates I've not seen in my lifetime.

01:39:13.760 So that's incredibly good news.

01:39:16.620 But we do have a federal government who is completely blind to the realities globally right now.

01:39:23.100 You know, when I was as finance minister, I was in New York about four or five months ago.

01:39:27.300 Every conversation I had with the investment community morphed to energy and food security.

01:39:33.680 It was amazing.

01:39:35.040 Every conversation morphed there, and I didn't do it.

01:39:38.020 The sad part was on my way home, I stopped and met with bond rating agencies, even some bank leaders in Toronto, a completely different conversation.

01:39:47.820 It's like they hadn't read the news. It was ridiculous. 0.87

01:39:50.560 Friends, we have to lead on energy. There's ways we can do it. 0.68

01:39:54.020 It's about bringing a Senator Joe Manchin to Alberta to demonstrate the value of this province and this industry on North American energy security.

01:40:01.720 I agree with resource corridors, absolutely critical, but we can't wave a magic wand and get rid of federal law.

01:40:08.820 That is simply a fallacy.

01:40:10.940 All right. There we go.

01:40:13.000 Okay. So we're going to move into open debate now.

01:40:15.840 Ms. Smith, why don't you kick us off? 0.80

01:40:17.500 I'm happy to.

01:40:18.400 I'm always surprised when I raise this issue because Travis has criticized my Alberta Sovereignty Act in almost every forum I've been with him.

01:40:24.960 But he doesn't promote the idea that he's advancing, which is to violate the Constitution, Section 121.

01:40:31.180 and impose tariffs on other companies and other jurisdictions

01:40:36.080 to punish them in retaliation for the decisions Ottawa makes.

01:40:40.760 Now, I would love for him to explain that policy, honestly,

01:40:43.280 because if you think that that's a better policy,

01:40:45.260 then you at least know that there are two people who have different ideas.

01:40:47.640 I would absolutely like to jump in.

01:40:50.460 And you know what?

01:40:51.120 One thing I don't do with that piece on my plan to strengthen Alberta

01:40:55.000 is over-promise and under-delivered.

01:40:56.860 The Sovereignty Act, friends, is a false bill of goods.

01:40:59.780 If it's implemented as it's been envisioned by the Free Alberta strategy, it will create chaos within this business environment.

01:41:07.960 It will send tens of billions of dollars packing out of this province.

01:41:11.680 It will undo all of the gains that we've made in the last three years.

01:41:15.840 If it's implemented in a soft way, not in the way it was envisioned by the folks at Free Alberta, it will be completely benign.

01:41:24.520 It will do no good.

01:41:25.760 It's a false bill of goods.

01:41:27.160 I would ask Danielle, what Sovereignty Act are you talking about today?

01:41:31.800 The one that chases tens of billions of dollars out of this province or the one that's completely benign, over-promising and under-delivering?

01:41:39.020 Because that matters. That truly matters.

01:41:40.980 All right, Ms. Smith, let's see what you have to say on that.

01:41:42.420 I think the only one who created chaos was the ministers who were involved in the Priorities and Planning Committee that shut down businesses arbitrarily, that shut down our economy arbitrarily.

01:41:53.760 Don't cut into time, folks. Don't cut into time.

01:41:55.680 that punished Jim's for no reason.

01:41:57.420 And we've seen it in court.

01:41:58.300 There was actually no reason to do it.

01:41:59.520 It was all political.

01:42:00.260 They have the ability to do that.

01:42:01.580 They created chaos.

01:42:02.860 But you see that Travis didn't answer the question,

01:42:05.300 and he always does that

01:42:06.300 because he wants to violate the Constitution, Section 121.

01:42:09.560 I just want to enforce the Constitution.

01:42:11.900 He wants to punish businesses

01:42:13.520 who want to invest in this country.

01:42:14.800 I'm happy to deal with that question.

01:42:16.220 I'm absolutely happy to deal with that question

01:42:18.120 because I would.

01:42:19.280 I would ensure, I would bring in legislation

01:42:22.140 that ensures that Alberta,

01:42:23.740 if pushed into a corner,

01:42:24.980 can come out with a response and it would be a response that would include both tariff and

01:42:31.040 non-tariff pushback options again we would calibrate our response there are about 13

01:42:37.260 provisions in terms of the Canada free trade agreement where Alberta is out ahead we could

01:42:42.220 immediately cancel any one of those or all of those and we would not be violating the Canada

01:42:47.200 free trade agreement and there might be a time where Alberta would have to push beyond that

01:42:53.140 all right last 20 seconds i just want to be clear that section 121 of the constitution says that we

01:42:58.100 cannot stop the free flow of goods with tariffs between our jurisdictions so i know that travis

01:43:04.020 likes to say that my plan would create chaos i'm telling you that plan would create chaos

01:43:08.580 it would create chaos they would not know which industries are going to be targeted

01:43:13.540 and for what reason and you know what if you if you got a fight with ottawa pick the fight with

01:43:17.540 Ottawa. All right, that's it. Give him a round of applause.

01:43:22.980 Okay, going into rebuttals here, Ms. Soni, you do have two open, but you can't use them back-to-back,

01:43:27.540 so you get one now. So we're going to start with you, Ms. Ahiri, then you, then Ms. Schultz,

01:43:32.260 Mr. Lewin. Okay, all right, Ms. Soni, 45 seconds. Okay, so when it comes to energy,

01:43:37.940 we do have a great story to tell. Obviously we have challenges, but we've done so much in this

01:43:42.340 space and the transition to energy is underway when we're talking about carbon and we're talking

01:43:47.540 about hydrogen as well. But one of the ways to protect the energy industry is from protecting

01:43:54.020 it from damaging government policies. Let's go down memory lane. Think about the National Energy

01:43:58.400 Program. Think about the Royalty Review. And now we're talking about legislation that is going to

01:44:03.580 bring additional constitutional kegmire and turmoil into Alberta. And I've got to tell you,

01:44:09.160 Danielle, that a sovereign frame of mind does nothing for those on Bay Street and Wall Street

01:44:14.420 when they're doing their analysis and trying to convince investors to bring their investments

01:44:18.560 into a stable and predictable environment. It's not going to work. I don't even know if that is a

01:44:23.720 sovereign frame of mind. All too often the debate about energy gets reduced to a yelling match over

01:44:30.220 pollution and profits and Albertans know that the importance of their clean earth, air and water

01:44:35.240 and successful economy have to be aligned because Alberta energy powers,

01:44:39.480 Albertan and Canadian families and could possibly fuel the world

01:44:43.120 if we should get these things figured out.

01:44:45.440 But it is really, really hard to negotiate new trade agreements

01:44:49.780 when you are starting a bar brawl in the middle of confederation.

01:44:54.200 We need to actually be able to figure this out and have a conversation,

01:44:56.920 build some relationships here.

01:44:58.540 Has anybody ever asked why?

01:45:00.580 Do we know why?

01:45:01.540 Or are we just yelling into the spaces,

01:45:03.620 trying to maybe assume that something will stick

01:45:05.980 and at some point in time we'll be able to push back enough.

01:45:08.400 Let's build some relationships and let's get some stuff done.

01:45:11.380 All right, thank you.

01:45:12.500 Ms. Schultz.

01:45:13.600 Yeah, and I would echo what many of my colleagues on stage have said.

01:45:16.460 What our energy industry does not want is any legislation

01:45:19.480 that is going to drive people, jobs and investment

01:45:22.380 out of our province at a time like this.

01:45:25.000 I am curious, though, for Danielle,

01:45:27.880 if you are so against Justin Trudeau

01:45:29.560 and so for doing things on our own terms,

01:45:31.860 Why did you accept his net zero policies?

01:45:35.440 Yes, we need a credible climate plan.

01:45:37.160 Yes, we need to work on industry with what that looks like.

01:45:40.460 But buying into Trudeau's net zero plan is very confusing for those of us,

01:45:45.720 especially when you're saying that you want to do things our own way.

01:45:49.420 It doesn't make sense.

01:45:51.360 All right. Thank you. Mr. Lowen.

01:45:53.580 Yes, thank you very much.

01:45:54.700 Trudeau isn't trying to destroy the oil and gas industry.

01:45:57.260 He is destroying it.

01:45:58.340 You know, we don't need to apologize for our oil and gas industry.

01:46:02.580 There's no way I will ever do that.

01:46:04.300 The rest of the world needs to catch up to our oil and gas industry

01:46:06.800 instead of standing back and pointing fingers at us.

01:46:10.020 But for those that just want to talk to Ottawa

01:46:11.940 and just think that we can have this collegial conversation with Ottawa,

01:46:15.180 when is it going to get to the point where they actually want to do something?

01:46:18.900 We need to do something.

01:46:19.900 We need to build a firewall between us and Ottawa.

01:46:22.080 We actually have to start doing things like our own pension plan

01:46:24.440 and send Ottawa a message.

01:46:26.100 But they've already driven away so much investment here.

01:46:30.060 We've seen so many harmful actions from Ottawa.

01:46:32.880 And some of the candidates here, I think, are just willing to sit back and wait for things to happen,

01:46:37.280 and there'll be no change.

01:46:38.600 And that's unacceptable.

01:46:40.320 All right. Thank you, Mr. Lohan.

01:46:43.440 Okay. Mr. Jean.

01:46:46.560 Yes, I think Travis, Danielle, and Rebecca are right.

01:46:49.560 Danielle said that the Sovereignty Act is in the Constitution.

01:46:52.140 She's right.

01:46:52.500 we don't need the sovereignty act because everything she's suggesting should be in there

01:46:55.460 is already in the constitution which we actually have to go through to challenge ottawa if we're 0.99

01:46:59.140 going to challenge ottawa folks every single situation here today travis danielle rebecca

01:47:04.580 all of the options they have for constitutional challenges all have to go through the constitution

01:47:09.540 has to go through section 46 has to go through paragraph 69 it has to be challenged that way

01:47:14.740 and that is the only way we are going to get any attention from ottawa and get any resolution to

01:47:18.740 to what's bothering us.

01:47:19.580 There's more than just equalization.

01:47:21.580 There's more than getting our products to Tidewater.

01:47:23.460 There's the Senate.

01:47:24.780 There's the House of Commons.

01:47:25.900 There's making sure that we can go forward

01:47:27.700 and actually have our say and be treated fairly.

01:47:29.680 The only one that has a solution for economic woes is myself.

01:47:33.180 Please, take a look at it.

01:47:34.480 Let's stop there.

01:47:35.280 Okay, Mr. Taves, you had one rebuttal left.

01:47:37.860 Do you choose to use it?

01:47:38.700 I choose.

01:47:39.820 I choose to use it.

01:47:40.880 Look, we have the most responsible forestry,

01:47:43.980 agriculture, and energy industry in the world.

01:47:46.300 all of those sectors right now are working ahead at reducing emissions intensity per unit of

01:47:53.340 production. We need to continue to support them and not derail them. But, you know, when Danielle

01:47:58.960 noted here a number of weeks ago, in fact, in the first debate, that she has a plan to accelerate 0.57

01:48:03.520 to net zero. To accelerate to net zero will undermine our competitiveness as an industry

01:48:09.520 and an economy, undermine future prosperity. We cannot get ahead of technology solutions.

01:48:15.520 we cannot get ahead of competing

01:48:17.840 resource-based economies

01:48:19.520 I will not parrot Justin Trudeau's

01:48:22.160 nonsense about net zero

01:48:23.960 alright, okay, that ends it all

01:48:26.100 give him a round of applause, everybody

01:48:27.700 you know you want to

01:48:30.120 don't the rules allow me a response

01:48:34.040 since I've had three people attack me

01:48:36.440 well, they didn't call you by name

01:48:38.680 so, and your rebuttals are done

01:48:40.160 I thought they were attacking me

01:48:41.160 Rebecca, I'm going to go to the jury on this

01:48:45.260 did rebecca call her by name all right 45 seconds sorry 30 seconds all right i would i would just

01:48:51.780 say that i notice as well that rebecca doesn't talk about her alternative to the to the sovereignty

01:48:56.480 act she would like to turn off the taps and i've talked to energy industry leaders especially those

01:49:01.980 who feed into line five if you want to talk about chaos talk about turning that tap off i don't

01:49:07.100 think they'll ever allow us to let it back on look we've got to stop letting ottawa define the terms

01:49:12.160 We know that we can do emissions reduction.

01:49:14.860 We could do emissions reduction globally by exporting more of our LNG

01:49:18.820 so we can reduce the amount of wood, dung, and coal being used around the world.

01:49:22.640 That's a proper environment.

01:49:23.460 That's time. That's time.

01:49:24.880 You already got to clap on this question.

01:49:27.660 All right.

01:49:28.580 Okay, so what we're going to move into now is closing statements.

01:49:31.220 And we're going to have 90 seconds now for closing statements, not two minutes.

01:49:34.380 That's what happens when we cut in.

01:49:36.520 Sorry.

01:49:38.200 Oh, I'm sorry.

01:49:39.040 We were increasing it to 90 seconds.

01:49:40.600 All right.

01:49:42.160 you're all throwing me off here okay so mr lowen you have drawn we're gonna bring the podium back

01:49:52.400 on stage here for anybody who wants to use it i think that's coming up

01:49:56.720 oh well you get two jobs this way give him a round of applause that's great

01:50:04.160 all right 90 seconds mr lowen you have the floor thank you very much and thanks to the organizers

01:50:09.920 and the people have taken time to watch here tonight i'm not a smooth talking politician i

01:50:14.160 don't have all the flashiest policy announcements and i'm not promising to shower everyone in cash

01:50:19.920 i'm running on my record as a conservative in a time when real conservative politicians seem

01:50:24.800 to be hard to find people ask why did i do this and it's so i could walk down the street in my

01:50:30.400 hometown and look people in the eye and say that i did everything i could i'm the only candidate

01:50:34.960 on this stage who has stood for alberton's freedom and prosperity without ever once

01:50:38.560 compromising or capitulating for personal or political gain in fact when albertans needed

01:50:43.600 strong leaders i chose to stand no matter how great the personal cost because the well-being

01:50:49.280 of albertans is my highest priority the provincial election in 2023 will be fought on trust we need

01:50:56.640 this leadership election to be a referendum on trust and accountability let's give alberta

01:51:02.960 a united conservative party that puts principle before politics so tonight i'm asking you to give

01:51:09.280 me your number one vote to stand with me as i have stood and continue to stand for you

01:51:15.440 uncompromising and unwavering for a free and prosperous alberta this government belongs to

01:51:22.080 you this province belongs to you this is your alberta and i'm committed to doing it your way

01:51:28.640 thank you thank you mr lowen all right moving next miss ahir come on up you're going to have 90 1.00

01:51:36.480 seconds for your vision and final statement to the members and albertans thank you for those

01:51:43.600 of you who know me you know that i will always try to do it right and that i'm not afraid to

01:51:48.160 stand my ground and for those of you who are just getting to know me i hope that you understand that

01:51:52.560 i will always put alberta and albertans first tonight you've heard what makes me different

01:51:57.120 from my colleagues on the stage i've risked my political career and my own safety in order to

01:52:01.680 do the right thing more than once and i want to remind our membership that doing the right thing

01:52:06.560 means you voting for the right leader for our party in our province a leader who can fight

01:52:12.320 and win an election in less than 39 weeks a leader who can bring everyday albertans back to the table

01:52:19.360 and be a champion for them in confederation and get our province back on track instead of looking

01:52:25.360 for reasons to leave. We need to find, be finding ways to lead Canada. And that means getting our

01:52:33.480 oil and gas to tidewater. That means leading global energy markets. That means standing

01:52:37.500 shoulder to shoulder with our farmers. And that also means taking care of our seniors and our

01:52:41.920 vulnerable. And that means ending pointless fights with our doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, and

01:52:48.380 first responders. That means making Alberta the best place in Canada in the world to build a

01:52:52.960 business and to raise a family.

01:52:55.140 So tonight, while my colleagues try to tell you

01:52:56.740 why they should be first on the ballot, I'd like to leave

01:52:58.800 you with one thing. If I'm not your

01:53:00.820 first choice, Mark Leela here

01:53:02.860 second, because I've

01:53:04.920 shown that I will always put Alberta

01:53:06.520 and Albertans first. Thank you.

01:53:09.340 All right. Thank you, Ms. Aheer.

01:53:11.800 We're going to go down

01:53:12.800 to Ms. Smith.

01:53:14.880 Come on up for your 90 seconds

01:53:16.520 to address the membership

01:53:18.080 at all Albertans.

01:53:19.420 you know the NDP is to stick up for the little guy but they don't do that anymore they choose

01:53:28.120 big bloated bureaucracy every single time they put ideology ahead of affordability

01:53:35.020 they couldn't push far enough or fast enough or hard enough to lock you down and to put

01:53:41.780 restrictions on our economy and what are the consequences of that we've seen kids not able

01:53:48.400 get surgery heard about one child who wasn't able to get cleft palate surgery at age three

01:53:53.840 imagine that child's going to be impacted by life for that i've heard about an rcmp officer

01:53:59.040 at edmonton who not only lost his job he wasn't able to watch his kid play hockey because he

01:54:03.680 chose not to be vaccinated we had people all over this province who couldn't say a proper goodbye

01:54:09.360 to loved ones and i talked to a man in cardston who teared up talking about how his 80 year old

01:54:14.480 parents were dying of loneliness in long-term care we're in a leadership

01:54:19.340 race because we made these decisions we our government caused this reaction they

01:54:26.180 allowed themselves to be bullied and pushed around by the NDP they didn't

01:54:33.500 stand up for the little guy now you know me I sometimes make mistakes but you

01:54:38.980 know I'm a fair person because if you heard me on radio for so many years I

01:54:42.860 I may make mistakes from time to time, but I won't be bullied, and I won't be pushed around.

01:54:48.340 I will stand up for you, and I will always put Alberta first.

01:54:51.700 Please vote for me. Go to DanielleSmith.co.

01:54:54.000 All right. Thank you, Ms. Smith.

01:54:56.640 Okay, okay, okay.

01:54:58.880 All righty, folks. All righty.

01:55:03.600 The next person who claps owes me a drink after this. Why don't we start with that rule?

01:55:08.080 You're in. All right. Thank you, Ms. Smith.

01:55:10.620 Ms. Schultz, you're up to the podium.

01:55:13.780 You have 90 seconds to address Albertans.

01:55:15.700 Please go ahead when you're ready.

01:55:17.420 Well, thank you.

01:55:18.580 Alberta is on the edge of being a world leader in every sense, but we're not there just yet.

01:55:23.920 And we absolutely can't risk losing that momentum.

01:55:27.980 Alberta needs a Conservative government to be an economic powerhouse that also strives to have the best health care, education, and supports for the most vulnerable in the country.

01:55:37.900 Because this leadership race, it's not about me.

01:55:40.620 it's not even about anyone on the stage it is about you it is about Kyle and

01:55:45.220 two hills who's probably not even watching this debate right now because

01:55:48.140 he's on his combine feeding Alberta and the rest of the world it's about

01:55:52.560 teachers like Robert and sundry who are doing their best to get ready to get

01:55:56.160 kids back in the classroom this week it's about the entrepreneurs and the

01:56:00.120 innovators the risk takers it's also about the parents tonight sitting in an

01:56:05.460 emergency room with their kids wanting peace of mind that their kids will have

01:56:09.600 quality health care and be able to see a doctor and it's about doctors like suri paramedics like

01:56:15.520 stew nurses like rosa who have the ideas on how we're going to fix this health care system 1.00

01:56:21.440 together i am in this for you for albertans and for you i will represent the values of

01:56:27.600 all of us in this big tent party with humility and with common sense so in this leadership race

01:56:34.640 vote for a leader who has a vision of hope and optimism for our future vote for a leader that

01:56:41.520 all albertans can get behind vote for a leader that you can be proud of please join me vote for

01:56:48.720 me all right thank you thank you michelle mr tapes are you ready 90 seconds to you when you're ready

01:56:58.480 go ahead and give your closing remarks to all alberts all right um firstly i would like to

01:57:05.280 appreciate all the candidates on the stage tonight i appreciate their commitment to this movement and

01:57:11.780 thereby their commitment to the province and i've appreciated the many ideas that have come out of

01:57:16.860 this leadership race all of that is of value but tonight i want to go back to the ballot question

01:57:22.760 What I believe is the most important question, and that is, who, which leader can unite this party and movement and go on to win the election in 2023?

01:57:32.680 Leadership matters, and leadership track record matters.

01:57:37.100 We've made great progress as a province in the last three years.

01:57:40.320 We've got a balanced budget.

01:57:41.740 We have an economy that's leading the nation this year and next.

01:57:46.540 Folks, we have economic diversification at rates probably not seen in my lifetime.

01:57:51.400 we've made great progress and I'm incredibly optimistic about the future

01:57:57.400 of this province and the future for the next generation your grandchildren and

01:58:02.620 mine but we have a lot of work to do now is the time for stewardship humility

01:58:09.100 and stability now is the time for strong principled proven leadership future

01:58:16.240 generations of Albertans are depending on us. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Taves. All right.

01:58:24.900 Mr. Jean, we're going to go to you next. Come on up to the podium. 90 seconds when you're ready to

01:58:31.360 address the membership in all Albertans. Thank you for listening tonight. And I would say that

01:58:36.840 there are many good people on the stage who want to lead our party. That's why they would all be

01:58:41.860 a Brian Jean cabinet. But I'm the only person who is actually talking about renewing the party

01:58:48.260 and returning it to what it was meant to be. A party that represents the vast majority of ordinary

01:58:54.660 everyday Albertans who want good conservative government that respects their autonomy,

01:58:59.140 their freedoms, their ability to choose for themselves. I want this party to make Albertans

01:59:04.340 happier. That involves changing the way we treat each other. Yes, it means returning to civility

01:59:09.860 for Albertans. I want to make this party for Albertans more healthier. And that means we have

01:59:17.200 to work with the good nurses and doctors to fix our health care system and make it the best in

01:59:21.920 the world. That's what I want to do. I want to make Albertans freer. And that means correcting

01:59:26.160 the mistakes of the last two years and making sure that our rights are actually protected going

01:59:30.320 forward. I'm the only one with a plan for that. And I want to make Albertans prosperous. That

01:59:35.040 That means fighting the Trudeau Liberals, fixing the Constitution, growing our economy

01:59:39.280 and taking advantage of the can-do spirit of Albertans.

01:59:43.300 If we do these things, we can renew our party and win the next election and win the next

01:59:48.340 election big.

01:59:51.420 You know that I've always been there for Albertans.

01:59:53.740 I always will be there for Albertans because I believe that they make the best decisions

01:59:57.520 when they're put in charge of their own decisions.

02:00:00.300 Please go to briangean.ca, join my team, vote for me number one, vote for me number two,

02:00:04.840 But please, vote for me in the top.

02:00:06.880 Thank you very much.

02:00:07.600 Thank you, Mr. Jean.

02:00:12.300 All right, Ms. Sonny, come on up. 0.99

02:00:15.200 90 seconds for you to address Albertans, the membership.

02:00:21.080 Okay, thank you everyone for joining tonight.

02:00:23.940 Reckless and distracting constitutional turmoil is not the top priority of Albertans,

02:00:29.540 and it's certainly not my top priority.

02:00:32.120 While some are out selling their schemes,

02:00:34.260 I've been talking to Albertans and I'm hearing that there are helpful things that they need

02:00:38.700 government to do, which I will do. Southern Alberta farmers need us to twin Highway 3.

02:00:44.920 Cattle ranchers need a second border crossing other than coots. The border blockade had a real

02:00:50.160 impact. There were real costs associated with it and ask the cattle ranchers. Northern Alberta

02:00:55.300 needs us to build a Fort Buck-Murray Peace River Highway. Students need us to strategically invest

02:01:01.100 and aid so they can afford to become the medical researchers, the electricians, and the code

02:01:05.500 writers that our economy needs. The healthcare system needs more healthcare workers. Municipalities

02:01:11.400 need us to ensure oil and gas companies pay their taxes. Rural Alberta needs broadband. They need

02:01:18.940 us to address crime and safety. And I'm not interested in going backwards and delving into

02:01:24.800 old grievances. I want to take Alberta forward. And finally, I do want to say this, that the

02:01:30.500 The politics of anger has caused a recent state of attacks on politicians and journalists.

02:01:36.060 And for those who spoke up and condemned it, I thank you.

02:01:38.760 And for those who didn't, I ask why.

02:01:41.420 We can't let the politics of anger win.

02:01:43.900 Instead, we must choose hope, progress, and most important of all, we must choose unity.

02:01:49.620 Please vote Rajan as your number one choice.

02:01:51.940 Thank you.

02:01:52.940 All right.

02:01:53.940 Thank you, Ms. Tawny.

02:01:54.940 Okay, folks, so the candidate's closing remarks ends the official debate

02:02:00.480 for the evening and folks before we do anything give these give every candidate here a round of

02:02:04.300 applause please it's it's tough sometimes we have to remember we're all on the same side here so

02:02:18.900 on behalf of ucp members i want to thank all the candidates for being here tonight this is uh this

02:02:23.400 has been fantastic i want the candidates to actually just stay seated for a minute and i

02:02:26.760 the audience to stay seated i do want to thank party president uh specifically cynthia moore

02:02:31.720 uh for putting this on and the entire the entire ucp team who uh who makes this all happen and a

02:02:37.960 huge thanks to the people of edmonton and all the staff here at the citadel theater for having us

02:02:41.800 tonight i think give them a round of applause too all right i am uh before we get a family photo at

02:02:50.840 the end here so none of the candidates are allowed to run away i want to call party president cynthia

02:02:54.520 Cynthia Moore back to the microphone to talk about a couple of key dates for our members. 1.00

02:02:58.200 Be sure to get your vote in on time to be counted for October 6th.

02:03:01.080 I want to say thank you.

02:03:01.960 Cynthia, over to you. 0.56

02:03:03.960 Well, when we planned this, we knew this would be exciting and it certainly was.

02:03:08.440 And what a privilege to hear such thoughtful discussions of the issues that matter to Albertans.

02:03:14.680 First of all, I want to thank Jeff.

02:03:16.440 Now, Jeff is a volunteer who I think I might have voluntold to do the first debate in Medicine Hat

02:03:23.480 and through your interest and support of his the job he did there he came back to help us

02:03:30.200 out tonight so let's give staff a round of applause thank you thank you

02:03:38.200 and then to the candidates um i i don't know about you but i'm very proud to sitting in

02:03:43.720 the audience tonight listening to these these conversations this has been an incredible

02:03:48.760 experience for our party i think this has contributed greatly to unity so i want to thank

02:03:53.480 them for for the job they've done now what i have to tell you is not quite as exciting but we are

02:04:03.960 moving on to the ballot phase of this uh this exercise and so as i said earlier um ballots

02:04:12.280 will officially begin um going out in the mail on friday to all 123 915 eligible united conservative

02:04:22.760 party members i love that number um your ballot must be returned so that it is received by the

02:04:31.800 independent accounting firm overseeing the leadership vote by monday october 3rd at 5 pm

02:04:38.920 and those of you who participated in the leadership review will remember we are very strict with

02:04:43.240 deadlines 5 p.m on monday october 3rd now their address will be on the return envelope enclosed

02:04:50.280 with your voting package so you don't have to worry about the return address more information

02:04:56.520 will be provided shortly about the locations and times of the in-person voting option

02:05:01.480 And because we're giving you two options to vote, we want you to be confident that our system ensures that only one vote is counted per eligible voting member.

02:05:13.940 Now, for those of you who haven't participated in a preferential ballot before, let's talk about the count.

02:05:21.540 In order to be elected leader of the United Conservative Party, a candidate must receive more than 50% of the valid votes cast.

02:05:31.600 Our rules state that we use a preferential ballot.

02:05:36.720 That means you will receive a ballot with all seven names on it,

02:05:41.360 and you will be asked to rank the candidates in the order of your preference.

02:05:46.720 You may rank as many or as few as you like.

02:05:51.040 On October 6th, volunteers will count the first choices on every ballot.

02:05:57.280 if no candidate receives more than 50 percent the person receiving the least number of first

02:06:03.440 place votes will be dropped from the race their second choices will be counted and so on this

02:06:11.200 process is repeated until a candidate gets over 50 percent you will receive detailed instructions

02:06:18.800 so don't worry if that doesn't make sense to you you'll have deep detailed instructions in your

02:06:23.760 ballot package and they can also be found on the ucp website on october 6th we will announce the

02:06:31.280 results and present our new leader and premier to the people of alberta at an event being planned

02:06:37.840 at the bmo center in calgary please join us if you can in person or the show will be accessible

02:06:45.840 to all albertans on our website as this event tonight was as well in addition we encourage

02:06:52.800 you to register for our 2022 ucp agm at river cree resort in enoch or here in edmonton

02:07:01.120 being held on october 21st through 23rd where the new leader will have the opportunity to make their

02:07:08.720 first major address to party members and kick off our 2023 election campaign you won't want to miss

02:07:16.720 that. Now, thank you all of you for being here tonight. This has been an historic process.

02:07:25.120 Good night, and we'll see you again on October 6th.

02:07:36.640 Thank you so much. Thanks.

02:07:46.720 Thank you.

02:08:16.720 Thank you.

02:08:46.720 .

02:09:16.720 .

02:09:46.720 .

02:10:16.720 .

02:10:46.720 .

02:11:16.720 You

Western Standard - August 31, 2022

UCP Leadership Debate

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