Western Standard - UCP Leadership Debate - Medicine Hat

00:00:00.000 Our media landscape is dominated by a few big players, almost all of which are owned

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00:04:10.980 Music

00:04:39.980 the HALO air ambulance hangar. I'm sure you'll agree that this is an amazing

00:04:46.820 backdrop.

00:04:56.100 HALO offers

00:04:59.360 Thank you to HALO for the work they do providing life-saving services.

00:05:10.180 Thank you also to our UCB volunteers in the constituencies of Brooks Medicine Hat and

00:05:15.460 Cypress Medicine Hat for the inspiration for this event.

00:05:25.900 We are very pleased to be partnering with them.

00:05:29.880 Also of note is that the questions tonight were developed from thousands of submissions

00:05:34.560 received from our membership.

00:05:37.980 This leadership election is an extremely important decision for our party.

00:05:43.240 We are electing a premier and the leader who will take us into the next election.

00:05:49.300 Best of luck to the candidates with their efforts here tonight.

00:05:54.780 I would be remiss if I didn't remind you of these important deadlines.

00:05:59.780 Anyone wanting to participate in this event has to have a UCP membership by 11.59 p.m.

00:06:07.340 on August 12th.

00:06:10.100 Ballots will be mailed on September 2nd and must be received by October 3rd.

00:06:16.500 The new UCP leader will be presented to all Albertans on October 6th in Calgary.

00:06:24.500 on with the show I'd like to introduce you to our moderator for this debate

00:06:30.260 Jeff Davison Jeff is a former Calgary City Councillor and presently the CEO of

00:06:44.420 the Prostate Cancer Center take it away Jeff thank you Cynthia give Cynthia a

00:06:51.620 round of applause good evening everybody and welcome to the first united conservative party

00:06:57.620 2022 official leadership debate and thank you for joining us as we broadcast you live from beautiful

00:07:03.940 medicine hat okay tonight we will have the seven leadership candidates on stage to give us their

00:07:10.820 positions on a series of questions submitted by you the ucp party membership from across the province

00:07:17.220 Each candidate will be given an equal opportunity to speak.

00:07:20.900 The order by which we address the questions from our members has been predetermined by

00:07:34.420 the UCP party members and of course to all Albertans as we are streaming across the province.

00:07:40.180 This evening in the first of two debates candidates will be asked for their views

00:07:44.500 on the future of the united conservative party and a government led by them as premier of alberta

00:08:00.420 .

00:08:15.460 .

00:08:17.800 Last request.

00:08:19.800 This one is for members of the audience.

00:08:21.740 I ask one thing from you.

00:08:22.700 You refrain from reacting to answers from the

00:08:24.720 candidates.

00:08:26.180 Please no clapping or cheering or booing or no

00:08:27.920 signs.

00:08:29.240 Let's be respectful and remind ourselves that we're all one party here.

00:08:34.240 Time is tight and we will not be stopping the clock.

00:08:36.240 So please don't distract the candidates.

00:08:38.240 All right.

00:08:39.240 Everybody ready?

00:08:40.240 Here we go.

00:08:41.240 Let's start things off with opening statements.

00:08:43.240 Mr. Lowen, you have the floor.

00:08:44.240 One minute, please.

00:08:45.240 Hello, everyone.

00:08:46.240 It's great to be here today and it's great to be in Medicine Hat.

00:08:49.240 It's been a great campaign so far, crisscrossing Alberta, and it's great to be here in the southeast part of the province.

00:08:58.240 of the province of course i'm from the northwest part of the province in the peace country

00:09:01.840 and there i am a husband a father of five a grandfather of eight and uh maybe more on the

00:09:09.280 way and so but i'm running for the ucp leadership for one simple reason to give our party back to

00:09:17.040 its membership to bring back trust accountability transparency now my campaign is is theme is

00:09:28.240 your Alberta, your way. My focus is to offer the party an opportunity to reconnect with

00:09:35.160 the broader conservative movement and all Albertans. I believe the best way to do this

00:09:40.440 is with a fresh slate of ideas, firmly grounded in principles and values that we all share.

00:09:48.160 I look forward to sharing any of these ideas going forward. Thank you.

00:09:52.120 Thank you, Mr. Vaughan. Ms. Smith, over to you. One minute.

00:09:54.860 Thank you, Jeff. I'm Danielle Smith. I'm a business owner. I've been a business advocate. I've been a print radio, TV and podcast journalist. And I can say I've been in the public eye for about 25 years. I've discussed thousands of issues. I've been right about a lot of things. I've been wrong about a few things. But that's okay. I'm not perfect. I do always try to learn from others. I try to consult broadly and I try to keep an open discussion and a fair mind as I'm listening to people who disagree with me.

00:10:24.860 that I think is important to bring to politics it's important to have that

00:10:29.120 respectful debate and the broad range of discussion on a whole variety of issues

00:10:32.540 the reason I think we're here tonight though is because we're trying to choose

00:10:37.040 the best leader for this party we're trying to ask the question who is going

00:10:42.080 to be the best person to stand up to Ottawa who is going to be the best

00:10:45.480 person to take on Rachel Notley and win in the next election and who is the best

00:10:49.520 person to give you back your freedoms and to protect them and I think that

00:10:52.920 person's me and i look forward to telling you why thank you miss smith right on time all right miss

00:10:57.800 anny one minute up to you thank you jeff canada is going down a dangerous path and alberta is being

00:11:04.440 seriously impacted negatively impacted by decisions made in ottawa we all know that decisions made

00:11:11.960 through an ideological lens without empathy for the communities that rely on those industries

00:11:17.160 the people who rely on those jobs the family incomes and the customers who benefit from our

00:11:23.240 products and what are we to do about it alberta must fight back absolutely but we can't be risky

00:11:30.920 and we can't be hot-headed being premier is a lot more than being a talk show host we need stable

00:11:38.360 and serious government in alberta now more than ever before i experienced this in 2007 and again

00:11:45.960 in 2015 during the royalty review when investment fled the province and that was due to provincial

00:11:52.840 policy and that was tame compared to the sovereignty act thank you all right thanks

00:11:59.560 miss sani okay reset the clock miss schultz one minute i'm rebecca schultz and i'm running to be

00:12:04.920 the leader of this amazing party and the next premier of alberta because i love alberta we

00:12:11.800 We cannot take the future of our province for granted.

00:12:15.740 Albertans I've met say they want a leader who can unite this party, and that starts

00:12:20.520 with our team to take on Rachel Notley and the NDP in 2023.

00:12:25.720 That takes someone who knows that unity starts with our team, and you, our party members.

00:12:32.260 Someone who is disciplined, who won't let you down with embarrassing comments, but instead

00:12:36.480 someone who can make you, our party members, and supporters proud. Someone who can rise above the

00:12:43.360 division with a vision for the future, yes, of balanced budgets, of making sure

00:13:06.480 Thank you.

00:13:36.480 Thank you.

00:14:06.480 We will beat the NDP in 2023 and position this province for prosperity, opportunity, and growth.

00:14:34.820 Thank you, Mr. Taves.

00:14:36.480 Last but not least, Mr. Jean, over to you, one minute.

00:14:39.300 Thanks, Jeff. Hello, everyone. I'm Brian Jean, and I'm running to be the leader of the party,

00:14:44.080 this great party that so many of us did so much work to start.

00:14:49.060 I'm running for the leadership because I want to make Albertans the happiest, the healthiest,

00:14:52.620 the most free and most prosperous people in Canada and the world.

00:14:56.500 I want to be your premier to help you have more control of your life, more autonomy.

00:15:01.660 As an Albertan, I have strived to serve my community, my neighbours, whether as a business

00:15:08.440 owner, a lawyer, a community volunteer, a member of parliament, a party leader or an

00:15:13.900 MLA.

00:15:15.100 I believe that the United Conservative Party has the best ideas and the best principles.

00:15:20.160 If the UCP is led in a way that connects with normal, everyday Albertans, we will have success

00:15:25.060 and we will serve and lead Albertans to prosperity for many years to come.

00:15:30.180 This party has wonderful people in it.

00:15:32.180 We only have to renew the UCP and connect it to the wishes and the needs of Albertans,

00:15:36.920 and if we do that, we will win the next election against the NDP.

00:15:40.620 Thank you.

00:15:41.620 Thank you, Mr. Jean.

00:15:42.620 All right.

00:15:43.620 Thank you to all the candidates.

00:15:44.620 All right.

00:15:45.620 We're now going to move into the question round.

00:15:46.620 So the first question is going to you, Mr. Lowen.

00:15:48.940 You'll have just a reminder, you'll have two minutes to answer, at which point then

00:15:52.700 I'll ask you the question, who would you like to debate, and we'll go from there.

00:15:55.940 All right.

00:15:56.940 First topic.

00:15:57.940 Topic is affordability.

00:16:00.060 Let's face it, the cost of living in Alberta and around the globe is getting more expensive.

00:16:04.940 Significant price increases for gas, food, eating our homes and electricity, coupled with

00:16:10.300 skyrocketing inflation have all negatively affected Alberta families and in particular

00:16:14.880 our seniors, First Nations and other vulnerable communities.

00:16:19.140 If Alberta's primary value proposition is an affordable, high quality of life, how

00:16:24.560 would you work to ensure this for everyone and what specifically would you do to

00:16:30.060 Significant price increases for gas, food, heating our homes and electricity coupled

00:16:51.540 with skyrocketing inflation have all negatively affected Alberta families and in particular

00:16:56.300 our seniors, First Nations and other vulnerable communities.

00:17:00.060 If Alberta's primary value proposition is an affordable, high quality of life,

00:17:05.760 how would you work to ensure this for everyone, and what specifically would you do?

00:17:30.060 Thank you.

00:18:00.060 Thank you.

00:18:30.060 Alberta drivers right now half a million young Alberta drivers still have their GDL.

00:18:53.740 That means that program is not providing any safety to our roads.

00:18:57.760 What it does do, it adds $150 of cost to every young Albertan and requires them to do another

00:19:04.380 road test.

00:19:05.380 I would scrap that immediately.

00:19:06.940 I will also bring forward a child tax credit that will work effectively like expanding

00:19:13.560 the personal exemption on your tax return.

00:19:16.560 That will provide every family with $2,000 of additional deduction or tax credit for

00:19:22.520 every child at a time when many families are really pushed and stretched to make the end of the month

00:19:28.200 that will provide real relief all right okay that ends the first part of the question we're

00:19:33.240 now going to go into four minutes of open debate between mr taves mr lohan mr lohan kick us off

00:19:39.080 okay so mr taves i guess one thing that i think is concerning to albertans is the the four million

00:19:44.120 four billion dollars in covet spending that uh that the auditor jenner wasn't able to figure out

00:19:48.440 outside i think we need to have some answers on that and when i look at uh this government's

00:19:52.760 record again we we're sitting here in 112 billion dollars of debt uh i don't see that there's been

00:19:58.360 a plan to pay down that debt and start cutting back in those interest payments so i would like

00:20:03.240 to hear some more uh information on that i would i think that we we're in a situation now where we

00:20:08.920 we've watched this this uh train wreck coming slowly and slowly and now we're in a situation

00:20:14.040 where when you compare our debt compared to the federal debt and on an individual basis we're

00:20:19.000 just as higher higher and that's i think alarming for albertans that are that are working hard and

00:20:24.600 and doing their best to to support their families and living within their means and we have a

00:20:29.480 government that hasn't been living within this means we complained about the ndp and how often

00:20:34.520 how how their budget was so high and we complained about their spending when we were in uh in

00:20:39.400 opposition but here we are spending 10% more than the NDP did. I can see you're ready to jump in

00:20:44.520 Mr. Taylor. Feel free to jump in anytime. This is open debate. Good all right well thank you. Here

00:20:49.400 first thing on the Auditor General report number one there's no four billion dollars that are

00:20:54.440 missing. The Auditor General gave the Government of Alberta a clean audit report. For all of you

00:20:59.400 in the room that know what a clean audit report is that means there are no funds missing not one

00:21:05.080 dollar and yes we have brought fiscal discipline to the province i as the minister of finance

00:21:10.760 brought fiscal discipline to this province we had a 10 billion dollar overspend spending addiction

00:21:17.720 inherited from the ndp and previous pc governments if i'm honest we have narrowed in fact by this

00:21:23.560 fiscal year we will have eliminated that 10 billion dollar overspend that was job number

00:21:29.080 one in putting this province on a sustainable fiscal trajectory because friends we balance

00:21:33.640 the budget not on $100 oil. We balanced it on $70, $69, and $66 oil by bringing fiscal

00:21:40.840 discipline to the province's finances and positioning this province for investment attraction,

00:21:47.080 economic growth, which results in expanded fiscal capacity. That combination has allowed me as the

00:21:53.960 Minister of Finance to present a balanced budget through all three years of the fiscal plan.

00:22:00.200 finally putting this province on a sustainable fiscal trajectory let's let mr lowen jump in

00:22:04.760 here what do you got to say okay yeah mr taves i appreciate your uh coming on side with the gdl i

00:22:10.200 think that's actually a really good idea when uh but i think what a lot of people are wondering

00:22:14.680 when we have a musing about a pst i think albertans are very concerned about that i i am

00:22:20.520 against and i never have been in favor and never even used about a pst like you have and i think

00:22:26.200 that's something that should be cleared up right away that uh that this government will not put

00:22:31.160 forward a pst on albertans i think that's very important that's something we've we've talked

00:22:35.480 about a lot and i think we we've defended that a lot but now we have a couple couple of candidates

00:22:41.160 up here sure that have talked about the pst and i think we need to set the record straight and i'll

00:22:45.960 set it straight all right so go ahead and i will set this the record straight there's only one

00:22:49.960 leadership hopeful that i'm aware of on this stage that is not only mused about a pst but actually

00:22:56.680 advocated for a pst and todd lowen that's the leadership hopeful standing right next to you

00:23:02.040 i have never mused about a pst look if you want to know what i would do as premier look at what

00:23:07.640 i did as finance minister i balanced the budget by actually reducing business taxes i balanced

00:23:13.960 the budget by bringing fiscal discipline to this problem let's get let's get going but you did

00:23:19.880 also muse on the the pst and uh as far as the four billion dollars could you explain where it went i

00:23:27.000 mean we the auditor general said that it was that there was no records of where where did that go

00:23:31.960 the auditor general gave the province a clean audit report it was recorded that doesn't tell

00:23:36.360 us where the money was ending full stop it's all recorded and accounted all right all right okay so

00:23:41.800 that ends the first round of open debate that actually went a little smoother than i thought

00:23:45.880 it would be there was no throwing that was perfect okay so we've had a few folks put up their paddle

00:23:50.920 that means we've got 45 seconds to chime in i have ms ahir ms schultz ms sani and ms smith

00:23:57.320 is that the correct order anybody else all right okay let's go ahead and listen here 45 seconds

00:24:01.720 thank you so much first of all there's many people on this stage that we're part of government there

00:24:06.120 is no i am team we do these things together if we're going to build this team let's stop

00:24:09.880 start talking about how we did these things collectively second of all yes re-index tax

00:24:14.520 benefits we need to catch up for the past years but you also need to notify the cra to reduce the

00:24:19.640 tax withholding on albertans and the paychecks that actually leaves more money in your pockets

00:24:24.200 our government has not kept up with pace with inflation and for that we actually owe you an

00:24:29.400 apology so we need to re-index h alberta seniors benefits we have to catch up and move forward

00:24:35.160 i would like to also present an opportunity for small business tax thresholds index of inflation

00:24:40.840 women-run indigenous-run businesses farmers manufacturing new canadians are growing at

00:24:45.720 amazing rates including probably fast time that's 45 seconds there i know it's fast thanks mr here

00:24:50.760 okay miss schultz 45 seconds to you i was the first candidate to bring forward a platform on

00:24:55.000 affordability because it is the number one issue i hear from albertans investing kids activities

00:25:00.200 yes i love that idea we committed to it first getting rid of the small business tax starting

00:25:05.320 for two years so that small businesses know that they're respected they're the backbone of our

00:25:09.080 community i absolutely think we need to continue fuel tax relief and re-index personal income

00:25:15.400 taxes i was also the first candidate to put forward a plan for what to do with the surplus

00:25:20.040 35 into debt repayment 35 in saving for our future and 30 to address affordability needs

00:25:27.240 now i would say the same one person does not balance a budget as a minister who worked hard

00:25:31.080 to transform every area of her ministry to do better by albertans not only in the types of

00:25:36.120 programs we offer but the amount of dollars we invest that's 45 i know it's fast all right miss

00:25:41.000 sonny 45 seconds thank you and yes of course affordability is on top of mind for most albertans

00:25:46.520 and these issues with inflation hit middle class hard-working families the most and i had announced

00:25:53.320 earlier on several weeks earlier that i was planning to ensure that we index income tax

00:25:59.640 brackets and we index social support such as seniors benefits and age recipients as well because

00:26:06.360 again vulnerable communities are also hit very very hard with the uh inflation rate that we

00:26:12.280 haven't seen these rates since the early 80s i also want to make a comment about gdl while it

00:26:18.600 is a good policy on paper i would have to say that it sounds like there has been limited consultation

00:26:23.400 done because driving school would be impacted very severely with this policy okay time all right

00:26:29.720 miss smith 45 seconds all right as i said as a columnist over 25 years i've mused on a lot of

00:26:36.040 issues and i want to put into context my musing it was when we were at 24 billion dollars in a

00:26:41.000 deficit we only had two billion dollars with the resource revenue i think when you have those

00:26:45.720 circumstances it's no surprise the premier and the finance minister and i were talking about how do

00:26:50.360 we solve that problem fortunately resource revenues have bailed us out again notwithstanding what the

00:26:56.120 finance former finance minister said we have a four billion dollar surplus that's great we've

00:27:01.560 got 16 billion dollars with the resource revenue this year that means we have a 12 billion dollar

00:27:06.920 structural deficit that we still haven't solved i wrote a major paper for the school of public

00:27:11.000 policy that had several elements about how we would restructure how we would create how spending

00:27:15.560 I think it counts so that we can address this issue and grow our heritage savings trust.

00:27:19.340 That's time.

00:27:20.340 There we go.

00:27:21.340 Okay.

00:27:22.340 First question of the way.

00:27:23.340 No takers on any other things?

00:27:24.340 All right.

00:27:25.340 Okay.

00:27:26.340 We're going to move on.

00:27:27.340 Question two.

00:27:28.340 This question is for you, Ms. Smith.

00:27:29.340 It has to do with the environment.

00:27:31.680 Conservative Albertans are often villainized as not caring about the environment despite

00:27:35.360 having a track record of clean and ethical energy production that supports a healthy

00:27:39.580 Canadian economy.

00:27:41.420 The opposition targets conservatives with negative rhetoric around GHG reduction, decarbonization,

00:27:47.560 net-zero policies, and adaptation of physical planning all under the umbrella of a climate

00:27:52.320 emergency, spending billions without any defined outcomes.

00:27:56.800 Alternatively, most conservatives would say they care a great deal about the environment

00:28:00.700 today and what they will leave behind for generations to come.

00:28:04.700 Albertans value our clean air, lakes, outdoor spaces, trails, and mountains to name a few.

00:28:10.920 What would you do to change the narrative around this negative environmental stereotype

00:28:16.020 and what specific targets would you strive to achieve in order to create a greener, more

00:28:20.600 sustainable Alberta?

00:28:22.160 You have two minutes.

00:28:23.160 Thanks so much, Jeff.

00:28:24.160 I remember getting hit by Graham Thompson years ago in 2012 when I talked about how

00:28:28.920 the science wasn't settled on climate change and I can tell you what I've come around full

00:28:34.100 circle on that.

00:28:35.100 I am now probably the first and early adopter of thinking that we can hit a net zero target

00:28:40.900 and we can get there faster than anyone anywhere else and I'll tell you why I

00:28:45.100 believe that number one has been the incredible innovation that we have seen

00:28:49.600 among our entrepreneurs and in the business community and we as

00:28:52.540 conservatives have always believed that technology was going to be the answer

00:28:56.320 and I can tell you it is the answer whether we capture the co2 and bury it

00:29:00.940 underground or whether we turn it into useful products like carbon nanofiber

00:29:04.660 which can be a replacement for steel cement so we can make a more durable

00:29:08.620 construction material plastics you can also turn it into industrial minerals that can be turned into

00:29:13.660 soap my favorite one is you can turn it into alcohol there is a company called airco that

00:29:19.420 takes a pure stream of co2 and makes it into vodka you can just imagine the marketing opportunities

00:29:24.300 on that one so when i look at the at the challenge that we have that is the message that we have to

00:29:28.780 get out there is that we have immense pore space in alberta that will allow us to capture co2

00:29:34.300 our conversion of our economy to a hydrogen economy is already well underway with this

00:29:38.860 government we're building a hub in the edmonton area if we start building hydrogen fueling stations

00:29:44.700 all over this province we'll be able to change over our long-haul vehicles to be hydrogen based

00:29:50.540 then we will be able to be a hub for the construction of hydrogen vehicles why not

00:29:55.420 attract uh toyota here so that they can build their toyota mirrors why do we have to wait

00:30:00.060 for Ottawa to be the centre of the auto industry.

00:30:04.660 We can be the centre of auto manufacturing here.

00:30:07.360 But that's not the only issue.

00:30:08.500 Once we get the issue of CO2 out of the way

00:30:10.920 and people see that we are serious about solving it

00:30:13.580 and getting there faster than anywhere else,

00:30:15.340 we also have to tackle the issues of air quality,

00:30:18.080 of water quality, of making sure that we're doing habitat protection,

00:30:21.620 which our farmers and ranchers do so well.

00:30:23.340 And I can't wait to sell that message.

00:30:25.340 All right, thank you.

00:30:26.160 Okay, who would you like to debate on this topic?

00:30:27.980 I would like to debate Raj and Sonny.

00:30:31.320 All right, Ms. Sonny, again, the question was, what would you do to change the narrative around this negative environmental stereotype?

00:30:38.380 And what specific targets would you strive to achieve in order to create a greener, more sustainable Alberta?

00:30:43.480 You have a minute and a half.

00:30:44.940 Thank you.

00:30:45.580 Well, there are a number of areas that we need to look at, but I'm going to talk about energy specifically.

00:30:51.300 The reality is that even Canadians across this country have a very negative perception of Alberta.

00:30:57.500 They think of us as rich emitters.

00:30:59.960 And before we can tackle the issues with security of supply, we need to make sure that we have more information out all across the nation to ensure that Canadians understand that Alberta energy is the cleanest, most ethical source of energy absolutely in the world.

00:31:17.440 Now, the other thing that I wanted to talk about as it relates to energy, because we talk quite a bit about transition in energy.

00:31:24.500 And there are two aspects that we have to keep in mind.

00:31:26.940 we've already talked about hydrogen that has been mentioned we have ample natural gas resources here

00:31:32.940 in alberta and that can translate into hydrogen supply we are still working on the demand portion

00:31:39.580 of that equation and that was some of the work that i was doing as minister of transportation

00:31:44.540 now going to lng i thought that we had missed the boat on lng but that's actually not true

00:31:50.620 because of the geopolitical situation that we are seeing right now in europe we know again

00:31:55.980 security of supplies on top of mind for everyone and Alberta is again on the cusp uniquely positioned

00:32:03.020 to be the supplier of natural gas for LNG but what concerns me is when we start talking about

00:32:09.500 things like the sovereignty act that is the number one thing that is going to drive investment away

00:32:15.100 from our problems. All right I gotta cut you off there I'm sorry I know a minute and a half is

00:32:18.220 tough it's all tough it's hard to get everything you want to say in a couple minutes. All right

00:32:22.220 Let's start four minutes of open debate.

00:32:24.120 Smith, I'm going to start with you.

00:32:25.640 And if I have to, I'll force back and forth 30 seconds so that we kind of make some points and allow for a lot of time.

00:32:30.480 You got it.

00:32:30.980 I'd love to talk more about the Sovereignty Act because it's absolutely essential to getting our...

00:32:35.360 Well, let's keep this one on the environment.

00:32:36.900 We will.

00:32:37.840 It's absolutely essential to getting our products to market because what I would like to see is us take the lead on developing economic corridors.

00:32:46.080 We have been waiting since the 1930s for Ottawa to develop economic corridors.

00:32:50.620 it's been almost a hundred years they are not going to develop economic

00:32:54.280 corridors for us but we've got such a huge opportunity to partner with our

00:32:57.900 First Nations community we've got the treaty settlements that have happened in

00:33:01.420 Alberta Saskatchewan and Manitoba there's a group of 14 First Nations that

00:33:05.940 want to take the lead on developing an economic corridor and it would be 10

00:33:09.400 kilometres wide and the nice part about it is by making it wide enough you can

00:33:13.000 take care of your caribou habitat you can make sure that you're doing your

00:33:16.180 landowner protection you can identify endangered species and habitat and

00:33:19.960 wetlands and you can take care of that as well. But then you can also develop the rail line.

00:33:24.960 I just want to say that we don't need an unconstitutional impractical sovereignty

00:33:30.400 act to develop economic corridors. In fact, that work is already underway. As the Minister

00:33:35.240 of Transportation, this was one of my key priorities and I worked with MLA's Shane

00:33:39.900 Getzen on this because what happened when we had the BC storms and those highways and

00:33:45.260 bridges were decimated all the traffic came through highway number three and

00:33:49.700 that is why one of the first things that I did when I interacted with the federal

00:33:54.260 government was to tell them that we need to develop that economic corridor that's

00:33:58.760 an agri-food corridor and I applied for money through the national because the

00:34:03.980 question is on the environment right we're looking for tangible pieces to

00:34:08.000 move forward in terms of how do you change that negative stereotype right

00:34:11.480 And what specific targets are you going to move forward with to achieve a more sustainable, greener Alberta?

00:34:17.460 Well, part of that conversation is ensuring that we're maintaining investor confidence.

00:34:24.160 Because if we are going to invest in greener technology and we are going to encourage people from across the globe to come to Alberta,

00:34:32.420 for example, if we want to invest in high-speed rail that could be powered by hydrogen-powered locomotive,

00:34:37.980 that investor confidence needs to be maintained any work that you want to do

00:34:43.040 on environmental initiatives requires bringing investment in and it requires

00:34:47.760 being entrepreneurial and it requires supporting our local residents as well

00:34:51.860 but if we have a situation where we have a candidate who is inviting a situation

00:34:56.580 of turmoil of chaos and inviting investors to stay away from our province

00:35:02.520 because we're too politically risky that is a problem not just for the

00:35:06.160 environment for energy and agriculture. Ottawa has created chaos. Ottawa has canceled our projects.

00:35:12.160 Ottawa has caused Energy East and Tech Frontier mine and tens of billions of other projects

00:35:17.060 to be canceled. The reason these are linked is because part of our strategy in reducing greenhouse

00:35:22.400 gas emissions is exporting our clean LNG to displace coal in India and China. We cannot do

00:35:29.660 that because Ottawa keeps standing in our way. We need to build economic corridors. We need to take

00:35:34.720 the lead on that. We need to work with our First Nations. We need to take the lead on

00:35:38.380 solving the environmental issues so that we can get our product to Churchill, to Thunder

00:35:42.480 Bay, to Tuktoyaktuk, to Port-au-Prince-Rupert. And we have to exert our sovereignty to do

00:35:47.180 that because Ottawa is not going to do it for us.

00:35:49.740 We have a fight on our hands with Ottawa. Absolutely. And that fight is long, it's

00:35:52.720 arduous. There are no shortcuts, people. There is no Magical Sovereignty Act or any other

00:35:57.820 legislation that is going to let us bypass those very difficult steps. The problem is

00:36:03.020 when we shoot ourselves in the foot with provincial policies.

00:36:06.940 Provincial policies, like a Sovereignty Act,

00:36:09.540 that is creating a politically risky environment,

00:36:12.580 and that is going to impact everything.

00:36:14.480 Exactly what I said earlier, environmental initiatives,

00:36:17.460 energy initiatives, agricultural initiatives.

00:36:20.100 This is tantalizing.

00:36:21.980 The act, it's seductive, it draws you in, but it is an illusion.

00:36:25.840 And my question is, what are you going to do

00:36:28.060 when you can't deliver what you're trying to sell?

00:36:30.580 all right okay that ends our four minutes it's getting hot in here all right as far as paddles

00:36:39.660 go mr taves you put up your paddle there i noticed you 45 seconds on the clock for you

00:36:43.300 all right good thanks jeff i have to agree with miss sonny on this one implementing the sovereignty

00:36:49.020 act simply we can't wish all of ottawa's obstructionism away by waving the magic wand

00:36:55.220 on the Sovereignty Act. I agree. A Sovereignty Act, the way it is proposed, would ultimately bring

00:37:01.380 a lack of predictability and uncertainty into this province that would drive investment out.

00:37:06.000 Look, we've made great progress in the last three years. Alberta will lead the nation in economic

00:37:10.300 growth this year and next. We cannot unwind that. We don't win when we operate from a position of

00:37:15.960 weakness. Now, what we need to do, we need to sell what we do already. We have the most responsible

00:37:21.980 energy and agriculture industries in the world, we need to sell their responsibility because the

00:37:27.200 world needs more Alberta energy and Alberta agriculture. All right, thank you. Right on time.

00:37:31.660 Were there any other paddles that I missed? Nobody going once? All right, let's move on here.

00:37:37.140 Question three is for Ms. Sonny. All right, it's on health care reform. The COVID-19 pandemic placed

00:37:43.540 enormous pressure on health systems across the country and around the world. Canada's premiers

00:37:48.940 say it is intensified pre-existing

00:37:51.880 fractures in health systems all across the

00:37:54.180 country and that we're now at a critical point.

00:37:56.980 The premiers are asking the federal government

00:37:59.360 to increase the Canada health transfer to help

00:38:02.420 ensure we all have access to high quality and

00:38:04.860 timely health services.

00:38:06.700 With specifics, as leader, how would you

00:38:09.700 ensure that Albertans get the tests,

00:38:12.000 procedures and health services they need

00:38:14.540 when they need them?

00:38:16.000 Ms. Oni, you have two minutes.

00:38:17.540 Thank you, Jeff.

00:38:18.940 because health care is another issue that's been on top of mind for Albertans when I launched my

00:38:24.220 campaign one of the first things I did was to indicate that I will launch a transparent open

00:38:31.020 inquiry into the pandemic response because we have done a number of things right in this response and

00:38:36.860 we have done a number of things wrong we all know that and there are a diversity of opinions on this

00:38:41.820 matter and we need everyone to come to the table to discuss that the outcome of that inquiry will

00:38:47.500 will show us where the gaps are in the healthcare system

00:38:50.680 that arose as a result of the pandemic.

00:38:52.940 So that is number one.

00:38:54.380 Number two, my intention is to repair relationships

00:38:58.640 with doctors, physicians, healthcare workers, nurses,

00:39:02.340 because we cannot move forward in any significant fashion

00:39:06.040 on any kind of healthcare reform

00:39:07.900 if we don't have those who are central

00:39:10.920 and intrinsic to the system at the table.

00:39:13.920 Many of you know that your physicians

00:39:16.320 our community leaders as well, and we have to stop this war with the physicians.

00:39:20.780 Number three, I think everybody in this room will agree that there are issues with Alberta Health Services.

00:39:26.840 We know that.

00:39:28.100 I was in rural Alberta not too long ago in a room full of elected officials,

00:39:32.700 and there was a big screen on the TV with a representative from AHS.

00:39:37.600 He told everybody in that room that there is nothing to see here.

00:39:42.120 You have what you need, and you have enough doctors.

00:39:44.960 The data shows it.

00:39:46.320 There is a woman, several people actually, who are crying in that room.

00:39:50.600 She said to me, I will die in this community because, first of all, we won't get an ambulance.

00:39:55.760 And secondly, if an ambulance does come, there will be no doctor at that hospital.

00:40:00.880 So Alberta Health Services is an inverted triangle.

00:40:04.480 It needs to be flipped.

00:40:05.820 It's too top-heavy.

00:40:07.820 And one of the comments that came up, actually, from physicians in Edmonton, was that maybe we need to move back to regional boards.

00:40:14.340 there are many aspects of Asia that need to be dismantled all right that's two

00:40:19.220 minutes who would you like to debate on the health care topic miss Daniel Smith

00:40:23.520 all right miss Smith I'll repeat the question one more time for you all right

00:40:28.260 let's settle down folks with specifics as leader how would you ensure that

00:40:32.400 Albertans get the tests procedures and health services they need when they need

00:40:36.820 them you have a minute and one sure I just want to take a moment to clarify a

00:40:40.800 comment i made in a podcast last week about cancer that was misunderstood i know the cancer can

00:40:47.520 strike anyone at any time without any relation to lifestyle especially kids but not just kids

00:40:54.080 it happened to my mother-in-law too she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and only survived

00:40:59.280 three months after diagnosis and by the time they found out she was so malnourished that they weren't

00:41:04.800 able to continue her chemo treatments that's why i became such a proponent of early detection early

00:41:11.840 treatment nutrition and holistic medicine there are so many more options if you diagnose early

00:41:19.520 and you can treat early and that's what i was trying to say i'll be in very awkwardly but it's

00:41:24.720 in that vein that is why i proposed health spending accounts because we spend so much money

00:41:30.880 on the back end when people have a disease that manifests and we spend no money on the front end

00:41:36.080 on prevention to keep people well and so if we were to establish health spending accounts with

00:41:41.120 300 in them we'd all be able to deal with the trauma of the last two years mental health

00:41:47.120 counseling nutrition dietitian naturopathic doctors chiropractors physiotherapists if we

00:41:53.520 can start spending some money at the front end i think it's going to be transformative in the

00:41:57.680 system and we will save money as people are not going into the system and when we get into fall

00:42:02.160 respiratory virus season we're going to make sure that we have enough room to be able to handle that

00:42:06.560 surgeon patient load that's the first step i'd take all right thank you miss smith all right

00:42:10.800 let's start the clock for four minutes of debate miss sonny kick us off okay thank you jeff and

00:42:16.480 thank you miss smith for your clarification of your comments but i'm sorry i'm not buying it

00:42:22.240 because you made a subsequent video where you actually double down on your perspective and

00:42:26.800 And the reality is, is that those comments are very hurtful to any Albertan, any Canadian who has lost somebody from cancer or anybody who is suffering from cancer right now.

00:42:37.400 There is another aspect to cancer that I want to talk about right now.

00:42:40.380 When I had launched, I had talked about mental health supports.

00:42:44.120 It's a reality that many cancer survivors experience debilitating depression after their treatments.

00:42:50.100 so to the comments that were made basically diminishes the experience of

00:42:55.200 cancer survivors and their families and I want to know when are you going to

00:42:59.400 apologize to Alberta for the comments that you made I did apologize because I

00:43:03.160 was clearly misunderstood one of the main points I wanted to make as well I've

00:43:07.740 been talking with I core blood services they have I mentioned this in the podcast

00:43:11.640 as well they have a test of thirteen hundred dollars that would allow us to

00:43:15.820 look at biomarkers in the blood I think every one of us who've had a loved one

00:43:19.800 die of cancer have always said, gosh, if only we caught it earlier. The reason we say that is

00:43:25.400 because we know that when you catch it earlier, there are far more treatment options. That was

00:43:29.440 the intention of what I wanted to say. I know that the I-Corps blood services has approached

00:43:34.360 the government to see if they would fund a pilot program into this $1,300 test. You know what,

00:43:40.260 if I was premier, you bet absolutely I would. Because I know that if somebody has a pre-existing

00:43:44.860 condition, if they have some kind of genetic predisposition towards cancer, if they're

00:43:49.100 beginning to see early symptoms it will be the very best way for us to diagnose and then we can

00:43:54.080 get them the wraparound services that they need the nutrition the exercise the additional support

00:43:58.860 as well as traditional chemotherapy and surgical intervention and radiation excellent I'm just

00:44:04.680 going to jump in here because clearly you've had time to think about this and think it through

00:44:08.820 after the outcry from your original remarks and if the apology was indeed delivered then that is

00:44:14.840 great, but I think it needs to be clarified because I have doctors and physicians and

00:44:18.740 former stakeholders from community and social services telling me that this kind of rhetoric

00:44:23.620 is harmful. It's harmful to Albertans. And Ms. Smith, you have a platform. You are an influencer.

00:44:30.940 You have people who listen to what you say. Those kind of irresponsible comments actually speak to

00:44:35.740 me that there is an issue with impulsiveness here and there is an issue with somebody who is making

00:44:41.860 rash statements holding this public platform so let's move on to the health care spending account

00:44:47.940 i was talking about mental health anybody in this room who has ever been to a counseling session

00:44:54.180 knows that three hundred dollars will pay for a session and a half i actually have grave uh i

00:45:00.740 guess i'm very skeptical about this health care spending account what do you do when somebody

00:45:05.460 goes to the naturopath and they have one and a half appointments that is not enough you're just

00:45:09.860 getting your consultation and you're just getting started on your next half of an appointment what

00:45:14.100 do you do when that healthcare spending account is exhausted you know right now our public service

00:45:19.620 our government has negotiated with our public service they get a 950 health spending account

00:45:24.420 you bet i'd love for every albertan to have the same level of support on health spending accounts

00:45:29.460 that we give to our public service and that's the reason why i'm advocating for it now maybe it

00:45:35.140 starts with 300 maybe it only allows you to take your kid your child in to get four treatments from

00:45:40.660 a counselor or a psychologist but that's going to be a good start and it's certainly better than

00:45:45.940 nothing when we look at what happened over the last two years of coveted lockdowns and i haven't

00:45:50.580 heard any apology from any of the cabinet ministers who imposed that on us for the last two years i'd

00:45:55.060 like to see an apology there when we look at what happened over the last all right audience okay

00:45:59.780 what did we talk about folks I get it I get it but let's not take away time from

00:46:08.120 the candidates this is about health care reform not what happened in the past

00:46:10.940 okay so remember we're all on the same team here okay all right carry on miss

00:46:15.800 Smith sorry about that if you do easy to make kind of remarks when you've never

00:46:21.140 been in government at that capacity and you haven't had to make those tough

00:46:25.020 I stood up.

00:46:26.020 But nonetheless.

00:46:27.020 I stood up.

00:46:28.020 All right, folks, settle down or Jeff's going to stand up again.

00:46:30.020 Mental health should be funded much more than $300.

00:46:34.020 All right.

00:46:35.020 That's it, folks.

00:46:36.020 All right.

00:46:37.020 Okay.

00:46:38.020 We've got a few people that want to jump in here.

00:46:39.020 Ms. Schultz, I saw your paddle first.

00:46:40.020 Then is it here?

00:46:41.020 Mr. Tate?

00:46:42.020 You know, I would agree actually with a lot of what Ms. Zannie had said.

00:46:45.020 You know, we do have to focus on transforming AHS.

00:46:48.020 I was the first candidate to release my plan.

00:46:51.020 I don't believe that going back to regional boards is necessarily the answer, but what

00:46:55.020 is the answer is going back to local decision making and instead of a government of panel

00:46:59.660 review and committee we go back to listening to the front lines whether that was in Claire's home

00:47:03.980 where i heard nurses give me ideas about how we could do better staffing if those decisions weren't

00:47:08.380 made in calgary and edmonton physicians in edmonton who could save us 20 000 a day by allowing them to

00:47:14.300 be innovative instead of squabbling about their salaries we do have to be careful of the words

00:47:19.180 that we use because i would say this bad judgment flippant comments erode trust in our government

00:47:24.300 and that is not helpful in 2023 all right thank you ms schultz miss is here thank you so much um

00:47:30.140 i would like to bring forward a different thought process we have an opportunity to triage here we

00:47:35.420 have nurse practitioners and we also have something called a physician assistant which has been around

00:47:40.300 since 2013. if we fund these opportunities these folks could actually be a gateway into doctors

00:47:46.540 and absolutely being able to cover the gaps particularly in rural areas and i think it's

00:47:50.300 really important when candidates are speaking about rural health you speak to rural mlas and

00:47:55.660 you speak to rural folks when we're talking about women's care sars nurses domestic violence sexual

00:48:01.340 assault making sure that we have access to cultural sensitivity there hasn't been one

00:48:05.980 comment up here talking about the multicultural people in the province and the absolute barriers

00:48:11.180 there are to folks having health care thank you all right thank you mr tapes good thank you

00:48:15.820 healthcare's failing in rural Alberta, full stop. That's my experience in the northwest and that's

00:48:21.580 what I hear from Albertans right across the province. Now I don't pretend to have all the

00:48:26.060 answers around healthcare but I've made some observations in the last two years. Number one,

00:48:31.660 AHS needs complete restructuring and we have to decentralize their decision-making structure.

00:48:37.820 That structure right now is not only failing Albertans, it's failing our frontline healthcare

00:48:43.020 professionals and that's tragic i have to agree with a couple of the other speakers as well

00:48:48.540 there were some very irresponsible comments made this last week around cancer and around health

00:48:53.420 care we have to be accountable for our language our words matter that's the value of a leadership

00:48:58.700 race right now so conservative i'm going to stop you there all right mr gene go ahead please 45

00:49:03.420 seconds the system's broken i always find it amusing when people from calgary and edmonton

00:49:08.300 didn't tell me how our health system is going i'm from fort brink murray and i'll tell you we haven't

00:49:11.980 had a health care system there for years and years and years well i'm from the other forgotten corner

00:49:16.940 that will change if i'm premier we need to do things and we don't need to blow up hs what we

00:49:22.540 need to do is work with the great doctors and nurses that we have and the technicians that we

00:49:26.220 have and make things better the auditor general in 2017 actually set out how we need to fix it

00:49:32.300 specifically said it's not an issue of cost it's not an issue of money you are not going

00:49:36.540 to fix it by throwing money at it i've lived it

00:49:44.460 we need to focus on outcomes for patients and have the money follow them but danielle

00:49:49.020 all right very disappointed i'm sorry mr gene comments on cancer all right okay you know what

00:49:54.060 i'm going to come back to you for 30 seconds after mr lowen floor is yours 45 seconds thank

00:49:59.100 you very much yes i agree that with others that the system isn't is broken we need an investigation

00:50:04.300 into what happened with the covid response i have colleagues here that were in the covid cabinet and

00:50:09.340 now that it seems the public tide is changing that all of a sudden they're trying to distance

00:50:12.620 themselves from the decisions that they made there i agree also that throwing money at it doesn't

00:50:16.940 isn't going to solve the problem we have an ehs system that needs a severe renovation they've had

00:50:21.340 15 years to get it right and they've been failing all the time we have a shortage of healthcare

00:50:25.740 workers we have emergency rooms being shut down in rural alberta we have a post-secondary system

00:50:30.140 in alberta that doesn't graduate the needs of our society when it comes to health care workers and

00:50:34.620 other other uh other educational opportunities and we have a college of physicians that isn't

00:50:40.940 helping either uh we need to get the test done and the treatment done that we need all right

00:50:45.260 that's zero mr lowen thank you all right uh you got called out there miss smith i'm going to give

00:50:49.980 you 30 seconds to just rebut that and then we're going to move on to the next question well you

00:50:53.100 know i invite uh people to to listen to my full podcast this is the reason why even though uh

00:50:58.060 rajan doesn't think there's value in being a talk radio host i can tell you there is

00:51:01.980 i can tell you i shouldn't wouldn't be given a snow job by alberta health services when they

00:51:05.900 tell me i should jail pastors and shut down businesses and mass kids and tell them they

00:51:10.700 can't go to school and create the mental health crisis that they did and bring in vaccine passports

00:51:14.940 when they said they wouldn't wouldn't do that i would have consulted broadly and made sure that

00:51:19.420 we didn't make those kinds of mistakes because we will be dealing with the consequence of that for

00:51:23.660 Thank you, everybody.

00:51:26.660 Let's get set for another question.

00:51:28.660 Stop clapping over here.

00:51:29.660 You're going to make Jeff have to stand up again.

00:51:31.660 Nobody likes that.

00:51:32.660 All right.

00:51:33.660 Thank you.

00:51:34.660 Rebecca Schultz, this question is for you and it is on the federal government.

00:51:39.660 All right.

00:51:40.660 Collaborative relationships with other orders of government are often the key to funding large-scale capital programs,

00:51:45.660 providing sustainable sources of base funding for projects such as transit initiatives,

00:51:49.660 and are generally beneficial to driving solutions that benefit all Albertans.

00:51:54.200 However, the majority of Albertans feel the federal government is determined to

00:52:00.060 make life difficult for our economic prosperity and are intentionally

00:52:03.900 causing division between Albertans and other Canadians. How would you as leader

00:52:09.500 address topics such as Bill C-21, 69 and equalization payments with the federal

00:52:16.820 government in order to affect a better outcome for Albertans and I want to hear

00:52:21.140 specifics here tangible actionable items all right you've got two minutes floor

00:52:25.220 is yours thank you very much this is something I hear every day in every

00:52:28.860 corner of this province that Albertans absolutely want a leader and a

00:52:33.020 government who will defend our constitutional rights we are not asking

00:52:36.920 for anything special we are just asking for fairness in the Constitution now I

00:52:41.200 am in fact the only candidate on this stage that has successfully negotiated

00:52:45.700 the federal government and Justin Trudeau was that easy absolutely not it took a lot of hard

00:52:50.420 work behind the scenes I was not about to leave four billion in Albertans hard-earned tax money

00:52:56.500 sitting in Ottawa to invest in parents and families right across this country and not invest

00:53:02.740 in parents here I don't believe that Albertans would have been okay with that and that's why

00:53:07.460 we went toe-to-toe with Justin Trudeau to make that happen in a way that respected small business

00:53:13.460 and incorporated parent choice i am the only i am the only person standing on stage who is able

00:53:19.780 to do that and i do believe in collaborative working relationships in fact when i look at

00:53:23.780 my campaign launch i not only had my local city councillor but my local mp standing there in the

00:53:29.300 room because i do believe teaming up and working together on issues will get us a lot further than

00:53:34.740 going at it alone and that would be my approach jeff uh when you're asking specifically on those

00:53:39.140 bills c21 c69 and overcoming equalization changes that we are not the only province that wants to

00:53:46.020 see changes to however our approach has been to write letters angry tweets light our hair on fire

00:53:52.420 run around creating chaos making headlines and not getting results for albertans that's what

00:53:58.100 albertans are tired of it is and i would rather go at it with an army of other provinces than going

00:54:04.020 at it alone as what others may see as alberta being angry and you know what for you albertans

00:54:09.860 who are angry i hope you know that i'm angry too and i hear you i see it in every area where the

00:54:16.260 federal trudeau liberals are trying to push and infringe on areas of provincial jurisdiction

00:54:21.460 we can't let them do that when it comes to the emissions cap let's be clear production

00:54:26.260 all right absolutely provincial we gotta stop you there okay who would you like to debate on this

00:54:30.980 this topic? Danielle Smith, please. All right, Ms. Smith, you're back up. You're going to have a

00:54:37.320 minute and a half to address the question. How would you, as leader, address topics such as Bill

00:54:42.260 C-21, 69, and equalization payments with the federal government in order to affect a better

00:54:48.260 outcome for Albertans? And again, we're looking for some specifics here. I know we've been passive

00:54:52.780 for so long that we tend to forget that the Constitution actually gives us sovereignty

00:54:58.920 in the matters that are enumerated to us.

00:55:02.080 Go on to Wikipedia and they talk about our parliamentary system.

00:55:05.220 That's what they say about Canada,

00:55:06.860 is that legislatures in Canada are sovereign in matters

00:55:10.640 that are enumerated to them.

00:55:12.360 If you look up Section 92, 92A, 93, 94, and 95,

00:55:16.940 and I read them frequently,

00:55:18.640 you will see that we have allowed the federal government

00:55:20.560 to walk all over us in every single area of our jurisdiction.

00:55:24.420 And with due respect to Rebecca,

00:55:26.860 I know she did a good negotiation, but we still lost.

00:55:30.620 We always lose when we go up against Ottawa.

00:55:32.920 They take all of our money and they dribble it back with conditions.

00:55:36.580 They steal the rest and they use it to win votes in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

00:55:40.620 And on the child care proposal, you probably saw the CBC story a couple of days ago

00:55:44.340 from our private child care operators.

00:55:46.480 They're now forbidden from expanding their operations.

00:55:49.440 When they have a profit, it's called an overage,

00:55:51.980 and they have to go to the bureaucrats to get permission on how to spend it.

00:55:55.020 they're not allowed to use any of the money for their capital projects so many

00:55:58.620 of them have invested in buildings and now they're not able to use any of the

00:56:02.040 money for that. I don't look at that as a win. Implementing Justin Trudeau's

00:56:06.360 socialist daycare system and squeezing out the private daycare operators that

00:56:10.860 vote for us looks to me like a step backwards and it's exactly the reason

00:56:15.300 why we have to draw a hard line say our jurisdiction is our jurisdiction under

00:56:19.680 the Constitution and stay out of our lane. That's what the Sovereignty Act would do.

00:56:23.940 we get to bring up the rest here all right audience let's not start again let's not start

00:56:29.460 folks come on we got a lot to get through tonight every time we do this i've got to stop and turn

00:56:34.500 around so let's just dial it back for a minute all right okay four minutes open debate miss

00:56:40.180 schultz we'll start with you i mean i would say this when it comes to child care we have private

00:56:44.340 operators every single day that are grateful that we kept their businesses open and included in this

00:56:49.060 plan we also an article in the financial post if we want to quote the media highlighting private

00:56:55.220 operators from other provinces right across this country saying that they wish we had a fair deal

00:56:59.700 what would you have done miss smith leave out alberta parents and families right what you're

00:57:04.260 doing right now is writing checks you can't cash and making promises you can't keep that sovereignty

00:57:08.980 act that you are running on miss smith is a great fear for our energy industry they think that

00:57:14.900 creating chaos is going to create additional investment uncertainty it's going to drive

00:57:19.860 albertans investment jobs out of this province that's what they're afraid of they're afraid of

00:57:25.060 additional economic uncertainty and additional economic crisis and constitutional crisis six

00:57:30.660 months before an election which will in fact deliver us in ndp government that is what has

00:57:36.260 our industry worried they want us to sit down and have smart negotiations you said it yourself they

00:57:41.700 They are leaders in environmental emissions.

00:57:44.440 Ottawa's created the chaos.

00:57:47.600 I sent out a fact, NFAQ, I encourage Rebecca to read it,

00:57:50.720 about what the Sovereignty Act would say.

00:57:52.520 It would say, given that the Constitution recognizes 92, 92A, 93, 94, 95

00:57:58.020 are our areas of jurisdiction, and given that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

00:58:01.440 obligates us to protect the rights and freedoms of our citizens,

00:58:05.220 therefore we will not enforce any federal policy

00:58:08.020 that violates Alberta's constitutional rights or the rights of our citizens.

00:58:12.320 It actually imposes lawfulness on a lawless Ottawa.

00:58:19.100 Ottawa is the one who started the constitutional war with us.

00:58:22.340 When they told us in November of 2015 that we would not be allowed

00:58:25.320 to sell our products in the open market with Bill C-48 and Bill C-69.

00:58:30.800 And we've been trying to play footsie.

00:58:32.440 We've been trying to get social license.

00:58:33.820 We've been writing certain letters.

00:58:34.980 We've been going to the court.

00:58:36.140 That's actually not true at all.

00:58:37.480 When it comes to Bill C-69, there are nine other provinces in this country

00:58:41.340 that are standing up and supporting Alberta in that fight.

00:58:44.740 And that's why I am confident in that system.

00:58:46.900 We absolutely have to stand up and defend Alberta's rights.

00:58:49.960 And I will say there are aspects of the Sovereignty Act that do make sense.

00:58:54.700 Aspects. Aspects of an overall bill in which other pieces of that bill

00:58:59.140 encourage breaking the rule of law, which is something else

00:59:02.140 that many Albertans, especially newcomers to this country, are fearful of.

00:59:06.760 That is not something that Albertans want to see.

00:59:09.520 We want to see that rule of law upheld.

00:59:11.600 We are going to fight.

00:59:12.500 That doesn't mean sitting back and taking a backseat to Justin Trudeau.

00:59:15.620 We absolutely need to continue to take steps.

00:59:18.060 And I would argue Albertans, yes, I understand.

00:59:20.860 They want us to see that action happen faster.

00:59:23.740 And we should do that faster, looking into tax points and credits.

00:59:27.420 And also, I would say pushing forward on an Alberta pension plan.

00:59:30.920 But we also have to put that to Albertans to make the case.

00:59:34.060 And it is a good one, where we have high average incomes, a young population, we have low unemployment rates.

00:59:40.280 That absolutely makes sense.

00:59:42.340 Let's move. Let's move fast.

00:59:44.380 Section 95 of the Constitution gives us the first right to make rules regarding agriculture and the federal government from time to time.

00:59:52.680 So I just wonder, with Rebecca, if the federal government comes through with a 30% mandate to reduce fertilizer use among our farmers,

01:00:00.380 are we just going to say, oh, golly gee, I wish you wouldn't do that?

01:00:02.580 I'll tell you what I'd say. I'd say, no, it violates Section 95 of our Constitution, which is our right, and we will not enforce that.

01:00:10.260 We will make sure that our farmers have a steady supply of fertilizer so that we can feed the world, because food security is another issue that we're dealing with right now.

01:00:19.120 I'm not going to sit and wait for Ottawa to create economic corridors for us. We're going to start building those so that we can get our problems.

01:00:24.540 And that is something that, you know, I would actually absolutely agree with Danielle Smith on, and we see other provinces already fighting that fertilizer cap.

01:00:32.260 that's an area where absolutely that makes sense that is an area of provincial jurisdiction that's

01:00:36.660 a fight we can have but we should be careful before making promises in other areas that we

01:00:40.820 can't keep all right thank you very much for the open debate all right okay mr lo will come to you

01:00:46.660 miss it here you have 45 seconds you first then mr taves then i'll come to you mr long

01:00:51.700 thank you so much uh albertans are leaders and i'm alberta's number one fan and if we want a legacy

01:00:57.780 of rallying people up we can certainly do that or we can work collaboratively and i just wanted

01:01:01.860 to say to miss smith you've mentioned several sections out of the constitution that you think

01:01:06.260 that we can forward our agenda on which i completely agree with but then that would

01:01:09.940 render your sovereignty act completely redundant so i think we need to remove this action from all

01:01:14.580 of the work that we're doing and actually work within the constitution what we have available to

01:01:18.420 us there's absolute ability to connect negotiate learn and find wins massive wins rebecca has

01:01:25.540 found one we've also worked on one with water with respect to water infrastructure in alberta

01:01:30.420 an 831 million dollar infrastructure build in alberta that we did in collaboration with the

01:01:36.020 federal government all right thank you mr tapes 45 seconds over to you all right you know here's

01:01:41.460 here's the reality it would be great to just wish away all our problems with this thing called the

01:01:46.100 sovereignty act we're delusional if we think that's going to happen it simply will not you

01:01:51.620 know and and this is my observation over the last few years i tend to like to work collaboratively

01:01:56.180 but i've concluded with this federal government we can't negotiate with them we won't win if we

01:02:00.980 just simply negotiate but we'll win if we're strategic my approach with ottawa is to be

01:02:06.340 assertive and strategic because strategic we win and i want to win for albertans you know the tired

01:02:12.820 old approach a lot of political rhetoric over promising and under delivering which is what

01:02:17.700 the sovereignty act will do will not get a win in alberta's column we need a strategic thoughtful

01:02:23.860 approach that's how we win all right mr lohan 45 seconds on the federal government yes thank you

01:02:29.780 confederation is broken we can't have any more strongly worded letter letters we need to act

01:02:36.100 asking hasn't worked when we call nobody answers we need to start saying no to ottawa we have

01:02:43.540 things like a pension plan in alberta constitution that we could do right now myself i drove to

01:02:48.580 ottawa to fight those rules that ottawa came down on that were hurting albertans i drove there to

01:02:54.020 put my money where my mouth is and stand for albertans and stand for people across this

01:02:57.780 country the federal government isn't going to stop but neither am i i won't stop fighting for albertans

01:03:04.820 all right well thank you sir don't make me remind you there's no applause you all know the rules

01:03:10.180 all right we've got uh miss sonny 45 seconds to you and then mr gene i'll come to you thank you

01:03:15.460 jeff so there is nothing about the sovereignty act that makes sense i've consulted with

01:03:19.780 constitutional experts and lawyers and it is going to be defeated in the courts but while that is

01:03:24.900 happening investors who are thinking of coming to alberta and putting some of their hard-earned

01:03:29.700 capital into this province are going to be swayed they are not going to come here they're going to

01:03:34.580 other jurisdictions so i just want to be very clear about that alberta must fight back absolutely

01:03:40.900 but we must not be risky and hot-headed now justin trudeau relies on confrontation polarization

01:03:47.780 wedging and division and at least one of my opponents here today thinks we should respond

01:03:52.980 just like trudeau i don't think that way i'm actually focused on solving real world problems

01:03:59.300 and when we respond with anger it feels good in the moment but i gotta cut you off there all right

01:04:04.340 i know it's all hard to not finish the sentence all right mr gene over to you and then miss smith

01:04:08.740 i'll come to you again thank you 10 years as a member of parliament 10 years as a lawyer

01:04:13.940 sovereignty act can't work folks it's fiscal fairy tale it is not going to work i agree with

01:04:19.060 my friends here that we have to do something different in the equalization referendum that

01:04:22.980 started as a result of my wild rose leadership we brought that in and i will tell you that step one

01:04:27.380 is acting on the amazing mandate that albertans gave us in the referendum 62 we can force candidate

01:04:32.820 to the constitutional negotiation table all these sections of the constitution well try section 46

01:04:38.580 that's where you give legal notice to the rest of the country that you are not happy with the

01:04:42.260 situation because you have received a mandate from the people without a mandate from the people it

01:04:45.940 cannot happen there is a process involved and we are on that process we need a leader that believes

01:04:51.300 in it that's why i brought it out years ago because i believe in that focus we need all right

01:04:55.540 that's 45 seconds mr gene thank you miss smith i saw your paddle up we wanted to weigh in here

01:04:59.620 at the end 45 seconds over to you one of the last interviews i did on the air was with a scholar by

01:05:03.780 the name of jermaine belzile from the montreal economic institute and i asked him the question

01:05:08.180 why does Quebec hate us so much? And he said, Quebec doesn't hate you. They just don't think

01:05:12.720 about you at all. They're too busy thinking about themselves. I think you should think about

01:05:17.900 yourselves for a change. And I've been thinking about that a lot. And it's the reason why

01:05:21.300 I've adopted the Alberta Sovereignty Act, because it puts Ottawa on notice that, yes,

01:05:26.940 it just restates what's in the Constitution and the Charter, but it says we are drawing a hard

01:05:30.720 line. And you know when the last time this action was taken? When the Emergencies Act came through

01:05:34.900 in Quebec. Look what Quebec did. They convened their national assembly which is they called it

01:05:38.980 and they said we will not enforce that. That is the kind of thing that Quebec has already done.

01:05:43.940 That is the kind of thing we absolutely can do and the thing that we must do.

01:05:47.460 All right that's 45 seconds. All right hot topic I suppose. You all have waters below you by the

01:05:52.340 way if you need to fill up. Now is a good time while I get into question five. Is it here? Question

01:05:56.820 five is for you. The question is on energy and diversifying our economy. Alberta's future depends

01:06:03.540 on being driven by economics and job creation the word opportunity is synonymous with alberta

01:06:09.460 as our environment is ideal for growth and prosperity diversification across the province

01:06:14.580 is happening but must continue at an accelerated pace well energy is certainly the backbone of our

01:06:20.420 economy it should not hold us back from leading in new opportunities for growth in other sectors

01:06:25.780 how would you as leader continue to attract and diversify industry across our province

01:06:31.540 and address the significant talent shortage that many sectors are facing today and i want specifics

01:06:37.060 please thank you so much and thank you for this amazing opportunity to speak about a sector that

01:06:42.260 is so meaningful to so many of us the energy sector and diversification is part of our family

01:06:48.500 it's part of who we are when you think about those who are drilling those who are doing the work the

01:06:54.180 manufacturing the pipeline builds all of the work that goes on in this province whether that's

01:06:58.900 diversification in plastics there and there's so many things i'm going to talk anecdotally a little

01:07:03.300 bit about that in just a moment but families live right across the streets from where they are

01:07:08.980 drilling they care about their earth air and water and this is an alignment between the environment

01:07:14.180 and between energy and the incredible resource stewardship that we have in this province and

01:07:18.500 our ability to actually market that we have a global responsibility to get our energy

01:07:25.060 not only to canada but to the rest of the world we have burgeoning economic populations all over

01:07:30.260 the world that are seeking cheap energy like we have we have access to being able to just flip

01:07:36.020 on a switch to be able to go and turn on a light to heat our homes imagine what is possible if

01:07:41.620 we're able to work collectively with governments across this can across canada to get our energy

01:07:47.060 to these burgeoning economies where middle classes are coming out of the woodwork and then be able

01:07:51.460 to attract people to our province our province has attracted hundreds of thousands of people

01:07:58.020 because of the energy that we bring forward when we look at the powers of indigenous growth

01:08:03.940 in this sector the way that indigenous peoples are contributing to pipeline structures to

01:08:10.020 innovation in the energy sector leading towards emissions and fueling the economy and exponential

01:08:15.540 growth in clean energy we have such talent and innovation in carbon capture strategies

01:08:21.940 and new resources geothermal mine tailing sealing from depleted resources the opportunities are

01:08:27.540 endless but also to be able to encourage those new skills that align with the environment and with

01:08:34.420 our energy to be able to look at that exposing that talent and all right two minutes i'm going

01:08:39.460 to cut you off there thank you all right thank you miss ahir who would you like to debate on the

01:08:43.940 topic i would like to debate rajan sonny please all right miss sonny i will read the question

01:08:49.620 again you'll have a minute and a half how would you as leader continue to attract and diversify

01:08:54.020 industry across our province and address the significant talent shortage that many sectors

01:08:58.820 are facing today and specifics please absolutely well i think everybody knows that i love talking

01:09:04.180 about energy but now i'm going to talk about agriculture we know that there is a food insecurity

01:09:10.260 issue look what's happening in ukraine their level of wheat production has drastically declined and

01:09:15.780 the situation is very serious but here in alberta we have everything that we need to create agri-food

01:09:22.740 corridors i talked about natural trade corridor funds and trying to get some of that funding

01:09:27.700 to develop highways can you imagine if we had a highway from port mcmurray to peace river

01:09:33.220 how much investment that would open up that's critical infrastructure i was also at a pea

01:09:38.820 processing plant at the opening of it not too long ago and that is another idea we can actually do

01:09:45.140 value add here in our province to supply nutritious foods all across the globe now i'm just looking at

01:09:51.460 the time so we talked about labor shortages labor shortages are a significant issue in every sector

01:09:57.780 of our economy whether you're a trucker or you own a small business or you're a restaurant

01:10:02.340 operator it's very very difficult to get qualified and skilled staff so quebec has more autonomy over

01:10:10.420 their immigration when we talk about autonomy and independence these are the kind of ideas that we

01:10:15.860 need to pursue how can we get more qualified skilled labor through the immigration system

01:10:21.620 into alberta so we can actually grow our economy we cannot grow unless we have talent and skilled

01:10:28.420 talent so there are a number of ideas around this particular file that i'd love to share with you

01:10:32.900 all right i'm going to cut you off there four minutes of open debate kick us up and sit here

01:10:36.900 thank you so much well skilled labor this is a perfect example of exactly what needs to happen

01:10:41.620 in alberta we are actually probably the biggest barrier to that skilled labor being able to come

01:10:46.020 into our province because of the red tape and not allowing people with professional designations to

01:10:50.900 actually pursue the jobs that they were intended to do my father's perfect example in 1962 he came

01:10:56.500 in here as an engineer and not only did he have to redo all of his education but apply because the

01:11:02.020 university that he came from was not accepted here in Alberta and in Canada so if you look at all of

01:11:07.540 those opportunities to be able to make sure that we remove barriers for new talent to be able to

01:11:12.500 come in we want to attract all of the talent from all over the world and steal that talent into our

01:11:18.660 province we're a teeny tiny province 4.3 million people we need to grow by 2030 we could be as

01:11:24.340 many as 6 million or 7 million people we need to make sure that we have our systems in place

01:11:30.340 not only to attract that talent but also um rajan was talking about agriculture food security is

01:11:36.980 one piece of it but think about agriculture from the aspect of energy and what they're producing

01:11:41.860 with respect all right jump in here missani i would absolutely agree that credentialing

01:11:46.260 is critically important we all have stories i have stories of relatives who were very very

01:11:51.620 qualified and could not find their place in the labor market here in alberta so that they could

01:11:57.060 actualize their potential there is tremendous potential so one of the things that i plan to do

01:12:02.900 as premier is to speed up the credentialing process we have a health care workers shortage

01:12:10.020 in this province we've got a shiny new hospital in grand prairie that doesn't have doctors and

01:12:16.820 it's short of nurses it's a travesty so credentialing is something that we do need to see

01:12:29.940 it up and of course as we talk about labor shortages there are other sectors that we

01:12:34.420 need to support as well if you don't i want to go back to the question all right let's let's see

01:12:38.340 what mr here has well i just wanted to add to what rajin was saying um and i want to give a

01:12:43.220 a shout out to Medicine Hat actually right now because right here in this awesome city you guys

01:12:49.060 started a hydrogen task force in I believe it was in 2021. That hydrogen task force has taken light

01:12:58.520 and has grown with the government and the opportunities to see what zero emissions would

01:13:04.260 look like. Every single large company, corporation, energy company is looking at zero emissions right

01:13:11.500 now it is an environment and energy collective that we do together to show

01:13:17.020 our responsible development we have to make sure it's not just about Alberta

01:13:21.820 folks we have to make sure that places like the UK are not calling us dirty oil

01:13:26.620 that places like other other countries in the world are not looking at us as

01:13:30.760 not even opportunity to be able to get our products to them we have to make

01:13:35.260 sure that we're using what we have available to us i just and i appreciate all these comments

01:13:42.140 uh wonderful comments but i just want to get back to the question on diversification

01:13:50.300 i was talking about agriculture and some of the key messages that i'm hearing from farmers by the

01:13:55.580 way we have the most sophisticated and smartest farmers here in alberta in the world i'm not from

01:14:01.180 a farming background but i hear that all the time some of the key issues that they're having are

01:14:05.820 around water water is an issue for economic growth and it's certainly an issue for farmers

01:14:15.500 they have issues around electricity and they also have issues as i've mentioned before around

01:14:21.900 agri-food corridors we need to invest in our highways and we need to invest in our road

01:14:25.980 system so some of that product can actually be delivered if i may i'd like to speak about water

01:14:31.660 a little bit one of the biggest issues that we've had is the government not investing enough into

01:14:37.420 water and pivots into areas in order to create arable be arable fields in alberta in order to have

01:14:48.540 irrigation available pivots are very very difficult thing to come by right now because

01:14:54.140 of the way that the world is working in the markets are going however if we're actually talking

01:15:06.620 about water consumption when we use pivots in agricultural areas we actually reduce

01:15:12.060 water consumption by almost 80 percent all right that ends our four minutes of open debate time

01:15:17.100 okay smith i'm going to come to you for 45 seconds you're going to hold off all right

01:15:20.540 All right. Anybody else? I just want to say, Mr. Daves, and Ms. Adher, you only have one remaining rebuttal left.

01:15:26.880 So just to remind you, Ms. Schultz, you want to go? 45 seconds?

01:15:29.600 Yeah, absolutely. I'd like to just touch on a couple of things as well.

01:15:33.300 You know, when we're talking about, obviously, energy of today, yes, we need to attract and retain the highly skilled workers we have.

01:15:39.360 And I do want to thank all of the energy workers across our province that obviously give us access to safe, reliable energy.

01:15:45.760 we also have to start talking about energy of the future co2 hydrogen we've got to keep talking

01:15:50.800 about lng this is the energy of the future this is what will help keep some of our best and brightest

01:15:55.680 minds right here in alberta yes we have to speed up credentialing yes we have to take more ownership

01:16:00.640 over our immigration but the other thing we have to do is cut through some of the bureaucracy whether

01:16:05.360 it's talking about nuclear or ag when i ask people who's leading oftentimes they say it's not us

01:16:11.040 because our bureaucrats are still working on the org charts and the other provinces are hustling

01:16:14.800 investment all right thank you all right that ends question question six we're going to move on here

01:16:21.680 quickly do mr taves it's for you question is on unity and leadership at regional levels around

01:16:32.720 the globe conservative movements have faced internal struggles to maintain a thoughtful

01:16:37.200 maintain a thoughtful big tent approach there's no secret that many here on this stage have been

01:16:42.160 early adopters of unity yet have struggled to bring people together in an effective way.

01:16:50.880 The topic of unity is one of great importance to the membership as many feel the infighting

01:17:00.960 must stop or it will lead to another harmful NDP government.

01:17:04.320 In a world of division, intolerance and lack of understanding, how will you as leader unite the party and move our province forward for the benefit of all Albertans?

01:17:17.720 We have two minutes.

01:17:19.100 Yeah, thanks for that question, Jeff.

01:17:20.720 I think this is the most important question of the evening because consistent with my opening comments, unity is mission critical for this movement.

01:17:30.360 because if we're not united we will not beat rachel notley in 2023 and friends leadership matters when

01:17:38.660 it comes to unity it's absolutely critical you know i've been in the private sector right until

01:17:44.680 2019 but even when i was the minister of finance i drew on some of my experience that i'd gained in

01:17:51.280 the private sector in past leadership roles you know whether it was leading our business teams

01:17:57.260 or whether it was during the time that I served as president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association,

01:18:04.020 a time post-BSE, when there was significant loss, emotion, and division.

01:18:11.860 I had to hold disparate provincial members together, all wanting to go their own way,

01:18:17.820 all wanting to do their own thing.

01:18:19.360 And had we lost those provincial members, we would have lost the war.

01:18:23.020 You know, right now we're in not a dissimilar time in this conservative movement.

01:18:29.880 And that has informed, my previous experience has informed my approach.

01:18:34.800 As a leader, I take a collaborative approach.

01:18:41.280 Every voice around the table matters.

01:18:49.320 You know, when every voice has an opportunity to speak, we make better decisions.

01:18:54.780 That's absolutely essential.

01:18:57.040 And friends, every MLA needs a full opportunity to bring the views of their constituents to

01:19:11.900 the table.

01:19:12.760 That's absolutely critical.

01:19:14.900 That's how Albertans are heard.

01:19:16.380 Very.

01:19:19.320 very often through their MLA and when MLA's don't have that opportunity

01:19:23.280 aberrant behavior occurs unity is critical but to get there we need strong

01:19:29.560 principled and friends proven leadership the type of leadership that I provided

01:19:34.560 in the finance ministry as I delivered on the objectives of fiscal

01:19:40.640 responsibility bringing the pro

01:19:44.840 to a balanced budget and

01:19:48.480 positioning this economy

01:19:57.500 to lead the nation in economic growth this year and next.

01:20:01.580 All right.

01:20:06.440 Thank you, Mr. Taves.

01:20:07.820 Who would you like to debate on the topic of unity?

01:20:10.680 Let's go with Brian Jean.

01:20:12.000 All right, Mr. Jean, you have a minute, 30 seconds.

01:20:14.300 over to you finally the debate moves to the right

01:20:21.420 usually you shouldn't need

01:20:29.500 you talk about a potential premier's leadership and promoting unity

01:20:32.940 that shouldn't be necessary that a premier should know how to manage

01:20:36.220 caucus and their staff should be a necessary item for success

01:20:39.900 but we have not been good at this as conservatives we haven't

01:20:43.100 you promote unity by how you treat people by doing the right

01:20:46.300 things in the right way a leader must treat albertans the

01:21:06.460 conditioning this economy to lead the nation in economic growth

01:21:13.100 You promote unity by how you treat people, by doing the right things in the right way.

01:21:34.100 A leader must treat Albertans, the grassroots, the caucus and the cabinet.

01:21:43.100 Things in the right way.

01:22:00.920 A leader must treat Albertans, the grassroots, the caucus, and the cabinet.

01:22:13.100 Thank you.

01:22:43.100 Thank you.

01:23:13.100 Transcription by CastingWords

01:23:43.100 Thank you.

01:24:13.100 our media landscape is dominated by a few big players almost all of which are owned by big

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01:24:37.700 mainstream media are on the take receiving hundreds of millions of dollars a year in a

01:24:42.740 massive taxpayer bailout from the federal government this means that even those few

01:24:47.380 bright spots of independence and free thinking in the mainstream media are now on the government

01:24:52.260 dole and cannot speak without fear that the government could pull their funding at any time

01:24:58.340 there are a few great journalists in the non-government owned media but they mostly

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Western Standard - July 28, 2022

UCP Leadership Debate - Medicine Hat

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