UCP leadership candidate makes Lethbridge campaign stop
By Lethbridge Herald on June 17, 2022.
Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Minister of Finance and MLA for Grande Prairie-Wapiti, Travis Toews speaks to members of the community about his recent UCP leadership candidacy, during a meet and greet Friday at the Rocky Mountain Turf Club.Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald
apulido@lethbridgeherald.com
Minister of Finance and MLA for Grande Prairie-Wapiti, Travis Toews, has been traveling across the province meeting with Albertans regarding his UCP leadership candidacy.
Toews made a campaign stop in Lethbridge Friday to meet with southern Alberta residents during a meet and greet event at the Rocky Mountain Turf Club. After shaking a few hands, Toews spoke to the media before addressing everyone in the room.
“I’m very pleased to be touring around listening to Albertans. I believe listening to those that have been involved in our movement is mission critical right now,” said Toews.
He said their party has had a bit of an inflection point as premier Jason Kenney announced that he will be stepping down and now there is a leadership race that has been called.
“My wife and I are throwing my hat into the ring, and that’s really — it’s both of us — and we both made the decision to do that. I’m offering my leadership right now to the conservative party, to conservative minded Albertans and if successful I would be very privileged to offer to serve as premier to all Albertans and then heading to the spring of 2022 into the next general election,” said Toews.
He said he has been hearing from Albertans they feel that their voices have not been heard in the last couple of years.
“It’s been a hard two years, there’s been so much loss experienced in so many ways by Albertans and some of them just feel they haven’t had a voice, so that’s why it’s important from my perspective to get around and hear from Albertans, hear from conservative party members but Albertans in general,” said Toews.
He said there has been so much loss, many Albertans have lost jobs, perhaps businesses, and some entrepreneurs have lost ten years of equity.
“In some cases, we’ve seen division in communities and businesses, we’ve seen division in churches, we’ve seen broken relationships in families, we’ve had Albertans that couldn’t spend final hours with loved ones as they passed,” said Toews.
He said he believes those losses have contributed to the division that we see in our communities.
“What grieves me the most of the last two years is the division we’ve seen politically as well, and certainly division in the conservative party, and I believe it’s essential for the conservative movement to reunite again, unite around the values that we agree on, unite around the values that pulled us together in 2019,” said Toews.
He said it is critical that caucus members feel like they have a voice and in fact that their perspectives are considered.
Toews also believes the province is on a much-improved trajectory today as opposed to what they inherited as a government in 2019.
“It’s critical to me to continue with this trajectory, a trajectory of economic growth, trajectory of fiscal responsibility. I really believe Alberta is on the cusp of an economic renaissance,” said Toews.
He said that if we take a look at the economic trajectory, Alberta is expected to lead the nation in economic growth this year and next year.
“Unemployment rate dropped to 5.3 per cent, that’s the lowest rate since very early 2015. We have a balanced budget, we brought fiscal responsibility back to this province, we’ve invested in our last budget $600 million on skills, talent and jobs ensuring that all Albertans can be prepared and skilled up for the new economy,” said Toews.
Toews has recently received the endorsement of Grant Hunter, MLA for Taber-Warner, in his run for leader of the United Conservative Party.
“I have worked closely with Travis for over three years on Treasury Board and over two years as the Red Tape Reduction Minister,” said Hunter in a press release. “In all of that time, Travis has shown me that his only reason for being in politics is to build a better Alberta for our children and grandchildren. I will support that every day, all day.”
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From Twitter:
“Every UCP leadership candidate right now: Sure I voted in favor of every policy I’m claiming to be against now. Yes I saw corruption and said nothing. I was complicit in cuts to vulnerable populations. Believe me I’m not one of the baddies. Pick me for change.”
Any of these UCP leadership bids are, unfortunately something like “wrapping an old fish in a piece of paper called change and it’s still going to stink after eight years.”
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