UCP leadership candidate makes campaign stop in Lethbridge

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on June 29, 2022.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman UCP leadership candidate Rebecca Schulz made a campaign stop Tuesday in Lethbridge.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

United Conservative party leadership candidate and MLA for Calgary-Shaw, Rebecca Schulz stopped in Lethbridge Tuesday as part of her campaign across the province.
During an interview with The Herald Schulz said she feels strongly about the future of her party and the future of Alberta.
“I know that Albertans want to see a government that is unified, that can take on the NDP in 2023 and continue on this path of economic growth,” said Schulz.
She said that from speaking with Albertans across the province, she has heard that they want to see a government that will continue to defend their interests when it comes to the federal government.
“I can do that,” said Schulz.
She said Albertans are not upset so much about the actual decisions that were being made, but about how they were made and how they were communicated.
“They want to see a different tone moving forward and so what I bring to this race is a fresh perspective, a commitment to listen to Albertans and to do some things differently, but to continue to focus on those things that Albertans want to see,” said Schulz.
She said she will focus on a government that will continue to defend Alberta’s position as a leader in Canada, on unity, on making sure they can win the next election and on keeping our economy growing strong.
“Things are going very well right now. We’re seeing diversification in the economy, we’re seeing things going very well in oil and gas, but also agriculture, technology, manufacturing, new types of energy and research, as well as things like film and television and our unemployment rate is the lowest it has been since 2015,” said Schulz.
She said that even though those are all very positive things, the things that are top of mind for Albertans are things like affordability, healthcare and education and those need to be discussed.
When it comes to the doctor shortage in Alberta Schulz said that is an issue that will require some creative solutions.
“Part of that is making sure that we have quick response and recognition of foreign credentials, it means that we are recruiting medical students from across the province so that ideally and hopefully they go back to their own communities to practice medicine,” said Schulz.
She said the doctor shortage problem is not something that the government alone can solve and therefore is encouraging to see alternative solutions being created like the opening of the fist pharmacist-led walk-in clinic.
In regards to her party moving forward Schulz said one thing that needs to be a priority within the UCP is to reunite the party as many members have mentioned that they have felt their voice has not always been heard.
“I think we need to listen to those views of our colleagues. Which is why one of the first commitments I made is to travel to every single constituency across this province, knock on doors, meet with our constituency association board presidents, boards and volunteers to make sure that we’re hearing their concerns and we’re bringing them forward,” said Schulz.
She said she does not think that all party members and all Albertans expect they are going to agree with every single decision that government makes, but they want to know that their voices are heard, and they care about how those decisions are made and how they are communicated to the public.

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