Former Alberta Minister of Children's Services Rebecca Schulz is in Lethbridge during her bid to become the next leader of the UCP, June 28, 2022 (Photo: LNN)

By Drew Stremick

UCP Leadership hopeful Rebecca Schulz is focused on listening to Albertans

Jun 28, 2022 | 7:59 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Former Alberta Minister of Children’s Services Rebecca Schulz is in Lethbridge to spread awareness and gain more support for her bid in the United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership race.

Schulz was first elected in 2019, and represents the Calgary-Shaw riding. While this is the first time Schulz has worked as an MLA, it’s not her first time working in politics. Schulz worked for a number of years under former Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall.

The slogan for Schulz’s campaign is “Back on track”, and she says the biggest way the UCP fell off track is in how the UCP has communicated with Albertans.

“People want to know that their tax dollars are being invested in a responsible way, but also somebody who just has a different tone and approach,” said Schulz. “Oftentimes what I’m hearing from Albertans is that it’s not necessarily the decisions that are made that have people frustrated, it was how they were made, and how they were communicated. And I think when we talk about humility in government, I think people just want to see it. They want to see somebody who speaks like them, who is just like them, and represents hardworking Alberta families, and understands the struggles that we’re going through.”

When asked about ongoing division within the UCP, Schulz said if elected leader, she would make sure that caucus members, volunteers, and constituency associations would have their voices heard in how the party governs.

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“We have an amazing team of hardworking, passionate, smart and talented MLAs right across the province. There have been times where our team members maybe didn’t feel like their voice was heard at the decision-making table. We heard the same from party members,” Schulz said. “One of my first commitments is to doorknock in every single one of the 87 constituencies right across the province, meet with our community, or our constituency association, board presidents, all of our volunteers. Make sure that their voices are, in fact, being heard.”

Schulz does not currently have an official platform posted on her website, but says that she wants to focus on continuing to grow and diversify the economy and invest in education.

“I don’t want to scoop my platform, but there will be a practical plan to paying off the debt. There will be investments in our future and the Heritage Savings Trust Fund,” Schulz said. “But there will also be investments in things like education and mental health supports. Things that I’ve heard from everyday Albertans, ‘our kids deserve an excellent education’. I’ve heard, ‘we need to make sure that there are more Education Assistants in classrooms’. This is to help address the needs of teachers, but also address the needs of students in the classrooms.”

Schulz is joined in the UCP leadership race by seven other candidates, who are all eager to take the reigns after Premier Jason Kenney made the decision to step down after narrowly winning his leadership review. Other candidates include Leela Aheer, Brian Jean, Todd Loewen, Bill Rock, Rajan Sawhney, Danielle Smith, and Travis Toews.

Members of the United Conservative Party will make their decision on who will be the next leader when they head to the polls on October 6, 2022.

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