Dr. Raj Sherman intends to run for UCP leadership

If he is chosen to become the next UCP leader, and therefore, premier, a top priority of his would be to ensure that every Albertan would have a family physician.

“Everyone should have a family doctor 24 hours a day available for them, and you shouldn’t have to wait for 911 ambulance to show up to your house for an hour,” says Dr. Sherman. “You shouldn’t have to wait hours in emergency when you’re waiting and suffering, and then you shouldn’t have to wait months or years for your surgery or your tests.”

Dr. Sherman believes that there is a major opportunity for Lethbridge to become the educational hub for rural healthcare in Alberta. He said he wants to embed a rural medical school into the University of Lethbridge, which would partner with rural communities to ensure they can be adequately staffed and rural residents are properly taken care of.

Another key issue for him is unity. Despite the word “united” being in the party’s title, he says the UCP and Alberta as a whole are anything but.

“I’m asking every Albertan, just put down the shields and their swords and their spears and just, you know, let’s just be kinder to one another. Let this not be about rural or urban and left or right or make it right and wrong. We’re a good people and we have greater battles to fight up ahead,” says Dr. Sherman.

He says he enters the leadership race with a different perspective on politics in Alberta, having seen it himself from many different vantage points.

Dr. Sherman was first elected as the MLA for Edmonton-Meadowlark in 2008 as a member of the Progressive Conservative (PC) party. After openly criticizing emergency room waiting times, he was suspended from the PC caucus and became an independent MLA for over a year.

His political career took a turn in 2011 when he became the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party in 2011. Dr. Sherman says he wants to reassure Albertans that, despite being in provincial politics in three different spots, he has always remained true to his beliefs.

“It’s not so much the name of the party, it’s the value system. My value system has always been, I’ve been socially progressive and fiscally conservative.”

Dr. Sherman left politics in 2015 and returned to working in emergency healthcare in Edmonton.

There is still a question of whether or not he will be able to run for UCP leadership or not.

Party rules require all leadership candidates to be party members for at least six months before registering as a candidate. At the time of this publication, he has only had his membership for approximately two months.

The reason he was not a UCP member before, he says, was because he was on the board of the CPSA, which is a non-partisan agency that works directly with the minister of health. He felt that being a registered political party member at the time would have been inappropriate.

If he is able to secure enough support, Dr. Sherman plans to make his case to the UCP’s selection committee in hopes that they will allow his name to be added to the ballot.

The list of UCP leadership candidates so far includes:

UCP MLA Leela Aheer
UCP MLA Brian Jean
Independent MLA Todd Loewen
Mayor of Amisk, AB, Bill Rock
Former transport minister Rajan Sawhney
Former PC MLA and Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman
Former children’s services minister Rebecca Schulz
Former Wildrose leader Danielle Smith
Former finance minister Travis Toews

On May 18, 2022, Premier Jason Kenney announced his resignation as UCP leader following a leadership review vote. While Kenney did secure a slight majority of party member votes at 51.4%, he said it does not constitute a clear mandate, and that Albertans deserve a leader who can truly unite the province.

The contest will be held on Oct. 6.

by David Opinko

Dr. Raj Sherman intends to run for UCP leadership

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