CANMORE – On Oct. 6, the months-long leadership election for the United Conservative Party will finish, and Alberta will have a new premier.
Banff-Kananaskis MLA Miranda Rosin is hoping that new premier will be Travis Toews.
“I am on his campaign team, and I believe in him as a leader and a man of character and principle, a unifying force in our caucus and province,” Rosin said. “I have been on tour with him and travelling around the province with him the past couple weeks.”
For Rosin, the tour has been an opportunity to see areas of the province that she wouldn’t have seen typically.
“As the MLA for Banff-Kananaskis, and someone who spends most of my time in southern Alberta, it has been great for me to get out and diversify my worldview in the province,” Rosin said.
As for the leadership race itself, Rosin sees it as something that will unify the party.
“We got the most engaged members we have ever had, and I think it is really good for the members,” Rosin said. “It has been a unifying process and it has been an opportunity for the members of our government to get their platforms up there and get their ideas heard.”
Estimates have 120,000 people buying memberships to vote in the race.
“I think it is really positive to see how much buy-in we are seeing from Albertans and our members,” Rosin said. “When we come out of this, the members will know they have had a say. They have had a chance seven times over if it goes that many rounds.”
Supporting Toews, Rosin also said she has seen friendliness between the candidates, despite the disagreements over policies.
“For the most part, you will find the candidates have been quite amicable to each other and there has been a friendly warm tone to their engagement to each other,” Rosin said.
The main topic of the leadership race has been the Sovereignty Act proposed by leadership candidate Danielle Smith. The Act, if passed, would theoretically give the province the ability to refuse federal laws.
While she understands the rationale behind the proposed Act, Rosin said she feels it will not have the impact that many believe that it will.
“The major issues that are under federal control would be banking, natural resource development and pipeline construction, border control and airlines,” Rosin said. “All of these things are trans-boundary and go beyond the Alberta border and we won’t be able to say no to these things.”
Rosin compares the Act to a bill of goods that sounds good, but has little behind it. It is also not supported by Travis Toews.
“We can’t just tell Westjet to put a vaccine passport on all flights only out of Alberta,” Rosin said. “They are not going to do that because they operate on an international market.”
Rather than a Sovereignty Act, Rosin would like to see something else that has a better impact when dealing with Ottawa.
“I understand the frustration and I understand why people are upset with Ottawa,” Rosin said. “I think there needs to be a plan that can have a real meaningful impact on that relationship.”
