Days ahead of departing politics, UCP MLA says she’s ‘proud of the work’ Smith’s government is doing

Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz shakes hands with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in Edmonton, Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

UCP Calgary-Shaw MLA Rebecca Schulz joins Alberta Primetime’s Michael Higgins to discuss her resignation from UCP caucus and the current challenges the provincial government is facing.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michael Higgins: When your resignation from cabinet was announced at the end of last year, the indication was you would stay on as an MLA until May. With a sessional calendar showing this will be the last week of the current sitting, is it safe to say you’re just a couple days away from departing politics?

Rebecca Shulz: That’s true. It’s been such an honour to serve as the MLA of Calgary-Shaw and minister in a number of portfolios across government. It’s always mixed. I’m so proud of the work that our government and our premier is doing right now, so that makes it always tough to step away. But I’ve been in politics for 16 years now, first as a staffer then working in government and then as an elected official. So there always comes a time to move on.

MH: You posted to social media that ‘timing is everything in life and in politics.’ What makes now the time to go?

RS: I think it was just reflecting on the amazing work that we’ve been able to do as a United Conservative team over the last seven years. It’s been the true honour of a lifetime to serve the people of Calgary-Shaw, and it’s such a rare opportunity to be in an elected office where you are entrusted with people’s hopes, fears and aspirations for the future, and you get to take all of that feedback and those amazing ideas and then work to make Alberta a better place and leave things better than you found them.

For me, after seven years in elected office, but 16 in politics and government overall, it was time. But I will continue to support our amazing United Conservative team and I’m grateful for our premier and all of the work that she is doing on behalf of Albertans right now.

MH: In the early days of discussions around the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding), you were still the environment minister looking to Ottawa for progress. Are you disappointed to be leaving before a deal is locked down, not in a position to see this through? Or maybe you can let us in on something before you’re finished?

RS: I think that’s a key piece. In politics, there’s never a perfect time. For me, those two things weren’t related. It was an honour of a lifetime to also work to defend Alberta against the federal government’s overreach that we saw over the last 10 years. And to push for the federal government to respect the Constitution and provincial jurisdiction when it comes to energy development, work to defend against some radical ideological policies that were coming out of the federal government and impacting Albertans’ way of life and our overall Alberta and Canadian economy. That is some of the most amazing work that I was able to do. It was an honour to do that work on behalf of Albertans.

MH: The Alberta-Ottawa relationship appears a lot more productive at the moment. In reflecting back on your time as environment minister, how would you describe dynamics with Steven Guilbeault as your federal counterpart?

RS: It was a really interesting point in time. I have many stories about minister Guilbeault’s approach to policy. But when I think back, what I sum it up as is if you could imagine how productive we could be as a country if we did not have to spend all of that time at the political level and also within the department level, both provincially and federally, all of the industry time and effort that went into modeling working through why all of these federal policies were so damaging to our economy, and then trying to work for fixes or repeals in many cases.

I think of the work that our premier has done in building alliances across the country, which we have seen other premiers step on and support Alberta on many of these fronts. She was very successful in having the net-zero electricity grid regulations taken off the table, as well as the oil and gas emissions cap. But of course, that work isn’t done. I’m very grateful for the work that our premier has done to push for our major industries. That is hugely important for the Alberta economy.

MH: How do you feel about leaving at a time when forces are building towards a possible referendum on separation?

RS: I think Albertans have a significant amount of frustration. I spoke on a panel in Ottawa about this last week. This frustration isn’t new. We saw it under the first Prime Minister (Justin) Trudeau. Then when we had Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a pro-economy, pro-growth leader respecting provincial jurisdiction and the Constitution, we didn’t hear those same concerns. I think we also were fortunate to have a prime minister from Western Canada who understood what Western Canadians were looking for in those early years.

But after these ten years of frustrating, devastating economic policies coming out of Ottawa, and I’ll say again, largely economic. We’ve seen it in everything from child care to health care to PharmaCare as well, Albertans’ frustrations are real. I think the work that the premier has done gives Albertans hope that there is a better way. I think we heard that from Prime Minister Mark Carney in the last election, when he ran and he said, “We’re going to become an economic and energy superpower. National Unity is very important.” I think what Albertans are looking for is some action to back up those words and we haven’t seen that just yet. I’m glad that the premier is optimistic and I’m very glad that she is the one working to defend and lead Alberta right now.

MH: How concerned are you about the electors’ list data breach, even reports that the group at the centre of that controversy is refusing to cooperate with Elections Alberta investigators?

RS: I think Albertans are concerned about that and we’ve been very clear we expect the Elections Alberta office to do their work. They’re an independent office. We want to see that investigation, as well as the RCMPinvestigation, move forward. I think that that’s the most important thing. Of course, those groups are independent from the government, and we have said we will be looking forward to seeing what they bring forward so that we can get to the bottom of what happened there.

MH: In running for party leadership, you pitched the element of there needing to be a shift in tone. We spoke about this four years ago. What did that whole experience open your eyes to where party unity is concerned?

RS: I would say that was such a great experience. I don’t regret it for a second. It was amazing to travel across Alberta and hear the perspectives of people in every corner of our province, and really listen to what their main concerns were, some of their ideas for how we could do things differently and better. After that leadership race, the most amazing thing was how the premier then stepped in and brought our team back together, including all of us who ran in that leadership race as contestants. I think that’s one of her strongest leadership skills, her ability to bring together our team and ensure that we are, in fact, a United Conservative team. When working together, she took ideas from other leadership candidates, and we heard many of the same things as we travelled the province.

Even when it came to the federal government, she really stepped up to show leadership to say there are frustrations here in Alberta and that we have demands. Like the nine bad laws being repealed, she’s been very clear in terms of what our province is looking for, then building that coalition across the country of premiers, finding agreement on areas where there is agreement to then pushing for change. I think she did take a different approach, a different tone, with the federal government. We’re all still waiting to see the federal government step up and deliver on what they ran on in the last election, but I’m glad that she’s there holding them accountable.

MH: Are you all done with politics?

RS: I always say, ‘You never say never,’ but after being in it for 16 years, it’s just the right time to step away and potentially look at some different things. It’s been such an honour. I’m so grateful for the team that I’ve been able to work alongside, for the premier and her leadership, the friends I’ve made along the way, and just having the faith of people in Calgary-Shaw to be their voice here in the legislature has really been an amazing honour.