The Alberta Liberal Party leader stopped in St. Albert on Wednesday night to talk politics with local constituents.
The event drew 35 people, some of whom were long standing liberals. A few people were not affiliated with the party but came to explore what the party had to offer.
Party leader Dr. David Swann is optimistic that the current political climate will lead to the success of the party in the 2019 election.
“It’s a critical time for us to start to rebuild the party,” MLA for Calgary-Mountain View said.
A ThinkHQ Public Affairs survey released this week shows the Alberta Liberals polling at only four per cent in province behind the Wildrose party at 35 per cent, the NDP at 31 per cent and the Progressive Conservatives at 24 per cent.
But Swann said that the recent turmoil with Jason Kenney and the PC party will leave an opening in the centre of the spectrum and his party plans to take full advantage of that.
“We are business friendly and we are socially progressive,” Swann said. “People who are not happy with Jason Kenney can come to us and people who don’t see the business sense and the ability to create a healthy investment climate here in Alberta within the New Democrats’ side will come to us.”
Last weekend the Alberta Liberals planned for their future at their annual policy convention in Calgary.
The group endorsed changing the way Albertans vote from the current first past the post system to proportional representation, a move they believe will “provide more fairness to the voters.”
The Liberals also voted to ban the controversial LGBT conversion therapy and voted in favour of pipelines.
Swann believes strongly in preventative medical care. He was a practicing family physician from 1975 to 1984 and then a public health consultant from 1988 to 2004 before becoming an MLA. He thinks the health system currently has a lot of waste and wants to see more money spent on preventative care. The current system has three per cent of the health budget dedicated to prevention but Swann would like to see that number double to six per cent.
Although Swann thinks some of the changes the NDP are making are needed, such as the raise in minimum wage and the carbon tax, he believes the pace of the change is harmful.
He is also concerned that Alberta coal plants are being phased out too quickly, and he disagrees with putting a cap on electricity prices.
At the end of the 2017 spring session Swann plans to step down as leader of the party.
