Rajan Sawhney launches UCP leadership campaign, resigns as transportation minister

Alberta's transportation minister has stepped down from her role to join the leadership contest for the United Conservative Party.

Rajan Sawhney, Calgary-North East MLA, announced her campaign outside the Alberta Legislature Monday and kicked off a tour across the province.

Born and raised in Alberta, Sawhney said she wants the UCP to look forward and work toward making a better province while learning from past mistakes.

"I want a better future," she said. "Not more of the same."

Sawhney was elected in 2019 and held two cabinet portfolios, including minister of community and social services and then transportation minister after a 2021 cabinet shuffle.

She is the second cabinet minister to announce a leadership bid after Travis Toews resigned as finance minister two weeks ago.

If selected as leader of the party, Sawhney said she would create a transparent independent inquiry into the government's COVID-19 response. In her view, the province cannot fully put the pandemic behind it until the response is analyzed.

"We need to know what we did right," she added. "We need to know what we did wrong. We need to know these things so we can move forward to create a better future for our province."

While she was involved in the early COVID-19 response, Sawnhey said she was not part of the decision-making in the last year and a half of the pandemic. She believes all Albertans deserve to see all the data and justifications behind the government's decision-making.

The former cabinet minister said she would continue to control Alberta's spending but fix "some mistakes" made, specifically in the health-care system and mental health investments.

"Keeping spending under control is not a mistake," Sawhney said. "It means we can make the necessary investments in the future rather than just pay interest on the debt. It means we can start saving during the current boom instead of just spending our current surpluses."

"A government led by me will continue to control spending while investing in Alberta's priorities."

QUESTIONS OF UNITED

Five other candidates have registered with Elections Alberta to participate in the leadership campaign, including former culture and multiculturalism minister Leela Aheer and Central Peace-Notley Independent MLA Todd Loewen.

Former Wildrose party leader and current Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche UCP MLA Brian Jean, former Wildrose party leader Danielle Smith, and Amisk Mayor Bill Rock are also running for the party's top job. 

Stephen Carter, a political strategist and president of Decide Campaign, says as more people enter the leadership competition, the fundamental question will be: What does it mean to be a UCP member?

"Ultimately, this isn't one party," Carter said. "This is two parties that came together with the objective of winning the last election. They achieved that, and then almost from day one, they haven't been able to stay together with any real purpose because they have different values."

"When Jason Kenney put it together, conservative was simply a synonym for winner and that could be enough," he added. "If we can keep these two halves of this party together, then we will beat the 'hated,' and 'feared' NDP."

Carter says Sawhney's mentions of healthcare and education improvements could show a different future path for the party than some of the other candidates.

"Rajan has the capacity to sell a lot of memberships," Carter added. "She does not come from a particular branch of the conservative movement.

"She's really pushing hard to take a position in the party that shows her as a uniter which is an interesting play for someone who is probably a little bit to the left of the party overall."

For her campaign chair Angela Pitt, UCP MLA for Airdrie-East, Sawhney represents an opportunity to "repair" trust with Albertans, especially with the COVID-19 inquiry.

"It's no secret I think there's lots of mistakes that the premier made in the last number of years," Pitt told CTV News Edmonton. "I believe Rajan has that ability to bridge that divide."

"I'd like to see somebody bold enough to make a real impact on the health-care system for all Albertans," she added.

Carter expects the leadership vote to be by preferential ballot, with one vote for every member. The party has yet to announce the full rules for the leadership contest, only telling CTV News Edmonton a release will be shared when final details are available.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Chelan Skulski