By Charles Lefebvre

Doug Schweitzer, seeking leadership of United Conservative Party, visits Medicine Hat

Aug 31, 2017 | 5:41 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — One of the four candidates seeking to become leader of the United Conservative Party made his first stop in Medicine Hat on Thursday.

Doug Schweitzer, a Calgary lawyer, was the first candidate to officially file their papers to seek the party’s leadership when the Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties officially merged. He stopped in Medicine Hat on Wednesday to meet with residents and community officials.

Since he kicked off his campaign, Schweitzer says he’s been hearing that Albertans are struggling.

“They want things to turn around in Alberta,” he said.

If elected, Schweitzer is proposing a change to the province’s tax assessments, with people making under $100,000 a year only paying nine per cent in taxes, and 10 per cent for those making more than $100,000 a year. He also expressed support for repealing Alberta’s carbon tax, and cutting taxes for businesses.

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Schweitzer adds if he is elected leader, improving investor confidence is also a priority.

“We need to make sure that Alberta is the most competitive jurisdiction in Canada, and arguably, we want to be the most competitive jurisdictions in the world,” he said. “We can’t control, sometimes, what happens in Ottawa, but we can control what happens here in Alberta. Our big focus right now is getting Albertans back to work.”

In addition to Schweitzer, Jason Kenney, Brian Jean and Jeff Callaway are all seeking the leadership position in the party.

The United Conservative Party will select its leader on October 28.