UCP hopeful Callaway releases first of his ‘big ideas’: natural gas

CALGARY United Conservative Party leadership candidate Jeff Callaway announced his first platform plank Thursday, saying he will capitalize on natural gas resources if elected.

While offering few details on how his natural gas proposal differs from NDP policy or the proposals of his leadership rivals, Callaway called the move a triple win for job creation, a stronger economy and a cleaner environment.

“Alberta is blessed with decades of reserves but because of dithering by other governments it is likely to be trapped in Alberta,” said Callaway.

Callaway expressed doubts about other forms of energy, such as solar and wind, saying the focus must shift to natural gas. He also reiterated his promise to repeal the Alberta carbon tax and challenge a proposed federal carbon tax in court.

“While I plan on joining and leading the constitutional court challenge regarding the federal government legislating carbon as an infringement on provincial jurisdiction, we also can’t bury our heads in the sand, either, in case we lose,” he said.

His backup plan is to roll back the NDP shutdown of coal plants to its original time frame, and get the government to support construction of natural gas-fuelled power plants.

The announcement made this week is the first of three “big ideas” he’ll focus on during the leadership race.

In comparison, his opponent Brian Jean has released numerous planks over the past few weeks, including proposed referendums on photo radar and equalization payments. Jason Kenney, on the other hand, offered no specifics on what policy he’d pursue if elected. Kenny said he’ll let policy be determined by party members.

Fellow candidate Doug Schweitzer has made social progressive issues the forefront of his platform.

While Callaway was supportive of Kenney’s promise to let party members decide on policy, he had plenty of criticism for Jean’s more specific proposals.

“I think a leadership (candidate) does need to provide a vision about where we need to go as a province, but I also don’t think that a leader should be prescribing what the policy of this party should be,” he said.

In terms of the Calgary Pride Parade, taking place in just over a week, Callaway said he will attend as a spectator despite being disappointed by Pride’s decision to ban the UCP from participating in the parade.

Callaway will announce his two remaining “big ideas” in the coming weeks.