#doug schweitzer

[the-quotable-alberta-hansard]

March 9, 2022

Mr. Schweitzer: When I talk about web 3.0, one of the things as well that I don’t hear much from the opposition ever about is when it comes to DeFi, deregulated finance, and the opportunity there is for Alberta to lead in this space. We’re talking about the DeFi space right now. We’re going to be creating our regulatory sandbox. We referenced, you know, cryptocurrencies in our throne speech. There’s an opportunity for Alberta as well in this space to continue to grow. I didn’t hear the NDP ever – ever – talk about this area of opportunity in Canada.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Alberta NDP wants special prosecutor to oversee RCMP probe of UCP leadership

Alberta’s elections commissioner is also reviewing the 2017 leadership contest and has levelled fines over illegal funding for Calgary businessman Jeff Callaway, who was also a leadership candidate.

Alberta’s New Democrats want independent oversight and an ethics ruling on the controversy surrounding the United Conservative leadership race won by Jason Kenney before he became premier.

Opposition Leader Rachel Notley says she has sent a letter to the Justice Department calling for a special prosecutor to oversee RCMP investigations into alleged voting and funding irregularities in the 2017 race.

Notley says Kenney and new Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer — who ran for and lost the leadership to Kenney — need to be at arm’s length from investigations or prosecutions.

“Prosecution and investigation of the law must be kept independent from political interference,” Notley said Thursday.

“This is why it is so fundamentally important that a special prosecutor be appointed immediately.”

She has also written to the ethics commissioner asking for a ruling on whether Kenney and Schweitzer are in a conflict of interest, given their participation in the leadership race and the new titles they hold after being sworn in this week.

“We have people investigating their bosses,” said Notley. “We are in a position that needs to be addressed on an urgent basis.”

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @abpoli

[the-quotable-alberta-hansard]

November 25, 2020

Mr. Bilous: At the moment we see that there’s been a $25 million investment. My question is: will that continue to be an incremental investment over years, or what is the time frame around the $175 million commitment?

Mr. Schweitzer: I mean, this is something, a word that may come up every now and again. You may hear somebody on our side use the term “socialist” every now and again to maybe describe somebody on the other side. But I’ve heard that on the other side they may even describe that member as the capitalist amongst the socialists over there. I don’t know if that’s a better burn than anything else. I don’t know if that’s helpful. He may want to clip this for social media. I’ve heard that he may be the capitalist on the other side.

[the-quotable-alberta-hansard]

November 25, 2020

Mr. Schweitzer: When I first was asked to take on this new role three months ago, I went into my first department meeting, and when in government you kind of get to hear the terminology. They said, “Oh, yeah, our SMERG is doing this, and SMERG is doing that,” and I had to kind of stop them and ask them what a SMERG was. It sounded a little bit like The Hobbit; you’re dealing with Smaug versus SMERG. Apparently, this is our relaunch grant. You have to kind of interpret, you know, government lingo and the mannerisms that they have.

[the-quotable-alberta-hansard]

March 4, 2020

Mr. Schweitzer: One of the things that we’re working on as well, though, is making sure we modernize the infrastructure around our judiciary. MS-DOS from 1981 is still a foundational program in our courts. That is unacceptable. Right around then we found out that Luke’s father was Darth Vader.

[the-quotable-alberta-hansard]

February 26, 2020

Mr. Schweitzer: Mr. Speaker, we need to have a conversation about the future of justice across this country. Our current system is designed for decades ago. Right now we have situations where people are doing TikTok with social media stuff on our rail lines.

[the-quotable-alberta-hansard]

June 26, 2019

Mr. Schweitzer: Mr. Speaker, I’ll reiterate and clarify for the hon. member. Ontario has been asked to provide legal advice. The title of that could be special prosecutor. It’s external legal advice to the RCMP. I’d refer them again to the RCMP if they have further questions with respect to their independent investigation. Again, we respect the police and their independence in this matter.

Ms Notley: Well, Mr. Speaker, Ontario is not a person. I mean, I hate to break it to the Attorney General. A special prosecutor is a person. They are a person who is held accountable. They are a person who Albertans can know is separate and objective and independent from this government. Why won’t the Attorney General announce the name? And will he assure us that it’s not the Premier of Ontario, heaven forbid?

[the-quotable-alberta-hansard]

November 21, 2019

Ms Sweet: to the Minister of Justice: isn’t it time that you name publicly who is the special prosecutor responsible for overseeing the RCMP investigation into the UCP leadership? What are you hiding?

Mr. Schweitzer: Mr. Speaker, absolutely nothing is the answer. There’s been a heck of a lot of hypocrisy from the other side. This hypocrisy needs to stop. They’re smearing people’s good names. If we’re getting into the politics that they’re playing, they appointed under their administration six judges that made material donations to the NDP. One made a $4,000 donation right before being appointed. I’m not saying that they’re not fit for office. People can be involved in a political process. They have to stop the hypocrisy. They have to stop this politics and seeing everything as an ethics violation. Stop it.