Doug Schweitzer will not run to be UCP leader or seek re-election
Alberta cabinet minister Doug Schweitzer announced Monday evening he would not seek the United Conservative Party's top job or run for re-election.
While he was "humbled" to receive support for a bid to become leader of the UCP, in a statement on Twitter, Schweitzer said he would not run for the position.
"I was honoured to be elected as the MLA for Calgary-Elbow," Schweitzer said, adding he would finish his term to ensure "continuity and stability."
Schweitzer led the late Jim Prentice's leadership campaign and was later one of three finalists in the UCP's first leadership race in 2017, finishing last behind Premier Jason Kenney and former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean.
After being elected in 2019, Schweitzer served as justice minister and became the Minister of Jobs, Economy, and Innovation after a cabinet shuffle in the summer of 2020.
"After eight years (of government involvement), I am looking forward to spending more time with my family," he added. "I could not have served our province so diligently without their immense sacrifice and support."
Schweitzer said his priority was always "ensuring safety and economic stability" for all Albertans and that the government's economic recovery plan helped diversify the province's economy while lowering the unemployment rate to its lowest level since 2015.
"Put simply, Alberta is back," Schweitzer said.
"I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished together over these many years," he added. "In the years and decades to come, I will continue to meaningfully contribute to public life."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.