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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - AUG/SEPT 2013
DETOUR GOLD
With the help of great people I
acknowledge the fact that I got elected
nine times in two different provinces
at two different levels (provincial and
federal) with generally increasing sup-
port all along the way—that’s person-
ally very satisfying and speaks to hav-
ing a great team.
In terms of policy, in Alberta I
was part of the Miracle on the Prairies
(
as it was coined by the media) when
we won the election with Ralph Klein
in 1993: we were so far down in the
polls we could hardly see daylight- but
we turned it around. Then, we accom-
plished the impossible chore of get-
ting the deficit to zero and eventually
retiring the debt. Those are things I’ll
always remember. Being Minister of
Finance and putting in a flat tax: I feel
very good about that and Alberta is
still the only province that has one. To
me that tax has relieved hard working
people of tremendous tax burden.
At the federal level, winning the
election and becoming the first leader
of the Canadian Alliance; that was a
great time for me. Personally that was
fulfilling even though it was a brutal
process. Being part of the Harper gov-
ernment as Security Minister working
on a number of national important
projects was gratifying. Especially
trade deals—ones that will help the
country—and will help open oppor-
tunities for investments and jobs. We
made some major openings in our
China policy and it was a pleasure to
be part of moving ahead aggressively
with China trade relations, especially
following the Prime Minister’s first
visit and meeting with the Chinese
President and Vice President. It was an
honour.
I left politics in that capacity with
a smile on my face. I must add that
there’s very little to match what you
can do on a constituency level to help
people who are buried in government
red tape over a personal issue, and be-
ing able to step into the mess and plow
through obstacles with them is great.
How did you embark on the
journey to create and run Stockwell
Day Connex? And how does the orga-
nization help Canadian citizens?
SD:
Well, learning first-hand that
government often unintentionally cre-
ates problems for people (when their
goal is to relieve problems) was the
motivation. In my 25 years in govern-
ment, I was running into individuals
(
whether non-government organiza-
tions or businesses) who were incredi-
bly confounded and overwhelmed and
sometimes drowning in well-intended
suffocating regulatory process. So to
be able to take my knowledge (and act
within the Conflicts of Interest Act),
and sit down with businesses, individ-
uals and NGOs, and help them map
out a pathway to successfully achieve
their goals—that has been very gratify-
ing.
I’m involved in a variety of is-
sues, including those with First Na-
tions. It’s great to be able to learn
things on a variety of levels that I nev-
“
At the federal
level, winning
the election
and becoming
the first leader
of the Cana-
dian Alliance,
that was a
great time for
me.”
