‘A very ambitious agenda': Alberta MP to support minister of energy and natural resources' efforts
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Michael Higgins: You've now been named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. What does that put on your plate?
Corey Hogan: Energy and Natural Resources, mostly. We become part of a bigger team that is involved in the energy conversations happening, of course, but also forestry, critical minerals and my role involves supporting the minister in that.
Whether that be in Parliament, or whether that be with stakeholders as we try to put together a very ambitious agenda here.
MH: Albertans have seen not only the images of interactions at the First Ministers roundtable, but also the PM and Premier Smith meeting face to face in recent days. What do you feel those meetings have achieved, actively accomplished?
CH: I think first and foremost, we all know that we need to rebuild relationships. It's been a bit of a rocky time between Alberta and Canada, as far as governments go, and this is great.
We've turned a page. We've got more constructive conversations and constructive relationships. Constructive conversations is the foundation on which we're going to build our future ambitions, whether they be energy corridors, increasing production, or whatever the case may be.
So the prime minister and the premier are setting foundations for lots of great work to come.
MH: How prepared are you for hurdles in navigating the road forward with the Smith government?
CH: It's always good in theory and then the rubber hits the road, and I think what we need to make sure is that we're able to get through those hurdles. It's a goodwill relationship, and so it's part of why it's so important that they've gotten off on the right foot, the prime minister and the premier.
So my job will be trying to make sure that we stay on the right foot as we walk down that road.
MH: There was a degree of reaction in this province, even disappointment, over the fact you were not named to Mark Carney's cabinet. How do you engage those who say that because you're one of only two liberal MPs elected in Alberta, you should have a portfolio.
CH: The reality is, there's 164 Liberal MPs that could be in cabinet, we all want to be in cabinet, we don't all get to be in cabinet, but because I am the sole Liberal in Calgary, I assure you there's still a very strong voice in this very strong place at the table for me to bring forward those issues and those concerns.
I think that's in part reflected with this appointment that just happened.
MH: It's only been a few weeks in Ottawa now, but what have you tackled post election? What has been the priority?
CH: There's a lot of parliamentary nuts and bolts that need to happen whenever you've got a new government. We had the throne speech, the king was here. That throne speech sets out a very ambitious agenda which includes eliminating interprovincial trade barriers, includes building the strongest economy in the G7 through bringing a tax cut to 22 million Canadians, and also removing GST on new home builds, among many other things.
Getting that through the House of Commons is job number one, and from there, we're also looking to strengthen our borders, and we are also looking to strengthen competitiveness more broadly.
So bills have been introduced or will be introduced on all of those things.
MH: To what degree are you working with those across the aisle, engaging with Conservative MPs from across Alberta?
CH: Politics has a certain level of theatre. You see us yelling at each other in the House of Commons but the reality is, in the chamber is one thing, but in the lobbies behind it and in the halls of that, there's lots of constructive conversations.
I've had lots of constructive conversations with my fellow Calgary MPs such as Greg McLean. We like to say that we share custody of the Bow River, and we're continuing to find common ground on a number of things. You saw that as recently as yesterday, where the Conservatives were happy to support the tax cut that was brought forward by this government.
MH: How much is dialogue over the prospect of a referendum on separation weighing on your responsibilities in representing this province in the House of Commons?
CH: It's a big part of why I ran. I wanted to make sure that I was able to be a strong pro-Canada voice, and I thought that we needed a strong pro-Canada voice. So that's a bit of my why.
It weighs on everything, in a sense, but I also don't want to overstate it. We've seen polls that have support for separation anywhere from 20 to 35 per cent in terms of more mainstream polls, and that's roughly where it's been for a long time. That's obviously too high.
We don't want Albertans to feel that they can only meet their ambitions outside of this country, but it is definitely a very minority opinion, and so you're always trying to strike a balance between addressing those concerns and not giving too much oxygen to those concerns but it weighs heavily. It comes up regularly. It's something that we talk about.
It's certainly something everybody in the house is aware of, Liberal or Conservative, and it's something we know needs to be addressed.
MH: Two weeks left in this short sitting of Parliament, though the PM indicating during a news conference today that may be extended. What should Albertans expect your government to accomplish in what remains of that sitting window?
CH: We'll get through the bills that I was just talking about. We'll strengthen the border. We'll bring in a middle class tax cut and we'll get that through completion. We'll get interprovincial trade barriers down, among many other things.
You can also expect us to get down to work on what we would call the portfolio work. People like Tim Hodgson, the minister of energy and natural resources, has already been out to Calgary, talked to stakeholders a couple of times.
In fact, you can expect a lot of that work is going to continue. A lot of governing happens in the house, but a lot of governing happens outside of the house, and you're going to see that continue pretty aggressively through the summer.
MH: Do you play a role in the upcoming G7 Summit?
CH: Only in the sense that I'm a local MP but no, I'm not. I'm not speaking or anything, but I will certainly be supporting with some of the conversations that are occurring in the background.
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