Canadian Lawyer

w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m J U N E / J U LY 2 0 1 9 13 R E G I O N A L W R A P to finally enter politics as a candidate rather than a volunteer, he certainly watered it. Back in 2014, Warren, a lawyer in Red Deer, Alta., who had long been involved in conservative politics, met Schweitzer when both served on an Alberta PC party finance committee. Two years later, in May 2016, Warren rang Schweitzer out of the blue and arranged a breakfast meeting in Calgary to nudge Schweitzer into running as a conservative in Alberta's next provincial election. "Doug just struck me as someone who was very articulate [and] measured and considered issues from a number of differ- ent perspectives," says Warren, who wanted more young people involved in Alberta politics. "I remember that breakfast distinctly," says Schweitzer, who has two young daughters with his wife Jen- nifer, a federal prosecutor. Warren says he "knew I was passionate about getting people back to work." That, it's clear, is a prime motivator in Schweitzer's goals as Alberta's justice minister, a position not usually associated with economic development. Increasing employment and restoring Alberta's reputation as a place to do business, he says, will be a big part of his ministry's "fight-back strategy." That includes joining Saskatchewan and Ontario in the legal fight against the federal carbon tax and, during the UCP's first day in power, enacting Bill 12, the "turn-off-the-taps" legislation that could give Alberta the power to reduce the flow of oil and gas to British Columbia in retaliation for B.C. blocking Alberta's plans to build pipelines to the west coast. As a bankruptcy and restructuring lawyer, Schweitzer dealt with numerous Albertans who had lost their jobs and businesses since oil prices tanked in 2014 and who were trying to salvage what they could of their finances. But his deep concern about Alberta's economy and job prospects goes back further than that. As a young boy, he and his older brother and sister watched his parents suffer through the recession in the early '80s. His mother had been a teacher, but she was raising the children when his entrepreneurial father, Ed, lost his small homebuilding business in Kelowna during that downturn. The family bounced around for years in Alberta and B.C. as his parents struggled to find work. Back then, the Schweitzers sometimes lived temporarily in base- ments offered by friends. When he was eight or nine, Schweitzer, along with his siblings, had paper routes. He remembers that, sometimes, it was the kids who bought the family groceries with what little money they earned. But, he says, his parents — he considers them his personal heroes — "were an amazing example of a strong couple working together to solve their situation. . . . Seeing them get through that and their resilience and how hard this was for them, it really moti- vates me now." — Anthony Davis Visit canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse Sponsored by: OUR VIDEO COVERAGE TOPICS: Staying on top of it all The wildest ride Branding and marketing challenges Technology in the workplace David Forrest, Canada Goose Vivian Leung, BlueCat Networks Rustam Juma, Eckler Ltd. Sony Gokhale, Supreme Cannabis Co. Alison Harnick, First Capital Realty Inc. 14 th Annual Canadian Lawyer InHouse General Counsel Roundtable From legal counsel to business adviser

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