Alberta election 2015: Kent Hehr takes ambivalent voter Rob Lewis to lunch
Outgoing Liberal MLA Kent Hehr takes Rob Lewis, the star of CBC's #MakeRobCare election series, to lunch.
Veteran politician meets with the star of CBC's #MakeRobCare campaign
It all started with a tweet from outgoing Liberal MLA Kent Hehr.
I want Rob to vote too. If not for me, somebody else. Let's have dinner this week. Cibos? My treat. <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCCalgary">@CBCCalgary</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MakeRobCare?src=hash">#MakeRobCare</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/30daystovote?src=hash">#30daystovote</a>
—@kenthehrRob Lewis is the star of the Calgary Eyeopener's #MakeRobCare campaign. He used to vote but stopped when he moved from Halifax to Calgary in 2007.
Lewis and CBC Calgary took Hehr up on his offer and met for lunch on Thursday. Over plates of pasta and pizza, the two got into heated debates. Here are some memorable quotes.
On charter schools:
- RL: "I'm going to call you out on charter schools." (Rob works for a junior high charter school.) "I don't think you know what a charter school is. We are 100 per cent public."
- KH: "I'll pushback a little on this one. I believe charter schools have great teachers like you in them. I think charter schools have been up and running and I would like to see them in the public system," said Hehr. "The Liberal Party of Alberta doesn't even have a policy on charter schools. It was more my bend."
On the importance of voting:
- RL: "It's not that I'm apathetic. I really do care about the process. I struggle to find a party that can truly represent what my ideals are."
- KH: "The important thing is picking a party that balances your interests with the interests of the society you want. Even as an Alberta Liberal, I don't agree with all of our policies. If you agree lock, stock and barrel with every party policy I don't think they're looking at it closely enough."
On voting for an opposition party:
- KH: "I'll let you in on a little secret. We are not going to be government. That gives you a little more freedom."
- RL: "Feels weird for a party to have a defeatist mentality, but then again, at least you're being honest."
- KH: "Opposition matters in real and tangible ways. Two examples: It wasn't easy talking about our fiscal structure seven years ago. But that may have lead to this being on the table here this election. And the gay-straight alliance issue. If I would not have brought that up and Laurie Blakeman followed it up, that would not have been government policy for years."