A Coffee with Minister of Technology and Innovation, Nate Glubish

Join us for a coffee and an incredible chat with Minister Nate Glubish, Alberta’s Minister of Technology and Innovation. We dive into his fascinating and unexpected path that took him from the stage to the legislature.

Nate takes us back to his roots in Edmonton, his time in Saskatoon, and his discovery of a passion for corporate finance at the University of Saskatchewan. But before he entered the world of politics, Nate was a touring rock musician with the band Rend. He shares some incredible stories from the road, including his experience playing 200 shows across Canada and winning a Rock Recording of the Year award at the Edmonton Music Awards.

He reveals the surprising story of what compelled him to get involved in politics after the 2015 election, a time when he spent four years volunteering and learning the ropes before running for office. Now in his second term, he’s on a mission to make Alberta the most innovative jurisdiction in Canada. We get a glimpse into his work, from the new Alberta Wallet to his ambitious vision for a technology-driven future for the province. This is a conversation you won't want to miss!

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Transcript

0:02

Hello, I'm Nate Glubish and you're listening to Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam. So, I was at Costco, and all their Christmas stuff is out. I know. Well, not all, but a whole roll. They still have Halloween. So can I just say, this is September, I'm not sure when this will drop, but this is September, and all their Christmas, and along next to their Halloween stuff. But you know what? Here's the challenge. What's that? If you see something in the Christmas aisle at Costco, and if you don't buy it right away, next time you go back to Costco, it's gonna be gone! But can I just say fake Christmas trees for $499? Like, come on, seriously? At least put some scent on that so it smells like pine. Yeah, exactly. Well, it's got little flashing lights. I'm like looking at it, going, that won't work for me. But nonetheless, it's Christmas, and so here we go, Costco is Christmas. Anyway, I just thought I'd bring that up because Costco beats everybody. That's all I gotta say. They always do every year. And I know when we do our Pet Peeves show, we always bring up Costco. It's not necessarily... It's a love-hate relationship. It is a love-hate relationship. But just to say, the other day I had nothing to do. I went and walked around Costco. I know I need a life, I know. But I didn't buy anything. Actually, that was rare. I didn't buy anything. I just walked around Costco. Anyway, welcome everybody to another edition of the Coffee In The Park podcast with Jennifer and Cam. We're so glad to have you listening to us today. We are coming to you live from the Wall Coffee Roasters in the heart of beautiful downtown Acheson. If you hear some noise in the background, maybe if you hear a machine whirring, or some people talking, or kids screaming. Well, there were. There was a baby earlier in the coffee shop. I think they left. I think so. The baby wasn't drinking coffee. I just want to make that for people who are like, is that baby drinking coffee? No, they weren't drinking coffee. But I'm telling you that because if you hear noise in the background, that's what it is because we do this live right in the coffee shop. Our favorite place. That's right. And if you've never been to the coffee shop, you need to come. They have a new flavor called? Apple Spice Latte and a maple, I think a Maple London Fog. I don't know what the maple one is, but that... London Fog. Yeah. Oh, I had the London Fog. Yes, you did. And you had the apple spice thing. Yes, I did. And it was, yeah, no, it's worth trying. That's all I got to say. So come on out and check it out. It's kind of awesome. Absolutely. Anyway, hey, we want to tell you that Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam is brought to you by some really cool people. The first one is Wing Snob. If you are looking for some place to go for dinner tonight, or you need to do some takeout, I'm telling you, Wing Snob is the place to go. And hey, Cam, what's that? You just told me you had wings at it. We won't say the location. I won't say the place last night. Yeah, they were bad. No, they were bad wings. I don't know if it was the chicken's fault or the cook's fault or what, but they were bad wings. But do you know why Wing Snob is never bad? No, because their wings are always fresh, never frozen. Fresh, never frozen. That's right. They have 16 flavors of wings, four rubs. They have 10 locations in the city of Edmonton. And hey, it's amazing. They got parmesan fries. They got cornbread. They got all kinds of stuff and they are amazing wings. Your favorite flavor is? Well, snobby Q or the dry rub, the dill pickle. Oh, the dry rub, dill pickle. We are in the dill pickle world right now and they make the best dill pickle wings. So hey, if you're craving wings, they have traditional and boneless. Or if you want some of each, you order the 50-50 pack. 50-50, you get half boneless, half traditional. And like I said, 10 locations spread out throughout Edmonton. They're growing into Calgary, Grand Prairie, right across Canada. You can go to www.wingsnob.ca and find a location near you. And I'm telling you honestly, folks, if you don't know what to make for dinner tonight, the family will love you forever. Just go out and get a whole fam pack of Wing Snob wings. That's my plan. That's your plan tonight. All right. So there we go. We are also brought to you by some great people at Mprint Sign and Print Solutions here in Acheson. They're located not far from us. We could walk there. Well, not really. It would be. We'd have to cross the tracks. That could be dangerous. Yeah, that in itself. Let's not talk about that. But nonetheless, they are amazing printers. They will do everything, everything from your business cards all the way up to, they wrap. And what does that mean? That means they will wrap your vehicle. I know. Cam, they even wrapped a helicopter once. They did. It was amazing. Unbelievable. So they are amazing printers. They are the official printers of Coffee In The Park. And they've done our business cards. They've done our mugs that we give to our guests. All that kind of stuff. If you need something, whether you need brochures or booklets or pamphlets or anything, they will do it. They've even wrapped at the University of Alberta. They did a rotunda area, the new rotunda area in one of the buildings. They wrapped it and apparently looks phenomenal. I might get to see it tonight. I'm out there. Jan and Don are the best and they'll find the solutions to fit your needs. That's right. Mprint.ca. Listen, for all your printing needs, they'll go anywhere in the city, they'll go anywhere in the province. They've even done work globally. If you're listening to us today in Tuk Tuk Tuk, they will do that for you. By the way, did you know we have people listening to us on every continent except one? Antarctica. The Antarctica. Penguins do not listen. So if you know anybody on Antarctica that can help us out, hey, give them a blast and they can listen to it. I'm very excited about today's guest. This is really cool. I'm so excited. So let's, let's kick it off. You ready to go? I am. Well, away we go. Okay, but Cam, you had a question about how we address this guest today. That's right, because he's actually kind of official and I don't know if we call him Your Honour, Your Highness. I just, I want to be, listen, you know us on Coffee In The Park. We want to do things right. We do. We don't want, listen, we don't want callers or listeners. You didn't respect him. I do respect him immensely. I just don't know what to call him. So- But it is his story behind the story. That's right. We're going to hear his story behind the story. We'll ask him what he wants to be called. So we'll just introduce him right now. Let's do it. Nate Glubish. Nate Glubish. Welcome, Nate. So good to have you. Thanks for having me on the show. So Minister Nate Glubish, you are a MLA for those who are listening other than in Alberta. MLA stands for member of the Legislative Assembly. You are an elected member of the Legislative Assembly, and you are a minister. That's right. You are the ministry of? Technology and Innovation. So computers and robots and AI and all that stuff. You're the guy. So basically, I'm the resident tech nerd in government. Okay. I've actually heard the Premier refer to you as that. Yeah. But you know what? She means it as a compliment. Yeah. She says it lovingly. I know. Basically, if there is a computer or some type of software or any kind of technology system involved in the operation of the government of Alberta for everything except for health care, my team is in charge of that. Will you oversee the takeover of robots in our society? I've just watched too many of those movies. I think you have watched too many of those movies. Okay. So just because we want to do things, right? How can we refer to you as Nate or Minister? For today just call me Nate. All right. So let's start with. Okay. Well, we take it back to the beginning like we do for every guest with the story. Nate, tell us a little bit about growing up. Where were you born and where did you grow up? I was born right here in Edmonton at the Royal Alex. Royal Alex. That's where it all began. That's where it all began. Do they have a plaque or anything over there? This is the room where the Honourable Nate Glubish was born. No, I mean, I don't think they all thought I was destined for greatness or anything. They've probably all forgotten. But no, I was born in Edmonton. We lived in Spruce Grove actually at the time my parents lived there. My dad was a pastor at the Pentecostal Church in Spruce Grove at the time. That's right. So we lived there for the first two years of my life. Then my dad decided he wanted to go pursue some higher education. So we moved to BC while he worked on his Master's of Divinity. So we were in Richmond for two years. So he got his Master's degree there. Then we moved to Toronto for three years while he was working on a PhD. Then three years in, by that point, there was me, my younger sister, and my younger brother had just been born at that time. My dad got a job offer in Saskatoon at the local Bible college. How old were you at this point? I was about seven. Seven? Yeah. Okay. Some of my earliest memories are from the move from Toronto to Saskatoon. Did you like Toronto at seven? I mean... Probably don't remember. You're just a kid. All I remember is spending 45 minutes in the school bus every day on the way to kindergarten or grade one. That was not fun. So Saskatoon was a serious upgrade in my books. Okay, folks, did you hear that? Saskatoon was an upgrade. Because there's a lot of people that might not think that. Tourism Saskatchewan, did you hear this? You were born in Saskatchewan, so you love Saskatchewan. Well, what I loved about Saskatoon is it's a great place for a young family to grow up. Yeah. And so that's where I spent the majority of my childhood. And so, yeah, my dad took the job there, and the rest is history. We moved there as a family. My mom and siblings, they got to fly from Toronto to Saskatoon. Oh, but my dad and I, we did the drive. How was that, as a 7-year-old trucking across the country? I mean, I don't remember the whole thing, but I have some good memories. I remember driving around Lake Superior. Oh, yeah, yeah. And I remember passing through Winnipeg. Yeah. But, you know, it was pretty special. I mean, I got to spend three days straight with my dad in the car. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. As a 7-year-old, that was pretty special. That's kind of cool, actually. Yeah, that's cool. Now, I just, for full disclosure here, I know your mom and dad quite well, actually. When I was in college many years ago, I actually interned under your dad for a short period of time in Spruce Grove. So, yeah, so I've known your dad. I've known your dad pretty much all my life. So, yeah. So, I'm just putting that out there so people know where this is coming in case they're like, how do you know him? I'm just telling you, I didn't really know Nate because he came later after I left, but I know your dad and I know your grandpa really well. Really well, I know your grandpa. He's a good friend, so, and grandma and all the other. We won't get into it. Anyway, okay, so now you're in Saskatoon. Yes. Did you graduate high school in Saskatoon? I did, yeah. So, I went and did a French Immersion program in, well, basically from kindergarten to grade 12. So, I started in Toronto and then finished French Immersion in Saskatoon. Right. So, I graduated from Walter Murray in Saskatoon. Oh, you know that school? You've been there? I know it. Oh, okay. Just checking. It was a great school. Yeah. And there was about 80 of us in the French Immersion program, but there's about 450 of us in my grade. Right. So, it was a big school. Yeah. And, but that, you know, I mean, I'm the tech nerd in government. I was the math and science nerd in high school. Remember we said, I wonder if he was like president of like, the technology club or the computer club? The math club or the technology club, yeah. I didn't have a political bent back then, so no, I did not run any clubs. But I do remember I won the sciences award in grade, I think it was grade 12. I'm not saying this surprises me at all. What did you do to win? I don't remember exactly what the criteria was, but I had very high marks in chemistry and physics and in math. Wow. I took all the different, I don't know how this compares to Alberta system, but they had a math A30, a math B30, a math C30, and calculus. So there was basically four full semesters of grade 12 level maths. Right. I took them all. I took two of them in grade 11. Math 30 was the top, the highest. Yeah. I took, I took math like 42. Like I was so useless in that. Math 7. Oh, math 7. Yeah. Anyway, so you are obviously very smart. So... Well, I mean... Did you play sports? I, I... That was not one of my strongest. Okay, so yeah, we shouldn't even be laughing at that because that's like not everybody plays sports. No, but I wasn't... Because you like sports, because your dad is a massive hockey fan. Yeah, I mean, I enjoyed watching sports with my dad at home. We, you know, we were always watching the Oilers to see if they would be able to, you know, find a way back to the cup after their glory days. And we're still on that quest, you know, many decades later. Oh, that's a whole other podcast. That's right. That's right. That's a whole other podcast. So while sports was not my thing, music was. Yeah. And so that was how I balanced out the academics. I was in concert band. I played trumpet. I played French horn. And I really enjoyed that, you know, that side of the high school experience. Wow. So we obviously, we like to do a little research on our guests because we want to know, you know, where they... And we came up with, we came up with Rend. And so sometimes I do wish we video this just to get the look on their faces when we say, we came up with Rend. And so Rend, tell us about Rend and, and, and, and was Rend a high school thing or after high school? So this was, this was after I had moved back to Alberta. It was before I got involved in politics. Yeah. And it was before my son was born. So I had a little bit of spare time on my hands. I don't really remember what that feels like. But what were you doing for a job or were you? Well, at the time, I think, I think I joined Rend. Yeah, I joined Rend while I was actually working out here in Acheson. Okay. Yeah. At NCSG Crane and Heavy Haul. At NCSG. Yes. At the time, I was in charge of their mergers and acquisitions. And so we can maybe talk a little bit about that later. But so while I was working there, I was feeling like I'd like to do something a little bit more with my music skills. Obviously, not with trumpet and French horn, but I also played piano and guitar. Not a lot of trumpet and French horn bands. No. Not that type of music bands. No. But anyways, I thought whether it's playing piano or keyboards or playing guitar, I'd be interested to try playing with another group and just playing regularly. Right. And so where did I go? Well, I went to the Kijiji Musicians Wanted section. This is great. Yeah. This is no joke. This actually existed at the time. I don't know if it still does today, but I was just like, well, let's just go check out the Musicians Wanted section. Yeah. And so for a few weeks, I was looking to see if anything jumped out at me. I did a couple of auditions. And the first two, no chemistry. I knew right away it wasn't a fit. But the next one was Rend. And they really stood out because every one of the members of that band were Grant MacEwan music graduates. So they all had a music degree. So they were serious musicians. They were all making a living teaching. Right. They weren't like 17-year-olds in the garage. And they had been gigging for a long time, doing both cover shows, but also working on their original material. And they had just finished recording their first CD. But they were looking to recruit a keyboard player to tour with them once they launched that CD. So I went to one of their rehearsals. They had given me some of their material ahead of time. I kind of learned the parts. And we hit it off pretty quickly. So you play trumpet, you play French horn. I would say played. Played, trumpet, and French horn. And you play keyboards. Yes. Any others? Keyboards and guitar. And guitar? Yeah. Recorder? No, I got it a long time ago. Because every kid plays recorder in school. Did you have a high school band? No. I mean, well, I played in my church when I was in high school in my youth group. Yeah, well that counts, kind of. But this was the first time that I had ever really joined a band outside of a church setting. And, you know, it was great. This was a great chance for me to play with folks who were significantly more talented than me. Right. And it forced me to really learn and up my game. And so over the course of the two-ish years that I gigged with them, we did 200 shows together all across Canada. OK, so. There's so many questions. I know. So for the record, we Googled Rend. Did we Google it? We Googled it. Really good. OK, so Nate, Minister, I've known you for a while now. I consider you a friend. You're a good friend of mine. And I'm very thankful for that. And I'm like, OK, what's this band going to be like? So I kind of went in with no expectations other than, now folks. I just need to say this on the podcast. If you're watching us on video, we don't have video. But if you were and if you knew Nate, Nate, Nate is he is he's a he's a he's a good he's a great guy. He's a great minister. He's a great person. And he's just kind of just like he's clean cut, straight kind of guy. So I'm like, well, what? And then we listen to it. You guys are actually really good. Well, I mean, a lot of credit goes to the founding members of the band, and especially the lead singer, Carolyn. Oh, yeah. She was amazing. Yeah. She was amazing. And so, I mean, one of the things about Carolyn that I loved is that she wrote all the music herself. Really? She wrote the lyrics, she wrote the melodies, and she wrote the chord progressions, everything. And so she would sit down with us and just say, this is what I want you to play. Even like to the drums, this is what I want you to play. And so that I mean, she is exceptionally talented. And you toured with them. Yes. 200 gigs. About 200 gigs over two years. Really? Was there a van? Was there a van? Did you have the Rend van? There was, our drummer had an old Toyota van. And then we used my Volvo SUV. We had a caravan of the Toyota minivan. It was your tour bus. And the Volvo SUV. Yeah. And we, you know, I mean, we gigged mostly in Alberta, but we did a lot of Western Canada. Wow. And every year we did the Toronto Music Week. Oh, really? So we flew out there, rented... You flew? We flew to Toronto. Oh, you know you hit the big times when you could fly with your van. So what I like to tell people is, look, I never made a dollar off of being a musician. Yeah. But I didn't have to pay out of pocket to gig. And that's a big deal. No, that is. Because there's a lot of guys who are putting out a lot of money and going nowhere. But that's pretty cool. Did you have a roadie or were you all the roadies? They were the roadies. I definitely had to haul all my gear. I was going to say the next step would have been a roadie for sure. Yeah. That's real. And how long were you in the band? A little over two years. Two years? Yeah. Folks, now, is there an album? There's a couple of albums. The first one was called, shoot, I can't even remember. Is it on iTunes? It would be on Apple Music. Okay. I remember the single from the first one was called Hide. Hide. And then I think the album was called No Lines. Yeah. And then the second album, the main single was Is It Just Me? That was an EP. And that was the one where we actually, we did perform at the Edmonton Music Awards that year, and we won Rock Recording of the Year. That's right. I read, yeah. Jennifer, you showed me that. Rock Recording of the Year. I know. That's a pretty big deal. That was kind of, I mean, that was one highlight for like, if I look back on the two years, what were the biggest memories? I would say we played at, it was at the old Alberta Museum here in Edmonton. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And getting that award was pretty cool. And then the other highlight was playing at the Sonic Boom Festival at the Northlands grounds. And so Dallas Green was the headliner that night. I was on the same stage on the same day. Oh, come on. So him and then like Half Moon Run, which is an outstanding band from Quebec, were playing and I got to like stand on the side of the stage watching them while they played. I got to see the rehearsal. Like they had their band setting up behind the stage. Yeah. You know, rehearsing quietly and you got to, and I got to kind of see how that all worked with like all the big, the big names. And then we were the one of the opening act. I'm just going to say, I've never seen you light up like this as when you talk about your band. Right? No kidding. Like, this is so cool. It was a good memory. So you won the Edmonton Award. Was the next thing like the Grammys? Like, was that what you were thinking? I mean, the next step up from there would probably be a Juno, but we never quite cracked into that. No, but did you think that? We won this, we could go on and we could do that? Like, was there a plan to get a tour bus? At the time, I think we were just really enjoying having the opportunity to share music with folks. But in the end, some of the band members needed to move to Vancouver and eventually kinda went our separate ways. Did you do any vocals or just keyboards? I did a little bit of background vocals, not on the recordings, but just in the live shows. So folks, I'm just telling you, I think it's worth checking out. I know, we did. You should have both, Jennifer and I were watching it simultaneously. They're really good. You guys were good. It was good. Well, like I said, the folks I joined, they were outstanding. It takes a band to make good music. It was a great experience. Yeah. Okay, but you mentioned that you were working at this time. How did that? Yeah, how did you? How did you manage that? Were you married at this time? Yes. You were married? So my wife, Allison, this was, she was pretty early in her career as a teacher. So she was working on building out her reputation in her local school and working towards, I think she was working towards getting her permanent contract. So she was very career focused and she was always used to me working long hours and whatnot. So when I took this on, not to mention the fact that she goes to bed early and all the gigging is like 10 o'clock at night. That's an early show. She was asleep by the time I got to most of my gigs. So it just worked for us at the time. We didn't have our son Max yet. So it was the perfect time in our marriage for me to go and try something like that. She knew how much I loved music and she knew that I wouldn't do it forever. Right. She's like, go have some fun for a couple of years. I like that. Now see what comes of it. Yes. So it worked for us. I love it. But it was busy. I had to manage my time really well. My job with NCSG was a really important commitment. In that time, we bought about eight or nine companies from all across North America. We doubled the business in size and then we ultimately sold the majority stake in the business to a big private equity fund in Calgary called Tri-West. So I was in the thick of it for all of that. I reported to the CEO and the CFO of that company, and so by day, I was working on all those deals. Five days a week, probably a little extra, working on that, and then you're out gigging and rehearsing. I didn't get a lot of sleep, but that's pretty much what the takeaway was. But it was worth it. What an incredible story. I love that. That's fantastic. I mean, I was so excited when I heard you, because I thought this is good. As soon as we're done, I will be downloading those albums, because I think they're pretty cool. Then you were with them for two years. When did you get married? Did you go to university? I did. So maybe we can back up to Saskatchewan. We talked about where I graduated high school, and then we started talking about music. If you wanted to get the continuity of how I got back to Alberta. When I finished high school, I remember at the time I thought, I don't need to go to university. I'm just going to become a great investor. I'm just going to do my own thing. So I took a year off. I just did some work. Bet that went well with your dad? That went over good with Brian. Not really. He knew I'd figure myself out. So I took a year off and just worked. The plan was to just save money and invest. I was a math nerd. I loved studying companies and stocks and just reading anything I could get my hands on to learn about how to be a successful investor. But I learned in that year that that was not likely enough to really make it. So I decided to go do a business degree. And my parents always said, we can't help you pay for university, but you can live at home for free for the first degree. And I'm like, well, that's a good deal. I don't need to apply anywhere else. So I went to the School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan. Okay. And that was the next four years of my life. And very quickly found as a math nerd, that I really liked finance, corporate finance. And I still remember, I took all of the second year courses, like an intro to finance, an intro to accounting, an intro to HR. And you really were a math nerd. And I remember my finance course was the one that just clicked. It came naturally to me. I think I got like a 98 in my intro to corporate finance. And it was easy. So I was like, well, do what you're good at. Right. Yeah. And that's what helped me to decide to be a finance major. Okay. And so you graduated. So graduated in 2004. Now, had you met your wife by then? No, no, no, no. Definitely not. She she grew up in Leduc in Alberta. So that came a little bit later. Right. But yeah, so at the end of, it was in 2004, I had finished. And I remember as I was in my final semester of university, I was looking for what am I going to do for work after this? And I couldn't find a job anywhere in Saskatchewan. Yeah. And it wasn't because I didn't have good grades. Yeah, no. 98 in math. That's pretty amazing. My transcript was good. Yeah. But there just wasn't a lot of opportunity in Saskatchewan at the time. This was before the Sask Party was in government. This was before Brad Wall kind of went on his legendary run politically. This was back when they were still an NDP province. Sure. And so I called up my family back home in Alberta and I said, what should I do? And everyone I talked to said, just come back to Alberta. You won't regret it. Wow. And so I started poking around and one thing led to another. I got a job offer as an analyst for a venture capital firm in the Edmonton area and made the move back. I moved in with my grandparents initially because it was an interim position. So I didn't know if it was going to be permanent. Yeah. So I lived with my grandma and grandpa for about nine months. They're the greatest people. They seriously are. And your grandma is a great cook. I'm just saying, I know that firsthand. They were great and very, very generous to let me stay with them while I tested the waters. But one thing led to another and it became a permanent position. And how soon did you meet your wife? And where did you meet her? So, I met my wife a couple of years later after that. Yeah. In Leduc. My best friend at the time and my roommate at the time was the youth pastor at a church in Leduc. Okay. And so I said, well, look, I want to go and support your church because you're my best friend. Yeah. And so that's how I found my way to attending a church in Leduc. Yeah. And so that's that was the church that my wife grew up in. And so over time we got to know each other. Love at first sight. And hit it off. Yeah. She was okay that you were a nerd. Did she know you were? Well, I'm just saying you have to be okay with that. I'm just saying. Or was it the rocker side of you? The musician side? What did she like? What was it immediately? Was it the math side or the music? I don't know. I'm just asking. I mean, I'm guessing it probably had to do with the fact that I had a stable job and had a business degree. You love this story, which is like, oh, it was amazing. Music or like, yeah. But no, I mean, so we hit it off there. And so we got married 17 years ago. Oh, wow. And yeah, so at the time I lived in West Edmonton. Sure. So she moved in with me after we got married. But soon after that, she said, we're going to move to Sherwood Park. Okay. Well, why? Yeah. So for those who are listening, Sherwood Park is, would we call it a suburb? Yeah, it's a suburb. It's a city to itself. But yeah, it's a suburb of Edmonton. Yeah. That's a good way to describe it. So it's just east of Edmonton. And so I said, well, you know, well, why? And at the time, her parents had just moved there. So that's a good reason. Yeah. Sure. And both of her siblings lived there. But the other reason was, you know, at the time when we got married, she was finishing her music and education degrees at the U of A. And she knew she was going to be a teacher and she knew she wanted to teach in that school district. So she said, this is where I want to teach, this is where I want to build my career. And then when we do start a family, I want to be close to my family. So all of that was very reasonable. So I said, okay, let's do it. So a couple of years after we got married, we moved out to Sherwood Park in 2010 and bought a condo. And then we've been in Sherwood Park ever since. Ever since. And you have one son, Max. Yeah. I love that name. Yeah, and it's just Max. It's not Maxwell or Maximillian. I love that name. When you told me your son, that is class. He's gonna be somebody great because he has a name Max. That's great. I think, don't you think? I think that's a great name. It's awesome. So I guess the natural sort of question now, of course, is you're married, you're working and what drew you to politics? What drew you to want to get into the world of politics? I can tell you, politics was never part of the plan. Right. Honestly, you never had any intention, desire. I grew up in a family that never talked about politics, and I would say probably didn't really pay attention to politics. It wasn't a part of our life growing up. I think the first time I really thought about politics at all, not as a career, but just thought about the political environment around me, was when I couldn't get a job in NDP Saskatchewan, and then I came to Alberta, which was conservative led, and it was limitless opportunity. That was an awakening for me to say, gosh, well, I guess I know what I like, and I knew that I was a conservative voter from then on, because I wanted to live in a world that had opportunity, and that if you work hard, you get ahead, a meritocracy. And I just didn't feel that that was going to happen in Saskatchewan under the leadership at the time, and I was grateful that it was a part of Alberta at the time. But then, you know, I went, as most of us do, okay, I know how I lean politically, now I'm going to set it and forget it, and go out once every four years and cast your vote. Do your check and away you go. I'm just out building my career, building my family, doing my thing, living my life. That's what I think most people's stories are. But then as we approached that pivotal 2015 election in Alberta, and for those who aren't from Alberta, that was the election when the PC government of the time, who had been in government for 44 years, lost to the NDP, who had never been in government. It was a shake up. It was a seismic shift. Oh, it was massive. In Alberta politics. And, I mean, for me, I thought, gosh, I just left Saskatchewan to get away from an NDP government. How could Alberta, who's right next door, despite that cautionary tale, choose to go NDP? And with the benefit of hindsight, there's a lot of factors that led to that. You know, you had a PC government that had just been there so long that they had, you know, stopped listening to people. Right. They had also drifted and become a little bit less conservative. And I would say had become a little bit arrogant. Yeah. And then you had the Wild Rose, who was the other conservative party at the time, that were just not quite professional enough yet. Yeah. You know, they were a little rough around the edges. Yeah. And so they weren't, it wasn't enough of a competent alternative at the time. Yeah. And it had honestly been a two party province forever. So a third party coming in was a tough one. Well, and it was hard for people to buy. Well, the other thing is, you know, in all the times when the PC's were in power, you had a fractured left. You had an NDP party that got 10 to 15% of the vote. You had a Liberal party that got 20 or 25. And then you had a Green party in some things. So the left was fractured. And so, yes, you had the vote split between PC, Wild Rose. You had some of the PC drifting away from their true calling and losing their way a little bit. But you also, I have to give credit to Rachel Notley, not my choice in leader, but I respect what she accomplished. She did. She did it. She consolidated the left long before we ever talked about uniting the right. Yes. And it worked. And so the NDP formed government and I thought, gosh, this is everything I chose to leave Saskatchewan to get away from. Right. You know what? Politics is important. It affects our daily lives. So I said, you know what? It wasn't conservative ideology that let Albertans down. It was conservative leaders who let Albertans down. I want to be a part of a new generation of conservative leaders to present Albertans an alternative to the NDP in 2019, so that we can show what a good, competent, conservative government can and should look like. Right. And so it was within a couple of days of the NDP forming government that I decided I'm going to become a conservative MLA in Alberta. I don't know how. I don't know how politics works. I don't know anybody in politics, but I'm going to figure this out. Yeah. And so basically that was just maybe six months to a year after I had left the band. Right. So I had all that spare time. And so basically, I mean, I kept working, you know, a corporate finance job. Sure. But I spent every evening and every weekend for four years learning how politics worked. Right. Volunteering. You know, I helped my local candidate for the federal election in 2015 to win his seat as the Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan MP. That's Garnet Jenis. I learned all about door knocking and, you know, phone campaigns and putting up signs and fundraising and data entry and all the nerdy political stuff that goes by in a campaign. And then I just started getting involved in the provincial side of things after that. And shortly then after when Jason Kenney announced his plan to unite the two parties, the PCs and the Wild Rose, I said that's what I want to get behind. Because I really believe that a new united party would present the best chance, the best story to Albertans and the best alternative to an NDP government. So I just started campaigning for that and I sold thousands of memberships across Alberta for the unity vote. And you did, you really did. So I just learned how the retail politics side of things worked and just went for it. I promised your staff because they made a very, a point of telling me that we have a hard stop here. And so let's fast forward. So you ran, you got elected, you are now in government and you were appointed as a minister of the government or minister of the legislature. And in your second term. Well, I'm in my second term now. So I was elected in 2019. Were you a minister in your first term? And I was, Jason Kenney invited me to serve as Service Alberta Minister. That's right. In 2019. Service Alberta, yeah. Which is where I started on the nerdy tech journey because what folks don't really know is that the tech backbone of government was actually in Service Alberta at the time. So it was Premier Smith that separated that out. So then when Premier Smith joined us, that's when we pulled the tech stuff out of Service Alberta. And then we added the innovation thought to it. I will say I probably got a little bit of wiggle room here. I can probably go another 15 minutes. Well, we can't. So just saying. She'll yell at us. What's that? Well, we could. We could go forever because I could talk about this forever. But so, okay, so now you're a Minister of Technology and Innovation. You're in your second term in the province. You are doing incredible things. I'm going to say that. And it's not just because you're my friend. I watch government very closely. I watch what's being done. There are certain aspects of government that aren't quite doing as well, different portfolios that are very difficult. Makes sense. But you are doing very well in innovation and technology. You have bolstered that in our province. You have risen to the occasion to bring industry, technology, innovation into Alberta and brought us, I think, into the 21st century in many ways. Where do you see us going? What do you see us? Well, my goal is to make Alberta the most innovative jurisdiction in Canada. Right. And that kind of cuts two ways. One is as a user and an implementer of technology, I want us to be the best public service that you could ever ask for. And in order to do that, we need to use modern technological tools in order to become more productive, to automate and eliminate waste in our system, and to deliver Albertans a better user experience when they interact with their government. And then it also, the other side of the coin is with private sector innovation. I want to make sure that Alberta is the destination of choice in Canada for innovators who want to build a new technology and turn it into a business and raise capital. And so over the last five, six years, we've made enormous strides in terms of attracting more venture capital investment into Alberta tech companies. You have done that. We've gone from, I think it was like 30 million a year in 2017 to 700 million a year over the last three years, all at a time when the Canadian market was on the decline. Going down, yeah. For me, that's really gratifying because, as I had mentioned, I started my career as a venture capital investor. I spent the better part of 15 years investing in and building tech companies in Alberta. Now I'm inside the government perspective of how do we create an environment where this industry can succeed and grow. We just saw a report from CBRE that said, Calgary is the fastest growing tech talent hub in North America. 61 percent growth over the last three years. We'd like it to be at Acheson, but Calgary is okay. Well, you and I have had that conversation. That's, I don't know, but anyway, we'll get off on that. There's lots of room for growth and opportunity. Cam, once we build the condos next door, they'll come. That's right. They'll all come and then we'll have our data centers and our technology and our apples and. But it's great the province is. No, it really is. It really is great because for those who don't know, Alberta is a province that for the most part was built on energy, on gas and oil and those kinds of things. We all know where that's gone in the last while. Well, it's still an important part of our province. It is a realistic thing. It's a diversification. Yeah, we have to diversify and technology is the future. Yeah. One of the things that I find really exciting is just the opportunity to deliver a higher quality public service. Yeah. That's more sustainable in terms of taxpayer funding. Yeah. We can get significantly more performance out of government by using technology without having to spend more money. Okay, can I ask you a question? I was in my meeting last night and they're announcing, I don't know if I'm allowed to say it, so if we're not, we'll edit this out, but I was in my meeting because is it the Alberta government that's coming up with the new driver's license that has our, it'll have our health care card on it, our passport information on it? So it won't have your passport information necessarily, but it will have your citizenship on it. Oh, citizenship, that's what it was. Yeah, that's right. So the plan is that the Alberta driver's license will be your proof of ID, your government issued photo ID, but it also, if you are a Canadian citizen, that will be on there, which means that any government services where you need to be a citizen to access them, you just have a single piece of ID to prove that you're eligible. And then also in terms of just clamping down on voter fraud, only citizens are eligible to vote. We want to make it easier for folks to prove that they are in fact eligible to vote. We want folks to have confidence in the results of their elections. But the healthcare card link is great too. And that's the third piece. It empties your wallet out because you don't have to carry nine cards. Well, my poor little crumpled piece of paper for my healthcare card. So that's something that the government of Alberta is working on now too. And one of the things that I'm working on through Tech and Innovation is the Alberta Wallet on mobile phones. Right. So we launched that a couple weeks ago. We're the first in the country to do it. And the first piece of ID that you can put in there is a mobile healthcare card. Really? Yeah. So that is... Is that available now? It's available now. You can go to alberta.ca/wallet and download the Wallet app. Okay. And it's a very simple... Right after I download the band, that will be the second thing I download. And so we know that a lot of folks had that same story that you had, Jennifer, about the paper health care card that's just all crumpled or torn. And so now this is a chance to put yours and your kids' cards on your mobile phone. And where we want to get to eventually is to add some functionality into it. So you could go, say, tap your phone at your doctor's office to check in. Oh, hello, Mr. Glubish, you're here to see your doctor. He'll be right with you. And then think about what happens next. You go to your doctor, you get a prescription, or you get a requisition for blood work, or an x-ray requisition. Well, wouldn't it be cool if that could get automatically uploaded onto your wallet? And then you could just click on it and say, show me all the pharmacies nearby that have this in stock, and who has the best price, and who's integrated with my Blue Cross. Oh, this is brilliant. Is this your idea? This is my vision for where I want to take this. Because think about it, then you could say, okay, send it to my pharmacy. Yeah, yeah. You go tap your wallet at the pharmacy to check in. Oh, hello, Mr. Glubish, your order's ready. It's already been billed to your Blue Cross. Here you go. You're in and out in five seconds. Okay, I'm just going to say, if anybody in Sherwood Park is listening to us, and you are, I know you are, vote for this guy. Because this is amazing. I'm not even kidding. This is what I think we've all been waiting for for a very long time. This is what we need to do to move forward. Okay, we are running out of time, not just for you, but for us too. But, here's, okay, I got, and then Jennifer's going to ask you one last question. He keeps going. He says he's running out of time, but he keeps asking questions. Okay, you can only answer one minute on each. Okay, only one minute. You're a politician. I'm used to question period. I only get 35 seconds in question period. I know, but I'm not the house whip, so I can't, I'm not the speaker. I can't tell you to sit down. Okay, I'll give you a timer. Okay, I want to know what you think. What is the best thing about being a politician? And what is the worst thing? Oh, good question. You have one minute. All right, so I'll start with the worst. The worst is just that you're always in the public eye. Yeah. And we are, whether you like it or not, we're in a partisan system. Absolutely. Obviously, I'm with the Conservatives. That means anybody who doesn't like Conservatives automatically doesn't like you. It doesn't matter how good a job you might do on the non-political, non-partisan pieces of running a government, they automatically are going to hate you, and they see you as the enemy. And in our ultra polarized world of politics today, that I think has just been fostered by social media, people treat you as an enemy. And it's not just that they're like, I want to vote against this person. We've taken the person out of it? I want to destroy this person. We've taken the person out of it, we hated about opinion. That's the hardest part. But the best part is, where else can you have such a big impact on the place you call home, and the future that your kids are going to inherit. So for me, this is all about building the best possible Alberta and the brightest possible future for the next generation of Albertans. Because Alberta gave me a bright light and a hope and an opportunity for the future when Saskatchewan couldn't at the time. And I want to make sure that my son Max and his generation, when they get older, that they will have that same opportunity in Alberta should they choose to stay here. And I'm going to say folks that I've known Nate for a while now, and I know a lot of politicians. And when he says that, this is one guy that believes that and he lives it. I'm telling you that. And he's not paying me. I don't even live in his riding. I can't even vote for him. I can't even vote for the guy. But I just know him well enough. We've been in many situations together and I know that. And if you're on the other side and you don't like him because of his politics, listen to his band and you'll like it. It's awesome. Maybe we can find some common ground. I'm just saying, right? We've got the things that bring us together. I do want to say, because I know some of your audience aren't going to be fans of Conservatives. That's fine. I want those listeners to know. I respect the fact that those are your views and values. And I will always fight for your Democratic right to organize for the political causes that you value and prioritize. And my hope is just that we can disagree without being disagreeable. And that's it. That's it. Okay. So that's all the politics we're going to talk. We're not a political podcast, but this was good. This was great. This was really good. Absolutely. And if we ever start a political podcast, you'll come on be our first guest, I hope. Okay. Okay. Final question. Final question. Nate, what is... We ask this of everybody. Yes. The best piece of advice you've been given either personally or professionally that you carry with you to this day. I think this would be some advice from my grandpa. I mean, we've talked a little bit about my background in the church and my faith background. My grandpa was a man of deep faith convictions. Very much. And I think just... So he often just... He shared with me the wisdom in scriptures. And I think one of the key pieces of wisdom is just do everything you do as if unto God, which is really just at its core a passage about work ethic. And it comes back to that whole thing of like if you work hard, you'll get ahead. But people respect a good work ethic. If you work hard and you are diligent in whatever you choose to do, people will take notice of that. And I think that that principle has served me well. It served me well in university. I got great grades. That served me well in my career as a VC. I had a great career there. It served me well when I did mergers and acquisitions for NCSG. But it's also served me well in politics. It's helped me to build my influence as a local MLA, as a Minister. And so that would be my advice is just don't be afraid of working hard. Because if you do the work, the rest will take care of itself. And your grandpa is a great man. And he did that. And he was successful. And I'm going to tell a story real quick. I know I'm the one wanting to wrap it up about your grandpa. And because he told me this story personally one day. And we were talking about what we do in life and how we know what we're supposed to do. And, you know, people were saying, well, God wants you to do this or do that or calls you to do this or calls you to do that. And he said to me, Cam, he said, God called me to be a businessman, not just to make money, but to make money to help people and to help the marginalized and to help the poor and to help the lost and all those kinds. And I never forgot that. He said, those are my gifts, those are my talents to do that, to do that. And he was 16 years old. Yes. When he felt that call. When he felt that call. And I know where and when. And my mom was there. And it's incredible. So I love that. I love it. That's fantastic. We could go on for a really long time here. But we can't. No. So to wrap it up. Yeah. Thank you not only for coming on the podcast, but thank you for your service to all Albertans. Yes. Thank you. Because again, we've talked about this multiple times. It's not an easy life and it's not easy for families. Yeah. So we really appreciate it and all that you do and that your family does, and what you're doing for the province of Alberta is just fantastic. Thanks for being real with us. We appreciate it. We really do. If you're in Sherwood Park, I know we're not supposed to say it, but just vote and vote for Glubish. That's who you need to do what you need to do. But anyway, hey, thanks everybody for listening. It's been a great podcast. Want to remind you, Wing Snob, if you don't know what you're doing for dinner tonight, follow Jennifer. She's heading to Wing Snob. That sounds a little creepy. Don't follow me. Whole train behind Jennifer as they walk into Wing Snob. But there's 10 locations, so you find the location nearest you. And 16 sauces, four rubs, they're amazing. And I'm looking across, I'm actually looking across the coffee shop right now. And they're the owners of Mprint, sitting there. And they're probably not hearing a word I'm saying, I wish they were. But hey, if you need some printing done, anything. Check them out. Check them out, mprint.ca. Thanks, everybody. Listen, you can get us anywhere you download your podcast, or you can go to www.coffeeinthepark.com. Is that right? You got it right. And listen, tell everybody about the podcast. Tell your friends, tell your neighbours, tell your enemies. If you don't have a friend, make one so you can tell them about the podcast. But just tell everybody and subscribe, subscribe, subscribe. Thanks everybody. See you next time. See you next week.