Local incumbent Damien Kurek, the Conservative candidate for Battle River-Crowfoot, has been busy shoring up support around the riding for election day on Sept. 20
“When I’m out campaigning, I simply talk about the things that conservatives are committed to doing, and the things that bring us together,” he explained. “The founding principles of the Conservative party, and what that means for governance and for our nation.
“I encourage people to look past the few things that we may disagree on, and look at the things that we agree on - accountability, responsibility, ensuring that there is effective representation, and that we can also see that our economy is not being held back - those are all things that we truly agree on,” he said.
Kurek was first elected to the riding in the 2019 election.
He was raised on a farm near Consort and has long had a strong interest in politics. In 2012, he finished his post-secondary political studies at Trinity Western University.
He also spent his final semester in Ottawa where he had the opportunity to work in former local MP Kevin Sorenson’s office, he said.
From there, Kurek and his wife relocated back home to Alberta and he eventually was offered a job in Sorenson’s constituency office.
When Sorenson announced he wouldn’t be running in 2019, Kurek entered the nomination race and was successful, and was as mentioned elected as MP for Battle River-Crowfoot.
“In this election, we have a 160-page plan - every Canadian can look at that plan - which was released about 24 hours after the election was called,” he said.
“We have a responsible plan to move this country forward. It’s based on conservative principles and if folks are looking for a strong conservative voice, I’m proud to stand on the record that I’ve had over the past two years as part of a strong conservative team from coast to coast that is ready to move our country back in the right direction,” he added, pointing out that the key issues haven’t changed too much over the past couple of years, although the context has with the onset of the pandemic.
“(Back then) we were concerned about mismanagement and a lack of accountability,” he said. “There has been a continuation of that trend. And it’s been ramped up in terms of the scale because of the massive government spending that has resulted,” he said.
He added that even pre-COVID, the Liberals were over-spending and financially unprepared for any kind of potential crisis.
“As conservatives, our message has evolved as the circumstances have evolved. However, it also remains constant in the sense that we need to bring good governance back to Ottawa. There has been unprecedented division that is tearing our country apart. There has to be a focus on ensuring that we have to stop holding back sectors of our economy based on ideology - like the oil and gas sector.
“Canadians deserve better, and there is a better alternative. From coast to coast, we are seeing a very positive response to that sort of optimism.”