The federal election is coming up on Monday, October 21. The Mail has reached out to each candidate to learn more about themselves and their platform.
Running in the Battle River-Crowfoot riding are Dianne Clarke of the Liberal Party, Natasha Fryzuk of the New Democratic Party, Damien Kurek of the Conservative Party of Canada, David Michaud of the People’s Party of Canada, Geordie Nelson of the Green Party.
As of press time, we were unable to make contact with the Liberal Party candidate, Dianne Clarke.
Natasha Fryzuk, NDP
Natasha Fryzuk is a proud letter carrier, activist and social steward for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. She is a firm believer that our greatest hope is in connection, community, and mutual support. She knows people are capable of empowering themselves when they work together and have support from a government that works in the interest of the people. Her university degrees in English and Education gives Natasha the tools required to communicate with people from all walks of life, while her volunteer work with the Quarters Arts Society helps her connect with a multitude of communities spanning the entire socio-economic.
She feels the most pressing issue for the campaign is making life healthy and affordable for all Canadians while ensuring we protect our natural resources for future generations.
“If elected my first priority for Battle River-Crowfoot would be to continually communicate directly with the constituents so that I can best represent them.”
Damien Kurek, CPC
Kurek is a fifth-generation farmer from the
Special Areas, has worked in the oil patch in East Central Alberta, and has always been passionate about this region. He has been involved in local conservative politics for more than 15 years. After college and university, he worked with Kevin Sorenson when he was Minister of State (Finance) in Ottawa in 2015 and more recently in his local
constituency office. He spent nearly two and a half years working for Brad Wall’s government in
Saskatchewan. “When it comes to the question as to why I am running in this election when Kevin Sorenson announced he would
be retiring, hundreds of people reached out encouraging me to get involved.”
Kurek says the main issues from the constituents he has spoken with across Battle River-Crowfoot are a government that stands up for them and helps them get ahead. Secondly, he says residents are tired of the Trudeau Liberals scandal, mismanagement, waste, attacks on the Canadian industry (like Ag and Energy), and endless tax hikes.
Kurek says his first priority if elected is the Conservatives have a plan to help Canadians get ahead. This includes a series of campaign commitments that will help make life more affordable for Canadians and bring the principles of integrity, accountability, respect, and good governance back to Ottawa. Second, is to make sure that East Central Alberta, including its people, industries, and interests, are represented and rural needs are addressed through all aspects of public policy.
David Michaud, PPC
Michaud served in the military for 22 1/2 years, working in the Communications Branch. During his career, he served in Petawawa, ON, Shilo, MB, Edmonton, AB and Lahr, West Germany. He also participated in three United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations in Cyprus and Egypt. He is currently employed by the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires as a dispatcher for the military police. This is his first time getting involved in politics as a candidate.
He says some of the main issues this election is getting pipelines built to get Alberta products to both Canada and world markets. He is also concerned about increasing tax burdens and would like to see equalization revisited to make it fair to all provinces and territories.
“I will be a true voice for Battle River--Crowfoot, for Alberta, for Canada. Even if the People’s Party of Canada does not form government, it’s important to have a strong opposition. I will be that voice.”
Geordie Nelson, Green
Nelson grew up in Ottawa until he was 14 when his father was posted in the military. He moved to Wainwright and completed high school. He graduated from the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta in Camrose and earned a degree in environmental science. He has worked the better part of the last few years at Augustana in different non-academic staff roles. During university, he became much more interested in political issues and took advantage of opportunities such as going to guest lecturers, talking to candidates at various political forums, and writing letters to politicians. He was a founding member of the Green Party electoral district association.
He says he is running for the Green Party as it is the only federal party with a real plan to address the climate emergency we are facing based on science.
He feels water is the most pressing issue in this campaign. Most of this area is at high drought risk and it’s likely to get worse. Water issues have cascading effects throughout our communities. He says they have a lot of options, including diversion from watersheds that have excess, improving surface water management and getting a handle on groundwater inventories and protection. “Of course, climate change is the big driver of drought and big dumps of precipitation at just the wrong time, as we’ve seen this year.”
His first priority if elected would be to develop the relationships. He says there are a lot of leaders across our very big riding, they know what the problems are and they know what they’d like to see as solutions. “My job is to get those plans together and go to Ottawa to find allies and get things rolling. A lot can be accomplished as an MP if you’re willing to work across party lines and don’t use problems to make political hay.”
