Battle River-Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek held his first virtual town hall meeting over Zoom, taking time to speak on current discussions in Parliament and answering questions from constituents on Wednesday, March 10.
Many of the questions submitted for the virtual town hall revolved around current COVID-19 restrictions, the proposed Liberal firearms bill, and Western alienation.
“Conservatives are hard at work getting answers, and it’s important for the sake of Canadians,” MP Kurek addressed those in attendance.
MP Kurek is currently in Ottawa participating in Parliamentary discussions and the Standing Committee of Public Safety and National Security, noting things have been very busy, with “a barrage of bills” currently being brought before the House.
This includes Bill C-21, which would make changes to current firearm regulations, as well as a private members bill--one such which would exempt certain agricultural fuels from the carbon tax.
This private members bill passed a second reading in Parliament and, according to Kurek, is a significant victory towards legislation.
“Although there is a lot of frustrations, there is these little glimmers of hope where we can see small victories in the challenges we face,” MP Kurek shared.
MP Kurek has kept busy, trying to stay in touch with rural constituents amid current restrictions. He has held several Facebook town hall meetings, but noted “not everyone has Facebook,” and hoped the success of the Zoom town hall would lead to similar events in the future, which would allow additional participation from constituents.
One topic which was brought up in several questions from constituents was the subject of western alienation and how many current proposed bills-particularly Bill C-21 and ongoing COVID-19 regulations-unfairly target rural areas.
MP Kurek acknowledged the existence of a “rural-urban divide” and shared his frustration.
“Certainly, I think there’s a difference between rural and urban. In fact, people will often share how farmers are socially distanced by nature, when you live six miles from your neighbour,” he stated. He encouraged participants dissatisfied with the current restrictions in rural areas to speak with their MLAs so the “rural voice doesn’t get lost.”
Another area where the rural-urban divide is strongly felt is in Bill-C21, the proposed Liberal firearms bill.
“There’s a massive divide, and it’s shameful quite frankly,” MP Kurek said.
He went on to say the bill is “not about public safety” but rather a ploy to gain “support from jurisdictions” where gun crime is prevalent. The changes to Bill C-21 would impose new restrictions on gun owners and ban “military style assault rifle” guns.
MP Kurek noted he asked Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair to give an explanation on what this style of firearm would include.
“They’ll have a long, convoluted explanation: it’s those meant for battlefield-but it’s clear they don’t understand the reality of rural people,” he stated. He shared he legally owns firearms and added “more than 90 per cent” of crimes with firearms are committed with illegally obtained and smuggled firearms, not by responsible firearms owners.
MP Kurek also touched upon the pay raise which Members of Parliament received last year, and his disappointment this was not frozen “when many Canadians were suffering.” He added MPs are once again slated to receive a pay raise at the start of the fiscal year in April.

While MP Kurek will be calling for a freeze once more, he noted he would commit himself to donate his pay raise to local community organizations “out of respect” for constituents and Canadians who may be suffering financial hardships through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Update: Dianne Snyder of Rosedale tells the Mail she has been contacted by Canada Post. Which indicated it is reevaluating its stand on the community mailboxes. This could take a week. Snyder is continuing with her petition which has about 90 signatures.

Residents of Rosedale, unhappy with the direction Canada Post is taking with mail delivery, are launching a petition for local community mailboxes.
The Mail reported in September of last year, the Post office in Rosedale was temporarily closed, and residents were directed to Drumheller to pick up their mail.
The Mail noted in December that Canada Post decided in October to install community mailboxes for the more than 180 affected by the closures.
It appears they have changed course as residents of Rosedale began hearing at the Drumheller Post office they would no longer be getting community mailboxes, but residents would have to continue the 7 kilometre Highway 10 trek to Drumheller to pick up their mail.
“I am past being a little concerned,” said Rosedale resident Dianne Snyder. “All the rumours were flying so I went this morning to hear myself, and it is exactly like people were saying.”
The message from the post office is residents will be getting a new post office box in Drumheller and Canada Post will be forwarding mail sent to their Rosedale address to the new mailboxes located at the Drumheller Post office, free of charge for one year.
Snyder said they were looking forward to having community boxes because of the convenience and because it is an important part of the community.
“When you take away a post office, you throw away a community. I don’t care if it is the green boxes where Joe and Fred meet every morning at 10 o’clock and say 20 words to each other. That’s the community,” said Snyder
She said it is an inconvenience for residents and businesses, especially when they would have to change their addresses. this could mean everything from letterhead to shipping logistics.
The Town of Drumheller has been in contact with Canada Post throughout this ordeal.
“The town has been working with Canada Post for several months with the expectation that a community mailbox will be placed in the neighbourhood,” said Drumheller CAO Darryl Drohomerski.
The Mail reached out to Canada Post but has not heard back as of press time.

Snyder too, has been in contact with Canada Post through customer service as well as the Ombudsman. They have begun a petition. This petition deals with the lack of proper advertising to find a new site in Rosedale, the removal of the community boxes that were promised in December, and the complete lack of community communication by Canada Post. The petition will be sent to the office of the Canada Post Ombudsmen, as well as the office of MP Damien Kurek. She says if residents would like to include a personal letter stating how this has affected their life, that it can be included in the package. For information on how to sign the petition, contact Snyder at Dsnyder885@gmail.com.

“It’s not going to happen without a fight.”