Between dealing with COVID-19, the politics of Ottawa, and a federal election, It has certainly been an eventful year for MP for Battle River-Crowfoot Damien Kurek.
Kurek took a few minutes to chat with the Mail about the year that is ending and what the future holds for 2022. The Federal election in September saw very little change in the political landscape.
“There was an election, that left things at the status quo, very nominal changes. But circumstances are evolving quickly, whether it be the pandemic where there are changes each and every day on that front, the economy, the fact the world seems to be positioned to have a global energy crisis, and Alberta can either be at the forefront of or be lagging behind,” he said. “In the midst of all these challenges, to not have a government that is willing to acknowledge and move in a direction that could benefit our country is very frustrating.”
He said concerns about the pandemic played into the results at the polls.
“We saw some positive results, but we saw Canadians were wary of making a significant change. It is not that they didn’t care about the issues, but they were wary of making a significant change in the midst of what is still a crisis. I think it speaks to the irresponsibility of the Prime Minister to take advantage of a crisis for his political gain by calling an election,” Kurek said.
He says despite the Conservative party of Canada making marginal gains in the election, it has been successful in bringing issues to the forefront.
“As we faced an election nobody really wanted, we saw once again more Canadians chose Conservatives more than any other political party, and although that didn’t result in us winning the most seats in parliament, the message of Canada’s recovery, we need to focus on things like accountability, our economy, good governance, and ethics,” said Kurek. “We have looked at the election, the result, and the conversations we have come out from that. We see how many of the things we had a chance to talk about are still very relevant and are continuing to resonate with Canadians across the country today.
Despite this, he has a positive outlook on the coming years.
“When I look at where things are, I am optimistic about ultimately the future of our country, the future of this region, and how the folks of Battle River-Crowfoot have shown incredible resilience over what has been a difficult number of years,” said Kurek. “I am optimistic about our Party. The fact inflation is on the agenda, it is on the evening news, it is what a lot of Canadians are talking about. They see prices going up in the grocery store. It speaks to Conservatives being responsive to the issues that Canadians are facing.”
He adds the pandemic has been hard on Canadians in all walks of life.
“Canadians are desperate to see how next month- next year – ‘how can my future look bright again?’ and I think that’s our message for the future and something Canadians are ready for,” he said. “We want to lead the charge. In the midst of the challenge we face, and in the midst of some of the public health issues that exist and are not behind us. We can have the conversation about what Canada looks like in the future.”
The goals of his party remain unchanged.
“We are endeavoring to make sure in the capacity of the official opposition we are the voice of regular everyday working Canadians who are struggling to get ahead. We have their backs and we’ll fight for the things they care for to make sure they can be optimistic about their future.”

It has been a whirlwind Christmas season for The Salvation Army, but they have worked hard to provide for families in need over the holiday season.
Major Robert Burrell of The Salvation Army says they have distributed about 175 hampers. This is up from about 150 in the previous year. These hampers support 175 children and 260 adults.
This was his first Christmas serving in Drumheller and he was overwhelmed with the incredible support from the community.
“What a tremendous blessing to be able to serve through The Salvation Army in this community. It is unbelievable. I have never seen anything like it in all my years as a minister. The overwhelming support,” he said. “If there was nothing else to attract me to Drumheller, that alone made it worthwhile coming here.”
The Salvation Army also wrapped up a successful Kettle Campaign. While they did not know how it would do in the second year of COVID-19 and were challenged by not having as many volunteers, they are content with the results.
“It has been a good week for kettles. Based on everything I have seen we will meet everything we have budgeted for, for our Christmas giving. “We didn’t anticipate we would hit last year’s numbers because they were just through the roof because I think everybody knew we were right in the middle of the worst part of COVID and we had to shut our kettles down. People in the community just overwhelmed us, came through and blew us away.”
He is grateful for the support from the community during the kettle drive and says The Salvation Army will be there throughout the year to meet the needs of Drumheller residents.
“We already have emergency hampers all lined up ready to go if they need it,” said Burrell.