As Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that the by-election for the Battle River-Crowfoot constituency has commenced, the candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada paid a visit to the Drumheller Valley.
The Leader of the Opposition, Pierre Poilievre, is running in the upcoming by-election in our region and met with a number of constituents over Canada Day. Poilievre understands that the residents of Battle River-Crowfoot are hoping that if he is to be elected, he stays connected to our region. “I am going to continue to work hard to stay connected to the people. Damien (Kurek) is committed to staying close to me and helping to keep me informed day after day of everything that is happening in the communities that make up the region. He is going to be supplying me with petitions, as well, so I can introduce them in the House of Commons, to raise local issues. I pledge to continue to be visible and committed to the communities in the area.” Poilievre admits that being a national party leader makes things challenging to remaining connected the local constituents but shares that as a leader , he is able to bring local concerns to the national audience. “You will have a bigger megaphone to talk about energy, agriculture, tourism, rural crime, and other issues that touch this community.”
The Battle River-Crowfoot riding has many of the industries that drive the nation’s economy and that is not lost on Poilievre. “This region of Battle River-Crowfoot, feeds, powers, and protects the country. Feeds through agriculture, powers through oil and gas, and protects through CFB Wainwright. Without those three things, you don’t have a country. This is one of the most important places in all of Canada.” An example is Hardisty, where only 600 people reside in the community, yet 90 billion dollars of oil and gas goes through the tank farm within the community, which works out to about 150 million dollars per person of the community.
Having the opportunity to represent a constituency in Alberta is a homecoming of sense for Poilievre. “Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. We used to come out (to Drumheller) quite often. Obviously, we were here on school trips from Calgary. My folks would bring us out to the badlands when we were kids. We would travel through the communities of this riding on our way to Saskatchewan, where our extended family farmed. It’s great to be back home in Alberta to fight for a fair deal for the West in confederation.”
The by-election for Battle River-Crowfoot is to take place on August 18th.
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