Put Canada First & Build!

By Damien Kurek
Battle River - Crowfoot MP

Canada needs to be a country that can build again; infrastructure, national energy projects, ports, irrigation, damns, military installations, to name a few examples. One of the most disastrous legacies of the current Liberal Government, is that Canada has been unable to build basically anything unless it is approved by a massive bureaucracy in Ottawa, supported by taxpayers, is past deadlines, and over budget. This has led to a massive decrease in our national productivity and has hurt our economy, national unity, and our resilience.

This legacy of impediment and procrastination has been supported by every one of their leadership candidates, and at every step, by the NDP. It is impossible to build prosperity, whether that is building a family home or nation-building projects that are essential, when this is the reality.

There was a level of optimism when the Liberals were elected in 2015. Our economy was on the right track, Canadians incomes were growing and national projects like Energy East, Northern Gateway, Tech Frontier, a dozen LNG Facilities, talk of expanding ports, increased rail capacity, and other nation-building projects. But over the last decade, Canada has lost its ability to build everything from big projects to home building. It is the Liberal Government who put forward legislation like Bill C-48 and the unconstitutional Bill C-69, which has had a direct, negative impact on the private sector’s ability in invest in Canada and our nation's ability to build energy infrastructure. It weaponized and enabled the bureaucracy to stall the building of virtually all projects.

The current Environment Minister, Steven Guilbeault, has stated, clear as day: “I disagree with pipelines” and he didn’t believe Canada should build any more highways! And the likely soon-to-be Liberal Leader, Mark Carney, stated that he supported the “veto” of the Northern Gateway pipeline back in 2021, all while his company was building pipelines in other jurisdictions.

Current trade uncertainty has emphasized how disastrous these policies have been. And while the Liberals say they have changed their minds, it is nothing more than a narrative to mask their sudden realization of how their decisions over the last decade have weakened Canada.

Conservatives, led by Pierre Poilievre, will make sure energy development is allowed to occur in Canada, leading to more prosperity and sovereignty for all Canadians. We will immediately scrap Bill C-69 and greenlight LNG plans, pipelines, factories, and port expansions to overseas markets. Additionally, we need to not “rebrand and hide” the carbon tax, we need to axe it all together! The key is that these aren’t new positions for Canada’s Conservatives, but rather what we have championed all along.

Additionally, if our federation is going to allow our people to prosper, we must remove barriers to prosperity which exist within our own borders. Conservatives have historically reduced, and if elected, will continue to reduce interprovincial trade barriers. Canada can become Canada’s largest trading partner which will reduce reliance on foreign markets for our economic freedom. These barriers have created a de facto tariff on our own goods, costing our people billions of dollars a year.

Canada needs strong leadership to fix a decade of destructive policies which has left Canada poorer and weaker. I am proud to be a part of Pierre Poilievre’s Canada First Team, which will ensure that Canada can once again build what is needed to prosper so Canadians can ultimately prosper from the blessings our country has to offer.

Canada first. Canada last. Canada always. As your representative, I will continue to work for this, for the benefit of our region of Battle River-Crowfoot, and for the country.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this column, you are encouraged to write Damien at 4945-50th Street, Camrose, Alberta, T4V 1P9, call 780-608-4600, text 403-575-5625, or e-mail damien.kurek@parl.gc.ca. You can also stay up to date with Damien by following him on social media @dckurek. If you are in need of assistance regarding a Federal Government program, or need assistance and don’t know where to turn, feel free to reach out to MP Kurek’s office.