As the federal election looms closer, NDP candidate in the Crowfoot–Battle River Constituency, Katherine Swampy is campaigning full speed ahead.
Swampy visited with The Mail last Friday on a trip through the constituency to meet with voters. She says she is getting a good response.
“I find that after I talk to conservatives and they understand what we have to offer, many of them are almost afraid,” she said. “They don’t want to sign because they are worried, they wear a blue button because they don’t want their friends to look down on them. But they tell me “I’m gong to vote for you, but I can’t put a sign in my yard.”
Swampy is a working mother and just graduated from the University of Alberta at the Augustana Campus with a Bachelor of Arts with a major in economics and a minor in political studies. She is on leave without pay to campaign.
She sees a shift in the policies of the Conservative Party.
“Progressive Conservatives were more focused on social values and economy, but now the new Harper Conservatives are just more focused on the economy. They seemed to forget they were working for the people. The people are starting to feel that now,” she said.
“Many Conservatives feel betrayed and the NDP wants to show them there is a choice out there.”
She is passionate about the issues.
“I am affected by everything that Stephen Harper is doing. For one, I am First Nations, we have been neglected for many years, and he is not helping with anything. I am also a mother of five, so as a parent I understand the concerns that young families have. I couldn’t; afford childcare if it were not for close family relatives,” she said.
“I also just graduated, so I have a student debt. So I understand students who are saddled with a crazy amount of debt. Why is it considered fair that those who paid a few thousand dollars for their degrees, tell us we have to pay tens of thousands for degrees?”
She sees the NDP’s platform as a balanced plan.
“We have stable plans for the economy, the environment, for healthcare and childcare,” she said.
She appreciates that she is in a very conservative riding, and she is in a David and Goliath battle.
“I am fighting to have our voice heard. Because this is a very conservative area, a lot of people are not even thinking if whether they are even going to vote. There are many people who don’t vote, and it is their voice that is not being heard. I am out there fighting for the middle class families, I am out there fighting for the students who are going to school and struggling to survive, fighting for those losing their jobs, being a voice for the voiceless,” she said. “I would really love to see them act on what I am fighting for, even if I have no chance of winning… but if they actually address these issues, I will have been successful.”
She feels compelled to get involved in politics.
“I was living and feeling all of the hardships that Harper’s conservatives have put on the people and I needed to take a stand and fight for this. Who else was going to fight for me?”
