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?”

The cold weather didn’t stop families from heading to the Drumheller Fire Hall for the annual open house to kick-off Fire Prevention Week (October 4-10, 2015). 

This year, the theme of fire prevention week is: “Hear the Beep Where you Sleep: Every bedroom needs a working smoke alarm.”

Drumheller Fire Chief Bruce Wade said the importance of this year’s fire prevention week is to “make sure (the public) have working smoke detectors in bedrooms or located outside bedrooms.”

“With construction of houses these days and synthetic material, fires are developing faster so people need to be alerted sooner and evacuate quicker. In today’s building construction, you only have about one to two minutes to get out of a house so that is the awareness we are trying to push,” he said. 

Wade also said it is not only important to have smoke detectors in homes, but also, “the smoke detectors that you do have, you change the batteries twice yearly when the time changes.” He continued by reminding the public that smoke detectors only last 10 years and should be checked monthly. 

“By checking a smoke detector it will give you an idea of how long it has been up,” he told The Mail. 

“The biggest thing is smoke detector awareness and for people to have to have an evacuation plan,” Wade said finishing by saying it is important that children understand this plan. 

Joining the members of the fire department at the event were local RCMP and EMS who brought along a police cruiser and ambulance for families to see.

“Having the RCMP members here and EMS gives people the opportunity to see them not in a real professional aspect and they can get to know them, and know their faces,” Wade said.