Battle River-Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek held his first virtual town hall meeting over Zoom, taking time to speak on current discussions in Parliament and answering questions from constituents on Wednesday, March 10.
Many of the questions submitted for the virtual town hall revolved around current COVID-19 restrictions, the proposed Liberal firearms bill, and Western alienation.
“Conservatives are hard at work getting answers, and it’s important for the sake of Canadians,” MP Kurek addressed those in attendance.
MP Kurek is currently in Ottawa participating in Parliamentary discussions and the Standing Committee of Public Safety and National Security, noting things have been very busy, with “a barrage of bills” currently being brought before the House.
This includes Bill C-21, which would make changes to current firearm regulations, as well as a private members bill--one such which would exempt certain agricultural fuels from the carbon tax.
This private members bill passed a second reading in Parliament and, according to Kurek, is a significant victory towards legislation.
“Although there is a lot of frustrations, there is these little glimmers of hope where we can see small victories in the challenges we face,” MP Kurek shared.
MP Kurek has kept busy, trying to stay in touch with rural constituents amid current restrictions. He has held several Facebook town hall meetings, but noted “not everyone has Facebook,” and hoped the success of the Zoom town hall would lead to similar events in the future, which would allow additional participation from constituents.
One topic which was brought up in several questions from constituents was the subject of western alienation and how many current proposed bills-particularly Bill C-21 and ongoing COVID-19 regulations-unfairly target rural areas.
MP Kurek acknowledged the existence of a “rural-urban divide” and shared his frustration.
“Certainly, I think there’s a difference between rural and urban. In fact, people will often share how farmers are socially distanced by nature, when you live six miles from your neighbour,” he stated. He encouraged participants dissatisfied with the current restrictions in rural areas to speak with their MLAs so the “rural voice doesn’t get lost.”
Another area where the rural-urban divide is strongly felt is in Bill-C21, the proposed Liberal firearms bill.
“There’s a massive divide, and it’s shameful quite frankly,” MP Kurek said.
He went on to say the bill is “not about public safety” but rather a ploy to gain “support from jurisdictions” where gun crime is prevalent. The changes to Bill C-21 would impose new restrictions on gun owners and ban “military style assault rifle” guns.
MP Kurek noted he asked Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair to give an explanation on what this style of firearm would include.
“They’ll have a long, convoluted explanation: it’s those meant for battlefield-but it’s clear they don’t understand the reality of rural people,” he stated. He shared he legally owns firearms and added “more than 90 per cent” of crimes with firearms are committed with illegally obtained and smuggled firearms, not by responsible firearms owners.
MP Kurek also touched upon the pay raise which Members of Parliament received last year, and his disappointment this was not frozen “when many Canadians were suffering.” He added MPs are once again slated to receive a pay raise at the start of the fiscal year in April.
While MP Kurek will be calling for a freeze once more, he noted he would commit himself to donate his pay raise to local community organizations “out of respect” for constituents and Canadians who may be suffering financial hardships through the COVID-19 pandemic.