Voters will see a familiar name on their ballots come the fall federal election.
Incumbent Fort McMurray-Cold Lake MP David Yurdiga has announced he will be in the running for his current position in the upcoming election under the Conservative Party of Canada.
“I’m running again because there’s so much more to do,” he told the Nouvelle.
From helping constituents with episodic disabilities through Motion 192, to assisting them in navigating the Canada Revenue Agency, Yurdiga is hoping to continue the work he has already started.
“I’m hearing on the ground from individuals that they’re having a hard time making ends meet,” exclaimed Yurdiga. “Whether it’s the carbon tax, which is at a pause right now, they’re seeing less and less on their paycheques, but everything else is going up. Fifty per cent of Canadians are $200 away from not being able to pay their bills.”
Yurdiga noted he also wants to see Motion 192 through to the end.
“I want to ensure that gets through and have those with episodic disabilities be able to get the resources that others with disabilities get but they can’t, because they’re episodic in nature,” said Yurdiga. “It’s very important that people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), epilepsy, and diabetes, they need something in the interim. They’re employable, but they have bouts and they can’t work for a certain period of time. We need to bridge that gap.”
This endeavour is near and dear to Yurdiga. His wife, Kathy, was diagnosed with MS in 2004. She is the heart behind his motion.
“The battle’s not over. We have to keep pushing to help those that need help.”
Creating a country that industry leaders want to invest in is another passion of the MP.
“We have seen the investment in Alberta is gone right now. We see that people are choosing not to invest in Alberta and that means that a lot of people are struggling to get by… Some people have to look for new careers or move out of the communities. We’ve seen a lot of people have moved away, just because of the employment issues and job security,” Yurdiga explained. “We have to get that investment back. We have to make Canada… competitive globally. We see that our neighbours to the south, they continually are making investment more attractive. There’s a real big move of a lot of corporations. They’re moving a lot of their operations to the United States.”
Using Bombardier as an example, Yurdiga outlined how corporations such as this relocating to the United States is impacting Canada as a whole.
“If we’re not competitive as Canadians, that means Canadians are going to be worse off for it,” he stressed.
One way the Conservative Party plans on increasing investment in the country is by reducing red tape.
“Any project coming into Canada, and primarily Alberta, the process to get something approved is very lengthy, and when you see our neighbours to the south cutting all kinds of red tape, projects from conception to construction, is about half,” detailed Yurdiga. “We have to be more aggressive in ensuring that these people who want to invest in Canada know they can get approvals done in a timely manner to ensure we can create jobs. Jobs keep our communities going.”
Yurdiga is a father of two, with an 11-year-old grandson. He described his family as very tight-knit, who like to do things together such as working on their cattle farm near Plamondon.
He made his political debut in 2006 when he was elected as a councillor for Athabasca County. He moved up in the ranks and became reeve before shifting his focus from municipal to federal politics in 2014.
After three-plus years serving as MP, Yurdiga feels it’s his relationships with municipal leaders that will work in his favour moving forward.
“I have a philosophy that anything we do, we have to do together as a group, with all levels of government. Whether it’s municipal, provincial, federal, first nations, Métis nations, or settlements,” he expressed.
Looking ahead, Yurdiga said efficiency and accountability are top priorities.
“Everybody should be accountable for what they do, whether it’s your personal life or political life. You have to be accountable to people to ensure that you’re spending money wisely and efficiently, and are getting the biggest bang for your dollar,” he said.
Joining Yurdiga in the fall federal election in the Fort McMurray-Cold Lake riding is Matthew Barrett for the People’s Party of Canada.
