Pierre Poilievre, Conservative Party of Canada leader and candidate for the Battle River-Crowfoot by-election coming this August, was out on the campaign trail in Flagstaff County last week, before stopping in Camrose to officially open his new campaign office there.
After a long Canada Day, that started in Drumheller, with stops in Hanna, Donalda, and Stettler, Poilievre arrived in Sedgewick around 10 p.m. to meet with residents who had come out to talk to him, take a photo with him, or just happened to be there celebrating Canada Day before the fireworks started.
From there, he attended a breakfast hosted by former MP Kevin Sorenson and his wife Darlene, with his wife Ana, and with Damien and Danielle Kurek the next morning, on Wednesday.
Sorenson invited a small but diverse group of farmers, municipal leaders, and business people from the Killam area to meet Poilievre.
Sorenson said, “There’s two of my favourite people here today, and the first one is my member of parliament,” before he stopped to acknowledge his wife Darlene. He continued after much laughter, “Damien has sat on my board since he was 16 years old. Then he worked for me, and he went away and worked for Premier Wall in Saskatchewan, then he came back and worked for me. I tell everyone he’s the best damn MP this riding has ever had.
“It is not every MP and every individual who would give up his life’s dream of being in Parliament. Damien did it long before he ever qualified for a pension. It’s not every MP who would have done that, but he sees the big picture.
“He understands what it is to be a team member. Damien is worthy of every bit of support that we can give him in the future.”
Sorenson then indicated Poilievre, and said, “Now this guy, likewise. Pierre is, again, one of my favourite individuals.” He said that Poilievre worked for different areas within the party, “And then we needed someone to run in a riding called Carleton. A very Liberal riding; strong cabinet minister, David Pratt, and who was going to run against him and probably lose? The sacrifical lamb. This young staffer, Pierre Poilievre comes along, and says, ‘I’m willing to run.’
“But then he was also willing to work, and every step of the way, this guy has worked and earned everything he has done. Nothing has been handed to him – he has worked hard.”
Sorenson says to everyone’s surprise, Poilievre won the 2004 election in Carleton. “Then, as a Member of Parliament, and in caucus meetings, he would come to the mic as a great communicator. And I can tell you, he made sense. And it was a Conservative message always. And even for some in the room, you know, you have your Tories, your Red Tories, at that time, we had just gone from the Alliance Party to the Conservatives, we had a broad group, and he was able to bring people in.
“I remember saying ‘This guy has potential.’ He was a cabinet minister right away, and I thought, ‘He has the potential to be the Prime Minister.’”
Sorenson says when he retired in 2019, “I remember in the lobby, Darlene going up to Pierre, and giving him a hug, and saying, ‘Pierre, you will be Prime Minister someday.’
“And we were disappointed after the last election, but I still believe that will happen.”
Kurek then took an opportunity to speak to Sorenson, saying: “Kevin and Darlene, your mentorship has been incredible and I now share something in common with Kevin – I’m the former MP for Battle River-Crowfoot. I think there’s some more mentorship there.
“Look, in the aftermath of the election we were all disappointed, and I know no one was more disappointed than Pierre and Ana. But in those few days after, we knew that we had to keep fighting. Over the course of that week, by Wednesday morning, Danielle and I knew that the right thing was to offer the seat.
“At that point in time, we didn’t know exactly what the deal would be, but we made the offer and Pierre accepted.
“I had a phone call with Kevin shortly after this, and I said, ‘I just made this offer, what do you think?’ and Kevin encouraged me in that.
“But look, we made the offer because we believe that there’s still hope for our country. But the hope for our country requires leadership, leadership that we have not had in over a decade.
“When you look at the trajectory, you see where Pierre has led the national conversation in all the important ways.”
Kurek said, “In the aftermath of the election, making the offer and every day since, feeling more and more confident all the time that Pierre and Ana are the right people not just to be the MP for Battle River-Crowfoot here in the 45th parliament, but to also continue the fight for our country. Whether that be for pipelines, or for common sense in government, ethical governance – the whole deal, that fight needs to continue.”
Kurek said he and his wife have joked recently that it’s more work to resign from Parliament than being an MP, but “We’re so proud to be able to support Pierre and Ana as they work to earn the support on what will be a by-election on Aug. 18 – so mark that in your calendar, we need you all to vote.
“I’m so pleased that Kevin and Darlene are hosting this breakfast and showing the best of what Killam and east central Alberta is here – you’ve got farmers, ranchers, oil patch workers, you’ve got mechanics, municipal leaders – you’ve got the best of Alberta right here.”
Poilievre talked briefly about his campaign as Conservative Leader, and his intention to earn the votes as he runs for the Battle River-Crowfoot by-election.
He also took questions from the crowd.
Leslie Cholowsky
Editor
