Yurdiga entered politics in 2007 when he was
acclaimed to
Athabasca County's council as a representative of the hamlet of
Grassland. He was named deputy reeve in 2008 and then served as reeve from 2009 to 2013. On January 10, 2014,
Brian Jean announced he was resigning as the
Conservative Party's Member of Parliament for the riding
Fort McMurray—Athabasca to return to private life in Fort McMurray. Yurdiga resigned from Athabasca County's council after party members selected Yurdiga to replace Jean. Yurdiga was elected during the
2014 by-election. In the
2015 federal election, he was elected to the newly formed riding of
Fort McMurray-Cold Lake and re-elected in
2019. Yurdiga was appointed as the party’s critic for Northern Affairs by interim Conservative Party Leader
Rona Ambrose on November 20, 2015. He held the position until August 30, 2017, when Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer appointed
Cathy McLeod to the position. Yurdiga was unharmed during the
2014 shootings at Parliament Hill. Yurdiga subsequently endorsed
Pierre Poilievre in the
2022 Conservative leadership election. He endorsed
Peter MacKay during the
2020 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election. He endorsed
Kellie Leitch during the
2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election.
Political positions Yurdiga joined the rest of the Conservative caucus as a vocal supporter of pipeline construction and
oil sands production. He was a critic of
gun control legislation in Canada. In March 2021, he launched a failed petition to ban MPs from mentioning the term "
assault rifle" in the
House of Commons, telling
Fort McMurray Today that the term "is a scare tactic used by
the current government to demonize all guns.” He pushed for more supports for people with episodic disabilities, such as
multiple sclerosis. He also partnered with
Green Party leader
Elizabeth May in lobbying for the fast-tracking of a
cystic fibrosis medication that, at the time, had yet to be approved for use in Canada. His votes on
social issues were mixed throughout his political career. Yurdiga voted in favour of banning
sex-selective abortion in Canada. He also opposed the legalization of
medical assistance in dying (MAID) in Canada. A flyer from Yurdiga's office sent to constituents was mocked on social media because it warned
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was planning to
legalize recreational cannabis in Canada. Constituents pointed out Trudeau had never kept his support for cannabis legalization a secret. At the same time, Yurdiga supported adding
gender identity and
gender expression to the
Canadian Human Rights Act’s list of prohibited grounds of discrimination. In 2016, he supported removing bans on
same-sex marriage from official party policy in 2016.
Public image as a politician Yurdiga
struggled with public speaking when he was first elected. Over time, Yurdiga became more confident in his public speaking and was a popular guest at functions hosted by multicultural groups in Fort McMurray. But his early struggles with public speaking caused embarrassing moments at public events that were reported by local media. In 2014, Yurdiga confused
India and Pakistan when he was asked to give a speech at a ceremony celebrating
India's independence. He blamed the gaffe on "inaccurate information" he was given. On election night during the
2015 Canadian federal election, Yurdiga thanked local voters for re-electing
Stephen Harper as prime minister, even though
Justin Trudeau had already been declared the winner that evening. He later said he meant voters in the riding hoped Harper would be re-elected as prime minister. Yurdiga was criticized by local media, constituents and his opponents during elections for skipping
debates and public forums. Yurdiga said previous commitments during the 2014 by-election and a family health emergency during the 2015 general election kept him from attending most election events. His campaign blamed injuries from a car accident during the 2019 election for keeping Yurdiga away from traditional campaign activities. Yurdiga’s Liberal opponent in 2014 and 2015, Kyle Harrietha, portrayed him as an outsider who was ignorant of Fort McMurray and called out Yurdiga for avoiding public events.
COVID-19 mandates and resignation Yurdiga’s constituency office in Cold Lake was vandalized in January 2021 when someone spray painted “COVID lie” on the building. Yurdiga told the Cold Lake Sun he empathized with the frustrations of the person responsible for the vandalism. He also said he was following Alberta’s COVID-19 restrictions, but did not agree with all of them. In August 2021 Yurdiga called legislation mandating
COVID-19 vaccinations for public servants “a tyrannical idea” and criticized Quebec’s
vaccine passport program. Later that month he announced he would not run for re-election, despite being named the party's official candidate in January 2021. Yurdiga did not endorse his Conservative successor,
Laila Goodridge, but endorsed the re-election of
Lakeland Conservative MP
Shannon Stubbs on Facebook. McDonald claimed Yurdiga was forced out for criticizing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all government employees. == Personal background ==