It is said, “In all things give thanks” but many of us have found this a little easier to say than do as we face unseasonably cold weather here in the Okanagan.

Yet, the colder than usual temperatures didn’t dampen the community spirit that could be found everywhere in our community this past week.

Hundreds of community volunteers gave their time and welcomed thousands of runners to the 15th annual Okanagan Marathon which also raised funds for the Sunshine Foundation Dreams for Kids. Not even the frigid -9 temperatures could keep the more than 3,000 participants, volunteers and fans away.

I saw that community spirit again when 100 local women, along with special guests Jean Pare, founder of the Company’s Coming cookbook series, and Mrs. Laureen Harper, wife of Prime Minister Harper, successfully raised over $20,000 for two important community organizations, the Kelowna Women’s Shelter and the Women’s Enterprise Centre. 

And on Thanksgiving Monday, I joined many community volunteers who prepared and served a delicious turkey dinner to several hundred people. 

Folks young and old clearly appreciated the meal along with some words of wisdom from the Rev. Albert Baldeo who, with his trademark good humour, shared a special Thanksgiving message of hope and love.   Thank you to the Gospel Mission and all those who helped make this special dinner possible.      

 It’s times like these, when you see ordinary people in action giving their time to others that you get a real sense of how strong and effective our community can be.

On another positive note, it was nice to see our former local Senator, Ross Fitzpatrick receive the prestigious "Order of British Columbia". Congratulations to Ross and his family who have served this community so well.  It is richly deserved.

And speaking of serving the community well, some good news is happening on the local economic front as well.
Signalink Technolgies, Vineyard Networks and VeriCorder Technologies, which all recently received funding support from the federal government,  are just a few homegrown companies that are boosting the local economy and are set to add dozens of employees to their payroll, many of whom will be the best and brightest from Okanagan College and UBCO. 

It’s exciting to know that groundbreaking technologies are being realized right here in the Okanagan Valley.  It goes without saying that this kind of entrepreneurship is what keeps the economy moving forward and its proof positive that partnerships between the private and public sector can pay real dividends for all of us. 

If you have an idea and are not sure how to turn it into a viable business then you may wish to contact the Okanagan Regional Innovation Centre (ORIC) at 250-870-9028. 

ORIC’s goal is to create high-tech jobs and sustainable economic value for the Okanagan Valley and provides access to the NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP). 

The federal government’s NRC-IRAP provides a range of both technical and business-oriented advisory services along with necessary financial support to help innovative Canadian small- and medium-sized enterprises turn knowledge and innovation into strategic opportunities, jobs and prosperity for the local and national economy.

With the additional $200 million recently provided to the NRC-IRAP by the Government of Canada many more companies are due to benefit.

All in all there were plenty of reasons to be thankful this week in Kelowna-Lake Country.

Ron Cannan is the MP for Kelowna-Lake Country and can be reached at 250-470-5075 or by email at ron@cannan.ca