I spent a couple of days in Ottawa this week and used the opportunity to meet with key policy people in different Minister’s offices to reiterate the priorities for our riding. Keep in mind just how many Members of Parliament are lobbying Cabinet Ministers on behalf of their own ridings, and you’ll understand the necessity for keeping Kelowna-Lake Country’s priorities on the Ministers’ radar.

The difference this time was I was not alone.

I had some serious local muscle with me to lend credibility to our priority list; three hard-working guys from our local Chamber of Commerce, Weldon LeBlanc, James Patterson and Wesley Shields.

If any group knows what we need in the Okanagan to ensure our local and regional economy continues to grow, it’s the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce.  The Ministers and their staff know it too and are eager to meet with folks like these who know the issues first hand and can get right to the point.  This is exactly what James, Wes and Weldon did. 

Our first stop was at the Office of the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and the message was pretty clear; Highway 97 – the Okanagan Highway Corridor must be addressed.  As the Chamber pointed out, the high volumes of traffic along Highway 97 have become a burden to the increased economic activity and a significant negative impact to the movement of goods and services in the area.  More importantly, the inability to provide highway infrastructure to keep up with the increase in traffic flow has become a significant safety concern. When asked by the Minister’s office if this was our top priority it was met with a resounding yes.

Our second stop was at the Office of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.  The issue was a skilled labour shortage which is hampering our economic growth and prosperity.  In particular the Chamber emphasized the problems local business people are facing when trying to fill jobs with foreign workers especially the obstacles and delays they face trying to access information and/or services through Immigration offices.

The solution?  The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce proposes a one-stop shop for immigration and passport services.  It’s innovative and was met with genuine interest from the Minister’s office and later when we met with the CEO of Passport Canada and the Office of the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, .

As the Chamber points out, Kelowna would be the perfect place for a pilot project.  We are the regional hub and a fast-growing community.  Our airport is expanding, our population growing, and our economic sectors, including tourism, agriculture, health, education, aerospace and technology, are booming. 

With skilled labour in such high demand and so many of the immigration and foreign worker programs crossing federal, provincial and inter-departmental boundaries it only makes sense.  A one-stop shop for immigration and passport services would streamline the process and help our businesses access workers in a timely manner.  It may even be the initiative that finally brings full passport services to Kelowna.

All in all it was a good day for the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce and for our riding.  We got our priorities across to the right people and the feedback was positive.  Now we need to bring some of these priorities to fruition.  You can be assured that I will be doing my best to make it happen.