MP plans to take what she heard in riding over the summer to Parliament

Photo: Parliament of Canada

Kelowna-Lake Country MP Tracy Gray.

Parliament resumes this month and being out in the community extensively over the summer, gaining feedback from residents, has been important work.

Outreach involved various ways of hearing from people, including meeting in-person with individuals, touring businesses and not-for-profit organizations and connecting at many community events, including setting up my MP community booth where people could spend time chatting and discussing important matters.

My annual farming tour included meeting with farmers and those who support the agriculture industry.

These activities provided me with valuable feedback about what is important to individuals and local organizations.

Thank you to all who responded to my last survey, which went to every home (in the riding) at the beginning of the summer, about how the high cost of living is impacting the personal financial decisions of members of our community.

I’ll bring the voices of many (through the comments in the survey) to the House of Commons this fall. A quick summary of responses show 70% are buying fewer groceries, 81% are taking fewer trips, 78% are donating less to charity and 89% are putting less into savings, which truly speaks to how the cost of living crisis is affecting many here in Kelowna-Lake Country.

The top issues I heard about consistently included the rising cost of living, including for recent back-to-school shopping, the unaffordable cost of housing, increases in local not-for-profit and charity use due to the squeezing of family finances and the administrative burden of red tape, bureaucracy, and delays with federal government programs and services.

These, as well as new regulations affecting childcare operators and options, concerns about the potential loss of natural health products in Canada, federal government program and service delays, the rising cost of personal and business debt due to high-interest rates and mental health, addiction, and crime issues are all important concerns that were brought to my attention by residents.

The devastating fires in our community and surrounding areas this summer will be felt for a long time. My heart goes out to all who are affected and to anyone who has suffered losses.

People in our community opened their hearts and homes and there will be many who will still need help for a long time while they rebuild. Thank you again to all responders and volunteers who helped save lives and protect and support people in our community.

I have mentioned previously how the community support for those affected by the fires is emblematic of what I often refer to as “the spirit of Kelowna-Lake Country”. It was truly heartwarming to see our community come together to support each other during what has been an incredibly difficult time.

The crisis highlighted the importance of a concerted effort to address wildfires, including looking at federal government promises from the past. During the 2021 election, the prime minister promised to train and equip 1,000 woodland firefighters and provide $500 million to the provinces and territories to buy essential equipment to increase their ability to fight fires before the 2022 fire season. That promise was not fulfilled in the timeline, nor as of now.

I take all of the issues I heard over the summer seriously, including during the wildfires in Kelowna-Lake Country, and will bring our community’s voice to Ottawa when studying and debating legislation, questioning the government to hold it to account, working on studies at committee to make recommendations to the government and working with colleagues on future policies.

If you need assistance with federal programs or have any thoughts to share, feel free to reach out, at 250-470-5075 or at [email protected].

Tracy Gray is the Conservative MP for Kelowna-Lake Country.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.