By Harwinder Sandhu
MLA for Vernon-Monashee
One of the best parts of being the MLA for Vernon-Monashee is being able to showcase the amazing people, businesses, organizations and communities across our riding.
Three weeks ago, I got to do just that when my caucus colleagues, including Premier John Horgan, joined me in Vernon to meet some of the inspiring people here and to see their hard work in action. Together, my colleagues and I come from every corner of the province and represent the diversity of British Columbia, with each of us bringing a unique and diverse set of backgrounds, skills and experiences.
Together, we work hard to listen to the needs of our local communities while ensuring that we work to make life better for people.
We all started our tour in Vernon, and had breakfast with local industry experts, including folks from the agriculture and cidery sectors. From there we travelled in groups to various locations around the area to get a full picture-view of the many exciting things happening in Vernon.
Some of my colleagues focussed on the local business community, visiting places like Hamming Holsteins Farm, Nexus BC, the Tolko Mill, the Kalamalka Forestry Centre and more.
They also took time to meet with the Vernon Chamber of Commerce while visiting local businesses. Others took stops at local housing projects, including the Creekside Village, the Crossings and My Place, along with Mayor Victor Cumming, while others stopped at the Maven Lane Childcare centre.
I spent time with Premier Horgan meeting with small- and medium-sized business owners, helping to advocate for our region and economy.
The premier and I then joined cabinet minister Mike Farnworth to meet local BC Wildfire service firefighters and to tour the Vernon Fire Rescue Services facilities. The past few years have been hard for people across B.C., as fires, floods, and more have devastated many of our communities, highways and people. Because of that, it was such an honour to meet with some of the teams that make Vernon a safe, happy and healthy place to live.
The past five years have brought so many new investments into Vernon, whether it was through expanded $10 a day child care, or supports for small businesses after the pandemic and so much more. We’ve made a great start in making people’s lives better, but we know there is still more work to do. Since being elected in 2020, my goal has been to bring my government colleagues to our communities to know more about our constituency, people, community leaders and stakeholders.
As the representative for this riding, I know we must have our needs and concerns heard to make progress and build a stronger, healthier community that works for everyone. Being able to work towards that goal and putting Vernon-Monashee on the map is a privilege and a responsibility I take seriously, and I am thrilled the premier was able to make a trip to Vernon to see just how strong our community is.
Every day, the people of Vernon-Monashee work to make our community and surrounding area a better place to live, work and play, and my colleagues left their trip to Vernon knowing what a beautiful and dedicated community we have.
• See photos online at vernonmorningstar.com
