January 28, 2009
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Cullen economic tour in Hazelton
Smithers Interior News
Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen held a forum called Riding Tour on the Economy at the United Church on Wednesday.
Although a number of people showed up to create ideas and discuss the current situation regarding the economy in the Hazeltons and surrounding areas, there was a noticeable lack of First Nation attendance.
“It was really great to get together to talk about our economy,” Shannon McPhail, one of the participants, said. “But their was definitely a voice missing here tonight.
The night started with everyone together but broke into two separate groups to tackle issues put forth by Cullen such as infrastructure, social safety net, environment and small business.
Cullen said he hoped the meetings would help give him ideas on how to stimulate the North’s economy and prepare a practical budget.
Throughout the working group process he bounced back and forth between groups to ask questions about solutions and issues being raised.
When everyone joined together they shared their brainstorming, which created a round of open-ended discussions.
Some of the most common topics included the need to enhance tourism in the area and create environmentally-based projects such as community gardens to grow local food.
Creating more opportunity for people in the North was another hot topic with suggestions to increase available funding to businesses in the area and to further education with entrepreneurial skills at the high school level.
Cullen said he was getting a few strong messages.
“I can see that there are a lot of ways to help stimulate the economy,” he said. “I am also hearing that culture and environment are important issues and that there needs to be more funding available for small businesses.”
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