Fort McMurray-Cold Lake MP David Yurdiga gave residents a chance for some one-on-one time with his community open house.
The event, held at Original Joes on Wednesday, Aug. 16, was an opportunity for residents to voice concerns before parliament gets back in session.
“We thought it would be a great way to create chit-chat before we're back. The house is sitting in the third week of September. There are a lot of issues that come forward over the summer; we wanted the opportunity to see what people are thinking,” said Yurdiga.
Inviting the community to a meet and greet allows the MP to get a better handle on the issues in Cold Lake. The face-to-face interaction with constituents provides information he otherwise wouldn't have access to.
“There are a lot of things I can read about in the newspaper, but you don't get that one-on-one connection with people. That's very important to have,” he expressed.
Throughout the night, the economic state of Cold Lake during uncertain times in the oil industry was a recurring theme. Some residents claimed work in the oil field has never been more scarce.
“I've been in the oil patch for 40 years and I have never seen a recession like this in our industry. I grew up in the 70s and 80s, and those were hard times, but it was never like this,” said Cold Lake resident Ray Strang.
Yurdiga admitted the city isn't in an ideal position economically, and reassured attendees the issue was also a major concern of his.
A lot of the feedback the MP offered focused on finding ways to help the city recover from the current economic downturn it's experiencing.
“We're looking at what can be done to stimulate the economy. Obviously, we're not where we should be if we want to keep our community healthy. We want to find ways to create an atmosphere where people want to invest in Cold Lake,” said Yurdiga.
In the future, Yurdiga plans to hold similar events in Cold Lake. He explained being on the ground allows him to get a better understanding of the important issues in the area.
“There are always two or three key issues that are brought up and we look for that commonality. Obviously, we can't advocate for everything. This helps us to look at advocating what's best for the community as a whole,” Yurdiga noted.
