The Parkland Chamber of Commerce held its State of the District address this afternoon at the Watson Art Centre. The main theme was a new regional initiative called Stronger Together, which encourages municipalities in the region to work together.
Stephen Chychota, executive director of the Parkland Chamber of Commerce, said that the event was a platform for municipalities to work together and that by doing so, they would be stronger together. He also said that there's a group working on bringing skilled labourers to the area to help alleviate the challenges brought on by the labour shortage.
It's not the be-all end-all for anything, but... if we bring [more workers to the area], we can start filling these jobs and bring more opportunity because they bring family and maybe they deviate from what they're doing and they go out on their own business sort of thing.
Robert Brunel, mayor of the Municipality of Ste. Rose, spoke at the event. He said that it's important for municipal leaders to work together and that municipalities, such as McCreary, Ste. Rose, Lakeshore, Mossey River, Dauphin, Grandview and Ethelbert, are working in close collaboration in many areas. These areas include wastewater and solid waste regulations, housing, and economic development. It was also brought up that if municipalities take similar positions, they would be in a stronger position to lobby the federal and provincial governments. He also announced a new tourism partnership that will include the launch of a new website called Hello Parkland.
There was federal and provincial representation at the event.
Dan Mazier, MP for Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, addressed the event virtually with a pre-recorded message that included support for scrapping the carbon tax and suspending the GST on fuel to make life more affordable.
Brad Michaleski, MLA for Dauphin, gave a speech at the event expressing his support for the Chamber's Stronger Together initiative by agreeing that working together is the right move for a challenging time. According to Michaleski, the whole region has to be strong and things should be approached in a regional way.
