Manitoba's Progressive Conservative Caucus is visiting Dauphin for a couple days, to hear directly from area residents about issues affecting the community.
Obby Khan, Manitoba PC Party Leader, said in-person visits and events are the best way they can find out what issues residents care about the most. Over the next couple days, several meetings are planed with key Parkland stakeholders, like the City and RM of Dauphin.
"First and foremost it's the people of Dauphin, right, so we want to talk to the people, find out what they're feeling. We hear all across the Province that it's affordability, it's economy, it's crime and safety, but especially up here, I want to hear as leader really about the floods, and how that's affected the people living here, the businesses...we're meeting with Municipal councils, we're meeting with Reeves, we're meeting with various leaders, we're meeting with lots of business groups up here, the Chambers [of Commerce] and whatnot, and lots of individual business owners. So really, this visit is about meeting the people of Dauphin, hearing from them, listening to what their concerns are, and taking them back to the Caucus," said Khan.
In recent months especially, Khan said one of the most common issues he hears about from Parkland residents is the closure of the Dauphin Regional Health Centre. That's a big part of why the PC Caucus is here in Dauphin, to hear more about how that closure is affecting residents in more ways than just being without an emergency department for a while.
Though the emergency department here in Dauphin was reopened earlier this week, there is no timeline for when other services will be returning to the hospital. Khan has been especially critical of the level of communication around the Dauphin Regional Health Centre.
"The ER Hospital's a really big one here in Dauphin, and the problem with that is, I know the current government re-announced the opening, and that's great, but what about all the other services that need to come with that, right, the MRI, the chemotherapy, the surgeries, what is the timeline for that, what's the cost going to be for that, and people are concerned, people are worried about that because this is a major hub for healthcare...what we would have done is been open and transparent with Manitobans from day one on what's actually happening, what the timelines are. People still don't know what the timelines are, and that creates real uncertainty for people...announcements of an opening of a hospital are great, but what are the real facts behind that, and that's where we're really seeing a difference between, again, the way they operate and the way we want to operate, I think that is the most important thing, because when you don't have that, you lose the trust of the people," said Khan.
Whether you have concerns about the DRHC, crime, economy, or any other problems you feel the Parkland is facing, Khan encourages you to attend the PC's public engagement event tonight, at Credit Union Place from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM.
"We really want to hear from people living in Dauphin and the Parkland region, right, we want to hear from you first-hand what you're experiencing, what you're going through, and what your suggestions and ideas are, you guys have the best ideas...there's a lot of issues, whether it be healthcare, whether it be crime, whether it be your job and affordability and paying the bills, these are all really serious issues that are affecting your day-to-day life, affecting my day-to-day life, and everyone in this Province and Country. We just want to hear from you," said Khan.
Throughout today and Friday, members of the PC Caucus will have meetings with various Parkland-area groups, including a planned tour of Vermillion Growers, and meetings with RM and City officials.
