Four of the five politicians that represent Kelowna at the federal and provincial levels addressed the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce Friday.
Kelowna-Mission MLA and B.C.'s Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Dan Albas, the Conservative MP for Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola and his party's inter-provincial trade critic, newly elected federal Liberal Kelowna-Lake Country MP Stephen Fuhr and Kelowna-Lake Country MLA and B.C. Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick all spoke, with the three veteran's -—Thomson, Albas and Letnick—all extolling what their respective governments have done for this area ion the past in terms of funding for health, education and infrastructure.
Being a rookie, Fuhr, elected in October, did not have a past performance to highlight so he reiterated a number of the election promises made by the Liberals during the recent federal election campaign, including a vow to provide billions more for infrastructure across the country.
And while he said there may be some tweaking of the numbers because of the currently economic picture, the Liberal government in Ottawa plans to stick to what it said it would do.
"The surprise is there will be no surprises," he told the business-oriented audience.
Albas said he is looking forward to working with Fuhr to help address local priorities and feels both men can do so despite being on opposite sides of the political aisle in the House of Commons.
"When you succeed, I succeed," he told Fuhr, in reference to both men helping Kelowna-area residents and municipalities.
The four men sat down with chamber executive members and local municipal politicians on Thursday to discuss local issues and came away vowing to work together.
The only one missing from the political posse on Friday was Thomson and Letnick's boss, Premier Christy Clark, the MLA for Westside-Kelowna. Her riding, like Albas's includes both West Kelowna and parts of Kelowna.
Letnick said provincial business kept her away.