It was a wonderful week to be home in the Kootenays!
This week, as the legislature was on a break week from our spring session, I got to do what I love most for a few days — be at home in the Kootenays connecting with local people, businesses, and organizations. It especially brings me joy when I get to connect locals and have them share their perspectives, ideas and stories with my colleagues.
I was incredibly grateful to be joined by Premier David Eby and my cabinet colleagues, Diana Gibson, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation, and Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests as well as my fellow Kootenay MLA, Steve Morissette, throughout the week.
On Tuesday, myself, MLA Morissette, Premier Eby, and Minister Gibson were in Trail and Castlegar where we got to see some of the incredible work done locally in energy and critical minerals at Teck and do a tour at the Waneta Dam on a bluebird Kootenay day.
It is always inspiring to see the global talent we have in the Kootenays, and that includes in our critical mineral and energy sectors. The work done right up the road in Trail has an impact felt around the world, and these businesses employ so many people who love to call our corner of the province home.
On Wednesday, the tour continued as I was able to join Minister Gibson as well as Minister Parmar at Spearhead Timberworks to make an announcement that could see the company nearly double their workforce and add up to 60 jobs. This funding through the B.C. Manufacturing Jobs Fund to help Spearhead expand their facilities and production power is one of the ways our government is responding to the threat of tariffs to support good-paying, local jobs.
We were also able to tour the facility and see demonstrations of some of the cutting-edge forestry innovation used right here at home- including North America’s most advanced wood manufacturing technology.
After the announcement I invited Premier Eby to meet with Nelson Mayor Janice Morrison, councillors, community advocates, business owners, leaders from local non-profit organizations and Nelson City Police for a community public safety round table. I hear from a lot of Nelsonites that public safety is a top-of-mind issue, and it was great to get together with so many people who contribute to the spectrum of care for our community.
After the round table, Premier Eby and I headed to downtown Nelson for lunch at one of our many incredible local restaurants, El Taco, to enjoy a delicious meal and connect with local people.
To bring the visit to a close, we visited the beautiful Nelson Public Library, where Premier Eby and I hosted an environmental round table with local experts and activists to discuss a variety of local and global issues. Environmental conservation and climate action are incredibly close to my heart, and the passion that people have here for our environment is one of the things that I love about the Kootenays, and that inspired me to become an MLA.
I am so grateful to the people in the Kootenays who welcomed Premier Eby, Minister Gibson and Minister Parmar to our region and for taking the time to share whole-heartedly the incredible work we are doing now, and our dreams and plans for the future.
Getting to show my colleagues firsthand how amazing it is here and getting to connect with everyday, hardworking British Columbians only energizes me more to continue to advocate for local services and people, whether in my role as MLA or as Minister of State for Local Governments and Rural Communities.
I’m looking forward to a few more hard weeks of work at the legislature before spending the summer connecting on the ground with local governments, and people across B.C., including here in the Kootenays.
Brittny Anderson is MLA for Kootenay Central.
