December 17, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ABBOTSFORD, BC —Brad Vis, Member of Parliament for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon and Shadow Minister for Pacific Economic Development (PacifiCan) issued the following statement in response to Prime Minister’s mandate letter to the Honourable Harjit Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada:
“Three months after the election and almost two months since federal ministers started their new portfolios, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has finally provided his cabinet with the direction necessary to do their jobs on behalf of Canadians.
“Upon review of Trudeau’s ministerial mandate letter to my governmental counterpart, it is clear that this Liberal government cares more about international virtue-signaling than harnessing the power of the Pacific Economic Development Agency (PacifiCan) – which their government created in August – to get BC’s economy back on its feet.
“British Columbia has and continues to suffer from COVID-19 restrictions, from wildfire damage, and from flood destruction: all compounding factors in Trudeau’s cost-of-living crisis. Yet in the entire mandate letter, only one bullet point out of twenty provides direction, and vague direction at that, for the regional development agency responsible for supporting economic growth on the West Coast.
“The Insurance Bureau of Canada has called the floods and slides the costliest weather event in B.C.'s history – PacifiCan should be leading the charge to get businesses back up and running but is completely absent: their last press release is from Aug. 12, 2021.
“My sincere hope is that the federal government takes Parliament’s upcoming winter break to put together a cross-departmental, pan-agency economic recovery plan for British Columbia.”
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Media Contact:
Office of MP Brad Vis
613-992-1248