DEVOLIN OUTLINES HIS SIX LOCAL PRIORITIES

Column – Aug 24

Welcome to my first bi-weekly column. Over the coming months, I hope to keep you abreast of what I’m doing on your behalf in the riding and in Parliament.

During the recent election campaign, I promoted my “local priorities”. In this inaugural column, I want to outline these priorities and the specific initiatives I am pursuing.

Protecting family farms. Agriculture is a critically important industry in this riding. Earlier this year, I committed to create a “farm council” to provide information, offer advice and guide me on agricultural issues. The first meeting will be held on August 30.

Attracting more jobs. Like much of rural Canada, this riding faces the challenges of youth out-migration and a general lack of well-paid jobs. As a first step, I am working with several community-based groups to expand access to high-speed Internet.

Strengthening rural healthcare. Over the past few years, several hospitals in our riding have been expanded and modernized. Now the challenge is to address a critical shortage of doctors and other health-care professionals. To this end, I have begun to offer my assistance to “doctor recruitment” committees across the riding.

Expanding seniors’ services. As a riding, we have the second highest percentage of seniors in Canada – exceeded only by Victoria B.C. I believe that retaining and attracting seniors is a great way to create employment and investment opportunities. To this end, I want to work with seniors’ organizations and business groups to identify opportunities to make our area even more “senior friendly”. 

Improving access to housing. Many of our communities face a critical lack of housing – from social housing, to low-income rental housing, to seniors’ apartments, to condos for more affluent seniors. As a first step, I want to work with municipalities as they manage the significant costs associated with upgrading their drinking water infrastructure to meet Ontario’s new Walkerton- inspired standards.

Focussing on children. As the father of a young family, I recognize the importance of education and making children aware of opportunities. That’s why I’m so excited about our program A Capital Experience, where 2 students from 7 local high schools will get to visit Ottawa for 3 days each October to learn about career opportunities in public life.