Yellowhead Member of Parliament Jim Eglinski, is making his way across the region to meet those living in the communities he represents in Parliament.
On Thursday, Jan. 15, Eglinski made a special appearance at the Barrhead Chamber of Commerce meeting hosted in the Multipurpose Room at the Agrena, and shared concerns from across the province.
Eglinski said there are four concerns in the riding at this time. One concern is the changes made to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
“It has put a lot of businesses in a bad situation,” Eglinski said, adding the Minister is not currently intending on changing the adjustments that were made in the fall, but he is waiting for feedback on the impact it has had across the country.
“He is waiting for feedback from the provinces, from the members of parliament, to see what he can do to make things better for the western provinces,” Eglinski said. “It’s a big impact and we have had nothing but complaints about it.”
Eglinski recommended that anyone interested in voicing his or her concerns can do so by sending a letter to his Edson office.
The pine beetle is also becoming quite a concern for the province of Alberta, Eglinski said.
“The knowledgeable people told us in 2004 that the pine beetle would never make it across the Rocky Mountains, and that it was only going to be a British Columbia situation,” Eglinski said, adding that the forest fire in 2004 brought the beetles over the Rockies.
“Now they are into Saskatchewan, but we see a great number of them along the base of the foothills of the Rockies,” Eglinski said.
The beetle has been kept at bay for the past two years, and Alberta Envionment and Sustainable Resource Development is working diligently to reestablish the trees that were affected by the beetle.
The caribou being added to the species at risk list has become another problem for the forestry industries across the province.
“It is really going to impact our forest industry,” Eglinski said, adding that certain areas are now unable to be logged because of the caribou living in that area.
“That needs to be really addressed,” he said.
Alberta’s MPs will be bringing the issue to light during their caucus meeting next week.
Eglinski said the final concern is the continuing drop in oil prices.
“Things are quickly happening… it is really going to affect this province,” he said.
The province of Alberta was hoping to have money to put into the reserve at the end of this year, however that may not be the case.
“I just saw a note that came in from the finance minister and he thinks he will be able to balance the budget at the present time,” Eglinski said, adding that if the prices continue to drop he is not sure how that will be possible.
“They don’t see that this little hiccup… is going to bother it too much,” he added.
Eglinski shared a brief history, and the story of how he became MP.
Eglinski was originally from Alberta, but moved to British Columbia in 1968 when he joined the RCMP.
He served for 35 years, at nine different detachments, and after retiring decided to pursue a passion of his.
“I always had a strong desire right from the time I was about 15, 16 years old, to be involved in public service,” Eglinski said.
He stepped into politics and ran for council in B.C., after serving for three years he was elected as Mayor.
After several years he and his wife moved back to Alberta to be closer to their grandchildren.
“We thought we would come over here, watch them grow up and spoil them,” Eglinski said. “That was the biggest reason for moving back here,”
Eglinski had taken over the role of executive for Rob Merrifield, the pervious Member of Parliament.
“I was Rob’s executive over the last year or so,” Eglinski said, adding that it was Merrifield who encouraged him to run for MP.
When it came to votes they nearly met his goal, with a total of 62.8 per cent.
“I was shooting for 65 per cent, but not many people knew the election took place,” Eglinski said, adding a lot of the confusion had to do with the ads elections Canada had been running.
Eglinski is currently spending his time travelling, meeting people living throughout the area he represents.
“I have been trying to get around as much as I can,” he said. “My goal is to try and meet as many people as I possibly can.”
After the fall election, Eglinski will no longer be the representative for Barrhead and the surrounding area because of the new electoral boundaries.
“All of this was done by elections Canada to balance the populations, and to give this province six more representatives in Ottawa,” he said.
Eglinski’s region will grow drastically in size, he said, however they won’t include the north side of Highway 43.
“My boundaries will stop at Highway 43, and anything north of 43 will then become a part of the new Westlock, Peace River riding,” Eglinski told the Chamber.
Eglinski told the members of the Chamber about a recent comical event on the Rick Mercer show, involving a photo of himself and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
“He had a picture of the Prime Minister walking me into the house, and he said ‘oh look, here is the Prime Minister introducing his barber to the House of Commons, a little joke but that’s okay.”
“Maybe I’ll call myself the barber,” he added with a smile.
