Member of Parliament Nathan Cullen was in Kitimat at the Riverlodge on Wednesday, February 11th to listen to the people of Kitimat and find out what people are demanding. He expressed the Federal Government is putting a lot of cash available.

The room was packed full of people ready to share their ideas.

“[The purpose of tonight] was to understand what people hope for their community. To have a real sense of what’s most important and make sure that any support from the Federal Government we get is very focused and helpful,” said Cullen.

However, he pointed out there are also a lot of communities who are also competing for this cash, from hard hit oil towns to big cities with big infrastructure plans.

“I learned that there is a real diversity. I’m not quite surprised but I’m learning that people think about their communities in really unique ways, not just from one perspective and that’s great. That what makes these communities strong, that we’re not looking at things from the exact same angle.

Some of the items brought up including the Haisla Bridge, Curbside Recycling, Riverbank Camping and Ocean Access.

Earlier that day, Cullen met with High School Students who were talking about lowering the voting age to include them, Isis and a huge range of topics.

“These are incredibly connected and informed young people. It’s always a pleasure to be hanging out with them for a bit,” said Cullen.

He also met with the City Council earlier in the day, although some of the information he was given was currently in camera and may be before the public soon. However, he expressed the topics alliegned with what the people were discussing at the Riverlodge that night.

He hoped there is an opportunity for Kitimat to focus its efforts in a positive way. Whether or not Kitimat will achieve Federal funding for these proposed projects depends on what happens next.

Cullen’s next stage will be to take these proposals to Kitimat Council and the Regional District. He explained many of these ideas line up with things which are already proposed and some of these will be new as well.