Minister chats with legion members about world wars
Minister of State for Democratic Reform Pierre Poilievre was thankful that nobody threw tomatoes at him during his recent visit to the Okanagan Gleaners.
Poilievre was helping slice tomatoes with Conservative candidate Marshall Neufeld when he commented that people usually throw tomatoes at politicians they don’t like. So he was glad not to be a target on August 26.
Poilievre came to the South Okanagan to meet with community and business leaders in Oliver and Penticton.
He and Neufeld, candidate for the riding of South Okanagan – West Kootenay, toured the Gleaners’ packinghouse and helped slice tomatoes to feed the hungry.
The Gleaners turn discarded vegetables into dried soup mixes for shipment across the world to communities in need.
“Our government continues to support the work that this group and other local organizations do by maintaining a low-tax agenda and putting more money in the hands of Canadians to invest in their community,” said Poilievre.
The minister later held a roundtable with Oliver members of the Royal Canadian Legion to discuss the 100th anniversary of the First World War and the 75th anniversary of the Second World War. They discussed how Canadians across the country can carry out a variety of commemorative initiatives to mark the tremendous sacrifices and accomplishments of all those who served during the wars.
“This represents a unique opportunity for Canadians to reflect on our country’s long and proud military history,” said Poilievre. “Throughout this period, the government of Canada will be working with communities to commemorate the sacrifices of all the brave men and women that fought for our freedom and peace.”
Poilievre and Neufeld also received a tour of Road 13 Vineyards in Oliver and held a roundtable with local vintners.
Poilievre highlighted what the government of Canada has been doing to remove barriers to internal trade.
“Moving wine across provincial borders creates regional internal trade issues which is simply bad for business,” Neufeld said. “This is an issue for wineries here because the rules allowing Canadians to import directly from out-of-province wineries are not consistently aligned across the country.”
On June 28 of 2012, Member of Parliament for Okanagan-Coquihalla Dan Albas passed Bill C-311 to allow the free trade of wine over provincial borders.
However, according to the BC Wine Institute, the province allows consumers to order for delivery 100 per cent Canadian grape wine from other provinces for personal consumption, but does not receive the same treatment in return from other provinces.
“We will continue to promote inter-provincial trade, reduce red tape and allow Canadian businesses to grow from coast to coast to coast,” said Poilievre.
Lyonel Doherty
Oliver Chronicle
