Cariboo North MLA looks forward to 2020

The Liberal MLA for Cariboo North is calling for a reset in 2020.

Coralee Oakes says the area is facing significant challenges and everyone needs to work together to solve them…

“We are going to fail as a community unless we have a reset that we come to the table, that we put our politics aside and say look, we need to be moving and supporting and advocating for our communities as a whole.”

Oakes says there are challenges around public safety and there needs to be some tough conversations to find solutions to the problem.

And she says we need to advocate for the people that are trying to help with this problem…

“Our agencies that are incredibly strapped and overwhelmed by some of the resource challenges that have and just the people challenges. We have incredible people that do incredible work in the Cariboo and I worry about people getting burnt out, and I want people to decide to stay in our community, to know that we are all working in the same direction.”

Looking ahead, Oakes says she is looking forward to some progress being made on some major projects in the region in 2020.

Oakes says one of those is the Kluskus connector…

“People have worked really hard for many years so I am excited about what that opportunity may look like and making sure our communities are safe and have a safety egress. Work has been done this fall so good work continues to happen. I am confident it will be completed, the Kluskus portion of it, I am confident it will be completed in 2020.”

Oakes also vows to fight for a new West Fraser Road…

“We have to move forward on that really important piece of infrastructure and I remind everyone, I don’t believe it’s just about West Fraser Road, we have a lot of resource roads that are challenged and any one of our smaller communities could be in a similar situation where a landslide or an event could impact that road.”

Oakes says we’ve got to look at this as it could impact any one of us, so we all need to be working in the same direction.