Minister Blair visits Merritt, pledges collaborative work towards recovery

The Federal Minister responsible for Emergency Preparedness visited Merritt on Sunday to speak with City staff and council members before touring some of the still damaged sections of the city. While four months have passed since the flood event, many Merritt residents remain out of their homes as the rebuild and recovery wains on.

Minister Bill Blair had an opportunity to speak with locals stills struggling to return home.

“We saw all the terrible images of the November floods and the damages caused and you think that gives you a pretty good idea of what people have faced, but until you met the young woman living here and see the damaged that has been caused to her home. I think it’s really important to see that first hand. At the heart of all of our work is the individual Canadians who have been impacted by this and the opportunity to see the change this has brought to their lives, the struggles they are still going through, I think this adds urgency to the work that we do collectively,” said Blair.

The City has been pushing for the Federal Government to come to Merritt and view the damage since before Christmas, and Mayor Linda Brown hopes still is the first step of a new collaborative relationship with upper levels of government.

“It’s an amazing start. One of the biggest things is the willingness to be collaborative in what we do look at. The Minister has come here to determine what is our greatest need, and he wanted to know what our greatest need was and he is seeing our greatest need, it’s our people, we need to be able to get them back home,” stated Mayor Brown.

“The Mayor has been very clear to me on her advocacy for the people of Merritt, she has been unequivocal in her support and advocacy for the help that her constituents need. I’ve heard her very clearly today and i will take that message back with me to Ottawa and in conversations with the B.C. Government,” added Blair.

While in B.C. Blair also visited the community of Abbotsford and viewed the repairs completed to the Coquihalla Highway.