Dawson Creek residents will have more opportunities to speak to their elected Member of Parliament as Bob Zimmer held the grand opening of his local office on Tuesday.
While the office has been open for about a month, it was not publicized until now.
Zimmer said that he wanted to open up the office in part because his family was from the area, and that he was born in Dawson Creek himself.
"It was a matter of finding the money to open up the office and get it done," he said.
Office rent will cost approximately $1,000 a month, he said, and will be open one day a week.
So far, that day will be every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. but Zimmer said that his office could expand the number of days based on how many people come seeking assistance.
The office will share staff from Zimmer’s Fort St. John office.
Zimmer said that his Dawson Creek office is something he's wanted to see since he began in politics, and that this office marks the first Federal MP office in Dawson Creek since before 1993.
"Having that accessibility for seniors and local residents in Dawson Creek... it's good to have," he said.
"People can come in and have a meeting with me, they just need to arrange a meeting and a time," he said. "I want to open up to people in here."
Zimmer said that he expects to hear from locals about is the low price of natural gas, which has declined over the past number of years.
"A lot of these companies are becoming cash-strapped when they've invested so much money and they're still waiting for that good day to come," he added. "They still need capital to keep going... we want to see foreign investment but we want to see that with Canadian control over our natural resources."
Zimmer also touched on the issue of temporary foreign worker program. Recently, four employees of Tim Horton’s have come forward with complaints about treatments they allegedly experienced from former Tim Horton’s owner Tony Van Den Bosch.
Zimmer said that he would not comment about those specific concerns, but said that these workers in Canada should expect the same treatment as other Canadian workers.
He also said that the members of his parties were trying to help streamline the process to bring in temporary foreign workers, pointing to recent moves made to change the process to obtain labour market opinions that allow employers to bring in temporary foreign workers.
“A lot of our local businesses wouldn’t function if it wasn’t for temporary foreign workers.”
Zimmer also made a number of stops in Dawson Creek on Tuesday. He stopped into Ron Pettigrew Christian Academy to talk to the students, answering questions ranging from what sports his children played to what accomplishments he felt proud of while in office.
Zimmer pointed to his efforts in support of dismantling the long gun registry, his changes to the Canadian Wheat Board to compete in the open market, and his support of MP Rona Ambrose’s motion to examine the law that defines personhood as happening after a baby exits the birth canal.
He also met with the Rotary Club at the George Dawson Inn, and at the Ark Christian Youth Centre the same day.
The Dawson Creek office is Zimmer’s fourth, including his Ottawa office, his Prince George office and his Fort St. John office.
