Some of the participants in the last Power Hour held in 2022. (file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Talk with elected officials

Battlefords Chamber of Commerce plans ‘Power Hour’ event

Jan 31, 2024 | 4:37 PM

The Battlefords Chamber of Commerce is getting ready to host its Power Hour event this spring, an opportunity for people to ask questions of the local elected officials.

“It’s a chat with our elected officials, so we have an opportunity to hear from our MP, our MLA, the two local mayors, and two regional chiefs,” Chamber Chief operating officer Linda Machniak said. “Every level of government basically that we have in the region is represented. What we’ve found is that there are things that maybe one level of government is technically responsible for, but the other has concerns or questions that come up.”

She added there are lots of “cross-government work,” funding or joint-funding matters that come up in the discussion, so it’s an opportunity to hear from everyone or have questions raised that cover several different levels of government work.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Machniak said.

The last time the chamber held the event was in 2022, as it was not able to run the talk last year due to timing issues.

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The upcoming luncheon event will take place Friday, March 8 at the Western Development Museum in North Battleford.

Battlefords MLA Jeremy Cockrill, Battlefords—Lloydminster MP Rosemarie Falk, North Battleford Mayor David Gillan and Town of Battleford Mayor Ames Leslie have committed to attending.

Machniak is just waiting to hear back about which local area First Nations chiefs will take part.

“It’s always a challenge to find a date that works for everybody’s legislative calendars. It’s a bit odd to have it on a Friday but that’s when we are going to do it because that’s when they are around,” she said.

Questions for the Power Hour participants can come from chamber members or members of the public attending the event. Anyone can attend the event as long, as they purchase a ticket.

Machniak said it’s a good opportunity for people to hear first-hand from their elected officials on various topics.

“That’s very important,” she said. “A lot of our work is advocacy and working with governments at all levels. But every decision that they take impacts what business people are doing, so a new tax or a new program [for example]. The chamber has been very involved in hosting events but also advocating at all levels… It’s important that people get to hear [from the officials], but also that all the levels of government get to hear what the concerns are in other levels of government as well.”

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angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @battlefordsNOW