Stephen Hill is the candidate of record for the Conservative Party of Canada, having lost the riding to incumbent NDP MP Alex Atamanenko in the last election.
The next federal election is still 18 months away but he is busy making it known he is looking for support to once again represent the Conservatives.
He came to Midway council on Monday, March 17 accompanied by his daughter/campaign manager Molly Hill.
He asked about key issues within the community, highlighted past economic development, and put forth and took in ideas for future economic development.
Hill, who hails from Rossland, was instrumental in helping to secure enough venture capital dollars to form the group that became Boundary Sawmill Inc. that bought the former Pope & Talbot mill site, which they then leased to Vaagen Fibre Canada.
He said he knows of an engineer who wants to locate a production plant for high-end manufactured homes in the Boundary and he spoke of rumours that the dolomite mine in Rock Creek might be purchased and put back into operation.
Hill stumbled a bit when he suggested as the Columbia River Treaty is now up for renegotiation, this would be a good time to lobby for inclusion of the Boundary in the Columbia Basin Trust benefits. “Why is not the Boundary included? We need to somehow bring that to attention. More of your water goes into that river than the water from Rossland. It would be wise to send a letter to get on the agenda.”
But he was told by council members around the table that they had been actively trying to resolve that problem for well over a decade.
When Hill asked for ideas from council members on how they would like to see the village and region evolve, Councillor Dick Dunsdon said he would like to see the area become more senior-friendly.
Hill then touched on his campaign for the Conservative nomination–“the election before the election,” he called it.
He explained that because of an increase in the number of MPs and the redistribution of riding boundaries, the west now has substantially more clout in Parliament than previously.
He gave an overview of the changes to the riding boundaries and stated that, “If people voted exactly the same way as the last election, instead of losing by 10 per cent we’d [the Conservatives] win by 3.5 per cent. The riding is now very winnable from a Conservative point of view.”
In closing, Hill said his business is venture capital. “If I win and I can get into the economic development portfolio I am going to propose venture capital corporations for each of these communities.”
Hill left members of council with his contact information and platform statement.