It was a busy but fulfilling year for Mel Arnold.
The North Okanagan-Shuswap MP spoke to the Observer on a snowy Friday morning to discuss his accomplishments in 2016, his connection to the Shuswap and national politics.
He had already had long day before 10 a.m., flying in from Ottawa the night before, which is three hours ahead.
Dressed in a festive tie, just in time for the season, Arnold began with his accomplishments over the past year.
“(We’ve been working on) building trust with First Nations and municipalities and just building those relationships,” he said.
He added attending council meetings, performing pre-budget consultations and staying in contact with constituents has contributed to building trust within his riding.
He empathized the importance of staying connected with the public.
“We spent 26 weeks of the year sitting in Ottawa… so that’s half of the year I’m not here in the riding. So we have to make sure those communication lines are open,” he said, adding he stays connected to the community by attending events when he can.
“We were at the Christmas light up in Vernon. It’s great to see people on the street. It’s where people feel most comfortable.”
For 2016, he listed his push for affordable housing as his biggest accomplishment, noting it takes all levels of government to combat the issue.
Arnold feels he was successful in representing his constituents, particularly when they had concerns regarding the assisted-dying bill that became law in June, 2016.
“We take feedback on all of the issues. In early summer we had a lot of input on that. There was a lot of aspects to that that most people didn’t understand, or didn’t have knowledge of the complexity of it,” he said.
He didn’t agree with the bill.
“There were measures I would have rather seen in place, more precautionary measures.”
On more national topics, Arnold stands with the Kinder Morgan pipeline project set to begin in 2017.
“I think it was the right decision,” he said.
However, Arnold was also critical of Trudeau, disagreeing with how the prime minister has chosen to consult with the public on electoral reform.
“Ninety-one per cent of people want a referendum; he seems reluctant to agree to that. They may be postponing the issue too far down the road to allow for that to take place before the next election.”
He called the MyDemocracy survey laughable.
“You can actually take it multiple times – all you have to do is provide a Canadian postal code. Anyone, anywhere in the world can research and look up a postal code. It’s not accountable or certifiable.”
He believes a referendum should be held, and that the public needs to be educated on the different options available other than First Past The Post, which is Canada’s current electoral system.
“We need to have a referendum to see if that’s what the people really want.”
When it comes to climate change, Arnold was also skeptical of the carbon tax.
“All of the impacts need to be studied… a carbon tax isn’t going to remove carbon out of the air but it’s going to affect the low-income earners and the fixed-income earners the most,” he said.
Arnold has been following the Conservative leadership race, but hasn’t chosen a candidate. He said he appreciates people have taken an interest in it.
Arnold is looking forward to building on what he’s started in the past year.
“We’re approachable and I appreciate the support I’ve had from the community.”
For the new year, “One of my main goals is to continue building on the trust and communication across all levels, to improve services and life standards for everyone in the North Okanagan-Shuswap. This will mean working with businesses and government to bring employment growth, and working with service providers to understand and advocate for their needs,” he said.