Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps hopes to establish Victoria as a city to willing partner with the federal government in a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Helps is currently in the process of trying to set up a 15-minute meeting with the newly-elected prime minister during the Tourism Industry Association Conference in Ottawa at the end of the month.
She said there are three main topics she hopes to discuss: thanking him for federal funding for the sewage treatment plant and updating him on that project, as well as the Belleville Ferry Terminal.
Helps also hopes to discuss housing affordability in the region.
“To talk about his commitment to what he calls social infrastructure, particularly housing affordability, and let him know we’re here as a partner to try and get enough money for affordable housing in our region so that everyone who wants to work and live here has a home,” she said.
Helps said she’s making this meeting a priority and that there is an 87 per cent chance she could score a meeting with Canada’s top dog.
“We don’t have any Liberal MPs here, but I think Mr. Trudeau’s approach to democracy is that everybody who is representing their people on Parliament Hill should be able to represent. I’m looking forward to working with our local MPs here as well,” she said
During the conference, she also hopes to touch base with as many ministers as she can to talk about upgrades to the Belleville Ferry Terminal. Last month, upgrades began to the terminal, used mainly by Black Ball Ferry Line and Clipper Navigation. The work should be complete in 2017.
The roughly 12-person delegation, which includes Victoria councillors and members from Tourism Victoria, will head to Ottawa from Nov. 31 to Dec. 2.