It’s not every day that the Prime Minister of Canada visits Williams Lake.
Mind you, it’s also not a typical time in the Cariboo Chilcotin.
Several wildfires continue to burn around the lakecity and near many other rural communities in the area and in the Chilcotin.
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces have been in Williams Lake assisting with the efforts of the Williams Lake RCMP to maintain law and order throughout the former evacuation order and current alert, and have been stationed at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex (CMRC).
Suitably, CMRC will be the backdrop for the PM’s first public speaking engagement Monday morning, July 31.
Trudeau, the Minister of National Defence, Harjit Sajjan, the Minister of Sports and Persons with Disabilities and Chair of the Ad Hoc Cabinet Committee on Federal Recovery Efforts for 2017 BC Wildfires, Carla Qualtrough, the Minister of Justice, Jody Wilson-Raybould, and the Premier of British Columbia, John Horgan, will meet with Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP members from the Williams Lake Wildfire Command Centre at 10:30 a.m.
A large security perimeter was ribboned off Monday morning as officers worked to secure the area for the dignitaries.
At 12:10 p.m. the Prime Minister, the Minister of National Defence, the Minister of Sports and Persons with Disabilities and Chair of the Ad Hoc Cabinet Committee on Federal Recovery Efforts for 2017 BC Wildfires, the Minister of Justice and the Premier of British Columbia will visit the Cariboo Fire Centre.
Crowds wait outside the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Arena for Trudeau.
At 1 p.m. the group will participate in an aerial tour of the fire zones in the region and will hold a media availability at 2:20 p.m. at the Williams Lake Airport.
On social media sites some have criticized Trudeau’s visit while other residents have called the Williams Lake Tribune to say they found the visit from the nation’s leader both “comforting and reassuring.”
