Local residents were invited to Estevan MLA Lori Carr’s constituency office Monday for her first-ever coffee day.
Twenty-nine people visited her office. Some of them were to greet her and to discuss her work, but most wanted to talk about issues facing the province, including the carbon tax, the future of coal-fired electrical generation in the region and the need for a new regional nursing home in Estevan.
She also talked to them about losses at coal mining sites in Estevan.
The coffee day came less than a week after it was revealed that up to 25 jobs would be lost at Westmoreland Mining LLC’s Estevan mine.
“It was a good day. It wasn’t a confrontational day,” said Carr. “People were really respectful. We had some really, really good conversations. Some of the dialogue was really good to hear, and how people would rationally go through things with you and talk about what they thought was important.”
She noted that the coffee day had already been set before the job losses at the mines became public.
A couple of other MLAs have had similar events, she said, and she thought it would be a good idea to bring a coffee day to Estevan.
