A wide variety of stakeholders connected directly with the community's leaders at Thursday night's "Your Region Your Voice" event held at Zara's Garden. The evening was co-organized by the Winkler and Morden Chambers of Commerce, and brought together for a Q and A panel R.M. of Stanley Reeve Ike Friesen, Morden Mayor Nancy Penner, Winkler Mayor Henry Siemens and Morden-Winkler M.L.A. Carrie Hiebert. Prior to the panel, Karen-Denise Cyr from the C.W. Wiebe Medical Centre and Nicole Walske from Menzies Medical Centre provided updates from each of their organizations. Those updates included Walske noting the Menzies Clinic has welcomed six new physicians since June, with a second pediatrician joining the team very soon. Cyr highlighted that CW Wiebe has welcomed five new physicians in the last several months, and that very early discussions have started regarding exploring the idea of adding a early childhood daycare at Boundary Trails Health Centre that would be for the families of the healthcare providers working there. It was noted by several of the evening's participants this would be a significant positive recruitment factor. The evening opened with Morden and Winkler Chamber Chairs, Tyler Schroeder and Doug Eidse respectively, welcoming the crowd. In their remarks, both reflected on the importance of cooperation and working together as a region. From there, the meal was served and after that, the panel took their seats at the front of the room and began taking questions from the crowd, both written and shared at mics placed around the space. One question leads to another "I think it's really important when we engage with the community, it's important we're able to hear what the concerns are so we're not surprised by them later," said Mayor Siemens. "When we have a group of people like this in a room, one question will likely lead to another question and ultimately people are going to ask some of the things in the back of their minds they either haven't thought of asking, or are wondering how to go about asking." Siemens added having everyone in one place provides the opportunity for those questions to prompt additional queries because they tweak something in someone. "The most important thing for me, and for Winkler, is to make sure we're fully transparent in what we do and how we do it," he said stressing through that transparency and conversation plans can be changed to improve outcomes. "We've done that quite a bit in our last three years, adjusted plans. We make a plan, we know what we're going to do based on the information we have, and then every now and then when new or different information comes up, sometimes we adjust that plan." Siemens stressed, almost every single time when Council listened to groups who had more information, it's helped to make better decisions, either to confirm the decision already being considered, or to help, "See around corners that maybe we didn't catch on our own." Growth related questions popular Topics and questions were wide ranging and throughout the evening were presented in the spirit of having an open, solutions focused conversation. Those included the struggle to find rental housing in the region, youth mental health supports, immigration priorities and the region's long-term development plan. "This was a great night, this is the stuff I love to do," shared M.L.A. Hiebert at the conclusion of the night. "You get to hear concerns from the community. My first priority is always Morden-Winkler, my constituency, and this is a great night for that. We could just hear all the different concerns people had, the things on the top of their minds, and I'm able to speak to them about it." Hiebert identified several areas she will be taking back with her. "I find there's a real need for mental health supports in our community, and I think that's something I've definitely been advocating for," she said. "There were concerns with children and the school situation, and bringing in more schools and more spaces. Those are things we have to constantly keep working on, because we're growing, we're increasing in numbers. One of the large concerns I found today was what are we doing to grow? We're growing very quickly, and I think everybody feels that. They feel the need for housing, they feel the need for the health care. We really need to work on those things, and really try to advocate for Morden-Winker, specifically for those health care workers, for those doctors." A rare opportunity for all Other questions from the crowd touched on fostering newcomer business investment, the need for more industrial lots in both Winkler and Morden. Over the course of the night wastewater treatment came up multiple times from Penner, Friesen and Siemens who all talked about the importance of bringing the much needed additional capacity online for the region, so development can move forward at the pace the region is demanding. "I think people don't realize how often we actually meet and discuss things together, Mayor Penner, Mayor Siemens and myself, but we do quite often meet," noted Stanley Reeve Friesen, tying back to that concept of regional cooperation. "This is a good opportunity for anyone to ask us questions and hopefully we can answer them." "I think it is a great opportunity bringing the three leaders of the community together," added Morden Mayor Penner. "We can tote our own community, but also talk regionally. It is a great opportunity to hear from the community, see what issues are on their minds, and how we as leaders of the three communities can deal with those issues."