Portage la Prairie MLA Jeff Bereza held a barbecue last Friday in front of his office to meet and greet constituents. He said it's a way to give back to the community. He described is as though the day itself set the event up nicely, being 26 degrees, warm, and sunny. Bereza asked where is a better place in the world for that than Portage la Prairie?

"It's great to see the diversity of people that are here, as well. That's what's so great about Portage; just our population diversity. I met a young lady here from the Northwest Territories and it's just fantastic. We're getting lots of people signing the petitions again today. We're not going to stop on those petitions. The day we stop on those petitions will be the day that we know that it is going into the brand new Portage Hospital here."

He adds the MRI unit is what everyone was talking about at the barbecue. Bereza explains they love the idea about the new hospital.

"There's been some newcomers here as well, and they're talking about it from different places. Some lived here before. So, the response has been fantastic. I just I just want to thank everybody for coming. The best part about being the MLA from Portage la Prairie is Portage la Prairie and the surrounding area. It truly is an honour for me to be the MLA from Portage la Prairie and the best part of my job is to be in the constituency here right now."

Kevin Yuill was there, and noted he always enjoys opportunities that relate to the community.

"I'm always interested in knowing what's going on in the neighbourhood, and trying to encourage some of the right things to be happening." 

He noted he already signed the petition for an MRI. 

"Hopefully, things happen in a positive way," adds Yuill.

Rose Gray also showed up and noted she's completely impressed with the petition for an MRI unit in the new Portage Hospital. 

"It not only serves Portage, but we got a lot of surrounding communities, so I think it's excellent," noted Gray. "I'll thank him because we really should have it with a new hospital. He's leaving signatures to sign for it. In my building where I live, he came out and talked about it, so we're pretty impressed with that."

Raymond Reichelt enjoyed the barbecue lunch, noting the MLA is his neighbour. 

"This is a good thing for Jeff. He's going to bring in a lot of his supporters. You have to do that kind of thing if you're in politics."

Reichelt's sister, Debbie Reichelt, was with him and added that Bereza visited them in her Oddfellows Towers complex and talked to the older people about things in the community.

"We're all in favour of getting an MRI machine, but we also need technicians to run it. This town also would like a public transit system. Kenora is much smaller than Portage and it's had a public transit system for years. I walk. I can't drive. So, it takes me three quarters an hour to walk to where I work and back. 

Another visitor to greet the MLA was Angela Roulette who notes she spoke to him and says she has a whole list of issues she'd like to discuss. 

"Homelessness is one thing I really want to talk about. One of our dear homeless people just lost her mother. So, we can't say enough about that issue."

Beverly Catholique was in town and attended the lunch and hails from Yellowknife. She says she hopes to make Portage her home. She explains that she also wondered why the community doesn't have a transit system. Andrew Lafferty was with her from Yellowknife, and noted he was interested in staying in the community, and got a chance to say hi to the MLA.