It was a home coming of sorts for Hon. Candice Bergen, Minister of State for Social Development this week when she visited Cranbrook.

Presenting funds for improved accessibility for the disabled August 20, the two-term Portage-Lisgar MP noted she happy to be back in the city as she lived in Cranbrook between 1984 and ’86.

She also has two sisters and a brother living in the city.

“It definitely has changed. Cranbrook is definitely growing and expanding and it looks like there is some really good leadership,” she told a small media gathering in Cranbrook city hall.

Born in Morden and living in Winkler, two small southern Manitoba cities, Bergen said she identifies with country living.

“I’m an avid supporter of the rural way of life,” she said, adding she believes Cranbrook and area residents are true conservationists.

“They have such a strong connection” to the land, she observed.

Bergen is the first ever Minister of Social Development, with the new portfolio launched in July 2013.

Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

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