ARICHAT - Re-elected to a second term only four months earlier, Cape Breton-Canso Liberal MP Mike Kelloway is planning new strategies to work with provincial and municipal leaders to develop the various communities of the Strait Area. 

Kelloway confirmed this week that he is planning to meet with members of Richmond Municipal Council, including Warden Amanda Mombourquette, over the coming days as he conducts a virtual tour with municipalities across the riding to get a sens"e of their needs for the immediate future. This will also see Kelloway connecting with municipal officials in Port Hawkesbury, Inverness County, the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Mulgrave, Guysborough County, and Antigonish County. 

The Liberal MP is also pleased with the opportunity to work with Richmond MLA Trevor Boudreau, who was elected as part of Premier Tim Houston's PC government caucus in the August 2021 provincial election that preceded Kelloway's most recent federal election victory in September 2021. 

"We're working exceptionally well together," Kelloway said of Boudreau, a former Port Hawkesbury town councillor. 

"He's Progressive Conservative, I'm Liberal, but to that I would say, 'You know what? So what?' We need to work together. Trevor gets that, I get that. It just happens to be that I think he's a person who's equally committed to the community."

Kelloway also announced that he is currently working on a Seniors' Council that will allow those aged 65 and over to personally advise him on issues that are of concern to this demographic. The Seniors' Council will be a companion to the Cape Breton-Canso Youth Council that Kelloway established shortly after his first election victory in 2019. 

(This interview was hosted and produced by Becky Bourinot, who is the station manager of Telile Community Television. This interview was done in association with Adam Cooke, journalist funded by the Government of Canada under the Local Journalism Initiative.)