Municipal veteran and current MP Ron Cannan.

A former Kelowna city councillor, Cannan is currently Conservative member of parliament for Kelowna – Lake Country.

From his various political vantage points, he has watched the process of church involvement in urban social issues from fairly close range for well over a decade.

As it happens, he is also a member of Willow Park Church, of which the Metro Community (see above) is a part.

Government, he says, “does play an important role in these social issues. However, the reality is that government can not and will not be able to get the results, without engaging the community.”

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This is, in effect, the process that we sometimes call “public-private partnerships,” Cannan adds.

He maintains that projects like Metro, Kelowna Gospel Mission and a range of other faith-based urban initiatives all fit into this partnership arrangement.

“It is great to see the church take God’s love to the streets in the community. Sometimes we call this ‘transformissional living for Christ’,” he suggests.

Cannan points out that as a former civic politician now serving on the federal level, he keeps in touch with Mayor Sharon Shepherd and her council.

Shepherd and her colleagues are working within a 10-year projection for tackling a range of urban issues.                

– Lloyd Mackey

November 2007