Tracy Gray, MP for Kelowna-Lake Country
KELOWNA – When governments manage budgets, it only makes sense to have people who have actually managed budgets themselves involved in the process.
That’s one of the reasons why a former small business owner like Tracy Gray decided to take the leap into federal politics, and the current Kelowna-Lake Country Member of Parliament is in the midst of her second term in Ottawa, where she is also Shadow Minister for Small Business Recovery and Growth.
“I am an entrepreneur who is working in politics who has a strong drive to advocate for hard working people, small businesses, and seniors,” says Gray, who worked 27 years in the BC beverage industry for wineries and microbreweries in the Okanagan and Vancouver, and founded and operated Discover Wines, a chain of BC VQA wine stores in the Thompson Okanagan region.
“As a former small business owner, I saw first-hand how the federal Liberal government’s policies were negatively impacting local farmers and other small businesses – from automatic tax increases to fostering an environment of economic uncertainty,” she notes. ”These various roles and experience exposed me to regional, provincial, and national issues which prompted me to run for the Conservative nomination for the Kelowna-Lake Country electoral district.”
The Kelowna store was number one in the province for sales for 13 years, winning local and national business awards.
“We promoted BC wines and artisan foods, in particular, from small producers,” she explains. “We sold BC value-added agricultural products and gifts including from Vancouver Island such as Natural Pastures Cheese (Comox Brie was always a big hit) and Auntie Penny’s antipasto from Nanaimo. “
Gray was a Kelowna city councilor from 2014-2018, and appointments included the Central Okanagan Regional District, Okanagan Basin Water Board, Okanagan Regional Library Board and Okanagan Film Commission. She was also on the board of Prospera Credit Union for 10 years, and the BC Passenger Transportation Board.
Gray believes her business background has been very helpful in her political career.
“When you’ve run businesses and then started businesses where you take risks which could include losing your home, have to make payroll, develop strategies and budgets, manage people, deal with government red tape, and bureaucracy, you learn how important all these skillsets are and how what may seem like the smallest decision to government can have wide reaching effects on people,” she states. “I’ve taken my many years of customer service into the same principles for public service and the team we have both in our constituency office and in Ottawa are all very focused on service.”
She points out that a thriving economy is necessary to pay for social and environmental initiatives.
“One of the reasons I ran for office was that I felt that there were not enough voices of small business at the table in government,” she says, pointing out that as Shadow Minister for Small Business Recovery and Growth, it allows her to bring forward policies, lead debate and fight for small business.
“There are economic issues and serious social issues communities are dealing with including increasing crime rates and mental health and addiction issues,” she adds. “Whether someone is involved in a small business or not, they are the backbones of our local communities and important to our economy.
“Families and businesses have to budget, make tough decisions and manage their debt and government needs do the same.”
Gray is pleased that Pierre Poilievre won the recent Conservative leadership race.
“Pierre Poilievre will put people first: whether it’s their retirements, their paycheques, their homes, or their country,” she says. “He is standing up against the many tax increases coming which will affect everyone including families, not-for-profits and small businesses.
“He is leading our team standing up for no new taxes on gas, groceries, home heating and pay cheques.”