Cranbrook Chamber meets with Provincial Govt to talk policies

Cranbrook Chamber amongst 8 Kootenay region Chambers meeting with BC Government

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Cranbrook, BC, September 11th, 2019.
Policy discussion hosted by BC Chamber aims to improve business climate in the region

On September 10th, Representatives from 8 chambers of commerce from East and West Kootenay including the Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce, met with 21 government representatives—including Deputy Ministers and Assistant Deputy Ministers across 11 ministries —to discuss both local and pan-provincial issues affecting businesses in those regions.

The network presented its policies (adopted at the 2019 BC Chamber AGM), which contained recommendations to government.

Specifically, the Kootenay consortium addressed the following:
Pan provincial issues including:

  • Taxation (Competitiveness)
  • Species-At-Risk Act legislation and considering the impacts on business
  • Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Emergency Management
  • Housing

Specific to the Kootenays regional concerns were also discussed, namely:

  • Agriculture
  • Finance
  • Forestry, in particular Wildfire Interface management
  • Jobs, Trade & Technology
  • Municipal Affairs
  • Public Safety & Solicitor General

“The opportunity to present our policies to senior level government staff, who are truly doing the heavy lifting when it comes to policy, was a unique opportunity.” says Cranbrook Chamber Government Affairs Chair, Christine Hoechsmann. “There were no canned answers, it was a real discussion on the issues that face our members every day and they heard first-hand how some of their policies are effecting our members here in the Kootenays.” added Hoechsmann.

 “We received great feedback on our policies on Wildfire Interface, Species at Risk and Remediation Standards and made great connections with those ministries to enable us to move forward with our work to push government for change.” Says Kristin Parsons, Executive Director, Cranbrook Chamber. “The connections we made today will be instrumental in the success of our policy work moving forward.”

 “Presenting our policies to government is a critical part of our network’s robust policy process,” says Val Litwin, CEO of the BC Chamber of Commerce. “We look forward to working collaboratively with government in the year ahead on numerous files for the betterment of all BC’s regional economies.”

The BC Chamber and its local chamber network has or will be meet with government in 8 regions across the province between July and October. These consultations were created to enable the BC Chamber network to communicate directly with government and propose legislative and policy solutions that will expand opportunities for business, strengthen BC’s economy, and drive deeper consultations with government moving forward.

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