Report on the Role of the Chamber & Policy Development
by Richard Rainey
2nd Vice Chair
One of the most important roles that Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade across the country play is in the area of policy development. For many years, the BC Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce have had the ear of the provincial and federal governments, who look to the Chamber community for leadership and innovation in a broad range of policy areas.
From the perspective of our membership in the Tri-Cities, this means that our members have an effective opportunity to present their ideas to government.
At the British Columbia Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting held in Prince Rupert, the Tri-Cities Chamber presented two policy resolutions for consideration. The first resolution asks the Provincial government to update British Columbia’s commercial tenancy laws by replacing the current Commercial Tenancy Act with a statute that better reflects today’s relationship between landlords and their commercial tenants. The second resolution calls for the establishment of a national register of prolific offenders and violent offenders. Both resolutions found broad support within the Chamber community and were approved at the general meeting.
Following the Prince Rupert meetings, the British Columbia Chamber of Commerce promoted our resolution on the offender registers for consideration by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. The policy review process at the Canadian Chamber is somewhat different, in that specialized review boards consider each resolution and make specific recommendations to the membership. Our resolution was fortunate to gain the support of the Canadian Chamber’s Special Measures Committee, and was passed with overwhelming support at the Victoria general meeting.
The Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce takes great pride in the prominent role we play in policy development within the Chamber movement. All members of the Chamber are welcome and encouraged to participate in what will surely be another successful year on the policy front.
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