Advocacy The past nineteen months have provided an unprecedented level of access to government at all levels, as attempts to understand, manage, provide leadership, and most importantly, communicate during the pandemic have opened constructive conversations around how to work together effectively. In September, the Chamber hosted the Federal Election Candidates Debate and five individual Fireside Chats with the candidates able to participate. The personalized conversations and level of access we enjoy in our riding are extremely important to advancing the voice of business to the federal level, and we found through our conversations the interests of business are found in every party platform, and shared by our candidates. Congratulations to Larry Brock for his successful campaign, and to each of the other candidates for their contribution to the process. The Chamber is continuing to work with the federal government in the
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distribution of Rapid Screening Kits, with over 25,000 distributed to over 200 businesses so far this year. By the time of this reading, our Shop Local Brantford-Brant program will also be off and running, with support from the federal government through the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, to encourage consumers and support our small and medium sized businesses through the fall and holiday season, and to mitigate some of the challenges of the vaccine certificate program.
standard for the safety of staff, volunteers, and members.
Early in the summer, the Chamber Network identified a national vaccine certificate program as the most efficient, effective, and businessfriendly option for such a program, and as businesses first, then most provinces, and now federal employees and travel guidelines demand a vaccine standard, our Chamber has listened, considered, amplified your voices, and implemented our own
Provincially, similar opportunities exist as a spring election looms, and as Brantford-Brant is positioned for growth, but demands attention to our transportation networks in all directions of the compass.
For the remainder of 2021 and throughout 2022, multiple areas of interest will demand the Chamber’s attention regarding the interests of business in our region and province. We will be working closely with our municipalities on planning for an improved transportation network in our region, addressing the opioid and housing issues, and in planning for safe and effective economic reopening and fall municipal elections.
The Advocacy Committee is always open to your input and ideas, and looks forward to developing strong positions to advance economic opportunity in Brantford-Brant.
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