Regional representatives with Kootenay chambers of commerce recently met with the provincial government to bring forward local and provincial issues.
Meeting with deputy and assistant deputy ministers across 11 ministries, chamber representatives voiced their priorities such as agriculture, finance, forestry —particularly wildfire interface management — jobs, trade and technology, municipal affairs, and public safety.
Further concerns felt across the province include taxation, species-at-risk legislation and the impacts to business, transportation and infrastructure, emergency management and housing.
“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.” said Christine Hoechsmann, Cranbrook Chamber Government Affairs Chair. “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.”
Across the province, chambers of commerce have been meeting with provincial government representatives between July and October.
“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,” said Kristin Parsons, Executive Director, Cranbrook Chamber. “The connections we made today will be instrumental in the success of our policy work moving forward.”
