The mandate of the Committee is to: a) closely monitor initiatives at three levels of government as they impact members and to lobby directly or indirectly decision makers in the formulation of government policies; and, b) pursue, review and outline the GSCC position on matters that have an impact on the economy in the area. In addition, the Committee works to proactively advocate on priority issues impacting the business community, represent members on collective issues of concern, and collaborate with the City and Province to support business growth in the area.
I have reviewed the Committee’s work over the course of the year and have broken it down into three key areas that represent what the Committee was trying to achieve for you and what steps it took to get there. While this is my annual report as Chair, the 2015 Committee could not have done anything without the GSCC staff and those of you who volunteered your time and effort. Thank you.
- Building Relationships
The Committee continued to expand its network and influence with decision makers. The goal of this multi-year process has been to: improve and expand our relationships with all levels of government; remind key decision makers of the role, interests and objectives of the Chamber membership; and, firmly establish the Chamber the key stakeholder in matters that affect the Summerside and area business community.
In 2016 the Committee …
- Held meetings with Provincial and Federal Government Ministers (including one-on-one meetings with the Federal MP, Provincial Ministers (Mundy, Biggar, MacDonald, Brown), MLA’s (Trivers, MacKay and Palmer), and the Leader of the Official Opposition (Fox), and City Council.
- Hosted the Premiers annual state of the province economic address outlining priorities for the upcoming year.
- Presented to and met with Summerside City Council to:
- Provide Council and Staff with a better understanding of the role and activities of the Chamber and to provide updates and feedback from our membership on a variety of issues;
- Provide the results of the 2015 and 2016 Municipal Scorecard.
- Created and compiled responses to the City of Summerside Business Scorecard for the second year in a row and published the year over year results. The scorecard provides the City of Summerside and the business community an annual barometer of the business environment in the area while helping us to better understand how the Committee can improve the focus of our advocacy to affect change.
- Forward Summerside presentation to Provincial Ministers.
- Participated briefings on position regarding electric utility.
- Developed a priority issues decision making tree and focused on key policy areas.
- Prepared press releases on matters affecting the business community and provided comment and responses in the media on local issues (electricity rates/transmission, provincial and municipal budgets etc.)
- Engaged in pre-Budget consultations with government and post budget responses in media.
- Expanding our Knowledge Resources
The Committee and Chamber staff cannot be experts in all matters that impact our membership. That is why we saw it as critical to continue to collect better input more and direction from members and why we made an effort to expand provincial and regional partnerships that allow to take advantage of quality resources.
In 2016 the Committee and Board…
- Produced and hosted Forward Summerside where all economic development agencies in Summerside (GSCC, DSI, City of Summerside, Port Corporation, Explore and Slemon Park Corporation) delivered elevator pitches to each other and the community and set about creating the framework for better integration and coordination of economic development initiatives.
- Attended (ED) the National Chamber AGM in Regina, Saskatchewan.
- Actively participated in the Atlantic Provinces Chamber of Commerce and the PEI Provincial Advisory Committee (PEI)
- Worked with the APCC to develop a resolution to temporary foreign workers which was adopted at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce AGM
- Going Forward
In 2016 the Committee accepted that policy analysis/input alone was of limited use if it was not supported by advocacy. This realignment is a work in process aimed at improving the tangible outcomes from the work of the Committee, volunteers and staff. As set out in the 2016-2018 Strategic Plan the Board has directed the Committee to …
- Represent your Interests. Solicit and communicate key issues and policy information to you
- Set the Agenda. Prioritize policy issues based on member input and push decision makers on those issues
- Be Ready. Improve response times to media requests and policy requests
- Take Action. Leverage networks and partnerships into business growth in the area
- Get out our Message. Continue with and improve upon Committee messaging and presentations to decision makers
- Get Better. Assess the current realignment and consider further changes/tweaks in 2017.
Final Thoughts
The Committee was busy in 2016. The GSCC is being called upon frequently to provide input to policy makers with respect to decisions that affect our economy. This year the Committee and GSCC faced higher expectations and increased policy and research workload. I think we met this challenge head on. Acquiring and soliciting expertise into a wide range of issues and delivering on a couple of key policy initiatives as well as improving how we package and present the Summerside business community narrative will be a key challenge for the Committee in 2017.
Dan Kutcher
Chair – Policy Committee