ARTICLE

Date ArticleType
10/21/2015 Media Releases
Kelowna Chamber of Commerce Looks Forward to Working with Steven Fuhr and Dan Albas on Making our Region More Competitive

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Kelowna, October 21, 2015 - The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce congratulates Steven Fuhr and Dan Albas on their election, and looks forward to working with them on key regional issues such as infrastructure, availability of skilled labor and benefiting from the new Trade Partnership to increase BC exports to Asia.

Ken Carmichael, CEO said: "I want to applaud local Member of Parliament Dan Albas on his re-election and welcome Steve Fuhr to government. The chamber and the businesses we represent look forward to working with them both to put in place a context wherein local businesses can thrive and grow".

"Our chamber also extends its congratulations to Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau and the Liberal team on winning a majority government. Having a stable majority government will permit the Liberal team to put in place a strong plan to promote Canada's competitiveness. During the campaign, the Liberals set out their vision for our economy. Their plan to invest in new infrastructure, done strategically, will be positive for Canada's economy. New transportation infrastructure will increase access to markets for Canadian businesses of all sizes."

The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce has been very active during the campaign to position the priorities of our local business community. Issues such as increasing the number of doctors, ensuring business can access labor when they need it and improving export restrictions to new markets for fabricated goods and agriculture, and we look forward to presenting the issues to our two MP's.

"Many of the positions in the Liberal program align with our local priorities. Mr. Trudeau's plan on infrastructure and developing a powerful workforce are important to the business community, and we hope the new government can put those measures in place rapidly. We are pleased the new government is not committed to increasing the corporate tax rate. Such an increase would harm many medium-sized businesses whose revenues exceed the-far too low-$500K revenue threshold for the small business tax rate.

And we will also advocate enhancements to the Canada Pension Plan that are funded only by optional employee premium increases, as endorsed by delegates at our AGM. We will press the new government to avoid a return to structural deficits, but we are confident we can use the resolutions adopted during the Canadian Chamber's annual general meeting last weekend to find common ground that will help grow the economy," continued Ken Carmichael, President.

Canadian Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Hon. Perrin Beatty concurred: "When I looked across the room at our AGM over the weekend, I saw hundreds of chambers like Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, collectively representing over 200,000 businesses, all working together to make our economy stronger. The will to work together with other chambers across Canada is strong. We all welcome the prospect of working with the government on building a stronger, more competitive Canada; a Canada that wins."



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For further details, please contact:

Caroline Grover,CEO
Kelowna Chamber of Commerce
T - 250 469-7356
C - 250 470-3407
E - caroline@kelownachamber.org