ECONOMY
IN 2005 SURVEY RESULTS
- December 2004
The
results of the Chamber's survey on the 2005 economy are in!
In a nutshell people are generally optimistic about the economy
in 2005. Most people (95%) felt that the economy in 2005 will
be the same as or better than 2004. Respondents are very
optimistic about their own businesses with 73% saying their business
will perform better in 2005. Of particular interest is 50% of
respondents said their employment levels will increase in 2005 and 45%
said they will stay the same leaving only 5% feeling that their
employment levels will decrease. You can read the detailed
survey results or check out the summary
graphs. The results were given to our Economic Forecast panel
prior to the event and many of the results from the Chamber survey were
in strong agreement with the data presented by the panel.
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November
2004
In
November 2004, Halton Region began looking at options for potential
changes to their waste collection services. The Chamber surveyed
its members to find out how they feel about their current level of waste
collection service and if they would be willing to pay more for extended
service (such as blue box collection). We found that members are
generally happy with their current service but unwilling to pay more for
extra service. For full details of the survey see this
graphical summary of the results. The Chamber continues to
deal with Region Council on the issue.
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September 30, 2004
The
Chamber hosted the annual State of the City Address on September
30. Mayor Rob MacIsaac addressed a sold-out crowd at the
Burlington Golf and Country Club. The focus of Mayor MacIsaac's speech
was the four pillars of Burlington's
Strategic Plan - leading, prosperous, vibrant, liveable. A
highlight of the address was the announcement of Burlington signing a
Memorandum of Understanding with McMaster University to develop a plan
to establish a post-secondary education institution in Burlington.
Mayor MacIsaac also fielded questions from the audience regarding concerns
about Burlington's doctor shortage and transportation issues. (February
2005 note: The Burlington Chamber of Commerce has recently
completed a policy
resolution recommendation dealing with the doctor shortage.
The Chamber has also completed a Transportation
Survey.)
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September
20,
2004
T
he
Canadian Chamber of
Commerce held its annual convention in Calgary on September 18 to 20,
2004. The Burlington Chamber was represented by Penny
MacKenzie (President) and Keith Hoey
(Executive Director). The main function of the convention was a
series of votes
by the general membership on Canadian Chamber policy resolutions. All of the
adopted resolutions can be viewed at the
CCC's policy resolutions web page.
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June
22, 2004
Prior
to the Federal election TV Cogeco held a candidates debate for
the Burlington riding. Penny MacKenzie, Chamber President, was asked to
sit on a panel of experts to ask questions of the candidates. During the
course of the debate, there was enough time for only two questions from
each of the panel members. Penny's questions focused on highway traffic
congestion in the Halton area and what specifically each party would do
to help small business.
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June
17, 2004
With
the federal election looming, the
Political
Action Committee of the Chamber hosted an All Candidates
Meeting. Candidates from all parties in both the Burlington and
Halton ridings were invited. The meeting was in the form of a question
and answer session with questions coming from the floor and from members
of the Chamber's policy committees. Rick Burgess, President-Elect of the
Chamber moderated this session which provided an excellent opportunity
for Chamber members to talk to the candidates about Burlington business
issues. There were about 75 people in attendance.
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June
1, 2004
Development
Charges have been a very hot topic recently. On June 1, the Chamber
delivered its development charges policy statement to the chairs of both the city and
region DC advisory committees. The policy statement was also delivered
to all Councillors, the Mayor and the Regional Chair. In a nutshell, the
Chamber policy calls for a strategic approach to development charges
that encourages commercial and industrial development and moves the city
towards a more balanced use of land between residential and
commercial/industrial. For more information you can go our Hot
Topics page or view the Chamber’s
Development Charges policy.
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May 2,
2004
The Ontario
Chamber of Commerce held its annual convention in Thunder Bay on
April 30 to May 2. The Burlington Chamber was represented by Penny
MacKenzie (President), Rick Burgess (President-Elect) and Keith Hoey
(Executive Director). The function of the convention was two-fold.
The first portion was an Annual General Meeting with the purpose of
electing new directors of the OCC, approving the OCC's budget and
approving a new auditor. The section portion of the convention was
a plenary session where the general membership voted on thirty-six
policy resolutions. In all, twenty-nine resolutions were adopted,
four were defeated and two were tabled to the OCC board. All of the
adopted resolutions can be viewed at the
OCC's adopted resolutions web page. You call also view a
listing of all the OCC's
Current policies.
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April 5, 2004
Diana Tuszynski
(President) and Keith Hoey (Executive Director) were invited by Paddy
Torsney (M.P. Burlington) to take part in a focus group with Prime
Minister Paul Martin. The topic of the focus group was
multiculturalism and diversity. Diana's and Keith's main points
focused on the strong relationship between a diverse business
community and diversity within the community at large. They were
also able to emphasize the need for government support, such as lower
corporate taxes, to help sustain a strong and diverse business
community. The strong links between business, education and hiring
practices were also discussed.
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March 10, 2004
Diana
participated in a roundtable discussion with the Planning Team at the
Region
of Halton. Diana's input called for proper upkeep of the
regional
roads that lie within the city (check out this
map, you might be surprised which roads in Burlington fall under
Regional responsibility), financial support of planned rail underpasses,
and opportunities to increase new business development within the city.
As she did with the City of Burlington, Diana urged the Region to hold
the line on development charges. For more information about the
Region's Official
Plan please visit Halton
Region's Official Plan Review web page.
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February 26, 2004
Diana addressed the
Strategic Planning Team for the City of Burlington. Her
presentation dealt with, among other things, transportation issues
inside and outside the city, process improvements at City Hall, a
business incubator and holding the line on development charges.
Diana's presentation is an excellent example of the proactive
relationship the Chamber has with the city. By getting involved in
the development stages of city planning, the Chamber helps to draft
policy rather than simply to criticize it. For more information on
the City's Strategic Planning process, please visit the City
of Burlington's strategic planning website.
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February 25, 2004
Diana participated
in a Stakeholder Outreach session with the Ontario Ministry
of Public Infrastructure and Renewal. While the opportunity to
discuss specific issues was more limited than in previous sessions with
the province, Diana was able to make points about Chamber members'
concerns regarding transportation and corporate taxes. For more
information on this session visit the Provincial Government's Infrastructure
Financing Stakeholder Outreach website.
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February 17, 2004
Executive
Director, Keith Hoey, took part in
a pre-budget discussion session hosted by Greg Sorbara, Minister of
Finance for the Province of Ontario. The purpose of the
meeting was "to meet with stakeholders and experts to discuss the
province's financial situation and to seek advice on the strategies the
government should pursue to achieve results that matter to
Ontarians." In attendance were many special interest groups
from Burlington, Hamilton and the surrounding area. Some of the
key issues presented by Keith on behalf of Chamber members included the
mid-peninsula highway, the negative impact of raising minimum wages,
urging the Minister to reduce corporate taxes and advising the Minister
to avoid rolling any increases in health care cost into payroll
expenses. For more information on the Province's Town Hall
meetings, visit the Delivering
Change - Budget Town Hall 2004 website of the
Government of Ontario.
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These
are just some of the recent examples of how the Burlington Chamber of
Commerce is advocating your views to various levels of government. To
get directly involved with advocacy issues or any Chamber committee read
about our committees and visit our Chamber Committee
sign-up page or call Margaret at the Chamber at 905-639-0174 ext
7213
.
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ONTARIO
AND CANADIAN CHAMBERS
The
Burlington Chamber works closely with the Ontario and Canadian Chambers of
Commerce. Through them, we advocate on your behalf with the
Provincial and Federal governments. Much of this advocacy work takes
the form of a series of resolutions that are put before the respective governments.
These resolutions are available online.
Ontario
Chamber Resolutions
Canadian
Chamber Resolutions
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