Saskatchewan business is actively preparing for the next round of elections.
The Yorkton Chamber of Commerce, along with representatives of the Canora and Melville Chambers, had an opportunity last week to participate in a Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce policy roundtable.
This was part of a new policy development procedure for the provincial Chamber, explained Juanita Polegi, executive director of the Yorkton Chamber.
鈥淚n the past it was primarily their expert committees that came up with the resolutions,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey did invite the chambers from across the province to submit resolutions and then those resolutions were voted on at the annual general meeting in May, so it something came up in June, you had to wait until the following May so it could be voted on.鈥�
Now, instead of the local chambers bringing their concerns to the SCC, the provincial organization comes to them.
鈥淭he expert committees still develop the policy resolutions, but then the opportunity for the boards to vote on those resolutions and to put them into place happens,鈥� Polegi said.
The ultimate goal of the current round of discussions is to prepare a document called On Track 2016 aimed at influencing political parties in the next round of federal, provincial election and municipal elections to adopt business-friendly policies for their platforms.
鈥淭here鈥檚 32 or 34 recommendations in here that the chamber has put together saying this is what we鈥檇 like to see the government of Saskatchewan, after the election in 2016, whoever it is, adopt,鈥� Polegi said.
The document is not yet being released, but Joel Martinuk, Yorkton Chamber president, said the discussion was valuable and the local chambers were able to bring forward their issues.
鈥淪ome of the issues faced by some of the local businesses include things like skills shortages in certain areas for skilled labour and there were still some issues with transportation and infrastructure,鈥� he said.
Martinuk believes the approach is sound.
鈥淭hey want to make sure that the voice of business is heard, so they wanted our ideas and they talked about some of the advocacy they鈥檝e done,鈥� he said.
