THUNDER BAY — The Canadian Chamber of Commerce continues to work with its provincial arm and the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce to advocate for businesses and strengthen the economy.
The chamber has developed 10 policy measures to present to the House of Commons that "will cost the government little to nothing but will help our economy," the chamber claims.
The chamber described the Canadian economy as resembling a "layer cake of crises" around affordability, productivity, housing, supply chains, labour disruptions and more.
The suggested measures include:
• Review all government spending.
• Stop raising taxes.
• Review Canada's tax system.
• Modernize Canada's regulatory framework.
• Reduce internal trade barriers.
• Allow the reinvestment of capital gains for new housing developments.
• Protect crucial supply chains.
• Expedite credential recognition.
• Stimulate innovation and productivity with targeted tax credits.
• Encourage investment in artificial intelligence.
Charla Robinson, president of the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce, said the suggested measures align with the challenges and opportunities in the city.
"The call about the reinvestment of capital gains for new housing development is something that the government can do to make it easier for developers to continue to build housing," Robinson said.
"These are the types of things that I hear from developers, as well as the barriers that are in place with the current, federal, provincial, or municipal rules, for example."
Robinson pointed out the importance of the supply chain measure. She said issues with supply chains have eased since the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are still situations where hold-ups occur because of supply issues.
Robinson says credential recognition for international newcomers coming to the community is also a priority.
"We have labour shortages, and it's really quite sad for someone to take that leap to come to Canada with a university education, or a professional designation, and then to get here and be told, 'Oh, you can't do that. You can go and clean a hotel room, or you can go and drive a taxi, but you can't do what you wanted to do until you jump through a few more hoops,'" she said.
"It is so important to fill in some of the skilled worker shortages that we have across Canada, Ontario and here in Thunder Bay."
Robinson stressed the importance of immigration in terms of growing the local population.
"We know that some significant evaluations are happening broadly with the immigration processes right now because of some challenges around housing and if we have grown too quickly. But that's not the case up here," she said. "We're not seeing the massive growth that Toronto, Ottawa, or the (Greater Toronto Area) has seen from newcomers coming to their communities. So, again, we're making that point that the North is different, and has different needs while making sure that the adjustments that are made don't hurt growth opportunities here in the North."
With recent changes to international student permit numbers, Robinson said Toronto institutions don't need quite so many new international students because they don't have housing or support for them.
"But we need them," she said. "We need those students coming here because those students are integral to our community growth, to attraction and retention."
She added that the Thunder Bay Chamber wants to ensure that the federal government understands that it's "not a one size fits all approach."
The Chronicle Journal / Local Journalism Initiative
