Originally published February 27, 2018 in eNews
\nBy Alexandra Valcour<\/p>\n
I\u2019m stepping in\u00a0again this month for\u00a0our illustrious Chair\u00a0who is taking a well-deserved\u00a0break. So,\u00a0I\u2019ll do my best at\u00a0filling you in on what\u00a0your GR committee\u00a0has been discussing\u00a0and planning.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with the\u00a0City of Oshawa\u00a0where there is a\u00a0lot on the go right\u00a0now. As an update,\u00a0the city will sit down\u00a0with provincial\u00a0officials at the end\u00a0of the month to\u00a0discuss the Highway\u00a0407 Employment\u00a0lands. No one\u00a0is necessarily\u00a0expecting big\u00a0promises at this\u00a0point, but the\u00a0conversational\u00a0ball is rolling and\u00a0that\u2019s the best\u00a0place to start.\u00a0City officials also\u00a0recently approved\u00a0a motion to send\u00a0a letter, on behalf\u00a0of a local group,\u00a0to the Federal\u00a0government to\u00a0seek Rights of First\u00a0Refusal to a portion\u00a0of protected lands\u00a0around the Second\u00a0Marsh should they\u00a0become available.\u00a0The Mayor has\u00a0also written a letter\u00a0expressing his\u00a0interest in creating\u00a0an Innovation\u00a0Hub; in his letter he\u00a0said that the most\u00a0successful Hubs\u00a0offer a wide range\u00a0of services, thus\u00a0making Oshawa\u00a0a prime location\u00a0for a Hub. He has\u00a0requested First Right\u00a0of Refusal on a\u00a0piece of property\u00a0downtown Oshawa\u00a0to make this Hub a\u00a0reality.<\/p>\n
The City is also\u00a0diligently working\u00a0on the Smart\u00a0Cities Challenge\u00a0application. This is\u00a0a Pan-Canadian\u00a0competition open\u00a0to all communities;\u00a0it encourages\u00a0communities to\u00a0adopt a smart\u00a0cities approach\u00a0to improve the\u00a0lives of their\u00a0residents through\u00a0innovation, data\u00a0and connected\u00a0technology. The\u00a0City has completed\u00a0Phase 1 \u2013 which\u00a0included studies\u00a0and surveys to\u00a0pinpoint the needs\u00a0and preferences\u00a0of our community.\u00a0Oshawa\u2019s focus\u00a0will likely be on\u00a0economic and\u00a0social equality\u00a0\u2013 and the next\u00a0phases will intake\u00a0ideas on how to\u00a0increase economic\u00a0equality and better\u00a0the lives of all\u00a0Oshawonians using\u00a0the prescribed\u00a0resources.<\/p>\n
The City has also\u00a0partnered with\u00a0the BIA to work\u00a0on a Streetscape\u00a0Project. The project\u00a0is intended to help\u00a0improve the image\u00a0of downtown\u00a0Oshawa and get\u00a0more people\u00a0walking and\u00a0shopping there.\u00a0A committee has\u00a0been formed and\u00a0discussions have\u00a0started on how to\u00a0best achieve this\u00a0goal. In addition,\u00a0the City is working\u00a0among a network\u00a0of organizations\u00a0providing insight\u00a0to the ACE facility\u00a0on autonomous\u00a0vehicles; and they\u00a0are launching\u00a0an Ideas Lab, in\u00a0conjunction with\u00a0UOIT, that will\u00a0provide students\u00a0with practical\u00a0experiences and\u00a0an opportunity to\u00a0engage in their\u00a0community. The\u00a0Ideas Lab is an\u00a0evolving endeavour\u00a0that we hope\u00a0will continue to\u00a0grow and spread\u00a0throughout other\u00a0cities and schools.<\/p>\n
In news slightly\u00a0closer to home, our\u00a0Chamber is working\u00a0hard for you too.\u00a0To start with, we\u00a0are participating in\u00a0the Transportation\u00a0Summit this April.\u00a0This is a roundtable\u00a0event, all about\u00a0transportation;\u00a0it will include 10\u00a0business members\u00a0from each of the\u00a0Durham Region\u00a0Chambers. It is\u00a0being held in an\u00a0effort to prepare\u00a0a unified message\u00a0against Superlinx.\u00a0Superlinx is a\u00a0proposed agency\u00a0that would take\u00a0control of all public\u00a0transportation\u00a0in Toronto and\u00a0throughout\u00a0the GTA. There\u00a0has been no\u00a0consultation and\u00a0we in Durham\u00a0Region are being\u00a0completely left out.\u00a0We will work with\u00a0our neighbouring\u00a0chambers to find\u00a0the best way to\u00a0approach this\u00a0issue, to better\u00a0understand the role\u00a0and responsibilities\u00a0of this super agency\u00a0and ensure that\u00a0the voices of our\u00a0local businesses are\u00a0heard.<\/p>\n
Nancy, our CEO,\u00a0and our new\u00a0President, Kyle\u00a0Douglas, will\u00a0be attending\u00a0Advocacy Days at\u00a0Queen\u2019s Park at the\u00a0end of February.\u00a0They will participate\u00a0in the information\u00a0sessions, and they\u00a0have requested\u00a0to meet with the\u00a0Ministers who\u00a0are being made\u00a0available for the\u00a0day (Economic\u00a0Development,\u00a0Finance etc.).\u00a0We will be well\u00a0represented by\u00a0Nancy and Kyle\u00a0and thank them for\u00a0taking our voices\u00a0to Queen\u2019s Park to\u00a0represent us!<\/p>\n
Finally \u2013 there\u00a0are a lot of great\u00a0Chamber events\u00a0coming up so\u00a0check out the\u00a0Events Calendar\u00a0on the website.\u00a0In particular, it\u00a0has come to our\u00a0attention that the\u00a0impacts of Bill 148\u00a0are becoming a\u00a0reality for many\u00a0businesses, and in\u00a0turn lot of people\u00a0still have questions\u00a0and concerns. To\u00a0help, the Chamber\u00a0is offering the Bill\u00a0148 Seminar again.\u00a0Mason Bennett\u00a0Johncox offered\u00a0this seminar at the\u00a0end of last year;\u00a0but they have\u00a0agreed to come\u00a0back to address\u00a0any changes, and\u00a0to answer any\u00a0new questions or\u00a0additional questions\u00a0you may have\u00a0\u2013 please register\u00a0online for this\u00a0informative event!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Originally published February 27, 2018 in eNews By Alexandra Valcour I\u2019m stepping in\u00a0again this month for\u00a0our illustrious Chair\u00a0who is taking a well-deserved\u00a0break. So,\u00a0I\u2019ll do my best at\u00a0filling you in on what\u00a0your GR committee\u00a0has been discussing\u00a0and planning. Let\u2019s start with the\u00a0City of Oshawa\u00a0where there is a\u00a0lot on the go right\u00a0now. As an update,\u00a0the city will sit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9904,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oshawachamber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4381"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oshawachamber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oshawachamber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oshawachamber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oshawachamber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/oshawachamber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10989,"href":"https:\/\/oshawachamber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4381\/revisions\/10989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oshawachamber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oshawachamber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oshawachamber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oshawachamber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}