Originally published April 10, 2018 in eNews.
\nBy Gary Valcour<\/p>\n
Fresh from\u00a0an invigorating\u00a0southern sojourn, I\u00a0arrived at our latest\u00a0GR Committee\u00a0meeting with loins\u00a0girded and ready\u00a0to tilt at an or all of\u00a0the many windmills\u00a0that pop up on\u00a0the group\u2019s radar.\u00a0Sadly, it was pretty\u00a0tame with nary a\u00a0windmill in sight.<\/p>\n
The group\u00a0was pleased to\u00a0welcome a new\u00a0member, Peter\u00a0Garrett, from\u00a0Durham College.\u00a0We agreed to add\u00a0a couple of items\u00a0to the standing\u00a0items list and\u00a0those will include\u00a0items of interest\u00a0from the College\u00a0and University.\u00a0For those who\u00a0have not taken\u00a0the opportunity\u00a0to attend a\u00a0meeting of the GR\u00a0Committee you\u00a0may be interested\u00a0to know that the\u00a0Standing Items\u00a0include updates\u00a0related to the Port\u00a0of Oshawa, The\u00a0Oshawa Executive\u00a0Airport and\u00a0Pickering Airport\u00a0lands, Highway 407\u00a0Employment Lands,\u00a0issues from the\u00a0Joint Chambers\u00a0group, the City of\u00a0Oshawa and the\u00a0Region of Durham.<\/p>\n
In addition to\u00a0these standing\u00a0items are any\u00a0new issues and\u00a0items raised\u00a0by committee\u00a0members or any\u00a0Chamber member.\u00a0From time to time\u00a0the committee\u00a0is treated to\u00a0presentations by\u00a0interested (and\u00a0usually interesting)\u00a0parties on any\u00a0matters that\u00a0may be within\u00a0the Committee\u2019s\u00a0general purview.<\/p>\n
There was little\u00a0real news. The\u00a0Port expects the\u00a0Seaway to open\u00a0late in March and\u00a0looks forward to\u00a0the first foreign\u00a0vessel and the\u00a0accompanying\u00a0Top Hat Ceremony\u00a0early in April. It\u00a0was reported\u00a0that the Port has\u00a0already booked\u00a0a number of ships\u00a0for the opening of\u00a0the season. The\u00a0Committee is still\u00a0looking for some\u00a0updates from the\u00a0Oshawa Airport\u00a0management\u00a0on questions\u00a0raised at a recent\u00a0presentation and\u00a0hopefully we\u2019ll be\u00a0able to report on\u00a0that soon. The\u00a0Pickering Airport\u00a0development\u00a0or lack thereof\u00a0continues to be\u00a0of great interest\u00a0to all businesses\u00a0in the region and\u00a0we hope to get\u00a0some word on\u00a0that though no\u00a0one is holding\u00a0their breath. No\u00a0doubt the airport\u00a0issues will be part\u00a0of the discussion\u00a0at the upcoming\u00a0Transportation\u00a0Roundtable\u00a0organized by the\u00a0Joint Chambers\u00a0group.<\/p>\n
Kyle Benham\u00a0gave the group\u00a0some updates\u00a0from the City\u2019s\u00a0perspective\u00a0including a\u00a0Streetscape\u00a0initiative coming\u00a0forward in April.\u00a0There seems to\u00a0be no current\u00a0information on\u00a0the progress of\u00a0identifying new\u00a0employment lands\u00a0on the 407-corridor\u00a0other than some\u00a0disappointment in\u00a0the relatively small\u00a0tracts that may be\u00a0available. There\u00a0was no report from\u00a0the Region so we\u2019ll\u00a0have to wait for\u00a0April\u2019s meeting to\u00a0get that out.<\/p>\n
Doug Yates,\u00a0our member\u00a0representing\u00a0General Motors,\u00a0gave us some\u00a0thoughts on the\u00a0prospects related\u00a0to Carbon Taxes in\u00a0light of the recent\u00a0election of Doug\u00a0Ford to lead the\u00a0PC Party in Ontario.\u00a0As most members\u00a0know, the Federal\u00a0Government has\u00a0decreed that there\u00a0will be a Carbon\u00a0Tax in place unless\u00a0it is supplanted\u00a0by a similar plan\u00a0in individual\u00a0Provinces and then\u00a0only if it is suitable\u00a0to the Feds. The\u00a0Ontario Liberals\u00a0have already\u00a0announced their\u00a0plan but Mr. Ford\u00a0seems to be on\u00a0a different page\u00a0and if his Party\u00a0should take over\u00a0government in\u00a0June, there may\u00a0be implications\u00a0for all of us on the\u00a0Carbon Tax front.\u00a0Stay tuned.\u00a0Nancy reported\u00a0on the second\u00a0presentation\u00a0related to Bill\u00a0148, the \u201cFair\u00a0Workplaces, Better\u00a0Jobs Act\u201d. It was\u00a0well attended and\u00a0very informative.\u00a0Finally, but hardly\u00a0least, the Region\u00a0is in the process\u00a0of reviewing its\u00a0Development\u00a0Charges By-law.\u00a0This by-law can\u00a0have a major\u00a0effect on our\u00a0ability to attract\u00a0new business and\u00a0new development\u00a0to our area and\u00a0thus should be of\u00a0serious concern to\u00a0all those interested\u00a0in our economic\u00a0well-being going\u00a0forward. A\u00a0background study\u00a0is supposed to\u00a0be ready about\u00a0March 27th and\u00a0there will be Public\u00a0Meeting and\u00a0opportunities to\u00a0be heard on the\u00a0issue following\u00a0that release. We\u00a0encourage all\u00a0our members to\u00a0look at this bylaw\u00a0in its current\u00a0and proposed\u00a0format and make\u00a0your voices heard\u00a0either through the\u00a0Chamber or on\u00a0your own or both.\u00a0We look forward\u00a0to any and all\u00a0input our members\u00a0may have on the\u00a0matter.<\/p>\n
As we gear up\u00a0for a busy election\u00a0year there will no\u00a0doubt be a host\u00a0of issues which the\u00a0GR committee will\u00a0tackle and we look\u00a0forward to hearing\u00a0from you, our\u00a0members, on all of\u00a0them.<\/p>\n
Our next GR\u00a0committee\u00a0meeting is\u00a0scheduled for\u00a0Thursday, April 12,\u00a02018 at 8:00 a.m.\u00a0in the Chamber\u00a0Board Room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Originally published April 10, 2018 in eNews. By Gary Valcour Fresh from\u00a0an invigorating\u00a0southern sojourn, I\u00a0arrived at our latest\u00a0GR Committee\u00a0meeting with loins\u00a0girded and ready\u00a0to tilt at an or all of\u00a0the many windmills\u00a0that pop up on\u00a0the group\u2019s radar.\u00a0Sadly, it was pretty\u00a0tame with nary a\u00a0windmill in sight. The group\u00a0was pleased to\u00a0welcome a new\u00a0member, Peter\u00a0Garrett, from\u00a0Durham College.\u00a0We agreed to […]<\/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\/4385"}],"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=4385"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/oshawachamber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10997,"href":"https:\/\/oshawachamber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4385\/revisions\/10997"}],"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=4385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oshawachamber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oshawachamber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}