NEWSLETTER
November-December 2008

All the winners of the
2008 Quinte Business Achievement Awards.

I hope to see many of you out at our December Meet & Greet. We are excited PELA CFDC will attend and present to the winner of their 2008 Business Planning competition - “e & Co”. The winners of the Regeneration Challenge go to The Bean Counter and Artmount Laminating. Congratulations to you all.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff I want to wish you and your families a safe and happy holidays.

Sincerely,
Rick Caruso, President

REMEMBRANCE DAY 2008

The sun shone briefly at the Cenotaph in Picton on Tuesday November 11th. In full regalia a representative from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police laid a wreath.

YOUR CHAMBER @ WORK

YOUR CHAMBER @ WORK
Message from your Ontario Chamber of Commerce ……

New Municipal-Provincial agreement represents significant progress

Toronto: The agreement announced today between the municipalities of Ontario and the provincial government is a significant step in the right direction, according to Ontario’s Business Advocate, and particularly noteworthy considering the current pressures on provincial revenues.

“The ten year plan announced today to upload 1.5 billion in social assistance benefits and court security costs from the municipalities will go a long way to easing the burden on the property tax base, and addressing the long held concerns of our members,” explains Len Crispino, President & CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. “Today’s progress is even more significant because it represents a major step forward despite the challenges presented by today’s economic climate.”

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce will continue to work with the government to address any outstanding property tax issues so as to continue to build a stronger province and municipal-provincial framework.

Construction Industry costs to rise

If you are an independent operator in the construction business, you may be impacted by new legislation introduced by the Provincial Government. Bill 119, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment Act proposes to extend mandatory workers compensation coverage to independent operators, sole proprietors, partners in a partnership and executive officers of corporations in the construction industry.

Independent operators who are currently exempt from paying WSIB premiums will now be required to pay. The Bill does exempt home renovators.
The government has given minimal time for a full public review on this important issue. The OCC has urged the government to responsibly delay the legislation to ensure that it does not create a financial burden on small business operators in the construction industry.
The government has stated that mandatory WSIB coverage across the construction industry will combat the “underground economy”. The OCC has questioned whether this legislation will accomplish such an objective.
Currently, there are many small construction employers who hold insurance through private companies for themselves and their employees. Bill 119 will not permit private insurance as coverage.
The OCC does not support a legislated monopoly for WSIB on workplace insurance, but encourages competition in the marketplace and the ability of employers to choose from a wide range of options to achieve these results. The OCC has recommended that further study be undertaken to determine how much this proposed legislation will cost employers to ensure there will be no financial hardship incurred by small business operators.

For more information on this topic see the Burlington Post article at:

http://www.burlingtonpost.com/news/business/article/219556

WE NEED YOUR INPUT!
The Ontario Government passed legislation in 2005 that will affect every person and organization in Ontario, be they in the public or private sectors.

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) is aimed at making Ontario THE most accessible province by 2025, and will dictate regulations that will affect how you hire, train and accommodate employees; how customers should be accommodated and treated; how your business electronically or otherwise communicates publicly; how transportation infrastructure should be modified; how new buildings should be constructed, or how existing buildings must be renovated or retrofitted, to name a few.

In order to ensure that the views of stakeholders are represented the government struck various committees to help develop standards (which will be turned into regulations) for the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).

The OCC is an active participant on two of the province’s accessibility standards development committees: Built Environment and Employment.

The OCC is seeking volunteers from across the province with experience and interest in Employment and Built Environment (building code etc) issues. The OCC will use those volunteers as two virtual task forces to review the two draft standards, in order to provide specific direction and feedback. We encourage as many volunteers as possible to be engaged in this very important issue. We need the business community’s voice heard on these important issues.

EMPLOYMENT
The Employment Accessibility Standards Development Committee (EA-SDC) focuses on paid employment practices, and employee-employer relationships, including recruitment, hiring, and retention policies and practices. The proposed accessibility standard will set out the policies, practices or other requirements for the identification and removal of ‘barriers’ with respect to paid employment for persons with a range of disabilities. The OCC needs volunteers IMMEDIATELY who can provide their expert opinions on the draft standards BEFORE they are posted for public review.

BUILT ENVIRONMENT
The Built Environment Standards Development Committee (BE-SDC) is to focus on standards that will remove and prevent accessibility barriers relating to built public open spaces and streetscapes as well as a wide range of building types and occupancies. Occupancies may include, but are not limited to, business and industrial occupancies, multi-residential occupancies, hotels, motels, assembly occupancies such as theatres, recreational facilities, interior and exterior transportation infrastructure (boarding platforms, facilities, bus stops, etc.).

TIMELINES
Both standards committees have been given very tight timelines to complete their tasks, in order to provide the Minister with proposed standards by the end of 2008/beginning of 2009. The Employment draft standards will be released for your input on Wednesday, Nov 19 with a deadline for comments by Monday, Dec. 1.

Built Environment draft standards will be released for OCC member input early in the new year.

We strongly encourage businesses with an interest and expertise in Employment issues to please volunteer to review the draft standards.
If you are interested in volunteering please contact Stuart Johnston, Vice President Policy & Government Relations at stuartjohnston@occ.on.ca or 416-482-5222 ext.232.

+ Happiness Haven/ Elizabeth Pulker

+ Reynolds & Murray

+ Ron’s Reusables

+ Steven Draper Photography & Sendroma Farm Estate

+ The Primitive Star

+ Waring House Gourmet

Thank you for your support!