MESSAGE
FROM THE PRESIDENT
Do you know who said this?
“…the Chamber
of Commerce is so important to this nation. You represent
Canadians in every big city, in every small hamlet and
every nook and cranny in this country. You are the sinews
and muscle of the economy.”
Anyone thinking it was a Chamber member, would have
guessed incorrectly. In fact, it was the then Prime
Minister Paul Martin who spoke these words a few years
ago at a Chamber meeting in Winnipeg. Without any doubt
he was recognizing businesses contribution to job creation
and overall prosperity. |
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But most importantly, he also recognized that when business
leaders and Chambers work together, we become a very powerful
political force. Attending the Board of Trade meetings in
Toronto and now actively becoming involved with PECCTAC, has
inspired me further to help all local County businesses, large
and small, to grow and prosper.
Therefore, if our Chamber and its members continue with a
strong voice in the community, continue to increase its membership,
this will ultimately strengthen our resolve further. Now imagine,
what can happen when businesses, our Chamber, and our local
government work together on common business goals to help
grow our community? We will all benefit in a very positive
way. Certainly there will be areas where common ground might
not be reached, but we can agree to disagree professionally.
So where does this lead the Chamber? I can tell you this with
certainty, if the Chamber is to continually improve on how
it serves its business community, then we have much more to
do and exciting times lies ahead.
With the New Years past, new hope and aspirations are expected
from our membership. What have we accomplished?
To begin with, in January and February of this year, we have
had several strategic planning sessions aimed at developing
the best strategies to achieve a healthy and sustainable economy
for our County, some of which are built on retention, expansion
and the attraction of new businesses. As you are aware, the
Prince Edward County Business Survey of which many of you
contributed to and which was completed in October 2005, told
us much about the issues facing business and even our local
government. The strategies being developed should address
the most pressing issues confronting us.
Only through further discussion and feedback of our strategic
initiatives with our business leaders, will we be assured
that the Chamber has charted a correct course.
The board is working hard on these strategic plans and I will
present an overview of them at our Annual General Meeting
on Thursday, March 9th, 2006 to be held at the Waring House
(Cty Rd 1 and Loyalist Parkway). At our AGM, we will have
the pleasure of listening to our guest speaker, Mr. Len Crispino
who is the President & CEO for the Ontario Chamber of
Commerce. Due to the overwhelming requests for Ontario Chamber
of Commerce speaking engagements we are indeed fortunate to
have Mr. Crispino attend our AGM. His speech will be informative
and interesting.
I hope all Chamber members can attend this important event
and I look forward to meeting all of you. Chamber non-members
are most welcome to attend as well.
The fact that several businesses in Prince Edward County
won the Quinte Business Achievement Award is testimony of
the outstanding services that the County offers. Thanks again
go to Amy and Edward Schubert (Merrill Inn) for being recognized
as The Business of the Year, and to Karin & Michael Potters
(Milford Bistro) for achieving the New Business of the Year
award. We need to continue to promote our businesses not just
within the County but everywhere possible.
| To many non-residents Prince
Edward County is recognized as the “undiscovered
County” or part of the province of PEI. Let’s
continue to work together to make this County the premier
destination for all businesses! Do not forget, “you
are the sinews and muscle of the economy”!
If anyone has any comments, or would like to pass on
any suggestions, you may call me anytime direct at 613-921-0713
or send me an email in confidence to rjackman@kos.net
I look forward to hearing from you. |
February 2nd Strategic Planning Session at Open Season
Lodge in Wellington. L to R
Councillor Barry Turpin, Peter Birtwistle, Rick Jackman,
Lawrie Ackerman
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| GENERAL
MANAGERS REPORT |
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Fishing Map is Ready!
The Prince Edward County Chamber of Tourism & Commerce
(PECCTAC) through its’ partnership with The Bay
of Quinte Tourist Council (BQTC) received funding from
the Prince Edward /Lennox & Addington Community
Futures Development Corporations (Local Initiatives
Fund) to produce the first comprehensive fishing map
for this area. "The Bay of Quinte has some of the
best fishing anywhere in the province and represents
over $72 million dollars per year in revenue to this
area", states Ian Scrimshaw, owner of Open Season
Fishing Charters.
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Lawrie Ackerman, General Manager
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Lawrie Ackerman, PECCTAC General Manager
& Ian Scrimshaw, PECCTAC Director and owner of
Open Season Charters loading up fishing maps for the
1st trade show of the 2006 season.
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50,000, full colour, fishing
maps are available and will be distributed at all the
Travel & Trade shows attended by BQTC and will be
sent out in information packages to interested visitors.
In addition, each member of the Bay of Quinte Tourist
Council will be given these maps for their distribution.
PECCTAC would like to recognize PECCTAC Directors Slavica
Bogdanov, Marketing consultant and owner of Triple W
for the excellent French translation and Ian Scrimshaw,
owner and operator of Open Season Charters for his pictures.
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The Bay of Quinte Tourist Council is made up of representatives
from the Prince Edward County Chamber of Tourism &
Commerce, Belleville & District Chamber of Commerce,
Quinte West Chamber of Commerce, Brighton & District
Chamber of Commerce, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Napanee
Chamber of Commerce, 8 Wing Trenton, Deseronto, and
Colborne. The function of this organization is to execute
outward marketing initiatives to promote the Bay of
Quinte area. This not-for-profit organization was established
in 1982 and has successfully marketed this area throughout
the years by working in partnership. |
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Membership
in the Prince Edward County Chamber of Tourism &
Commerce carries with it certain RIGHTS and EXPECTATIONS:
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RIGHTS
PECCTAC Members have exclusive
access to preferential merchant VISA and MasterCard rates
and other business services,
PECCTAC Members have exclusive
access to the Chamber of Commerce Group Insurance Plan,
PECCTAC Members have the right to receive opportunities
to expand their business contacts and to promote their
business to others,
PECCTAC Members have exclusive
Accommodation tourist referral services,
PECCTAC Members have the right to be kept informed
concerning the work of PECCTAC and issues affecting
the community and the membership. |
EXPECTATIONS
PECCTAC Members can expect our organization
to lobby tirelessly and effectively on their behalf
at the municipal, provincial and federal levels of government,
PECCTAC Members can expect the board of directors to
consider all opportunities that will help the membership,
PECCTAC Members can expect the privacy and confidentiality
of any information they provide to us to be fully protected.
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| What's
Your Opinion? |
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From the Ontario Chamber of Commerce |
| For half a century Canadian
taxpayers have funded a system with the goal of providing
reasonably comparable levels of government service, at
reasonably comparable levels of taxation. However, no
one – neither the federal government, nor the provinces
– has ever tried to measure service levels in the
various regions.
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Simply put: billions of dollars
go to some provinces to “equalize” our standard
of living – but no one knows what the standard is.
It’s like trying to drive straight down the centre
of the Trans-Canada highway from one end of the country
to the other with a blind-fold on. It doesn’t work.
And while that’s bad enough, urgency has been increased
to find a solution through side-deals made between the
federal government and the “have-not” provinces.
These increases in transfers are paid by the taxpayer
of the two “have” provinces – Alberta
and Ontario.
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| In recent months the Ontario government
has spoken about a $23 billion annual gap between what
Ontario taxpayers pay to the federal government and what
we get back in services. This “gap” (more
like an abyss) started out at a relatively reasonable
$2 billion in 1995, but has exploded in recent years to
the current figure of $23 billion adding more and more
pressure to Ontario’s taxpayers.
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce has conducted two studies
on this issue – finding that escalating payments
to the federal government threaten to turn Ontario into
the next “have-not” province.
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The impacts of the transfers out of this
province have had a huge impact on Ontario’s competitive
position – making this a key issue for Ontario employers.
It is also an issue affecting the average taxpayer. This
gap limits what our provincial government has to invest
in health care and in education – it limits resources
for new immigrants and effectively cuts investments for
priorities like our roads and bridges. In fact, receiving
jurisdictions have on average better access to doctors,
nurses, hospitals, college grants, and university professors
than does Ontario.
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| The worst part is this: after nearly 50 years of transfers
from the federal government the same provinces that started
out as “have-nots” are still there. There
has been no noticeable movement towards creating a more
competitive – a more viable economy in those regions.
Recent years have seen a blurring of the line between
provincial and federal jurisdictions. Services once offered
(and funded) by the province are now partially funded
by the federal government. |
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| The impacts of this blurring of jurisdictions
confuses average Canadians as to which level of government
is responsible for which programs – but it also
puts a greater burden on the taxpayer, who has to fund
two levels of government to operate two similar services.
There are abundant examples of this unproductive overlapping.
A look at the election campaign shows leaders from all
parties talking more often on issues of provincial jurisdiction:
health care services, education, municipal governance,
and skills training. While issues that are, constitutionally,
assigned to the federal government are largely ignored:
national defense, border crossings, fisheries, national
environmental policies, research and development and international
trade. Re-balancing Confederation requires more than just
a few changes to the tax system – it requires governments
to re-think how (and when) they do public policy. |
For 50 years Canadians have taken part
in the largest transfer of wealth anywhere in the world
– and for half-a-century no one has questioned why
that transfer hasn’t improved the economic standing
of the provinces receiving the help. Over the same period
the power, influence and taxing rate of the federal government
has climbed – allowing it to use this power to influence
areas of purely provincial jurisdiction. Now, it has come
to the point where Ontario is unable to keep up with payments
to others, and as a result our own health care, universities
and colleges, infrastructure and other services are suffering.
The federal leaders need to recognize this growing concern
and to prepare themselves to address it before Ontario
becomes the ninth “have-not” province, and
voters need to listen to what our leaders are saying –
hopefully we’ll hear their thoughts before the ballot
boxes close. |
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