Advocacy
Your GWBOT membership means you are a member of the BC Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce that supports small and medium business. As a Member of the Board of Trade your are part of a group of like-minded business professionals with common goals.
When a business joins the Board of Trade, they learn about rising government issues that affect business and add their voice to the Board of Trade’s efforts to address them. Equally important, the Board of Trade can then support them on the issues that concern their business. Further, your Board of Trade presents your concerns to the appropriate government officials. We serve the community by sponsoring political forums and invite prominent individuals and groups to speak to our community at various networking events. The Board of Trade works closely with municipal, regional and provincial governments, speaking for the business community at public hearings, to the media and behind closed doors. Advocating on behalf members is a key role of the Board of Trade. We are also proud members of the BC Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce which means all of our members belong as well.
Relationships
We communicate with:
- Westbank First Nation
- City of West Kelowna
- YLW Airport Advisory Committee
- MLA & MP Offices
- Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission
- Okanagan Chambers of Commerce
What is Policy Development? Why is it Important?
This is an extremely important process and member value that the membership should pay great attention towards. Think about what issues impact & affect your business and how can the GWBOT act on your behalf to assist with influencing both the provincial and federal government.
In order for Boards of Trade/Chambers of Commerce to advance the interests of business in their respective communities, it is important that they engage in the advocacy process – meaning they communicate with government decision makers in an attempt to advance their informed positions on certain issues. This is truly a grassroots process.
One of the most important, yet most overlooked roles of Boards of Trade/Chambers, is to develop policies and then advocate them for their enactment to the provincial and federal governments.
For the first time in BOT history, in 2016 and then again in 2017, the policies below were drafted, then acclaimed at both the BC Chamber Annual General Meetings and the Canadian Annual General Meetings respectively. Keep in mind, the BC Chamber represents more than 30,000 businesses province-wide and the Canadian Chamber represents over 200,000 businesses nationally. That’s powerful message-sending to our governments!