Every two months, the Whistler Chamber hosts an Advocacy in Action session. These meetings are an important part of our commitment to advocating for local businesses and organizations, and we use them as a way to gather people together, learn about the key issues, and work to find constructive solutions.
Recently, we hosted a roundtable to discuss the upcoming election and the major issues facing businesses.
While names and identifying information have purposefully been omitted to maintain anonymity, here’s what the group discussed.
June Advocacy in Action Recap / Update
Whistler Chamber Executive Director Louise Walker opened the session with a land acknowledgement, and some quick updates on issues raised during the previous Advocacy in Action session.
Regional Transit
Regional transit was once again a main topic of discussion, and is a real issue for a multitude of reasons. Chambers, employers, employees and residents are all interested in improved transit options. The need for increased or improved transit options is evident in many communities beyond the Sea to Sky region.
Regional transit and transportation has been identified as a key advocacy area for the Chamber and so the team will reach out to our elected officials and regional Chambers to identify ways to collaborate e.g. letter writing campaign.
Further updates from the Chamber
At the June session, the impact of scheduled power outages was raised. As a follow up action, the Chamber reached out to the impacted businesses. While there is recognition of the need for infrastructure upgrades, especially given the infrastructure age and evolved usage, there was inconsistent communication of the notice period among tenants. The power outage was scheduled from 8am to 10pm, resulting in a notable financial impact for some businesses. The impact ranged from closing the business for the day and associated loss of revenue, to increased costs to preserve perishable stock (e.g. renting generators), and a negative guest experience (e.g. lighting and elevators out of use).
Recognizing that upgrades are essential to maintain infrastructure, the Whistler Chamber reached out to BC Hydro to share the impact and offer to help disseminate such information for future significant scheduled outages. The BC Hydro team has shared that they extended their standard notification period for this project in recognition of the impact. Account holders are encouraged to verify that their contact information is up to date and to pass along outage information to the occupants of the space. The Chamber will continue our engagement and work together with relevant parties.
Whistler Chamber Housing Taskforce
The Whistler Chamber has created a Whistler Chamber Housing Task Force to facilitate short- to medium-term actions for the Chamber to support and advocate for Whistler’s employee housing needs.
The first meeting is set for September 25. If you are interested in joining, please email chamber@whistlerchamber.com
Learn more about the Housing Taskforce here.
August Advocacy in Action Discussion Session
Affordability
Lack of affordability is a key challenge. Businesses continue to see challenges with the cost of doing business (EHT, property tax, increased labour costs, rent etc etc). Employees are also struggling with affordability. Uncertainty around the economy, politics and affordability may also be impacting our guests, who are more conservative with discretionary spending, thus impacting local businesses.
While affordability is an issue for everyone, the conversation turned to how the cost of living is an even higher concern for the local vulnerable community. One member highlighted that despite the Sea to Sky’s world class reputation, it is not exempt from housing and food insecurity. The food bank is currently seeing high demand, with visits up 37% from 2022, so it’s important that any candidate in the upcoming election keeps these issues in mind.
Regional Transit
The question of transit, connecting the region, from Pemberton to North Vancouver was raised. This is an issue as there are no direct, connected options, including ferries. The lack of regional transit impacts all groups in the community – businesses, employees, residents and guests – and is especially impactful for more vulnerable groups, those with low income, seniors and youth.
Regional transit will be an important discussion for the upcoming Provincial election.
Changes to the LMIA system
The discussion turned to how Whistler might struggle with June changes to the LMIA system. Note, this Advocacy meeting was held prior to the more recent changes in the Temporary Foreign Worker program, which occurred on August 26. Effective September 26, 2024, there are additional changes that will impact the LOW-WAGE LMIA stream. Navio Immigration has written an informative blog on the changes here.
In response to the August announcement, the Whistler Chamber has gathered some feedback from businesses and communicated with Patrick Weiler, MP who had discussed the challenges with the ministerial department. While the changes are for the low-income stream, any changes to immigration policies create uncertainty for businesses and employees. As a resort municipality with lower unemployment levels, businesses are already completing a stringent Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) process to identity that there is a need for a temporary foreign worker. A “one size fits all” approach needs to be reviewed.
The Whistler Chamber is attending a session with Nancy Healey, Commissioner for Employers who stated:
“The narrative around Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program is being driven by unsubstantiated anecdotes. The facts prove that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program has the necessary controls in place to protect foreign workers, and to ensure that these foreign workers complement Canadian workers and sustain viable business operations. Employers are doing their part to drive the Canadian economy and would greatly benefit from a federal government that enhances coordination between departments and champions evidence-based public policy.”
The Whistler Chamber will share alternative immigration options via our newsletter. If you don’t receive the newsletter, sign up below.
Get Involved
- Whistler Chamber members are encouraged to attend future Advocacy in Action sessions. The next one is a Transition to Winter roundtable. Register here.
- Upcoming event highlight: The Whistler All Candidates meeting will be held on October 1 at the Maury Young Arts Theatre. Attendance is free. Reserve your seat to ask your questions and make your voice heard here.
- Check your inbox for an election survey. Your feedback will help us communicate key topics and advocacy issues for candidates.
If you have further feedback on these topics, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, or attend our next Advocacy in Action session.