Ontario Chamber of Commerce mobilizes businesses to put shared prosperity, economic development front-and-centre in upcoming election

TORONTO, Tuesday, February 13, 2018 – Today the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) launched a major province-wide letter writing campaign urging businesses to encourage their local provincial candidates to support the OCC’s election platform, Vote Prosperity. To ensure economic prosperity is at the forefront of the 2018 provincial election, the OCC has developed 18 recommendations that will help bolster Ontario’s long-term economic outcomes.

This letter-writing campaign is the next phase of this advocacy effort, building on ongoing government relations activities. Local candidates are being asked to read Vote Prosperity and engage with local chambers of commerce and boards of trade to ensure the voices of business are heard within their communities. Many of these issues will emerge during chamber-run all-candidate debates during the campaign in communities across Ontario.

“The upcoming provincial election comes at a pivotal time. With greater economic uncertainty, Vote Prosperity provides political parties with tangible solutions to address the challenges businesses are currently facing,” said Rocco Rossi, President and CEO, Ontario Chamber of Commerce. “We are mobilizing our members to ensure a more prosperous economy that supports local communities across the province.”

Over the next 12 weeks, the OCC and the Ontario Chamber Network will be advocating Vote Prosperity with local provincial candidates across the province through meetings, social media activation and with the letter writing campaign. Vote Prosperity is built around four fundamental pillars to support a strong economy in Ontario: strengthening business competitiveness, fostering job creation, building healthy communities and improving government accountability.

“It’s simple, when you choose prosperity, Ontario wins,” added Rossi.

The OCC released Vote Prosperity in October 2017, ahead of most of the major political parties’ platform development. Some of the recommendations from Vote Prosperity include:

• Allow Ontario businesses to purchase surplus electricity at rates equal to or better than the exported price to other jurisdictions;
• Allocate resources to focus support on high growth firms and those with high growth potential, by delaying taxation on corporate income growth to overcome Ontario’s scale-up challenge;
• Focus on strategic growth policies by ensuring that land use planning and development regulations are aligned, to increase density and create more housing stock;
• Create a meaningful plan to tackle the debt and move towards balanced or surplus budgets.

Read more about the Vote Prosperity platform, and send a letter in support: www.occ.ca/campaigns/vote-prosperity/

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The Ontario Chamber of Commerce is Ontario’s Business Advocate.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Sydney Stonier
Communications Specialist
647-243-3561, sydneystonier@occ.ca