The Chamber of Commerce Brantford-Brant hosted its 15th annual MP-MPP Breakfast on Friday, March 1, 2024.
The event was presented by Six Nations Polytechnic, Conestoga College, and Wilfrid Laurier University, and was the first event of the 2024 Chamber Advocacy Series, presented by the Brantford Regional Real Estate Association.
Members of the Chamber of Commerce had an exclusive opportunity to network with Member of Parliament Larry Brock and Member of Provincial Parliament Will Bouma, as well as, Kevin Davis, Mayor for the City of Brantford, David Bailey, Mayor for the County of Brant, and members of the municipal councils and senior staff teams before and after the event.
The event featured a series of questions from moderator Chris Rayfield, President of the Chamber, focusing on issues developed from the Chamber’s Advocacy Committee, national, and provincial advocacy initiatives including immigration, transportation, housing, climate change, healthcare, agri-food and sustainable development.
Both MP Brock and MPP Bouma acknowledged the passing of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his role as a leader in Canadian history before formal remarks began.
MP Brock highlighted the need for a balanced approach to immigration to better match the readiness of communities to support newcomers to service capacity and housing supply. He expanded on his work in Ottawa on ethics issues and changes to the Criminal Code to address the rising crime levels across the country, and highlighted Canada’s strength in energy resources in Liquid Natural Gas, the need for more rapid home building, and the need for a fair allocation of federal housing resources to ridings like Brantford-Brant to help meet federal and provincial housing targets in willing communities.
MPP Bouma noted Ontario’s investment in nuclear energy refurbishment and small modular reactors as essential to addressing the clean energy needs of the growing province. Natural gas and Internet service expansion through programs like SWIFT and reversing a recent Ontario Energy Board decision were noted as essential to supporting rural businesses, farmers, and communities like the County of Brant. Bouma celebrated the Team Brantford Brant approach on housing with projects like the Trillium Way housing development, and the need to further reduce barriers to interprovincial trade, such as the over $1 billion in direct business costs removed from the cost of doing business in Ontario over the past five years.
In response to a question about transportation, Bouma shared that he is working on regional transportation planning that aligns with the Chamber’s recently released Transportation Policy.
Both officials outlined their strategies on physician recruitment and improving the human resources processes for the healthcare field, including more spaces in Ontario medical schools for physicians and nurses, and a Blue Seal certification in the home countries of professionals to ease transition of newcomer professionals in Canada.
“The 15th Annual MP-MPP Breakfast is one of the signature events in the Advocacy program of the Chamber of Commerce,” said Chris Rayfield, President of the Chamber of Commerce Brantford-Brant. “The Chamber endeavours to work closely with all elected officials in a non-partisan manner to advance the priorities of the business community and improve economic prosperity throughout the City of Brantford and the County of Brant.”
As a thank you and recognition for their participation, the Chamber will be making a donation to the Brantford Food Bank on behalf of MP Brock, and Why Not Youth Centre on behalf of MPP Bouma.
The 2024 Advocacy Series continues with the new Brantford 2051 event on April 24, and the popular Mayors’ Luncheon on September 27th. More details are available on the Chamber’s website, www.chamberbrantfordbrant.com.
