MBiz

10 MBiz | may 2016 AFTER THE ELECTION Progressive Conservative leader, and Premier designate Brian Pallister, speaking at his victory party at Canad Inns Polo Park on election night. Photo by Trevor Hagan, Winnipeg Free Press O n April 19, Manitoba voters sent a clear message that they were looking for a change and a new vision for the province. It was a change that many had expected; polls had indicated as much for weeks leading up to the election. Shortly after the final results, the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce (MCC) offered our congratulations to Premier Brian Pallister on his party's majority victory. It didn't take long before phone calls and emails were exchanged with the new government to establish relationships with new cabinet ministers, which will play an important role in bringing them up-to-speed with the challenges facing Manitoba businesses. MCC is looking forward to working with the men and women who make up the cabinet, specifically in the areas of finance, economic competitiveness, workforce, and regional economic development. A new government provides MCC with the opportunity to build new relationships that will hopefully produce positive results for Manitoba, something echoed by Chuck Davidson, President and CEO of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce. "The Chamber and the businesses we represent are looking forward to working with this new government to put in place the foundation where local businesses from across Manitoba can thrive and grow," said Davidson. "Issues such as addressing workforce shortages are very important to our province, and we look forward to presenting the issues to the new government." Having a stable majority government will permit Premier Pallister and his team to put in place a strong plan to promote Manitoba. During the campaign, the Manitoba Chamber network set out a vision of our priorities for the government; we look forward to working with the new government and the opposition to ensure our priorities are brought to the forefront and addressed. The Manitoba Chambers of Commerce set out to be very active during the campaign to position the priorities of our local Chamber network. Over the course of the campaign, MCC created 60 tweets that were viewed by more than 38,900 users. From those 60 tweets, 385 engaged with our tweets, including all clicks of links within the tweet, retweets, replies, and links. "Like any election, platforms are general in nature. It is the fine print of the platforms that are important to organizations like MCC. It is now time to see the fine print on many of these platforms. That is where the real growth and impact of a policy position is determined," added Davidson. Before the election call, relationships with the previous government led to numerous meetings and positive change in policy regarding rural economic development and investments in tourism. Once the campaign platforms indicated party directions, MCC was curious to see how the issues important to the Chamber network, laid out in our platform document Growing Forward, were going to be addressed. Major concerns of MCC, like northern Manitoba development, education and tourism were all covered to some degree by all the parties. The new government's plans on some issues, including addressing workforce needs, balancing the budget, tax changes, and joining the New West Partnership will be a strong jumping off point when discussions with ministers take place over the next few months. Given the combination of challenges facing Manitoba and vision shared by Premier Pallister, the honeymoon will be short, especially when working towards the No. 1 issue facing business – workforce shortages. ■ Post-Election Plans in the Works for Chamber Network By Cory Kolt

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