Chamber of Commerce Recommends New Years Resolutions for the Yukon Government

Tuesday, 7 January 2020 14:33

It’s the time of year when folks start coming up with new years resolution. The Yukon Chamber of Commerce has proposed 5 resolutions that they think the Yukon Government ought to adopt.

The resolutions are

Report on the number and type of Yukon Government employees and provide this quarterly by way of Yukon Statistics for future reference and comparison.
Establish a government policy to reduce red tape. Consider a “one-for-one” policy whereby any new regulation introduced has to be balanced with an old regulation being scrapped.
Emulate the NWT’s Procurement policy requiring that anyone doing business with the YG have a permanent and staffed office in the Yukon – not just for the term of the contract.
Introduce a quarterly survey, asking how the government is doing in key areas to make the Yukon a good place to do business.
Track economic leakage related to YG procurement, and communicate procurement statistics to the Yukon businesses including summary data on value of contracts awarded to Yukon businesses and non-Yukon businesses.

Tammy Beese is the Chair of the Board of Directors at the Yukon Chamber of Commerce. She says these resolutions are a succinct way of making business interests known to the government. Beese commented on how certain recommendations may be of particular help to community-based businesses.

She says that one of the most valuable resolutions, especially for business owners in the communities is a reduction of red tape. The Chamber has recommended that for every new piece of regulation that is added, the government should look towards removing a piece of old regulation. Beese says that for business owners, especially those in the communities, coming into Whitehorse to bog through red tape is not conducive to business in the Yukon. That being said, Beese made it clear that business owners do not want to shirk responsibilities, and are happy to comply with common sense regulations.

The Yukon Chamber of Commerce is a group that aims to represent Yukon’s business community by representing and advocating for businesses in the territory. The group lobbies the government to consider pro-business legislation. Beese says that by producing a brief and clear list of recommendations the Chamber of Commerce hopes to encourage the government to take a closer look. She says they have been successful in the past in pushing forward pro-business recommendations, citing the fact that the Yukon is the only jurisdiction that has an entirely private cannabis sector; as per the recommendations of the Chamber.