Sudbury leaders welcome pro-business government at Queen's Park: Chamber discussion centred on minimum wage, cap and trade, Ring of Fire.

• Author: McKinley, Karen
• Position: SMALL BUSINESS FOCUS

Business owners in Sudbury are feeling relieved with the election of a new provincial government, praising it for taking "decisive" actions to signal it is ready to get to work.

However, there are others warning there's a lot of work needed to be done before anyone can claim victory.

A forum and panel discussion hosted by the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce attracted an audience of 50 people on Aug. 21. The theme was to discuss how businesses in the North can work with the new Doug Ford Conservative government at the helm.

On the panel was Doug Morrison, president and CEO of the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation; Tracy Nutt, owner of ServiceMaster Sudbury and Build North Construction; and Ashley Challinor, vice-president of policy and government relations for the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. Science North CEO Guy Labine was moderator.

Among the top concerns was how the Conservatives would receive the needs of businesses, given that the combined portfolios of Energy, Northern Development and Mines, and Indigenous Affairs were assigned to one person, Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford, and how the new government will handle Bill 148 and the minimum wage increase.

Challinor said, since the election, the government had been working at "breakneck" speed to implement promises.

She explained the Ford government viewed the election as the ultimate consultation, especially on cap and trade.

They will slow down eventually, as staff is hired and the government settles into work, returning to a normal pace by the end of the year.

"They will move on some of their bigger promises this summer," she said.

Nutt was pleased over the government's announcements, but added she wasn't sure how changes would impact the community from a business perspective. She highlighted aspects like Bill 148: Fair Workplace and Better Jobs Act, which she has been very opposed to, changes to Hydro One, and scrapping the cap-and-trade program.

"It's really too early to tell how or if these things will have an effect on us as businesses," she said.

Nutt said she is happy to see the government is showing it understands how much small and medium-sized businesses have invested in the economy and communities by promising to cut red tape.

"It's refreshing, and almost like a pat on the back, given the toiling businesses do on a day-by-day basis," she said. "To be treated the way we were by the previous government was disheartening and, quite frankly, insulting."

Morrison...