Chamber Blog ~ January 2018

Modernization and inclusion were two prevalent themes this past Friday during a breakfast surrounding the NAFTA negotiations organized by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in partnership with AmCham Canada.

On January 26th, in the midst of the 6th round of negotiations, over 160 business leaders and government officials from Canada, the United States and Mexico gathered in Montréal for a breakfast meeting surrounding the importance of NAFTA to the North American business community. This event featured a dynamic panel discussion hosted by Rick Tachuk, Chair of AmCham Canada with Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Moisés Kalach, Chief of International Negotiations at the CCE and Neil Herrington, VP Americas at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

NAFTA Modernization is a reasonable goal: It’s a fact that NAFTA was negotiated more than two decades ago. We need to modernize the terms of trade between our countries for the realities of the 21st century.

After 12 years leading the Oakville Chamber of Commerce, President John Sawyer is stepping down. John says “the timing is right for both myself and the Chamber.” He went on to say; “We have built a truly outstanding team, we are at record membership and we are in a strong financial position. I will certainly miss it but am looking forward to the next chapter in my life.” 

John has been recognized for his leadership by a number of organizations. In 2014 the Chamber Executives of Ontario awarded John the James Carnegie Memorial Award for his leadership and work as a mentor to his colleagues in the Chamber network.

Every new year brings both challenges and opportunities for Canada’s business community, and as you will see in our Annual Report, that was especially true in 2017.

From the inauguration of President Trump and the renegotiation of NAFTA to the ratification of CETA, the international context was upended. Closer to home, Canadian businesses faced their own set of obstacles, whether in the form of extreme weather events or the cancellation of large-scale projects like the Energy East pipeline. Governments piled on more obstacles on businesses, and the federal government proposed tax changes for private corporations that threatened entrepreneurs.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce announced today the appointment of Jason MacDonald as Senior Vice President, Policy and Advocacy.

Jason’s extensive strategy, policy and communications expertise developed over years working in the public and private sectors will be a tremendous asset for the Canadian Chamber, and we’re happy to welcome him to our executive team.

Jason comes to us from Hill + Knowlton Strategies, where he was a Senior Vice President, providing strategic counsel and corporate communications support to a broad range of the firm’s clients. Before H+K, he held senior roles in the previous government, including in the Prime Minister’s Office.