Canadian Chamber welcomes Chrystia Freeland as head of Cabinet committee on Coronavirus

OTTAWA – March 4, 2020 – The Canadian Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, the Honourable Perrin Beatty, PC, OC, issued the following statement regarding Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s appointment as Chair of the Cabinet committee overseeing the government’s response to the coronavirus.

“The Canadian Chamber welcomes the appointment of Chrystia Freeland as the government’s point person on coronavirus response.

I had an opportunity to speak with Minister Freeland this morning, and it was very clear that she is well aware of both the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus. Her focus on a Team Canada approach and her ability to engage the business community demonstrates that she is taking the economic impacts very seriously.

To effectively deal with the Coronavirus, all Canadians must work together. The Canadian Chamber and its network of 450 local chambers across Canada stand ready to work with Minister Freeland, provincial and regional governments in a coordinated response to the potential economic impacts.

The Canadian Chamber hosted a call today with 40 business associations to share information and help coordinate the business community’s response to the virus.

The Canadian Chamber will continue to work with our members and other business associations to help businesses prepare for potential impacts. We have posted a number of tools to our website and will be sharing an updated preparedness guide for SMEs in the coming days.”

About the Canadian Chamber of Commerce – Because Business Matters

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce helps build the businesses that support our families, our communities and our country. We do this by influencing government policy, by providing essential business services and by connecting businesses to information they can use, to opportunities for growth and to a network of local chambers, businesses, decision-makers and peers from across the country, in every sector of the economy and at all levels of government, as well as internationally. We are unapologetic in our support for business and the vital role it plays in building and sustaining our great nation.

For more information, please contact:

Phil Taylor
ptaylor@chamber.ca (preferred and fastest response time)
613.797-1860