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Fernie Chamber starts crafting business priorities for municipal election

A platform crafted from business input will be shared ahead of the election
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Downtown Fernie pictured in February 2022. (Scott Tibballs / The Free Press)

The Fernie Chamber of Commerce is canvassing input from its members to help it craft a wish-list that captures the priorities of the local business community as we get closer to the 2022 municipal election.

The election will be held on October 15 to determine who will be mayor, and who will serve on the city council for the next four years out to October 2026.

The last four year term (from 2018 to now) has had no shortage of competing priorities for the business community.

“We know there is tremendous opportunity for our city and business community as we look to the future,” reads the chamber newsletter sent to members this week.

“Reaching our potential requires strong and thoughtful public policy backed by a clear vision, collaboration, and innovation.”

Input from chamber members will help develop a “municipal election platform” which will be shared with any and all candidates for public office in Fernie, giving them a to-do list on ways they can woo the business community – or ignore it.

The platform will be developed from that member feedback by the Fernie Chamber Advocacy Committee, which is made up of chamber board members, who are themselves voted onto the board by the entire chamber membership.

The Fernie Chamber of Commerce represents almost 300 member businesses that do business in and around Fernie.

As a non-partisan organization, the Chamber of Commerce will not be endorsing any candidates, but the platform will serve as the basis for any expectations that the chamber has of the next mayor and council.

The chamber has traditionally facilitated all-candidate forums in previous elections.

Anyone with an intention to run in the municipal election will have to have been declared by the time the platform laying out the chamber’s collective wish-list is released on September 17, which is the official start of the campaign period.

As of late June 2022, no candidates have publicly disclosed their intention to run for public office to this newspaper. The formal nomination period begins on August 30, and ends on September 9, with a formal declaration of eligible candidates on September 9.

The election itself will be held on October 15.

READ MORE: Fernie to allow automated vote counting machines at 2022 municipal election



scott.tibballs@thefreepress.ca
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