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Criteria
In conjunction with stakeholders, The Chamber identifies the issues of concern to the business community and what action government must take to address the concern.
Issues must:
- Be of significance to The Chamber's memberships,
- Be a 'business issue'
- Be timely, and
- Have a direct relationship to The Chamber's vision, mission, values, goals and priorities.
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1. Policy Initiation
The Chamber's Advocacy Committee monitors business, economic and political environment to identify issues of interests to The Chamber and its member. The Committee will asses an existing or emerging issue to identify:
- Whether it fits with Chamber priorities,
- Whether it fits with existing Chamber policy,
- Whether it fits with business principles,
- The scope of businesses affected,
- Opportunities for partner activity,
- The complexity of the issue, and
- The likelihood of success.
The Committee will develop and recommend to the Board a list of priorities for policy development/update at the start of the year. The Committee will also provide input during the policy development stage, e.g. potential solutions and their collateral effects, to identify the best solution for the business community, and review the draft policy prior to Board consideration.
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2. Approval
Policies approved by the Board are kept in the electronic policy binder and posted to The Chamber website. The approval of policies will be listed as a motion in the board minutes.
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3. Evaluation
All policies are reviwed annually by the Policy and Government Affairs Committee and any updates approved by The Chamber's Board. Policies remain in effect until amended or revoked by the Board of Directors, with successful policies of note shared under "Policies Achieved".
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The Ontario Chamber of Commerce has had several advocacy wins during 2021. Please click this link to see the full list. The SSCC is proud to be a member of the OCC and to contribute to advocacy efforts that help support our business community.
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Definitions
Policy - Refers to the positions defining problems and propose solutions that support The Chamber's Advocacy efforts. Policies are approved by The Chamber board and remain in effect until amended or revoked by The Chamber's Board. Advocacy-related policies are distinctly separate from operational policies, e.g. privacy policy.
Advocacy - Covers a broad range of activities, which may or may not, include lobbying. Advocacy is a system of actions directed at changing attitudes, policies, positions, practices or programs in society. Advocacy refers to any activity that attempts to change mainly government policy and may include public attitudes and perceptions.
Lobbying - Is a subset of advocacy that aims to influence specific legislation. Almost all social change has started with non-lobbying advocacy and ended with major lobbying efforts. Examples include the protection of women's rights and child labor laws. Each initially combined a broad spectrum of non-lobbying advocacy activities, with lobbying employed somewhat later to achieve the needed change.
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Advocacy
Once a policy is approved, The Chamber's designated spokespeople will advocate that policy on behalf of the membership. Specific advocacy efforts will depend on the specifics of a policy and will relate to:
- Who is the decision-making authority,
- Who are the affected stakeholders,
- The anticipated public interest, and
- Partners in support of our position.
Advocacy activities include but are not limited to: meetings with stakeholders and decision makers, media relations, distribution of communications products, letter writing campaigns, public/member information sessions, and political candidate forums.
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