Kelowna Chamber hosts forum

The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce has sent a questionnaire to all the candidates in all the local ridings.

The Chamber will also be hosting a Candidates Forum Luncheon for all candidates in the Kelowna-Mission riding on May 6 at Manteo Resort.

Registration for the forum starts at 11:30 a.m. The event runs from noon until 1:30 p.m.

A top concern of the Kelowna Chamber is the impact of crime in Kelowna and throughout the province and the issue of effectively dealing with chronic offenders.

The Kelowna Chamber is currently exploring the need for the establishment of a new correctional facility in the Okanagan and the expansion of the community court program as a means to curbing the impact of crime on business.

To address some of these concerns, as well as other important issues, the Chamber submitted a questionnaire to all of the candidates in all of the ridings.

The questionnaire consisted of four key questions in the following areas:

• Assisting businesses through the economic downturn
  
• Harmonization of GST/PST
  
• Transportation priorities related to improvements to the transportation infrastructure along Highway 97 in the Kelowna area
  
• Impact of crime and safety and effectively dealing with chronic offenders.

Candidate responses are now posted on the website.

Tickets to the Candidates Forum Luncheon are available on the Chamber website.