BBOT General Manager Sheldon Leiba and Dr. Yamil
Alonso, Project Co-coordinator for the BBOT campaign
Skills Without Borders attend committee hearings
at Queen’s Park to support Bill 124. |
Speaking before the Standing Committee on Regulations
and Private Bills, BBOT General Manager Sheldon Leiba
said government, settlement agencies, the education
system and the business community must play a “strong
role” in breaking down barriers and supporting the gainful
employment of immigrants, “so that our society and economy
can capitalize on their full potential.”
Bill 124, the Fair Access to Regulated Professions
Act, is “one very important step” in the right direction
because if we are successful in effectively integrating
immigrants and foreign trained professional into our
labour force and in the professions that they are trained,
skilled and experienced in, Canadian society and our
economy as a whole will gain:
• by providing employers, our economy and society with
the skills we need;
• by providing immigrants the opportunity to contribute
fully in their professions optimize their earnings,
stimulate our economy with their consumer spending and
contribute to the social and cultural development of
our community and ultimately to our overall quality
of life.
“If we are not successful…we will all lose. This should
not be an option.”
Leiba told the committee “the case in favour of Bill
124 is less of a social case for The Brampton Board
of Trade, but rather a strong business and economic
case that has tremendous implications for Brampton,
and communities throughout Ontario.
“We are here as a leading business association to say
that business and professional bodies can not afford
to be part of the problem. The fair, effective and expedient
employment integration of immigrants is absolutely critical
to strengthening our economic future, and thus business
and professional regulatory bodies must be part of the
solution.”
Earlier this year The Brampton Board of Trade, with
funding support from Service Canada, launched Skills
Without Borders, a year-long employer awareness campaign
on the benefits of hiring immigrants. The campaign includes
a study of local labour demands; exploring barriers
for employers to hiring immigrants; employer awareness
seminars and activities; focus groups; and the dissemination
of information on resources and services to assist employers
in attracting, recruiting and retaining immigrants as
employees.
 BBOT
hires new operations manager
Carrie Andrews has joined The Brampton Board of Trade
as Operations Manager.
In this position, she will be responsible for the day-to-day
administrative and financial operations of the Board
including overseeing process improvement initiatives.
Carrie has an extensive background in leadership and
business development. Most recently, she was Director
of Sheridan Corporate, a business to business unit at
Sheridan Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning.
Prior to joining Sheridan, Carrie was responsible for
business development for Corporate Education at Humber
College. Her experience also includes entrepreneurship.
As principle of Chrysalis Communications, Carrie specialized
in facilitating strategic planning as well as providing
management and communications training.
Carrie has been a resident of Brampton for 18 years
and is a strong supporter of community. A recipient
of numerous volunteer service awards, Carrie is currently
a member of Business and Professional Women (BPW) of
Brampton and the Brampton Downtown Residents Association.
She is excited about the many initiatives being undertaken
by the Brampton Board of Trade and looks forward to
supporting Brampton’s business community.
$1 million
from RBC for new hospital
The Royal Bank of Canada has pledged $1 million to The
William Osler Health Centre Foundation to be used for
the RBC Child and Adolescent Mental Health Program at
the new Brampton Civic Hospital. The program will provide
specialized care in areas such as thought, severe anxiety
and mood disorders.
Harriet Thornhill, RBC Regional Vice President, Brampton
announced the gift at a community presentation at the
RBC's Sunny Meadow Blvd. and Bovaird Rd. branch in Brampton,
directly across the street from the new hospital.
"RBC is very excited about the RBC Child and Adolescent
Mental Health Program. It is an opportunity to provide
top notch support and care for youth at risk across
Peel region,” said Thornhill.
Anne Randell, President and CEO of the William Osler
Health Centre Foundation said "Young people and
their families will be cared for in a new hospital that
was designed with compassionate patient care first and
foremost in mind. A number of additional beds in large,
bright rooms and common areas combined with an outstanding
clinical team allow the RBC Child and Adolescent Mental
Health Program the opportunity to provide unparalleled
care in our community."
Support for William Osler Health Centre Foundation's
$120 million Community Campaign to build Brampton Civic
and redevelop its other two sites, Peel Memorial Hospital
and Etobicoke General Hospital, continues to grow as
$84 million in cash and pledges has been donated to
the Foundation to date.
The President’s
Viewpoint
BBOT renews its Strategic Plan
For any business or organization to be successful, it
must have a strong sense of where it wants to go, and
develop and implement specific strategies on how to
get there.
Strategic Planning has been a long-time business practice
of The Brampton Board of Trade that is taken very seriously.
At the beginning of each fiscal year, Governing Council
and management dedicate a significant amount of time
towards strategic planning, including developing and
updating our plan, or focusing on specific aspects of
the plan.
The Brampton Board of Trade’s 2002 Strategic Plan stimulated
many new programs, services and initiatives including:
the Early Morning Trade Show networking program (that
received an Ontario Chamber of Commerce Award for best
new program or initiative); new cost savings and affinity
programs; new committees such as the Business Development
Committee and Multicultural Committee; new strategic
relationships with organizations where there were mutual
interests; and the governance and committee structure
of The Brampton Board of Trade was strengthened. We
also worked on programs to increase the profile of The
Brampton Board of Trade in our community; and enhanced
policy advocacy initiatives on issues such as the Highway
410 extension; hospital development; preservation of
employment lands, downtown revitalization, and more.
Over the past year, your Governing Council and management
has once again gone through a very extensive organizational
review process that has culminated in a renewed Strategic
Plan for The Brampton Board of Trade.
The new Strategic Plan (that can be found on our website
at www.bramptonbot.com) confirmed six key service areas
for our organization: Member Relations; Advocacy and
Policy Management; Business Relations; External and
Government Relations; Community Relations; and Administrative
Management. These will be the areas where we will focus
our personnel, volunteers, and financial resources.
We have developed new Vision and Mission Statements
that will always be kept at the fore of everything we
do:
Vision – The Brampton business community will be a thriving,
vibrant and diverse economic force.
Mission - The Brampton Board of Trade will proactively
serve the interests of its members and the business
community in Brampton through advocacy and business
development.
In discussing our key service areas, we created and
prioritized five Strategic Goals:
1. Provide services and programs to meet the diverse
needs of the membership
• Lead and support the development of relevant and timely
programs and services
• Provide information and resources that will support
businesses
• Create and implement a process to assess membership
and business needs
• Develop and implement a process for evaluating each
program and service
2. Be a leader in advocacy and on policy issues that
affect Brampton businesses
• Actively influence policy issues at all levels of
government that impact business
• Engage business in the identification of key policy
issues
• Promote the employment integration of immigrants
• Promote improvement of transportation
3. Increase awareness and profile of The Brampton Board
of Trade
• Strengthen the membership recruitment and retention
strategy
• Strengthen communication vehicles
• Enhance The Brampton Board of Trade’s presence in
the media
• Communicate successes more effectively
• Strengthen The Brampton Board of Trade’s presence
in the multicultural business community
4. Enhance strategic partnerships and alliances
• Work in partnership with existing and new business
associations
• Assess and align current and future partnerships and
alliances
5. Strengthen the overall performance of The Brampton
Board of Trade
• Develop a member satisfaction measurement program
• Ensure financial sustainability
• Enhance operational effectiveness
• Ensure documentation of policies and processes
• Attract and retain high performing employees
For each of these Strategic Goals and sub-goals, very
specific projects and initiatives are being identified,
that will be regularly monitored and tracked for progress.
All decisions and activities of The Brampton Board of
Trade, from Governing Council, committees, management
and staff, will be measured against the Plan.
All new initiatives must fit within the service areas
and goals of the strategic plan.
Hopefully Brampton Board of Trade members and potential
members alike will appreciate the value of this organization
having such a strong and effective Strategic Plan that
meets the long-term needs of this organization to be
self-sustainable and relevant, and meets the needs of
our members and our diverse business community.
We continue to welcome your input and feedback on how
we can make your Brampton Board of Trade better – write
us, send us an email, give us a call, or come for a
visit.
Wayne Waters is President of The Brampton Board of Trade
and is the Operations Manager at Waters & McDonald
Associates, 31 Stafford Dr.; Tel: 905-459-0373; Email
wayne.waters@watmc.com.
|
