​200 millimetres doesn’t sound like much in the grand scheme of things, but it was a quick lesson in what climate extremes are doing to our province as it rained and then rained some more across BC. As of midday today, Premier Horgan has declared a Provincial State of Emergency.
 
The power outages, damage to homes and businesses, mudslides, road and bridge washouts, and even isolation due to evacuations, are the most visible problems. Insurance companies are already touting this as the largest natural catastrophic disaster for the insurance industry in 2021.
 
What is yet to be fully assessed is another delay in our already hard hit supply chain and the costs around delayed goods. The Port of Vancouver is assessing that the turnaround on imported goods may be nearly doubled from 2 days or less to as much as 5 days. Rob Reilly, Canadian National Railway Co.’s chief operating officer, said the heavy rain has made the tracks impassable at “a number of locations in southern B.C.” CN has been working above and beyond, using helicopters to deliver supplies as needed. Truck transportation is similarly impacted, even as alternating traffic patterns are restored. The request has been made that non-essential travel be suspended at this time. Here on the lower island, several gas stations are out of fuel.
 
Closures on major island transportation corridors — such as the Malahat and Sooke Road — have also resulted in workforce and supply chain disruptions. As always, in the midst of crisis, we have seen extraordinary efforts from the people of BC. Our first responders and emergency crews — and soon our military — have been working day and night to get our province back on its feet and on our roads. BC Ferries has added extra sailings to get goods to the island and to help reconnect our communities.
 
The provincial and federal government have committed to get transportation links up and running in order to keep people and goods in our province moving.

This Christmas, The Chamber will be working to encourage local shopping by picking up the tab on deliveries in Greater Victoria made at retail outlets that are Chamber members.
 
Recent survey results from the Retail Council of Canada are showing that consumers are planning to spend about $100 more this year than last (~$792) during the holiday season. The resurgence in consumer confidence is encouraging but to benefit our local merchants that needs to be focused on local businesses rather than online empires.
 
If your business is interested in taking part in this initiative, please email members@victoriachamber.ca right away. The program begins this week.

As we honour members of the armed forces and their sacrifices this Remembrance Day, The Chamber is proud to have a long history of commemorating the soldiers who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

After the First World War, The Chamber was instrumental in helping create Memorial Avenue that still runs along Shelbourne Street. Shelbourne was chosen as it offered enough space to commemorate every soldier from the city who died in the war. Chamber members helped plan the project, and business owners rolled up their sleeves to dig holes for the trees.

This year, the Royal Canadian Legion marks the 100th anniversary of the poppy as a symbol for remembrance. Commemorative pins are also available, with sales going to support veterans nation-wide.

Many ceremonies across Greater Victoria have returned as in-person events, but virtual ceremonies are still being hosted. CHEK News is providing live coverage of the province’s official Remembrance Day Service from the BC legislature at 10:30 am.

The ceremony will be followed by a concert preformed by the Naden Band.
We hope you have a day of reflection and remembrance.

The Chamber will be closed today, Thursday, Nov. 11.

​Recent labour figures released by Statistics Canada have underscored what we at The Chamber have been hearing for months, there are insufficient workers to grow our economy. Based on October data, Greater Victoria has an unemployment rate of 4.4%, one of the lowest in Canada. An unemployment rate of 3% or lower is considered to be full employment. Quebec City’s rate is 3.8%.

Hon. Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation and our guest speaker at this year’s AGM had this to say about the numbers, “B.C. has the second-lowest unemployment rate in the country at 5.6%, and we continue to lead all provinces with a job recovery rate of 101.9%. Our job-recovery rate regionally continues to be strong,…notable job-recovery rates are Prince George at 107.1%, Vancouver Island at 105.8% – that’s a direct result of people, businesses and communities working together to get through these tough times.”

Through hard work and sheer determination, businesses have rebounded, but what the unemployment numbers don’t tell us, is how to fill the 900,000 job vacancies across Canada today.