NWT Chamber responds to proposed BIP changes
March 16th, 2009
The NWT Chamber of Commerce has released its response to the territorial government’s proposed changes to the Business Incentive Policy (BIP).
“Having conducted on-line polling and follow-up interviews with a number of our members, as well as other businesses belonging to several community chambers, it’s clear BIP is a polarizing issue,” said Curtis Shaw, Vice-President of the NWT Chamber of Commerce. “In the end, we’ve tried to represent the views of as many of our members as possible and are supporting three of the four proposed changes to the policy.”
The only change not endorsed by the NWT Chamber is the proposed capping of adjustments to $200,000 on contracts worth more than $1 million and eliminating them altogether on contracts over $5 million.
“Given the current economic climate, this move would do nothing to benefit the businesses of the North and we could not support it,” said Shaw. “The other changes the GNWT put forward for comment were more acceptable to our members and we are not raising any objections on these three.”
These proposed changes include:
- Removing the requirement for communities, along with certain boards and agencies, to apply BIP during the tendering process.
- Eliminating the ability of non-resident-owned firms to receive a “Northern business” designation as it relates to the application of BIP; this process is commonly referred to as “grandfathering”.
- Updating the language and formatting to ensure BIP is consistent with current GNWT policy formats.
A PDF version of the full NWT Chamber position paper on the proposed Business Incentive Policy changes is available for download from the Public Documents section of the Chamber’s website, www.nwtchamber.com.
In association with the network of community Chambers of Commerce in Fort Simpson, Behchoko, Norman Wells, Fort Smith, Hay River and Yellowknife as well as the Northern Aboriginal Business Association, the NWT Chamber of Commerce represents the interests of more than 865 members. For more than 35 years, it has been the only pan-territorial voice of businesses across all sectors of the Northern economy.
