Tourism reopening, WORC and pensions reform raised at Caucus meeting
President Woody Foster and members of the Executive Committee met with the Government Caucus on Monday, 16th November. It was the first meeting with Caucus since the start of the pandemic in March.
The Council presented the findings of the pandemic business impact survey completed in early November as well as the Chamber’s response to the Government’s economic assessment and stimulus plan. A discussion on Government’s strategy or plan to reopen the economy to visitors was raised during the meeting as well as an update on the progress that is being made with the recommendations from the Strategic Economic Advisory Council that is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Commerce.
The Executive Committee acknowledged the hard work under challenging conditions being accomplished by the management and staff of WORC but stated that the department is under incredible pressure and needs additional support. They shared members concerns about challenges being experienced with processing applications and requested an urgent meeting with the Premier to share some recommended solutions.
The state of the private pension system was also discussed during the meeting. Some of the challenges with the private pension system such as investment restrictions, maximum retirement payment restrictions, interdepartmental cooperation, and the adequacy of contributions to meet future retirement needs were shared.
The Chamber offered to work with Government on a joint committee to evaluate different options to address the depletion of retirement funds as result of the recent pension withdrawals as well as other challenges.
To view the Pandemic Impact Survery click here and the Chamber’s response to the CIG economic assessment and stimulus plan click here