Coronavirus shows need for ‘local resiliency’: Vaughan Chamber of Commerce

Shifman ‘encouraging businesses to shop local’ via new Facebook group

Yorkregion.com
April 7, 2020
Dina Al-Shibeeb

While the COVID-19 pandemic highlights Canada’s reliance on overseas manufacturing for much-needed medical supplies, social media is inundated with exchanges calling for a more bolstered, “made-in-Canada” economy.

This need was heightened when President Donald Trump ordered U.S. company 3M to stop exporting N95 masks to Canada.

When asked if COVID-19 has tilted Canadian sentiments towards more self-reliance, Brian Shifman, Vaughan Chamber of Commerce CEO and president, said “globalization is here to stay” and that Canada’s relationship with the U.S. “isn’t going to significantly change” after the pandemic is over.

In February, at the mayor’s luncheon, Shifman advised attendees of plans to visit the U.K. after Brexit, to open up more opportunities for Canadian businesses. He cited the chamber’s successful outing during its first business mission in Israel last year.

Despite the chamber’s global plans, Shifman said the difference is COVID-19 shows “there is a great need that’s now being seen for local resiliency and supply chains.”

He added that “It’s going to change things in the sense that you always need local residency, and you need your local supply chains. So there’s going to be more awareness of the need for more localized activity.”

So far, the chamber is encouraging businesses to “shop local.” It created a Facebook group called “Vaughan Chamber Keep It Local Marketplace” on April 1 that had about 1,090 members on April 6.

“Local business has always been the backbone of the economy, and certainly the backbone of small business, especially when you’re talking about retailers and restaurants,” he added.

“We’re going to emerge from this strong and it’ll be a slow recovery, but part of recovering is buying local.”

Shifman also invited businesses to check the chamber’s page to “navigate” through the various federal and provincial supports offered, such as employee subsidies.

“There’s a lot of information. The government deserves a lot of credit for trying to move quickly, but it’s a lot of information to navigate and not all the details are out,” he said

Vaughan Chamber of Commerce’s resource page isn’t restricted to members only, Shifman continued, noting the website is updated in real time. “Everything is there, if your business is struggling to survive. The last thing I want you to do right now is search Google to find out what the new thing is (that is) being offered by the federal government.”