Brent Murdoch is the latest president of the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce.
Murdoch said it was never a goal to become Chamber president, but when last year’s vice-president chose not to step up this year, he took the plunge.
Murdoch arrived in the city in 2008 with LDM (now LDC), going through the construction and start-up at the canola crush plant.
Once settled in the city for a time Murdoch said he wanted to get more involved.
“I wanted to give back to the community in some way,” he said.
Murdoch said at the time Ron Evinou, who he had known in Ontario, was very involved in the local Chamber, and with the Airport Authority. It was that connection that led him to let his name stand initially for a spot on the Chamber board.
“I thought it would be an interesting way to [give back to the community],” he said.
Once involved, Murdoch said, he liked what he found with the Chamber.
“It’s a very dynamic organization that actually makes a difference,” he said.
Murdoch then headed back to Ontario for a couple of years, but he stayed interested in what a Chamber of Commerce offers, being elected to the Chamber in Welland.
When he returned to Yorkton in 2014, taking a position with Parkland College, he was more than willing to stand again to be on the Chamber board.
Murdoch said his time with the Welland Chamber did one thing, showed how effective the Yorkton organization was.
“It showed me how dynamic the Chamber here is,” he said, adding in Welland the Chamber was less proactive. “… Comparing I see this Chamber as very active.”
Murdoch said he is looking forward to the year ahead, noting the current Board has already held a planning session.
“We have some specific plans for what we’re going to do this year,” he said.
One thrust will be to continue to deal with municipal issues.
It will start with a process of getting to know a Council with five new faces.
“We want to get to know the new Council,” he said.
After that there are key issues.
“We’ll continue working with Council on issues that didn’t get resolved last year,” said Murdoch, adding a key issue for the Chamber is transparency with the City’s tendering process.
Also on the agenda is to better understand the situation regarding the fire department in the city in terms of staffing and its impact on business insurance, and the cost of the service to taxpayers, offered Murdoch.
As it stands Murdoch said the staffing on site at a fire initially means a lower rating in terms of insurance, and that means higher premiums.
“Safety is an issue,” he said.
On a personal level Murdoch said he wants to see the City focus greater attention on the municipal airport, starting with redeveloping the Airport Authority to include members beyond sitting members of Yorkton Council.
“It’s more about developing our airport, not just maintaining it,” he said, adding he sees the facility as hugely important to business.
“It’s access to Yorkton. It’s egress from Yorkton. It attracts more skilled people, tourists, young people,” he said.
Asked about the Saskatchewan economy, the current provincial deficit and what impact that may have on the next provincial budget, Murdoch said that on such issues the local Chamber works through the Saskatchewan Chamber.
Murdoch then pointed to the carbon tax being suggested by the federal government as a concern from higher government.
“We have concerns on how it’s going to affect business,” he said.
Asked about the possibility of provincial sales tax on restaurant food, or a general hike in PST, Murdoch said the impact is hard to determine without details.
“It would be perceived as detrimental to start,” he said, adding the longer term impact would depend on exact rates.
