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Bending the premier's ear

Editor: Re: Premier in town for round-table, Aug.

Editor:

Re: Premier in town for round-table, Aug. 24

As one of the people invited to attend the recent round-table meeting with Premier Christy Clark, I was surprised to see the reaction of some of your readers and thought I might share my first-hand perspective of what actually transpired.

I was invited to attend this round-table in my role as volunteer chair of the Delta Chamber of Commerce and did so with two of my fellow board members and a member of the chamber's transportation committee.

We had an opportunity to convey to the premier some of the interests and concerns of our member businesses, including the South Fraser Perimeter Road and our long-held position on the requirement for interchanges not intersections; the much-needed replacement of the George Massey Tunnel, its feeders and overpasses, and an improved critical incident response plan in the interim; along with the chamber's annual letter to the federal government requesting an immediate resolution to the siltation problem on the Fraser River, another one of our community's key transportation corridors, and the required dredging of its main and secondary channels.

As noted in your story, along with the chamber were representatives of the Tsawwassen First Nation, Corporation of Delta, Delta school board, Burns Bog Conservation Society, Delta Hospital Foundation, the agriculture sector and other individuals and organizations, all of whom had an opportunity to share their interests and concerns too.

Following the meeting with the premier, I found that a video showing excerpts of the various presentations was posted to www.deltasouthbcliberals. org/delta-south-leaders-ourpremier. You can see a portion of the chamber's presentation at 2m30s and the entire list of invited guests at 5m30s.

If in future I receive an invitation to bend the ear of the premier or one of her cabinet ministers on issues and interests of importance to the Delta Chamber of Commerce, I will jump at the opportunity.

Our members expect nothing less.

Ian Tait

Chair Delta Chamber of Commerce