Purpose

The Atlantic Chamber of Commerce (ACC) has a Provincial Advisory Committee (PAC) in each Atlantic Province. These committees provide strategic counsel regarding services, policy development and advocacy initiatives.

As we seek to improve our economic growth prospects and prosperity, the Atlantic region and individual provinces have a substantial number of issues affecting business and communities. The PAC advisory structure helps ACC to inform and validate our advocacy positions on behalf of chamber members amid the many competing interests facing our elected officials today.

Each PAC provides and assists the ACC staff and its Board Policy Committee with:                                                                        

• Identification and input on provincial and regional regulatory issues                        
• Topics of concern to the business community
• Feedback from local chambers where necessary
• Development of position statements and/or policy direction

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The role PAC members play in drawing the attention of the chamber network to potential issues and providing direction is crucial as ACC amplifies the voice of business in the region.

Mandate

PAC members provide vital input on provincial issues and topics of concern to the business community, support background research and opinion surveys of local chambers where necessary, and provide position statement and/or policy direction to the Vice President of Policy and CEO. The PACs meet regularly and through ACC provide updates to the local provincial chambers to help keep the Chamber network informed about PAC direction and activities.

PAC Structure

PACs comprise volunteers from local chambers and area businesses who have a particular interest in policy development and advocacy.

Each PAC consists of:

• A member of the ACC Board of Directors who sits on the ACC Board Policy Committee, and will serve as PAC Chair
• An additional member of the ACC Board of Directors representing that province
• Chamber staff or delegate representative from 1-3 Urban chambers in that province
• Chamber staff or delegate representative from 4-5 Rural region chambers in that province
• Four (4) business members at large representatives from various business sizes and sectors from across the province (nominated by local chambers)
• ACC’s VP Policy (and/or CEO) who are the PAC spokespersons