Personalities behind the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce (1991-1993)
One of the Nationalistic Park in Manitoba. Fort Garry was commemorated as the place where treaty #1 was signed between the Ojibwa and Swampy Cree of Manitoba, and the Crown.
Steve Childerhouse (1991)
“I was the bad cop, and Sandy (Hopkins — incoming president) was the good cop,” says Steve
Childerhouse, who admits as Chamber president he was often in “attack mode.”
The memory is painful, but relations with City Hall soured after he was accused of calling the mayor a liar during a rally on the steps of the Legislature. Speaking out against an increase in city council pensions, things got misconstrued when he used the quote “there are lies, damn lies and statistics.”
He remains proud, however, of his efforts to get The Chamber onside in support of Sunday shopping.
“The board had defeated Sunday shopping. They couldn’t make up their minds because of the religious aspect and the day off versus more opportunities for businesses to be available to the public. In my term, they finally said OK, we’ll support it.”
He also got The Chamber involved in CAP-IT, the Coalition Against Perpetually Increasing Taxes.
“It was not just The Chamber complaining about taxes. The Consumers Association, the Manitoba Society of Seniors, the CFIB and maybe one or two other organizations came together to formulate a plan and spoke out in the media. What resulted was a city review looking at business and property taxes. Later, the city froze property taxes.”
Sandy Hopkins (1992)
“Others have told me the biggest impact I had was on the relationship with City Hall. The change of tone, working co-operatively to make Winnipeg a better place to live,” says Sandy Hopkins.
However, he personally cites the role he played with respect to Sunday shopping and the creation of the Bannatyne Fund.
“The Chamber was often working from a position of instinct rather than from solid information. The board needed better intelligence, but it didn’t have the money. We set up the Bannatyne Fund with the idea that we’d fund research projects — one important study per year.”
Hopkins was also instrumental in changing the organizational structure of The Chamber — so the senior staff person became the president.
“There was tremendous resistance from the older presidents, who came out en masse to the AGM, attended by some 200 people. As president, I chaired the meeting. I stepped down from the podium to argue the case. My successor, Terry Cristall, became the first ever board chair.”
Along with that, The Chamber’s year-end changed.
Ironically, it was during his term that The Chamber actively promoted the Jimmy Carter Build for Habitat for Humanity. More than a decade later, he is CEO of Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg.
Terry Cristall (1993)
When it came to issues, “the big one” for him was Sunday shopping, says Terry Cristall,,
“It was definitely fascinating and somewhat entertaining with so many votes against us at City Hall.”
To try to persuade the powers that be that the public was behind The Chamber on Sunday shopping, an article was put in the newspaper with a ballot to clip and send to The Chamber, he says.
“We got bags and bags of mall coming in just before Christmas. So someone dressed up as Santa, took all the bags and delivered them to City Hall.”
The campaign was successful and in 1994, Sunday shopping was introduced.
On another front, The Chamber opened the doors to businesses in other countries, very aggressively pursuing relationships with countries such as India.
“For me, personally, discovering how much activity was going on in the province — the diversity of economic opportunities — was incredible,” Cristall says. “Mixing in the community and providing service, you start to bond and understand the potential synergies. The best people I’ve n in the world are here, and I’ve traveled a fair bit.”
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