January 30, 2021 – EBMag has learned that Electrical Contractors Association of Ontario is involved with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s Vaccination Support Council.

We speak with ECAO’s executive director, Graeme Aitken, to learn more about the association’s role on the council, and the initiatives the council is undertaking to help put more needles into arms and educate the public to get us through the Covid crisis.

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) announced the establishment of the Ontario Vaccination Support Council on January 19, and ECAO is among the roughly 100 founding businesses and organizations.

The Council will leverage the businesses and organizations involved, representing hundreds of thousands of employees from across Ontario, to provide support for Ontario’s Covid-19 vaccination effort, with the ultimate goal of ending the pandemic.

The council will be co-chaired by James Scongack (Bruce Power) and Garrick Tiplady (Facebook).

“The faster the Ontario population is inoculated, the faster we can safely reopen and work together on the province’s economic recovery,” said Rocco Rossi, president & CEO of the Chamber. “Ontario’s business community stands ready to assist in the fight against COVID-19 and help drive our economic recovery in the future.”

The Council brings together a diverse group of OCC members, representing a range of sectors, to share pertinent information and provide government with “timely and evidence-based recommendations”. The Council will:

• Provide Ontario’s business community with a window into the Ontario Vaccine Distribution Task Force to share public health information; updates on logistics and distribution plans and seek input on non-health-related issues.

• Consolidate a directory of capabilities and services within the Chamber Network that could be utilized and procured by government, hospitals and public health in the distribution of vaccinations.

• Share policies, best practices and approaches with government to ensure the maximum participation of employers and their employees in vaccination efforts with a specific focus on being proactive and removing barriers.

“While there will be challenges ahead in such a large and critical effort, the Council will bring together Ontario’s business community—leveraging their agility, capability, innovation and engagement—to ensure we face this challenge together as Ontarians,” said Scongack.