The Burnaby Board of Trade hosted all three provincial leaders at events in the past year, giving members the opportunity to hear from differing sides of B.C.'s political spectrum.
The board's president and CEO Paul Holden and events manager Corey Redekop started the initiative.
The board has a mandate to provide access to elected officials and has done so previously with its city council reception and the Burnaby mayor's state of the city address luncheon, Redekop said in an email to the NOW.
"About a year ago, Paul Holden took over as president and CEO and I took over as events manager, and the two of us identified this as an area where we could do more to put the interests of the Burnaby business community front and centre," he added.
The board sent invitations to Premier Christy Clark, B.C. NDP leader Adrian Dix, and B.C. Conservative leader John Cummins, and worked with the leaders' staff to coordinate schedules during the past year, he said.
Last July, the board hosted a luncheon with Dix. In February, the board held a breakfast with Clark as the speaker, and this month, they hosted Cummins.
The breakfast with Clark brought in more than 350 attendees, according to a press release from the board.
Other past politi-cal speakers who have been part of the board's Distinguished Speaker Series include B.C. Minister of Finance Kevin Falcon; Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Minister Pat Bell; and federal Minister of State for Democratic Reform Tim Uppal.
"From the attendance at the events and from the feedback we've received, we know that this concerted effort to bring key political players right into Burnaby has been a success, providing our members with unique insight from government and access to the individuals shaping the policy impacting their businesses and communities," Redekop said.
