North Bay, ON – As per the bylaws of the North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce that any Board member who runs for public office, shall take a leave of absence from his or her position for the duration of an election campaign.
We have been made aware that President Derek Shogren has filed his papers today to run for municipal council and therefore immediately takes a leave of absence from the Chamber. In the absence of the President, the 1st Vice President assumes the role. As such, in his absence, 1st Vice President Jake Lacourse takes over the role of acting President effective immediately.
Jake Lacourse has been an executive member for the past 2 years. Jake is the Assistant Manager of the Clarion Resort Pinewood Park and has been a very dedicated volunteer to the Chamber board for over 6 years. Lacourse stated “it is my pleasure to step into the role of President in the interim. Along with the other board members, the Chamber will continue to support our business colleagues through numerous current projects such as Investment Attraction, Tourism Capacity Building, as well as run our networking and educational programming for our members.” The Chamber is noted for hosting Meet the Candidates events and Mr. Lacourse said “this election is no different, the Government Affairs committee has been in the planning stages for months to ensure that the electorate have an opportunity to Meet with candidates for council, as well as a debate for the mayoral candidates.” While the location of the Mayoral debate is still being discussed, the date has been set for Wednesday, October 1st, 2014. Meet the Candidates for Council is being hosted at the Clarion on Tuesday, October 7th, 2014. Lacourse continued by saying “we have always encouraged the public to be engaged when elections roll around, and become informed voters on the issues, whether they are local, provincial or federal.” As well, Mr. Lacourse also commended those in running for office stating “all candidates that allow their name to stand for public office, are putting themselves out there for the betterment of the constituents and their communities, but it can sometimes be a very thankless job.” Mr. Lacourse wished all the candidates well in this year’s Municipal election.
As the bylaws state: Upon election to public office whether it be Municipal, Provincial, Federal or a Trustee of a Board of Education, that person shall resign their position with the Chamber. Should a candidate be unsuccessful in the election, they may reclaim their seat with the Chamber.
Therefore by this notice, the spokesperson for the Chamber to the public and media, effective immediately is Jake Lacourse, up to and including the municipal election date of October 27, 2014 until the election results are know.
Sincerely,
Patti Carr, Executive Director
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