Chamber President Sterling Peyton made the announcement at the Chamber's annual meeting on Sept. 12.
The chamber is expecting 1000 delegates to the 2012 Northern Lights Business and Cultural Showcase of Canada's Eastern Arctic and North.
That's an increase from the 800 who attended the 2010 bi-annual showcase in Montreal.
Mr. Peyton said the local chamber of commerce has come a long way since its creation in 1962 and it’s triple-digit bank balance. The Northern Lights showcase — a joint venture — is its largest creation.
“This is just the Labrador North Chamber of Commerce and the Baffin Region Chamber of Commerce In Nunavut — 142 members of two organizations,” Mr. Peyton said.
Along with Mr. Suzuki, the Chambers have invited the ambassadors of countries in the circumpolar regions to attend. They have already received confirmation from the ambassadors of Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
Mr. Peyton said they hope to have a round table with all of the ambassadors during the week of the show.
The Chambers have also invited premiers from across the country. So far a few are on board and others have expressed interest.
The 2012 event will be the third Northern Lights show. The first show took place in Ottawa in 2008. Last year’s show took place in Montreal and next year’s show is scheduled to take place at the new Ottawa Convention Centre.
The show attempts to bring together government, business and the community to showcase what the north has to offer — both culturally and economically.
Visual and performing artists are also invited to take part in the show. As part of the participation, they are expected to highlight their specialty during the show.
Other Projects
The Northern Lights show is not the only big project the local chamber has in the works. The annual Labrador Expo draws businesses from across the country and they recently created their own event-planning brand called ‘venture north.’ The chamber also remains a strong advocate of the proposed Lower Churchill Hydroelectric project, which Mr. Peyton reaffirmed at the annual meeting.
“We’ve been waiting for it for 35 years or longer,” he said. “I don’t want to see this shelved again.”
About the chamber
The chambers of commerce is voluntary organization of local business, commerce and trades people who work towards furthering the interest of local business.
This year the Labrador North Chamber is celebrating its 25th anniversary of incorporation. It was first formed in 1962 and celebrates 50 years of existence next year.
Mr. Peyton said even the Canadian Chamber of Commerce has recognized that the Labrador Chamber is doing things differently than other chambers in the country.
Past and current presidents came together at this year’s AGM sharing the same enthusiasm.
Dave Hunt was the longest serving president.
“We’re doing things that nobody thought we’d do,” he said. “I said to the boys when they came “get your passports because we’re going somewhere. And we did go somewhere — we went across Canada and we went to Russia.”
“I said it then and I’ve always said it ‘Labrador is open for business’.”
For more information on the Northern Lights trade show, check out the website at http://www.northernlightsottawa.com and for more on the chamber see www.chamberlabrador.com.
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