Met with The Honourable Naomi Yamamoto MLA today about #Franchising in #BC
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I was asked a few days go to meet with the Minister of State for Small Business of British Columbia, Naomi Yamamoto. Today was the meeting, in her office.
I have to say, I am very impressed with her and with the ministry staff (also present today). They have, time and again, demonstrated that they are in touch with the needs of business owners, as well as those of the population at large, and the financial health of our province. She is not the only Minister I have had the opportunity to meet with and contribute with, and all have been the same: open, interested, quick to act, and interested in making things better for the benefit of all. It makes me feel very proud of our government.
This meeting is about franchising:
BC is considering putting in place stronger regulations for the protection of Franchisees, which frankly is a pain for franchisors, but a pain worth going through if it helps eliminate poor franchisors from the market, and ensure that all franchisees feel safe, and are taken care of. There are a few unethical franchisors around, or even just inexperienced, and they put the franchisees’ livelihood in danger. Glad that we are taking care of that.
I find that often people are quick to judge our government, no matter what political party is is. The government is slow, inefficient, abusive, etc… We all have something to say about our taxes, about the things we are not getting, the things that could get better, the things that don’t work for us.
For many years, I was livid about the way things were handled within the ministry of Health, which made it very difficult for us to open new schools. Some things made no sense at all. Once there was a regulation which practically made it impossible for schools like ours to open in the city of Vancouver. I thought about the problem, offered a solution, was laughed at, and decided to go to the Mayor of the City. That evening, there was something in the news about the shortage of options for parents of children under five years of age, which made it impossible for parents to return to work after maternity/paternity leave. This is a huge problem. The Mayor appeared on TV saying it was a problem he was determined to solve. That evening, I wrote the Mayor a letter, offering to share my insights. The very next day, he invited me to his office to discuss the issue and get my point of view. Wow. It was Mayor Sam Sullivan.
He listened to my suggestions, and then asked me:
If this is a problem, why didn’t other stakeholders approach me about it?
I thought about the question for a moment, and thought about why I had not approached him for 10 years. Then I said “It is something we are not always sure we can contest. For example, the traffic lights have always been red, yellow and green. No one thinks of contesting that. It is what it is, and we assume there is a reason behind it. It not often that people feel that their solution might be better than the Government’s.”
My issue was brought up at a council meeting, where my suggestion was approved unanimously. This taught me one thing: We have a choice. If we disagree with something, we can be part of the solution. In fact, we have to be.
Since then, I have volunteered my time to help design new legislation, improve on existing regulations, find solutions to issues that affect us all. I mainly volunteer in the education sector, which is where I excel, and where I have the most practical experience.
In any case, today was great, I am happy I got a chance to make a difference.
Especially because I stayed home today, I was not feeling well. I made a special effort to get dressed and get to the meeting, then cam straight home.