Chamber appalled by harassment stories

Much like the rest of Hamilton, we have been gripped by Susan Clairmont’s reporting on incidents of harassment in the local restaurant industry. With each new story, Clairmont proves why high-quality local journalism is so important to our community.

A reference to the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce in today’s story has caused us to evaluate our role in this matter. In early 2015, our former membership manager introduced Ora’s owner to the publisher of a local monthly magazine. We make hundreds of such introductions a year as our brand promise is “To connect.” In this case, the publisher would have been seeking advertising revenue and the new restaurant would have been seeking to elevate its brand.

Ora was resigned in 2015 for nonpayment of its dues. (And, for what it’s worth, Mezcal/Uno Mas were never members of the chamber.)

We are appalled by the purported actions being investigated among some businesses. Such behaviour does not meet our code of conduct for membership and would result in immediate resignation.

Our members, board and staff have zero tolerance for harassment of any kind and we stand with the survivors. We join the calls of support for the Sexual Assault Centre (Hamilton and Area) to ensure it has the resources necessary to support these and all victims of harassment.

Finally, we would like to thank The Hamilton Spectator for devoting resources to this investigation. Our business community is strengthened through the diligent work of its excellent reporters.

Keanin Loomis, president and CEO, Hamilton Chamber of Commerce