The Kamloops Chamber of Commerce has faced a lot of backlash online, after they announced Cascades Casino as the Business of the Year.
That’s as casino workers were on the picket line for several months, even though a tentative deal was reached today.
Chamber First Vice President Vivek Sharma says the award is for work done in 2017, noting the nominations came in sometime in March.
“Just the overall commitment to the community is something that is very worthy,” he said. “The strike is unfortunate, but the award a completely different thing.”
Sharma noted that the Casino helped us feed 100,000 evacuees during the 2017 B.C. fire season, adding they’re also involved with the United Way Drive-Thru Breakfast, and the Kamloops Food Bank, among other things.
“Not recognizing them for what they did, and given they went through a completely transparent and meticulous process, in our mind that would have been doing a disservice to those people who deserve that award,” said Sharma.
Sharma added sometimes you have to look beyond the optics and do what is right, and the right thing he says was recognizing the efforts of the people who work at the casino.