From Left: Jason Grbavac, Ivan Luksic, Steve Pocrnic (Board), Joe Draganjac (Board), John Marion (Board), Steve Pozgaj (Board), Mike Yelavich (Board), Steve Krasic (Board), Ivan Grbesic (Board), Diana Alpeza, Nick Lela, John Alpeza (Board), Jose Zlatar.

The Chamber's Board of Directors met with Croatian-Canadian Liberal Party delegates in advance of the leadership convention in Montreal in December. "The Chamber is a proponent of Croats entering the political sphere," said Chamber president John Marion. "We support Croatian candidates regardless of their affiliation and encourage our community's involvement in the political process.

Unfortunately, there are not many Croatian-Canadians running for political office," said Michael Yelavich, Board Member and Chair of the Chamber's Committee on Government Relations. "Our people are involved behind the scenes as campaign workers and it is time that we put forth candidates at all levels of government. These individuals will be our politicians of the future and we want them to know that we're behind them."

The delegates introduced themselves to the Board and the ensuing discussion reaffirmed that our community needs to overcome any stigma attached to entering politics and become more active, especially in those areas with higher concentrations of Croats.

Each delegate to the convention received a financial contribution towards accommodation expenses, for which they expressed their gratitude to the Chamber.