Chamber may sever ties with Caboto, club says report is wrong

The Giovanni Caboto Club in Windsor, Ont., on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. (Michelle Maluske / CTV Windsor)

The Windsor and Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce may cut ties with the Caboto Club.

Chamber President Matt Marchand tweeted Friday morning that he will recommend the Chamber sever its relationship with the club and he's confident the board will agree.

Marchand says he's acting on public backlash with the club's policy to allow only men as voting members, and a report that the club excludes people with physical disabilities.

“The Windsor-Essex Chamber is one of the leaders for helping people with disabilities get into the wokforce, and the story about not allowing folks with disabilities to be members did not sit particularly well with us,” says Marchand.

“It would certainly be my recommendation until they update the policy to reflect the values of 2018, we should suspend our relationship with the Caboto Club,” adds Marchand.

But the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Caboto Club, Dennis Segatto, tells CTV Windsor the reports are inaccurate, and it is from an old policy that changed in 2012.

Segatto adds he won't comment further because they are considering legal action with the report in the Windsor Star.

The 93-year-old Giovanni Caboto Club has drawn criticism since Premier Kathleen Wynne decided to cancel a town hall meeting at the centre, over its policy to not allow women as voting members.

The Caboto Club regularly hosts business conferences, weddings, charity fundraisers and political rallies. It also has an "auxiliary" group for women that operates as a separate organization with its own board. The Italian Women’s Club was founded at the Caboto in 1930.