Doug Ford touts billions for infrastructure, new apprenticeship training system in provincial budget, OGCA speech

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Doug Ford Frank Snyder
Premier Doug Ford greets Frank Snyder of Snyder Construction in Ashburn Ontario.

Fresh from his provincial budget delivery, Ontario premier Doug Ford showed up at the Ontario General Contractorsโ€™ Association (OGCA) Symposium on April 12 to tout his governmentโ€™s โ€œopen for businessโ€ initiatives, with a focus on โ€œcutting red tape and regulationsโ€ and tax savings to encourage โ€œbusinesses to invest in Ontario and create jobs.โ€

And infrastructure spending will be a top priority.

โ€œGet your shovels ready, because weโ€™re going to be pouring money into infrastructure,โ€ Ford said in a lunchtime speech to the OGCA gathering at the Blue Mountain Resort.

Planned changes to the apprenticeship system, which will allow for more flexible training and certification in a full trade or in a portable skill set, drew mixed reactions, including observations from OGCA government relations director David Frame that he needs to study the actual budget legislation (Section 40) very closely to understand the implementation and details of the proposed new training model.

Notably, the Ontario Building Trades, representing organized labour, expressed support for the governmentโ€™s infrastructure spending, even as it expressed concerns about the training provisions to replace the Ontario College of Trades (OCOT).

โ€œThe provincial budget delivers on key infrastructure investments to support jobs in Ontarioโ€™s construction industry based on the $14.7 billion projected for 2019-20,โ€ said Patrick Dillon, business manager of the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario.

The government says its current plans are part of a $144 billion 10-year infrastructure commitment. โ€œSeeing continued funding for projects reinforces new opportunities for skills training that Ontarioโ€™s construction workers are key to embark on,โ€ Dillon said. โ€œThe Building Trades look forward to working with the government to promote apprenticeship in the skilled trades as a first-choice career path.โ€

In his OGCA speech, Ford summarized some aspects of the proposed new apprenticeship and training approach. โ€œUnder our new portable approach, apprentices and journey people will be able to work in a variety of industries, (and be) trained in skills across different trades.โ€

โ€œSmall businesses can employ apprentices through employer groupsโ€ and a new โ€œchief training and skills advisor will be appointed to support new programs,โ€ he said.

These changes have won the approval fo the Progressive Contractors Association (PCA) of Canada, which advocates for non-union employers and those whose workers are represented by the Christian Labour Alliance of Canada (CLAC) which encourages workers to develop multiple skills.

โ€œThe Ford government has shown in this budget that it understands the challenges facing Ontarioโ€™s construction and skilled trades sector,โ€ said Sean Reid, PCAโ€™s vice-president and regional director, Ontario. โ€œPCA has for years been calling for a new approach to apprenticeship and skilled trades training in Ontario. We need a system that is less bureaucratic, more focussed on job-ready skills for workers, and more responsive to shifting market needs. This budget shows that the Ford government is answering our call.โ€

The budget document shows a commitment to creating โ€œdynamic labour markets and safe workplacesโ€ with plans to develop a โ€œnew governance frameworkโ€ to replace the OCOT, the Building Trades said in a statement.

โ€œThus far, indicators are that there has been a lack of consultation between the government and the legitimate apprenticeship trades training providers in Ontario,โ€ Dillon said. โ€œWe intend to work with the government to improve the trades training system insofar as the government shares that intent.

โ€œThe Building Trades training providers will work with any and all interested parties, including government, consumers, employers and owner-clients to further strengthen the most highly trained, safest and most productive construction workforce in North America.

โ€œThis involves establishing a robust trades regulation system that will effectively sere customers, owner-clients, construction employers, and especially apprentices at a time of solid economic performance.โ€

In his speech, Ford said: โ€œWeโ€™re giving people the tools to bring people in to accelerate their training, and give them an opportunity โ€“ and we got rid of the College of Trades which was a pain in the backside.โ€

However, the actual structure of the training system to replace the OCOT is still unclear and the details will determine how the construction industry is able to adapt and implement the new procedures, OGCAโ€™s David Frame indicated.

The budget indicates significant capital contributions and planned expenses for both transit and heath care, though municipalities are expressing concern that the originally expected revenue from gas tax increases wonโ€™t happen, now that the government has cancelled these taxes.

Among allocations are $28.5 billion for transit in Toronto, including a new 15-km. Ontario Line, replacing an originally planned much shorter TTC relief line.

The budget also includes a Health Capital Investment of $17 billion in capital grants over the next 10 years to increase hospital capacity and address urgent issues, and close to $13 billion in capital grants over the next decade to build new schools in high-growth areas and improve the condition of existing schools.

The government plans to cut red tape and end delays that have blocked the development of the Ring of Fire area in Northern Ontario by working with willing partners to ensure sustainable development in the North, the PCA says in its statement.

In his speech, Ford railed against the Carbon Tax, saying โ€œit does nothing for the environment.โ€

โ€œItโ€™s a tax with the word carbon in front of itโ€ but it simply makes everything more expensive. โ€œHow do you compete in the worldโ€™s economy with one hand tied behind your back,โ€ he said.

Ford said the province can quite easily achieve its greenhouse gas reduction targets without forcing the tax on Ontarioโ€™s population. He said the government will fight the tax in the โ€œSupreme Court with the support of Saskatchewan and New Brunswick and other provinces. . . this is going to kill our competitiveness.โ€

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