PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
The official magazine and voice
of the Saskatchewan Heavy
Construction Association
Published for
1939 Elphinstone St.
Regina, SK S4T 3N3
Phone: 306-586-1805
Fax: 306-585-3750
www.saskheavy.ca
President, Shantel Lipp
Financial Officer, Ellie Weare
Administrative Assistant, Monisha Joysuree-Caullechurn
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EDITORIAL
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© Copyright 2016 SHCA.
All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may
not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part,
without the prior written consent of SHCA. Direct requests
for reprint permission should be made to the president
of the Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association.
Statements of fact and opinion are the responsibility of
the authors alone and do not imply an opinion on the part
of the officers or members of the Saskatchewan Heavy
Construction Association or Lester Communications Inc.
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SHANTEL LIPP, PRESIDENT, SHCA
Working with
the New Federal
Government
The Canadian Construction
Association (CCA) looks for-ward
to working with the new
government, especially with respect to
the implementation of the new 10-year,
$125-billion infrastructure program, which
promises to nearly double the existing fed-eral
commitment. However, there are some
areas of concern to CCA in the Liberal gov-ernment
platform, including:
Apprenticeship: Prime Minister
Trudeau stated during the election cam-paign
that his government “… will work
with employers and workers to determine
an appropriate apprenticeship ratio for all
federal infrastructure projects.” This sounds
like a quota or contract condition. CCA has
long held that meaningful tax incentives are
more effective in increasing construction
employer engagement in apprenticeship
training than contract quotas or contract
conditions, especially for small business-es.
CCA continues to oppose any attempt
by the federal government to mandate ap-prenticeship
quotas on federal construc-tion
contracts and instead has been calling
for enhancements to the current feder-al
Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit.
While CCA wholeheartedly supports the in-tended
objective, (i.e., to increase employer
engagement in apprenticeship training), it
does not believe that quotas are an effective
approach.
Immigration: Prime Minister Trudeau
stated during the election campaign that a
Liberal government will make immediate
reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker
Program (TFWP) to ensure Canadian work-ers
come first and would seek a full review
of the program by the Auditor General.
Further limiting access to the TFWP will
be problematic for the construction indus-try,
as temporary foreign workers provide a
much needed labour supply to the industry,
and was seen as filling a void.
Environmental review and assess-ment:
The Liberal government has prom-ised
to make environmental assessments
credible again and to restore protections
lost by the previous government’s chang-es
to the Fisheries Act and the Navigable
Waters Protection Act. The concern is
that some of the “green tape” and abuses
of the former regulatory system might be
re-introduced.
Federal fair wages: The Liberal plat-form
also called for the reinstatement of a
fair wages policy for federal procurement,
which CCA opposes as unnecessary and
groundless.
saskheavy.ca | Quarter 4 2016 | Think BIG 5
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