February 13, 2006

Construction industry weighs in on Conservative election victory

By Peter Kenter

DCN correspondent What’s already being described as a “Thin Blue Line” characterizes the victory of Canada’s new Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, who formed a narrow minority government with the Conservative’s 124-seat win in Monday’s federal election.

While Harper will have to seek support from other parties to pass any major initiatives, construction stakeholders expect him to keep his word on explicit promises made during the election campaign.

“We positioned ourselves so we can work with the new Conservative government,” says Michael Atkinson, President of the Canadian Construction Association (CCA). “Being apolitical we changed our government relations lobbying style to make sure our issues were known to the shadow cabinets and opposition critics as well. Obviously, now that Mr. Harper is Prime Minister, we will spend some time with him and his caucus.”

The CCA has already gone on record as being supportive of several Conservative promises: a stand-alone $2-billion infrastructure program to invest in roads, highways, and border crossings; a promise to give municipalities more say in how they spend federal infrastructure investments; employer tax credits for hiring apprentices, and grants to apprentices and tradespeople to cover the cost of tools, with accelerated write-offs for tool purchases.

“We will be holding Mr. Harper’s feet to the fire on these promises,” says Atkinson. “Hopefully, we’ll see Rahim Jaffer, the Conservative Infrastructure and Communities Critic, and James Moore, the Transportation Critic, named to cabinet positions.”

The Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada (ACEC) also expects the Conservatives to make good on infrastructure commitments, says association president Claude Paul Boivin. “Four-and-a-half-years ago, infrastructure was not part of the political landscape and now all of the major parties are talking about it, so that in itself is a victory.”

Boivin says the ACEC would also like to see the Conservatives commit to making the municipal transfers of gas tax revenue permanent, extending the government’s current five-year commitment.

The organization is also asking the government to draft a 20-year plan to address the nation’s infrastructure deficit with some specific remedies.

“During the election campaign the Conservatives committed to re-Canadianize foreign aid,” says Boivin. “There’s been a tendency over the past few years to send money to UN agencies or to other countries. We’d like to see Canadians delivering aid programs and to see the Canadian International Development Agency re-introduce support for infrastructure programs — something that developing countries have identified as their highest priority.”

Organizations representing construction labour are more reserved about the Conservative win.

“We’ve spent the last 12 years patiently working with the Liberals, explaining what construction is and how important it is to the Canadian economy,” says Robert Blakely, director of Canadian Affairs for the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO.

“We’re starting with a new group of people who may not know who we are or what we are.

“The simple fact is that construction is linked with the federal government as the biggest consumer of construction services, the biggest provider of construction funding and as the body that provides training transfers to the provinces. We’ve built bridges to all the parties and we have to be actively engaged with whoever forms the government. It’s just business as usual for the construction industry.”

The new government must focus on urban infrastucture - and not just road building - says Barry Stevens, chair of the Central Ontario Building Trades.

“Harper hasn’t made any real progress in the three key urban areas of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. But he can’t punish the urban voters who didn’t support his party.

“If he wants to show himself to be a centrist leader and not a right wing ideologue he should support municipal infrastructure initiatives like subways, rapid transit and water treatment plants that help cities to work, and not more roads that create urban sprawl.”

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