Executive Director's Message

It is my distinct privilege to have been asked to serve as the first full-time Executive Director of the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario. As a Board member of the RCCAO since its inception I was well aware of the association's activities on a number of legislative and policy fronts - such as Planning and OMB reform, the Clean Water Act and the 'Places to Grow' plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

Effective government relations and lobbying is critical to ensuring that the construction industry's message is delivered in a way that will effect positive change. One of my major roles will be to work with all levels of government to seek out solutions to a variety of challenges facing our communities.

Everyone is aware of the infrastructure funding deficit even though there might be some disagreement on the actual magnitude of the problem. Society's challenge is to implement real solutions to address these infrastructure deficiencies, whether it is insufficient transportation infrastructure or deteriorating water and sewer systems. These and many other issues must be dealt with on an urgent basis.

Lessons learned in other jurisdictions can be brought forward to help Ontario deal with its challenges. I encourage you to peruse RCCAO's Infrastructure Funding Deficit report that lists various public-private partnership approaches used in many countries around the world.

Our industry has many regulatory hurdles and the red tape seems to be getting worse every year. Efforts to fast-track infrastructure projects must be sought. For instance, a streamlined environmental approvals process is a prerequisite to proceeding with necessary transit and highway network expansion.

As a labour-management construction alliance, the RCCAO will also continue to press for meaningful immigration reform. There are a large number of undocumented workers employed in the construction industry. Successive governments have not had the courage to properly address this issue. Instead, such workers and their families live in fear of being deported to their country of birth. This type of response is simply unacceptable when there continues to exist a shortage of skilled workers.

I could go on about the range of issues that RCCAO plans to tackle but let me simply conclude that the task will be that much more productive by speaking with a unified voice wherever possible. Please do not hesitate to send me your ideas - our board of directors will discuss these ideas and communicate with various politicians as we prepare for upcoming provincial and federal elections in 2007.

Andy Manahan, Executive Director