Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your invitation to appear here today to discuss Bill C-38, as it contains measures that we support and that are very important to our members. My name is Terrance Oakey and I'm the president of Merit Canada. Merit Canada is the national voice of eigh

Finance committee  Our board is made up of 13 contractors from across the country who are all elected by our provincial associations.

Finance committee  We have a funding arrangement for the eight provincial associations. Some are larger than others. There's a much larger open shop construction industry in Alberta and British Columbia and smaller ones in other parts of the country. Of course, Quebec is an open shop as well.

Finance committee  Thank you for that question. I understand what you're getting at, and I'm happy to discuss Bill C-377 here if you wish, or the budget bill. In terms of Bill C-377, there's a key distinction between any voluntary member organization and a labour organization. It's not a conditio

Finance committee  Currently, we do not. As we've always said both publicly and to our members, if the federal government chooses to pass a piece of legislation that would require that we do, we would comply.

Finance committee  Sure. I'd be happy to do that. Our industry faces an acute labour shortage, especially in Alberta, but it will soon be spreading to other places in the country. We fully support changes to the temporary foreign worker program that Minister Kenney announced. We also support chan

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  Yes. The Construction Sector Council of Canada has put out a report saying that roughly 300,000 skilled tradespeople in addition to what we already have will be needed by the end of the decade.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  Yes. We haven't commented specifically on the EI changes. I haven't had a chance to look at the details on them, but anything that encourages people to fill a job that is available is something we would support, because we have such an acute labour shortage in construction. I can

Finance committee  Sure. We're here to support the repeal of the measure that I spoke about earlier. We believe that the federal government doesn't really have a role in regulating wages in what is a high-paying industry. Whether it's a collective bargaining agreement—which the UFCW will enter into

Finance committee  Thank you. As I stated before, our industry is facing an acute labour shortage. But as I also stated, using temporary foreign workers and immigration is the most expensive way for construction companies to staff up, so it's always used as a measure of last resort. We support many

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. I'd like to thank you for this opportunity to add Merit Canada's voice to the pre-budget consultations. You will be pleased to know that, unlike many organizations and witnesses you've heard at this committee in the past, I am

Finance committee  There are numerous examples where the federal government does insist on that. I referenced the Nova Scotia agreement. There are many that involve the Province of Alberta. From our perspective, it's simply including a provision that would not allow union-only contracting, to ensu

Finance committee  Yes, and with certain provinces.