Good afternoon.
My name is Debbie Penner. I live in Winkler, Manitoba. I am a mother of three and a wife of 20 years. I also work at Dig-All Construction, a family-run business.
The scope of our business is installing sewer and waterlines. The majority of our work is for the provincial government and the municipalities.
I am honoured to be here today to make a presentation to the Standing Committee on the Status of Women to discuss the barriers that women face in the construction industry.
Currently I am the office manager and administrator for Dig-All Construction and also a shareholder of the company. Other businesses we own are Rosebrook Ltd., which is a retailer of manufactured homes, Rosebrook Place and Minnewasta Meadows, which are mobile home parks within our community.
Humbling myself many years ago, I begged my father for a chance to work for the construction company. I started in 1991, working for minimum wage, which was $5.25 an hour. Looking after the in-house accounting and payroll, with very little knowledge or experience, slowly learning the business, I started to price jobs, order materials, and help set up the projects.
The construction companies I dealt with in the nineties were mostly family-run businesses. It is a male-oriented industry and a callous group. As a woman, I needed to be able to deal with these men on a knowledgeable level, while learning to cope with rude behaviour and discrimination against women in the industry.
At the turn of the century, the construction industry started to change. It was becoming more professional and organized, at least in the administrative and engineering departments. It continues to progress further, from the offices to the construction fields, at a very prolonged pace. As these changes take place, the opportunities continue to grow for women in the construction industry, and today there are women who fill the roles of engineers, on-site inspectors, and administrators, but as for the actual work in the construction field, there are very few. Field work is typically based on physical attributes, where men will hire men.
There used to be a large percentage of men who thought women had no place in the construction industry. This has also changed over the years. There are still the select few who feel intimidated by a woman sitting in on the construction meetings or who glare when a woman shows up at the test holes. The other day, someone asked me why the change in attitude; why is it more acceptable today than it was 20 or even 10 years ago to have women working in the construction field? I believe it has changed for many reasons.
The industry has become more professional and organized through legislation, technology, education, and training. The younger generations are now stepping into management positions, and in some cases have become owners themselves. They are raised with different ideals and standards. The economy has pressured the younger generations to realize it is very difficult to make a living as a one-income family. And technology is also making it easier for women to work in physically demanding positions.
For these barriers to be broken down, the industry has to evolve. Too many old-school employers are still against women entering the construction field. As the younger generations enter the workforce, women are becoming more prevalent in man-made environments, and I see this more and more as each year passes. Whether it is due to the development of educational courses or economic pressures for a family to have two incomes, the overall population has been forced to acknowledge that women are capable of working in male-oriented positions.
I have been a part of the industry for nearly 18 years, and since then I've become knowledgeable and have developed many lasting working relationships. I have a great deal of respect for my fellow industry partners, but when it comes to the contractors, there are still very few women involved. I hope they will encourage women who are seeking to enter the construction industry to come forward. I love the construction industry, and over the years, through a great deal of hard work, long hours, and dedication, I have proven to the construction industry that women are capable of working in this field.
Thank you.