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CGA Newsletter – February 2008

The Canadian Glass Association brings news to the industry from coast-to-coast.

Dave Husson, CGA president

As one of my first duties as the new president for the Canadian Glass Association (CGA), I would like to wish everyone a healthy and prosperous 2008.

On November 28, 2007, the CGA held its Annual General Meeting in Toronto, Ontario, at the Construct Canada Show where it introduced the new executive officers for the association. The CGA executive for 2008-2009 include:
• President, David Husson of British Columbia;
• First Vice-President, Dennis Haatvedt of Ontario;
• Second Vice-President, Ken Kassian of Saskatchewan; and
• Past President, Dieter Ringler of Ontario.

During the meeting, the CGA accepted the resignation of Mike Summers, who represented the Auto Glass sector of the association. He
was a founding member of the CGA and we wish him well in his future endeavors. A search for his replacement is currently underway.

The highlight of the meeting was a lengthy discussion regarding the Glazing Specifications Manual. The Board of Directors invited the board members of the Architectural Glass & Metal Contractors Association (AGMCA) and the Ontario Glass & Metal Association (OGMA) for this discussion. A total review of the ‘marketing’ and ‘technical’ aspects of the Glazing Specifications Manual were discussed with a look at what issues may arise in the future. It is anticipated that Ontario will join British Columbia, where the manual was originally drafted, and Alberta, which adopted the manual for that province a few years ago, this spring in using the manual as a minimum standard for the glazing industry.

Crystal Vision Award
The first Canadian Glass Association Crystal Vision Award was presented to Keith Pynoo on June 22, 2007 at the joint meeting of the Canadian Glass Association and the Glazing Contractors Association (GCA) of British Columbia.

Pynoo, who is from Calgary, Alberta, was the CGA’s first president and has completed his term as past president. He is currently a CGA director representing the Glass and Architectural Metal Association (GAMA) of Calgary and the Provincial Glaziers Association of Alberta (PGAA). For more than 20 years, Pynoo has been involved in various aspects of the glass industry as executive of GAMA, PGAA and the GCA of British Columbia.

CGA executives met for the CGA Annual General Meeting in Toronto, Ontario, in November 2007. From back row left: Richard Verdon, representing the National Capital Glass Association (NCGA); Keith Pynoo, representing the Provincial Glaziers Association of Alberta (PGAA) and the Glass and Architectural Metal Association (GAMA) in Calgary; and guest, Steve Petersen from GAMA. Front row left: past president Dieter Ringler, representing the Ontario Glass and Metal Association (OGMA); first vice-president Dennis Haatvedt, representing the Architectural Glass and Metal Contractors Association (AGMCA); president David Husson, representing the Glazing Contractors Association (GCA) of British Columbia; and second vice-past president, director Ken Kassian, representing the Glass Dealers Association of Saskatchewan (GDAS).

The Crystal Vision Award will be presented bi-annually to the CGA executive member who exemplifies the visions, objectives and ethics of the CGA and the glass industry across Canada. The recipient of the award will be selected by the incoming president of the CGA and the new CGA executive. -end-

GTA
Ross Wady, President, submits this report: The Glass Trades Association (GTA) of Northern Alberta presents the volunteers in its various committees who are the strength of the association: Lynn Allan, Beacon Glass, Apprenticeship and Education; Ron Kokotilo, Bahry’s Glass, Contract Glazing; James Drewe, Hayward Glass, and Sonny Nguyen, TSN, Safety; Ryan Ardiel, Tremco Sealants, Social; and Tammy Lanovaz, Supertint, Web site – www.gta-ab.com

The GTA executive for 2008 includes: Ross Wady, All Glass Parts, President; Joe Millard, Bahry’s Glass, Treasurer; Wayne Brandt, Kawneer, Secretary; Rick Zuchetto, US Aluminum, Past President. First and Second Vice-President positions are open.

The annual Christmas party was held at the Mayfield Inn on December 7 with 200 attendees to kick-off the
holiday season. The social committee also looks forward to the 2008 Annual GTA Golf Tournament and this year the association will host the Annual North/South Challenge. This golf tournament brings together members of both the GTA and its sister organization in Calgary, the Glass and Architectural Metals Association (GAMA), for friendly, competitive golf.

Projects the association is pursuing this year include:
• Expanding the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) glazing apprenticeship program to include an Edmonton campus. The objective is to attract more students from Edmonton and Northern Alberta into the glazing trade by offering the glazing program in Edmonton. This initiative is in its infancy but it looks promising.
• The safety committee is working hard to inform members in a timely manner of safety issues in the industry.
• The contract committee is working with hardware suppliers to address issues common to both hardware suppliers and glazing contractors with a view to establishing solutions that will work for both.

• The new GTA web site is up and running. Visit: www.gta-ab.com -end

PGAA
Tom Woodman, President of Provincial Glaziers Association of Alberta (PGAA), submits this report: Glaziers in Alberta have been extremely busy throughout the past year. The economy and pace in Alberta is unlike anything many of us have seen before. Chronic labour shortages, dramatic wage increases, extended delivery times for products are all issues glaziers are trying to deal with.

Building permits statistics issued by Merit Contractors Association for Edmonton in 2006 were $1,646,806,900 and in Calgary, $3,496,537,887. This year, permits to the end of September were $1,793,559,000 in Edmonton and a whopping $4,310,802,800 in Calgary. Busy times indeed!

The PGAA has been working on providing liability insurance coverage for its members as well as liability insurance for its directors. This would include all of the members of GAMA and GTA.

The Annual General Meeting in Edmonton takes place on February 29 which will see the election for the new executive members of the PGAA. -end

CGA president elect David Husson (right) presents past president Dieter Ringler a gift as a small token of appreciation for his hard work as the CGA president for the previous two years.

GDAS
Ken Kassian, President, submits this report: The Glass Dealers Association of Saskatchewan (GDAS) held its Annual General Meeting in Regina this past year where it hosted an Auto Glass Technician Competition. The competition was held at the SGI Technical Research facility, where nine contestants competed for the honour of being the best autoglass technician in Saskatchewan. The winner of the competition was Brendan Picard of Novus Auto Glass in Regina who went to compete at the Auto Glass Olympics in Las Vegas, Nevada, held November 1 to 3 at the Mandalay Convention Centre.

By holding this competition, the association was able to draw attention to the autoglass trade and emphasize the importance of safety in the installation of autoglass. The event drew a large amount of spectators from both the industry as well as the insurance end of the business. The success of the competition was due to the support of those suppliers involved in our industry. Without them, we would not have been able to hold this event.

For those companies that are not involved in autoglass, the association held a vinyl window installation seminar and question period which was conducted by Award Windows of Edmonton. The seminar was well received by those in attendance.

The day was concluded with a banquet and entertainment in the evening, which was attended by more than 130 delegates and guests.

Apprenticeship and training
The industry in Saskatchewan has had an extremely busy year with record construction and business activity. The economic growth was second only to Alberta this year, with forecasts predicting this trend to continue for next year. This economic growth has had an impact on available skilled labour and the glass industry has not been spared. The association is continuing to promote apprenticeship into our trade, but with only limited success.

This is one area were the CGA can assist smaller associations in developing programs for the use of smaller associations or persuading larger associations to share their programs and materials. As an association, the GDAS continues to offer two annual bursaries of $500 each for apprentices enrolled in the first and second year of the program.

Architectural glass and metal
A committee is still pursuing the idea of adopting the Glazing Systems Specifications Manual developed by the Glazing Contractors Association of British Columbia. Changes would have to be made to the manual to make it relevant to Saskatchewan, which means having the manual reviewed by a Saskatchewan engineer. This process is both expensive and time consuming. The GDAS is also working closely with the Saskatchewan Bid Depository by making recommendations for changes to the glass and glazing and
curtainwall trade scopes.

Autoglass
The GDAS has not had any success in negotiations with the Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) regarding fair market insurance pricing of autoglass. The goal is to have something in place by the end of the first quarter of 2008. In the meanwhile, the association will continue to promote safe installation practices to members by having them participate in such things as the autoglass installation competition and seminars.
The autoglass committee has discussed participating in the newly formed International Automotive Glass Federation, based in Europe. However, it decided to wait to get this province’s own industry in order before venturing to the international stage.

Coming events
• May 3, 2008: Annual General Meeting and Banquet at the Travelodge Hotel, and the Auto Glass Technician Competition, in Saskatoon.
• August 23, 2008: GDAS Bill Knapman Memorial Golf Tournament at the Harbor Golf and Resort in Elbow, Saskatchewan. -end-

Dieter Ringler (right) past president of the CGA, presents Keith Pynoo, director and the association’s first president, with the first Canadian Glass Association Crystal Vision Award.

AGMCA
Dennis Haatvedt, President of the Architectural Glass & Metal Contractors Association (AGMCA), submits this report: Contractors and our industry at large have been very busy. Most contractors in Ontario are experiencing the same difficulties: stiff competition, job scheduling, manufacturing issues, contract issues, cash flow, government regulation, labour issues and so on.

The AGMCA in particular, all of its contractors are unionized which adds a tremendous amount of responsibility and burden for the association. The association’s Labour Relations Committee has worked diligently and responsibly to forge new Labour Relations Agreements with the IUPAT union. Results from these negotiations proved fair and equitable for the industry at large.

As part of its responsibilities, the AGMCA and its volunteer practitioners participate as trustees to Employer Pension and Health & Welfare Plans that represent hundreds of millions of dollars. Couple these responsibilities with the participation in its Apprenticeship and Journeyperson Training Programs and the industry’s direct financial contribution of more than $425,000, this clearly shows that contractors support its most valuable resource: its tradespersons.

Effective July 23, 2007, a new regulation came in to effect to govern our trade. Changes made under Ontario’s Trade Qualifications Act encompassed needed changes to make regulations less burdensome and updated the industry scope and the addition of elements to reflect today’s industry practices.

Also of significance was a change of the trade name from Glazier and Metal Mechanic to Architectural Glass and Metal Technician. The change of trade name was supported to assist the industry in promoting the trade within the school system, students, parents, school councillors and others considering a career in Ontario’s building trades. In addition to these new regulations, the minister responsible for apprenticeship trades recently appointed a public policy advisor to review the issue of compulsory certification in the skilled trades. Compulsory certification means that only certified skilled workers or registered apprentices can work in that trade. Our industry trade is a regulated trade in Ontario and not a compulsory certified trade.

For those who have interest in Occupational Health and Safety, the association distributes its Health & Safety Policy and Program Guide for Glazier Contractors. This guide is a 60 page booklet, originally introduced in 2004, and has been widely circulated and well received. The AGMCA has made the booklet available to all glazier contractors by posting this document on the association’s web site at: www.agmca.ca -end-