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CGA Newsletter – December 2018

National activities of the Canadian Glass Association are on hiatus pending discussions of a new direction for the association.

Canadian Glass Association
National activities of the Canadian Glass Association are on hiatus pending discussions of a new direction for the association. To help chart a course forward, please contact David Langton at dlangton@compglass.com.

Fenestration Association of B.C.
Oct. 24 was the FenBC Industry Conference at Sheraton Guildford in Surrey. We had a great program featuring discussions on the Flexibility Provision in the city of Vancouver, updates from Fenestration Canada on the new Fenestration Installation Certification program and an update on the Canadian methodology for window U-values in Passive House buildings. The sessions continued with a presentation on code-compliant fire-rated glazing options in Canada and an update on the B.C. Energy Efficiency Act. Our keynote lunch speaker discussed cannabis in the workplace.  The afternoon sessions addressed complying with CSA A500 and selecting windows for the Step Code.

Our keynote breakfast session “The Code Talkers” will be a recurring panel session at all our conferences. This session gives the audience an opportunity to discuss any and all code-related issues that the entire fenestration industry is facing. The focus of this session is to learn what the industry is facing in understanding code interpretation and if there are solutions based on the knowledge in the audience and on the panel. If there are no solutions or answers provided then the technical committee will develop a task group to look into the question further with the goal of finding a solution that all the groups involved can accept.

Save the dates:

• FenBC Technical Conference and AGM: Feb. 28 at Northview Golf Course in Surrey
• Golf tournament: May 16 at Northview Golf Course
• FenBC Industry Conference: Oct. 23

Provincial Glaziers Association of Alberta
We are working on a couple of initiatives right now. One of these is a request from the Alberta Construction Association (ACA) regarding post-election advocacy. They want us to distribute a simple scorecard to employees to have them keep a checklist of which candidates are most likely to protect jobs, lower tax burdens, add to quality of life, protect construction jobs and get Alberta oil flowing. Ideally, this input would flow back through employers to the PGAA and on to the ACA. An example of the scorecard is posted on the PGAA website in an article posing this question. We are awaiting member responses.

Jonathon Greenland has graciously stepped up to chair the 2019 PGAA golf tournament and to breathe a little life into it. We greatly appreciate Jonathon and we should all look for some communication on this early in 2019.

Architectural Glass and Metal Contractors Association
BILL 148: Our association is pleased with the Oct. 23 announcement by Premier Ford that his government will repeal this flawed piece of legislation. The Wynne Liberals introduced this controversial labour bill, which took effect Jan. 1. Our members had no problem with the minimum wage hike, but were very concerned with other aspects including the two paid emergency leave days, which had potential for rampant abuse, especially in a multi-employer setting such as ours. Our association lobbied Premier Ford and his minister of labour, Laurie Scott, and apparently our voice and indeed the voice of all our construction industry partners was heard.

COR: On Oct. 18, our association held a very informative breakfast seminar on Certificate of Recognition, or COR. COR is an IHSA national standard for workplace health and safety systems, and is a level contractors must achieve before being allowed to bid on projects in many jurisdictions in the GTA and beyond. Any interested members who were unable to attend are urged to contact us for further information.

CANNABIS:  After becoming legal on Oct. 17, many of our members are struggling to update their company policies as they relate to cannabis in the workplace. Employers have the right to ban cannabis from their shops and jobsites, just as they have the right to ban alcohol. Please contact our office for more information, and for help in updating company policies.

More information about these topics can be found on our website, agmca.ca, and as always we can be reached by email at info@agmca.ca.

Our board of directors would like wish all our members a safe and healthy holiday season, and we look forward to a prosperous 2019!

Ontario Glass and Metal Association
FALL SEMINAR: The November seminar on demystifying the bonding process and Certificate of Recognition was hugely informative. The OGMA would like to extend our sincere appreciation to our presenters from bonding specialists, Petrela, Winter, and Associates, and COR trainers, 4S Consulting. Attendees picked up some critical information on bid bonding and how to comply with a critical safety standard.

BILL 148 REPEALED:  In the August issue, we reported on the increase in Ontario’s minimum wage as well as a long list of days off for employees that included 10 Personal Emergency Leave days per year, two of those being fully paid. Lobbying by numerous business groups was successful and the new PC government scaled back or cancelled many of these overly labour-friendly provisions.

ONTARIO “MODERNIZING” APPRENTICE SYSTEM:  The government issued a press statement to notify their intention to remove many of the regulatory burdens on the apprenticeship system in order to increase entry into the trades. Part of the proposal includes winding down the Ontario College of Trades.