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CGA Newsletter – June 2007

The Canadian Glass Association brings news to the industry from coast-to-coast. Government spending will help and cost the construction industry.

The Architectural Glass and Metal Contractors Association (AGMCA) has provided highlights from the Ontario Finance Minister’s (Greg Sorbara) March 22, 2007 Final Budget, given ahead of the October 10, 2007 general election. There are several points that will affect the business operations of glass companies in the province.

The Council of Ontario Construction Association (COCA) is the Voice of ICI Construction in Ontario. About 40 trade, mixed local and prime contractor/building associations, including the Architectural Glass and Metal Contractors Association, participate and provide funding for its operation.

Infrastructure
• The government will continue to ReNew Ontario infrastructure program in investment of $5.9 billion in the current fiscal year.
• There will be a doubling of investment in the Rural Infrastructure Investment Initiative from $70 to $140 million for local roads and bridges, clean water and wastewater, solid waste management, sports and cultural facilities, and community energy projects.
• There will be an additional one-time investment of $25 million for municipal roads.

Apprenticeship and Training
• The Apprenticeship Training Tax Credit is continued through 2012 but with no specific changes for construction.

Budget Deficit
• The deficit has been eliminated and the government projects a modest surplus if the contingency fund is not utilized.

Taxes
• The Business Education Tax will be harmonized at roughly 1.6 percent across the province.
• The Capital Tax will be eliminated by 2010.
• The Corporation Income Tax base harmonization will proceed with a $90 million corporate tax cut.

WSIB
• The government will “permit” the Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) to “enhance” benefits to injured workers by 2.5 percent in 2007, 2.5percent in 2008 and 2.5 percent in 2009.
• Government will allow WSIB to review and determine injured workers’ loss of earnings after the benefits are locked in at 72 months.
• Government proposes to eliminate “deeming” and require lost earnings to be based on “what a worker would likely earn from suitable as well as available employment.”
• Government proposes to add four new members to the Board of Directors of WSIB.
• Government is increasing funding to the Office of the Worker Adviser by $1.4 million in 2007 – 2008 with the increase “fully recoverable from the WSIB.”

To view the 2007 budget: http://www.ontariobudget.ca/
english/index.html -end-

The GAMA 2007 executive board of directors include (from back row left): past president, ABEC representative, Brent Harder (Ferguson Glass); second vice-president, George Kennedy (Alberta Glass); guest speaker, Sean Finn (Ferguson Glass); social events, Greg West (Ferguson Glass); newsletter editor, Dan Taylor (Desa Glass). Front row from left: treasurer, membership, Ron Walder (The Glass Guild); Calgary Construction Association, Youth Employment, Glenda Dewar (Alberta Glass); president, Rob Pedersen (AFG Glass); first vice-president, Marg Townsend (Oldcastle Glass); safety, Ray Greenland, (Alberta Glass). Absent from photo: secretary, Christine Jaynes, (Ryerson); education, Dave Edwards, Ed Dalzell (SAIT); Liaison with the Canadian Glass Association (CGA), Stephen Hargrove (Wescom Glass).

GAMA
Rob Pedersen, president for the Glass and Architectural Metals Association (GAMA), reports that: “In 2007, GAMA has been playing a major role in promoting the glazing industry throughout Alberta. Of course, the local labour shortage is a good reason to review our policies and procedures. Already, volunteers have attended some Career Fairs in Calgary with our new GAMA display booth. Mostly these events are held at different high schools or churches.

“The Calgary Construction Association (CCA) held a Career Expo on April 25th at the Calgary Stampede Grounds. Senior high school students were bussed in to this event from around the city. It was a great success and I could easily see this becoming an annual event.

“Personally I feel we are off to an exciting start for the year and I would like to thank all the volunteers within this association. The GAMA Golf Tournament is on June 22, 2007.” -end-

OGMA
Fall golf tournament – September 13
Ennio Rea, the president for the Ontario Glass and Metal Association (OGMA) reports that the association held a successful spring golf tournament on May 17 and it is gearing up for its fall golf tournament scheduled for Thursday, September 13 at Carrying Place in Schomberg, Ontario.

Rea adds that the OGMA has started to expand its services to members by introducing a series of educational seminars. The first one was held in December 2006, in conjunction with Construction Specifications Canada (CSA), that featured three knowledgeable speakers addressing topics specifically related to the architectural glass industry. They included Richard Hecklinger, regional territory manager of LOF/Pilkington who delivered a presentation, complete with visuals, about how float glass is made. Bruce Milley, north eastern regional manager of Guardian Glass discussed the technology and benefits of glass coatings and applications. Michael Bitterice, senior engineer of technical services for PPG Industries, made a presentation on the phenomenon known as spontaneous breakage and inclusions in glass. “We want to offer more to our members than just social events and we are committed to being a resource for glass professionals who want to improve their businesses,” he says. Rea says the seminar was very well attended and OGMA members can look forward to more of these.

Safety in numbers
Currently, the association is trying to gather support to form a Safety Group recognized by the Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) that is offering a rebate program.

This is being organized by Steve Ringler of Oakville Glass and Mirror who will be signing up companies at the associations’ two golf tournaments. Ringler explains the concept is to form groups of 25 or more companies that are members of an established association committed to working together by mentoring, networking and sharing best practices to improve each company’s safety performance. Ringler explains that eligible companies can potentially receive a six percent rebate on their annual WSIB premiums without surcharges and without penalties.

“The WSIB will give you a refund if you remain injury free. A company paying $65,000 a year in premiums stands to get $8500 of that back,” he says, adding that it is easy to complete the WSIB “compliance audit for employers” to confirm their good standing. There are five elements to achieve in the program guidelines and employers only need to complete three elements to share in any potential rebates. Participation in the program can also defer a Work Well Audit for one year.
“Being in compliance is a matter of due diligence and documentation that many companies already have in place, like having a company safety policy,” he says. “This is a win-win-win program that benefits your company, your employees and your industry. This program will reduce your premiums and improve your safety records at the same time, but you have to be a member of the OGMA first.” -end-

GCA of BC
Victoria Schifferns, from the Glazing Contractors Association (GCA) of British Columbia reports that: “The GCA is working hard to fill the need in British Columbia for glazier apprentices. In partnership with PCL Contracting and the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) there have been 48 scholarships created for the next three pilot programs being run at the BCIT campus. Each scholarship has a value of a six week apprenticeship program.

“The GCA is pleased to sponsor the annual meeting of the Canadian Glass Association (CGA) on June 21st in Surrey, British Columbia. The members of CGA have also been invited to attend the GCA’s 16th Annual Golf Tournament on June 22, 2007 at the Surrey Golf Course.

“The 2007 Lifetime member award will be presented on June 22nd at the 16th Annual Golf Tournament to Innis Harvey who is well known throughout the glazing industry as an active
participant in development of the GCA and a ‘gentleman’.”

Advocacy
“The Board of Directors of the Glazing Contractors Association of British Columbia and other industry leaders met to determine an ‘Action Plan’ to respond to the recent PST changes
that affect every current and future construction project in the province. A letter writing and e-mail campaign commenced to communicate the industry’s comments about the change.

“In response to the campaign and with discussions with the Minister of Finance, the government has determined that it will create a refund program to deal with the contracts that will be affected by the PST exemption being lifted. The GCA executive has met with the department of Energy and Mines and will be meeting with the Deputy Minister of Finance soon to discuss industry concerns over the changes.”

Apprenticeship program
“As the Glazing Industry and Training Committee continues to work towards providing the province with an up-dated and comprehensive apprenticeship program that will respond to current industry needs, response to the new program is growing as registration waiting lists begin to increase for attendees wanting to continue their apprenticeship. In response to these waiting lists, another Glazier Training centre is anticipated to open in September 2007 in Surrey.

“Seminar Calendar for 2007:
• June 22 – Annual Golf Tournament.
• September 20 – Energy Star Windows.
• October 18 – Legal Issues, Contracts and Claims.
• November 15 – Annual General Meeting and State of the Industry Report.”

What’s new?
“The GCA has introduced a new ‘Employee Benefits’ program that is open to any size company.
“A new GCA of British Columbia member logo will be launched as part of the GCA member recognition program. This logo is for members to use on both printed and electronic media. The membership logo will provide members with name recognition among architects, engineers, specifiers and government agencies.” -end-

GDAS
Peter Galesloot, the executive director for the Glass Dealers Association of Saskatchewan (GDAS), writes: “At |the time of this report, the association was gearing up for its Annual General Meeting which included the Auto Glass Technician Competition, a vinyl window seminar and a banquet with entertainment on May 12 in Regina.

The day started in two locations, the first being the SGI Technical Research Services Centre which hosted the Auto Glass Technician Competition and a continental breakfast. We had nine participants entered in the competition for the bragging rights to be the Top Auto Glass Installer in the province.

The winner will go on to Las Vegas, Nevada, to represent Saskatchewan at the North American competition of the Auto Glass Technician Olympics. The competition is not a timed event but is based on safety and quality. The judging is done by Sid Petrisor of SGI, Regan Mock of Chase Auto Body Supply and an I-Car Auto Glass instructor, and Dale Hawkins, an auto body instructor at SIAST. During the competition there were displays by VANFAX, PPG Auto Glass, Sika Canada, Shat-R-Proof, Ultra Wiz Tools, I-Car and Gold Glass Group. The winner of the competition will be announced in a following issue of Glass Canada magazine.

The Vinyl Window seminar, conducted by Award Windows of Edmonton, featured tips on proper installation of windows in new construction and installation of windows in existing construction. Attendees were encouraged to bring problem installation questions to the seminar and discuss them in an open forum with the experts from Award Windows.

The Glass Dealers Association of Saskatchewan held its Annual General Meeting at the Delta Hotel where a number of positions were opened for election and Michael Fougere, president of The Saskatchewan Construction Association, awarded the annual Lloyd Glass Apprenticeship Bursary and announced the winner of the Auto Glass Technician Competition. Both will be announced in a future issue of Glass Canada. -end-

GAMA
Rob Pedersen, president for the Glass and Architectural Metals Association (GAMA), reports that: “In 2007, GAMA has been playing a major role in promoting the glazing industry throughout Alberta. Of course, the local labour shortage is a good reason to review our policies and procedures. Already, volunteers have attended some Career Fairs in Calgary with our new GAMA display booth. Mostly these events are held at different high schools or churches.

“The Calgary Construction Association (CCA) held a Career Expo on April 25th at the Calgary Stampede Grounds. Senior high school students were bussed in to this event from around the city. It was a great success and I could easily see this becoming an annual event.

“Personally I feel we are off to an exciting start for the year and I would like to thank all the volunteers within this association. The GAMA Golf Tournament is on June 22, 2007.” -end-