Steve Payne
Ontario College of Trades "not ready" for Jan. 1 launch, opponents say
Canadian Contractor BusinessThe Ontario Construction Employers Coalition has fired another shot across the bow of the Ontario College of Trades, a regulatory body which is set to start sending out invoices to tradespeople in the New Year. The Coalition says the College is way behind on it’s self-imposed deadlines.
“The College of Trades is not ready and never will be ready,” said Sean Reid, chair of the Ontario Construction Employers Coalition, in a Sept. 13 press release. “They have no plan. They’ve kept Ontario tradespeople or business owners in the dark. And opposition to this boondoggle is growing with each passing day. The McGuinty government is adding insult to injury by messing up the implementation of this job-killing tax.”
The press release and a backgrounder on reasons why the Coalition believes the College should be shut down are available at www.stopthetradestax.ca.
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Ontario College of Trades should be cancelled !
Enough money coming out of our pockets of holes.
Very frustrating this is getting jambed down our throats.
Has any government in any democratic country ever set up an arm’s length/no oversight entity without a hidden agenda? The College of Trades is no different! The special interest groups are going to help Dalton McGuinty with additional tax revenue, and in return he is going to help them with additional membership. This is exactly how Quebec tradesmen were forced into mandatory unionization. when will the actual Colleges and Universities realize that this will impact them too? Or is their business model so utterly dependent on government funding that they will stay silent in fear of cut backs?
Thanks for your comments, guys. Not sure where you are in the province, but if close to Toronto, you might want to consider coming to our offices (Business Information Group, 80 Valleybrook Drive, North York, ON… basically this is Don Mills and York Mills area) on Thursday, Oct. 18th, 6.30 pm to 8 pm. At that time, our colleagues at CARAHS (Canadian Association of Renovators and Home Services) will join us in hosting Ron Johnson, the chair of the College of Trades, who will debate the need for the College with an opponent to be named soon. You can tell Mr. Johnson your views right here, and hear him out, too. Hope you can make it! To reserve a spot (and this goes for anyone) can you send me an email at spayne@canadiancontractor.ca? Cheers.