PCA Launches Fair and Open B.C. Campaign

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With voters set to go to the polls in B.C.’s provincial election next month, the Progressive Contractors Association of Canada (PCA) has launched “Fair and Open B.C.,” a campaign aimed at raising voter awareness about key issues in the October 19 election, including fairness and affordability.

 “Our goal is to help voters connect the dots,” said Dan Baxter, Regional Director B.C. at PCA. “British Columbians should be aware of a regressive NDP labour policy that has contributed to labour shortages and massive cost overruns on several major taxpayer-funded projects. It’s a policy that makes today’s labour and fiscal challenges worse.”

 At the height of a labour shortage, the NDP government’s labour policy shuts 85 percent of the province’s construction workforce out of key public projects, from the Pattullo Bridge Replacement to construction of the new Cowichan District Hospital, all because workers are not carrying the “right” union card.

 Both projects are over budget, with the Cowichan project eclipsing original budget estimates by a whopping 63 percent. That means taxpayers will now have to pay $1.4 billion for the new hospital.

 B.C. is the only province in Canada with a labour policy that excludes good companies and workers, unless they affiliate with the government’s favoured unions. When competition is restricted on public projects, that results in fewer bids, and higher construction costs for taxpayers.

 “It’s reckless for a government to carry on with such a costly, anti-competitive labour policy when there is a better way,” added Baxter. “Adopting a fair, open and competitive bidding process on public projects would save tens of millions in public tax dollars to keep emergency rooms open, hire more doctors or help pay down a record deficit. Our goal is to help voters to make an informed choice on election day.”

 To learn more about our campaign, go to: FairandOpenBC.ca.