GTA construction stakeholders say they are keen onlookers intent on keeping lines of communication open as Toronto\u2019s mayoral race enters its final month.<\/p>\n
The contest is shaping up as a two-horse race according to polls with former mayoral challenger Brad Bradford gamely staying within reach of incumbent Olivia Chow.<\/p>\n
A Liaison Strategies Toronto Pulse survey of voters released Sept. 22 showed Chow leading Beaches\u2013East York Coun. Bradford by seven points among decided and leaning voters.<\/p>\n
The survey had Chow, mayor since 2023 and formerly a city councillor and NDP MP, at 47 per cent voter support, Bradford at 40 per cent and former federal Conservative cabinet minister Chris Alexander third with 10 per cent.<\/p>\n
Election day is Oct. 2<\/p>\n
Stakeholders say they are refraining from open declarations of support for any candidate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get involved as an industry, in trying to make sure the candidates are aware of the issues that matter most to us,\u201d said John Mollenhauer, CEO of the Toronto\u00a0Construction Association.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe remain bipartisan. That\u2019s always been our approach. We stay out of politics.\u201d<\/p>\n
The TCA relies on its board members and staff to connect with candidates to ensure they understand the issues that matter most to the industry, Mollenhauer said. Procurement issues including Buy Canadian efforts and also construction bylaw restrictions are among the current top priorities of the TCA, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would love to see buyers of construction encourage the use of Canadian products and materials and services but that\u2019s not always possible,\u201d explained Mollenhauer. \u201cAt least in terms of the way it\u2019s drafted, that sometimes creates some challenges that they need to be aware of.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for regulations, he said, \u201cIf I were looking back over the last five or six years, there\u2019s been lots of legislation around that, that addresses traffic congestion downtown, noise levels downtown.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really designed to appease all these folks that have moved into the high-density, highrise buildings in the core but sometimes at the expense of the much-needed infrastructure and construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny new regulations around things like that drive the cost of construction up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
RESCON focuses on approvals efficiency<\/p>\n
Richard Lyall, the\u00a0president of the\u00a0Residential Construction\u00a0Council of Ontario\u00a0(RESCON), said permitting and approvals remain a major barrier to getting necessary housing built, and he points the finger at both the provincial government and the City of Toronto. Chow argues the approvals process has been streamlined, Lyall said, but the industry is not seeing major improvement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can tell you that the general view in the industry, and it\u2019s not just Toronto, is that we\u2019re still inundated with red tape and delays,\u201d he said. \u201cSome people in the City of Toronto say all this housing has been approved. Well, a lot more has been approved than is getting built.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lyall said Alexander demonstrated \u201crefreshing\u201d vision during the Daily Bread Food\u00a0Bank mayoral debate on Sept. 14. Chow, meanwhile, has shown she can work with other levels of government to obtain housing and other infrastructure funding, he said.<\/p>\n
But the city is still resistant to change, commented Lyall.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the as-of-right zoning,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re still fiddling around with things like the single staircase issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy? Why does it take us so long to change?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
PCA targets restrictions on procurement<\/p>\n
Karen Renkema, Ontario vice-president for the Progressive\u00a0Contractors Association\u00a0of Canada (PCA), said via email voters are looking for candidates committed to controlling costs and delivering better value.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe PCA has\u00a0long criticized\u00a0the City of\u00a0Toronto\u2019s restrictive\u00a0construction procurement\u00a0system, which prevents\u00a0most contractors and workers\u00a0from bidding on\u00a0and\u00a0performing public construction work\u00a0in their own city\u00a0simply\u00a0because they\u00a0are not affiliated with\u00a0the\u00a0city\u2019s\u00a0preferred unions,\u201d she stated.\u00a0\u201cBy shutting\u00a0out qualified local companies, restrictive procurement policies reduce\u00a0competition\u00a0and drive up costs for taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Renkema said research\u00a0suggests Toronto could save $347 million\u00a0annually\u00a0by opening\u00a0its\u00a0bidding process.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
OGCA advocates for improved procurement regime<\/p>\n
Giovanni Cautillo,\u00a0president of the\u00a0Ontario General Contractors\u00a0Association (OGCA), says the association will not support any mayoral candidate, focusing instead on planning to work with the winner on Toronto\u2019s infrastructure and ICI requirements.<\/p>\n
Cautillo noted the City of Toronto has received a report from KPMG with 31 recommendations to improve the procurement process. The measures include many the OGCA has been advocating for for years, he said, and that will remain a focus of its advocacy after the election.<\/p>\n
The OGCA would also like to see improvements to Toronto\u2019s capital pipeline projects forecasts.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeeping a pending project on a forecast year-over-year does not instil any form of believability or trust,\u201d Cautillo stated. \u201cAccurate timelines for these proposed projects are always welcomed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
GTSWCA fights for greater spending certainty<\/p>\n
Like the other stakeholders, the Greater\u00a0Toronto Sewer and\u00a0Watermain Contractors Association (GTWCA) is focusing on communication of its priority issues in the run-up to the election.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur overarching priority is for greater certainty and consistency in municipal infrastructure investment,\u201d said GTSWCA executive director Patrick McManus in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur industry is plagued by boom-and-bust cycles of investment, and over the last 18 months we have been trending towards the bust end of that cycle. Making these investments more predictable year-over-year would allow the industry to confidently invest in people, equipment and capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next step, he said, is focusing on getting approved capital programs into the market as efficiently as possible, looking at reforms such as earlier tendering, co-ordinated capital planning, standardized specifications and contracts, appropriate risk allocation and fewer unnecessary procurement delays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GTA construction stakeholders say they are keen onlookers intent on keeping lines of communication open as Toronto\u2019s mayoral…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":915329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-915328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=915328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/915329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=915328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=915328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=915328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}