Apprenticeship ratios emerging as an election issue
Cornwall – Sep. 30, 2011 – Many residents of Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry received a flyer from the contractors of the Ontario Electrical League (OEL). The OEL is encouraging residents to think before they vote because, in their words, “If Dalton McGuinty and Mark MacDonald really cared about our young people, they’d do something about apprenticeship ratios in Ontario.”
The flyer goes on to state that “to become a fully-certified electrician requires a multi-year apprenticeship with on-the-job experience. The Ontario government’s requirement for three certified electricians per apprentice is unfair to thousands of young people and the small business that want to hire them. Ontario can move immediately to a 1:1 ratio like almost all other provinces and territories, literally with the stroke of a pen.”
Yesterday, the Ontario PC party issued a media release citing “another reason why Ontario families cannot afford four more years of Dalton McGuinty. Dalton McGuinty is currently putting union special interests ahead of Ontario workers by blocking the creation of 200,000 badly needed skilled worker jobs. “
The release went on to say “Dalton McGuinty continues to stand by an outdated apprenticeship system in which businesses are required to employ three, four, or five unionized journeymen to train a single apprentice – a more restrictive ratio than most other provinces in Canada. Dalton McGuinty now plans to turn complete control over apprenticeship ratios over to the union-run College of Trades, thereby letting special interests and union bosses control who is allowed to work as a tradesman in Ontario. “
“Ontario families just cannot afford four more years of Dalton McGuinty keeping jobs from the men and women who want them, and keeping skilled tradespeople out of the communities who need them,” said Tim Hudak, Ontario PC Leader.
Only a Tim Hudak government will deliver real change by creating 200,000 new skilled labour jobs. In particular, a Tim Hudak government will reduce the journeymen to apprentice ratio to 1:1 to put more skilled workers on the job and ensure that it is Ontario workers, and not special interests, that come first.
“An Ontario PC Government will stand up to union special interests and open up 200,000 new jobs for apprentices who want to build their career in the skilled trades and raise their family right here in Ontario. We can create new jobs in Ontario, but first we need to create change,” said Jim McDonell, Ontario PC candidate for Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry
QUICK FACTS:
- Ontario has the highest apprenticeship ratios in Canada.
- The Ontario Government urges young people to go into the skilled trades, then prevents them from working.
- The government spends million of dollars on skilled trades training programs, then closes the doors on jobs.
- Ontario produces 46 per cent fewer trades people (per capita) than the rest of Canada. According to the Ontario Ministry of Finance, Ontario will face a shortage of one million skilled workers by 2021.
- In 2009, Dalton McGuinty passed the Ontario College of Trades and Apprenticeship Act. This law gave Ontario union bosses sweeping new powers over Ontario’s apprenticeship system. An Ontario PC Government will repeal this law and put Ontario workers first.
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