NEWS BRIEFS
Catania had been missing for a few
hours when police were called by a
member of his family Monday night,
Bélair said. Police searched for him in
and around his home.
“Following the search, we realized
he could be in the river,” Bélair said.
Provincial police searched the river and
found him.
Catania previously ran Catcan En-
treprises with his son Paolo.
Earlier this month, the elder Catania
pleaded guilty to charges of fraud
amounting to more than $5,000, fraud
on the government and breach of
trust. He hadn’t been sentenced.
CBC says Catania’s lawyer says the
businessperson was in the advanced
stages of cancer and was no longer re-
sponding to chemotherapy.
NEW BRUNSWICK
CONSTRUCTION ACROSS CANADA
Coun. John MacKenzie said he was
not swayed by practices elsewhere or
by concerns about higher prices. He
said the city doesn’t have the kind of
problems found with contractors in
Quebec and Toronto.
“Unless you’ve got reason to dis-
trust somebody, then you give them
the benefit of the doubt,” said
MacKenzie. “If they break that trust,
then you’ve got reason to say, ‘you
know, we’re going to change the way
we do business’.”
Council approved the change by a
six to three vote at the request of the
Saint John branch of the New
Brunswick Construction Association.
NOVA SCOTIA
Acrow Bridge partners with
Canam-Bridges for twin
bridge project
Bidders to learn who is
seeking St. John work after
city changes rules
Construction companies in Saint
John, NB, will now know who else is
going to bid on city jobs, CBC reports.
A majority of councillors voted in
May to toss out a contract tendering
policy created in 2003 with direct help
from Canada’s Competition Bureau to
reduce the possibility of bid rigging.
Under that policy, potential com-
petitors could not learn which other
companies picked up the tender doc-
uments necessary to bid on a city con-
tract. In future, the names of potential
bidders will be publicly available.
The change was made against the
advice of city managers who fear it will
lead to less competition and higher
prices for the municipality.
CBC News has reported the policy
of keeping the “plan takers list” confi-
dential is recommended practice, ac-
cording to the City of Toronto’s auditor
general, Beverly Romeo-Beehler.
It was also a key recommendation
of the Charbonneau Commission after
a five-year investigation into corruption
and bid rigging in Quebec’s construc-
tion industry.
Acrow Bridge says it has supplied a
single lane bridge to Nova Scotia
Transportation and Infrastructure Re-
newal (NSTIR) for a detour during con-
struction of a galvanized truss bridge
in a neighboring location. The truss
bridge is a joint project with Acrow
and Canam-Bridges, a division of
Canam Group Inc.
The two existing bridges spanning
the Roseway River near Shelburne
both needed permanent replacement.
It was decided to build the single lane
“trail” bridge first so it could lessen a
detour inconvenience to residents and
tourists alike. The structure is 42.7 m.
(140 ft.) long by 4.2 m. (13.5 ft.) wide.
After use as a detour for vehicles and
pedestrians, it will remain in place per-
manently to carry pedestrians, eques-
trians, mountain bikers, cross-country
skiers and snowmobiles as part of the
Shelburne County Rail Trail.
36 – Summer 2017 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report
The Shelburne installation by
Canam is the third permanent steel
truss bridge to be installed in Nova
Scotia in the past two years. The other
two are located in Milton, NS, and over
Nine Mile River in Hants County, NS.
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
Government, industry
addressing construction
workforce needs
The Prince Edward Island (PEI) con-
struction sector has immediate needs
for 500 to 750 workers and as many as
1,800 workers will be needed over the
next decade to keep pace with major
projects, retirements and an upswing
in the sector.
In anticipation of the workforce de-
mands, the PEI government has part-
nered with
the Construction
Association of Prince Edward Island
(CAPEI) to support new training and
employment opportunities in PEI’s fast
growing construction industry.
“Non-residential investment in con-
struction in PEI has the fastest growth
among provinces and residential in-
vestment in new homes and renova-
tions saw an expansion of 5.2 per cent
in 2016,” Premier Wade MacLauchlan
said in a statement. “Acting now to
boost the construction sector work-
force will ensure that this growth will
continue, while also connecting Is-
landers to well paying jobs for the long
term.” Government is providing funding
support to the CAPEI to develop and
implement a multi-faceted recruitment
plan that will address identified needs.
The challenges are part of a national
trend outlined in the release of a na-
tional study 2017-2026 Construction
and Maintenance Looking Forward
prepared by BuildForce Canada.
“We have identified expansion of
the workforce as one of the top priori-
ties for the sector. Attracting and re-
taining skilled workers will be essential
to keep growing the island economy,”
said CAPEI general manager Sam
Sanderson. “To address this challenge,
we will be working with government to
identify innovative approaches to meet
our workforce needs and to imple-
ment a multi-faceted plan to attract
workers to our industry.”
Funding has also been renewed for
the Trade HERizon’s initiative led by
Women’s Network PEI. The project
aims to increase the number of
women in trades by promoting career
options in trades like construction,
through a mix of hands-on learning
and classroom sessions. The initiative
will support 20 women this year in
preparation for trades related training
and jobs.
These initiatives are being sup-
ported through funding from the PEI
government through the Canada-PEI
Labour Market Development Agree-
ment and the Canada-PEI Job Fund
Agreement. NEWFOUNDLAND AND
LABRADOR Construction jobs disappear
in Newfoundland and
Labrador There’s disappointing news in the
Newfoundland and Labrador construc-
tion labour market, with Statistics
Canada data indicating that 2,200
fewer people are working in the non-
residential construction sector in New-
foundland and Labrador than there
were a year ago.
Overall, the unemployment rate in
Newfoundland and Labrador climbed
to 14.9 per cent from May to June,
with the disappearance of 1,400 jobs
and nearly 12,000 fewer people are
working than in June 2016.
The province’s unemployment rate
is well above the next highest — 10.2
per cent in Prince Edward Island —
and more than double the national rate
of 6.5 per cent.
Statistics Canada analyst Andrew
Fields said in a (CBC) report that the
June increase in the unemployment
rate may not be statistically significant
but the year over year increase is.
He said the biggest loss of jobs
over the past 12 months has been in
the construction of non-residential
buildings and in wholesale busi-
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