B.C.’s new rules for provincial infrastructure projects challenged in court

VANCOUVER -The Independent Contractors and Business Association is asking the B.C. Supreme Court to strike down the provincial government’s new hiring model for taxpayer-funded construction projects.

The association filed a petition today with the court alongside several other building and trade organizations, as well as the B.C. Chamber of Commerce and two unions it says are not affiliated with the building trades: the Christian Labour Association of Canada and Canada West Construction Union.

In a statement, association president Chris Gardner says the policy means only members of building trade unions will be hired for public construction jobs and that’s not fair to the 85 per cent of construction workers who don’t belong to the unions.

When the new framework was announced last month, Premier John Horgan said it would allow everyone to bid on the projects, but it would make hiring local workers a priority and provide good wages for people building roads, bridges, transit and hospitals.

The B.C. government said projects worth billions of dollars will now be built under a so-called community benefits agreement that sets out job training, who can work on the projects and the wages to be paid.

It said the agreement is aimed at boosting apprenticeship opportunities and hiring more women, Indigenous people and other under-represented workers who will be organized under a new Crown corporation called BC Infrastructure Benefits Inc.

The provincial government couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

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