MB Infrastructure, MHCA meet to review operations

The MHCA and Manitoba Infrastructure officials, at a meeting Tuesday to review general conditions, agreed to establish a joint committee for future discussions regarding construction-work specifications.

The meeting saw a discussion on conditions of contract, materials and safety provisions associated with traffic controls and management. 

Similar discussions have been had with the City of Winnipeg’s Public Works department, which is proposing new specifications affecting the size of aggregate materials used in base and sub-base street construction.

“Striking a permanent, joint committee with MI is a good step toward constructive review of specifications,” MHCA President Chris Lorenc told a Board of Directors meeting Wednesday. “It means that we don’t have to scramble, ad hoc, when either we or the department want to talk about potential changes to the way we now work.”

The MI-MHCA joint committee was among the issues discussed by the Board of Directors.

Other matters on the table included:

• The MHCA has asked to meet with the new deputy minister of Infrastructure, Tareq Al-Zabet. Al-Zabet previously held assistant deputy minister positions in Ontario and Saskatchewan.
• Manitoba Infrastructure met with MHCA on plans to contract out snow removal. The department plans to contract out more services where it makes sense.
• MHCA, ACEC and Winnipeg Construction Association have asked Mayor Brian Bowman for an early meeting to set up a working group regarding accelerating street construction.
• MHCA has requested a meeting with senior federal regional MP Jim Carr on the implications for the industry of the carbon tax (at the pumps), to begin in April. Talks continue with the province for initiatives to assist industry in adopting new GHG-reducing technology.
• This year, anyone hoping to get a class 1 driver’s licence will need to take mandatory entry-level training; no implementation date has been released yet
• WORKSAFELY™ is creating a working group to co-ordinate silica monitoring, with the goal of sampling worksite silica exposure. The results will be used to establish industry control protocol to meet WSH regulations. A similar project has been launched to address the issue of vehicle emissions.
• The MHCA and business group partners will organize a Breakfast with the Leaders series this spring. Invitations are going to Jim Carr, federal Conservative MP Candice Bergen, Mayor Brian Bowman and provincial Finance Minister Scott Fielding.
• MHCA’s 2019 Equipment Rental Rates and Membership Directory is at the publisher’s office; delivery to members will be in March. Rental rates will rise between 4% to 6%.