Yukon public works minister says he'll work on local contractor policy
Territory's contractors' association president had previously said local business left out of large projects
Yukon public works minister Scott Kent says he'll work with the contracting industry on local hire provisions after the president of the Yukon Contractors Association said not enough local contractors are getting work on large projects.
According to Kent, there are requirements for Yukon hires on large projects, such as the construction of Whitehorse high school FH Collins, however, he said that program extends only to labour, not to trades contractors.
He said Thursday that "opportunities to enhance [government policy], or make it more applicable across the board, are some things that were considered.
"The commitment from us is to work with the contractors," he said, "so that on these larger projects, they do have the opportunity to maximize the local component and the local hire and make sure we're putting Yukon tradespeople to work on them."
Yukon Contractors Association president Larry Turner previously said that local contractors are being left out in the cold when it comes to large projects, and that he wants the government to assure local hires of Yukon subcontractors.
Kent says that Yukon contractors do get work on many smaller projects in the territory.
In contrast, the Northwest Territories has firm local hire provisions for its mega-construction projects, like the Inuvik-to-Tuktoyaktuk Highway. The $300 million project is being completed entirely by two N.W.T. companies, says David Ramsay, the N.W.T.'s minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
"We had every faith that the project could be constructed by Northern companies, by Northerners," said Ramsay, "and the money... at the end of the day it would stay here, in the North."