On Monday, June 15th, the ACA attended a Construction Industry Roundtable, hosted by the Minister of Infrastructure Martin Long. Also in attendance were other government officials such as newly appointed Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Darren Hedley, and other members of Local Construction Associations and construction companies. The purpose of the roundtable was to foster honest and effective collaboration between industry members and government officials to discuss the solutions that every member within the construction sector is concerned about.
In his opening remarks, Minister Long stressed the importance of his government continuing to foster a foundational relationship based on mutual respect, understanding, and a willingness to collaborate through in-person conversation. In addition, he also expressed his ultimate goal of improving transparency through taking consistent feedback.
The key focus points of the day consisted of discussing milestones in contracts, wherein over 70 changes to construction and consulting templates have been made, procurement reviews and solutions, and pilot projects with the goal of building a flexible suite of delivery approaches to improve collaboration, performance, and value.
ACA took a seat at the table advocating for fair and balanced procurement contracts, workforce expansion and earlier exposure to the trades, and a consistent investment pipeline. In addition to advocacy efforts, ACA took note of industry member’s concerns and questions to better improve on how they are represented.
ACA would like to thank Minister Long for hosting the event and appreciates the ongoing collaboration and conversation from him and the team at Alberta Infrastructure. ACA will continue to be the collective voice of Alberta’s construction industry by pushing forward on the solutions that will ensure prosperity, growth, and long-term success for the industry.