October 1, 2018
The Right Honourable Justin P.J. Trudeau Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister,
I am writing to you on behalf of the Construction Association of Nova Scotia and 800 member companies to reiterate our support to you and your government in your trade negotiations with the United States.
Construction in Nova Scotia represents a $4 billion contribution to gross domestic product and some 30,000 jobs. As a province with international ports and advanced intermodal transport, many of our firms are able to successfully conduct their business locally, regionally and internationally.
It is our observation that NAFTA has been beneficial to our member companies and their customers domestically and in the United Sates.
We fully support the measures that have been proposed by the Canadian Construction Association (CCA), which include:
• Accelerated depreciation of members’ equipment. This measure would allow companies to more quickly recover the cost of their investment in equipment. • For all federal PSPC and infrastructure program contracts, a mechanism to protect contractors against price fluctuations due to steel and aluminum tariffs. • A research and development fund allocated to the Canadian construction industry. In the last budget, the government centralized all its innovation programs, but it would be appropriate for the government to reserve a part of this money to the construction industry to improve its productivity and competitiveness.
A sustained trade war could jeopardize employment for some of our close to 1.4 million workers across Canada. This will have significant and long lasting negative impacts on our economy and standard of living for all Canadians.
While in support of your response to the inappropriate and unnecessary actions by our biggest economic partner, the construction industry is seeking government support to offset the harmful impact from these tariffs to maintain our competitiveness and meet Canada’s infrastructure needs.
We thank the Government of Canada for your continued commitment to infrastructure investment across the country and for recognizing the vital role of the construction industry in building Canada’s future. We encourage you to meet with our colleagues at the Canadian Construction Association and have local MPs connect with us at the riding level.
Sincerely,
Duncan Williams, ICD.D President, Construction Association of Nova Scotia
134 Eileen Stubbs Ave., Unit 103 T 902-468-2267 E [email protected] Dartmouth, NS, Canada B3B 0A9 F 902-468-2470 W www.cans.ns.ca
CC: Hon. Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon. Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance Hon. Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Hon. Scott Brison, Minister of Digital Government Bill Casey, Member of Parliament for Cumberland-Colchester Rodger Cuzner, Member of Parliament for Cape Breton-Canso Hon. Mark Eyking, Member of Parliament for Sydney-Victoria Andy Fillmore, Member of Parliament for Halifax Darren Fisher, Member of Parliament for Dartmouth-Cole Harbour Colin Fraser, Member of Parliament for West Nova Sean Fraser, Member of Parliament for Central Nova Bernadette Jordan, Member of Parliament for South Shore-St. Margarets Hon. Geoff Regan, Member of Parliament for Halifax West Darrell Samson, Member of Parliament for Sackville-Preston-Chezzetcook Mary Van Buren, President, Canadian Construction Association
134 Eileen Stubbs Ave., Unit 103 T 902-468-2267 E [email protected] Dartmouth, NS, Canada B3B 0A9 F 902-468-2470 W www.cans.ns.ca