Support for Mobile Trades Workers

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table another petition that has been circulated by John Grimshaw, business manager of IBEW Local 105 in my hometown of Hamilton.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present two more petitions, both of which were circulated by members and supporters of the building trades. The petitioners come from all over Ontario, but many of them are from my riding of Hamilton Mountain.

Mountain MP calls on Finance Minister to address labour shortage in economic update

OTTAWA – In difficult economic times, it is incumbent upon legislators to do everything we can to help Canadians secure work. That is the message Hamilton Mountain MP Chris Charlton brought to Parliament as she re-introduced her bill to help reduce the costs faced by tradespersons who travel to temporary job away from their primary residences.

From the Hamilton Mountain News

By Mark Newman

Mountain New Democrat MP Chris Charlton is optimistic the Harper government will adopt her proposal to amend the Income Tax Act to allow accredited tradespeople and apprentices to deduct the cost of travel and accommodation from their income taxes if the work site is more than 80 kilometres from home.

In Nov. 2006, Ms. Charlton introduced a private member's bill (C-390) that would allow for those deductions.

While the bill remains at the second reading stage, Ms. Charlton received an encouraging response from Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in the House of Commons May 6 when she asked the minister when the government would act on the legislation.

Finance Minister promises to consider “constructive proposal”

OTTAWA – Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain) has secured a commitment from the Minister of Finance that tax credits for Canada’s building trades will be brought forward as part of the government’s next budget development process.

“Today's economy is showing the importance of a mobile workforce. Many tradespeople are out of work in one area of the country while another is desperately in need of those workers,” said Charlton during Question Period in the House of Commons. “For 30 years, the building trades have been lobbying successive governments for changes to tax policy that would allow them to move with fewer economic restrictions. For 30 years, they have been receiving empty promises.”

Sudbury Star

Construction workers will be following the progress of a proposed bill that will provide them with mobility assistance.

New Democrat MP Chris Charlton was in Sudbury yesterday to speak with construction union representatives about bill C-390 and the implications it would have for the industry.

Because all construction work is temporary, workers are often required to maintain secondary residences at job sites. The bill proposes a tax credit on travel and accommodation expenses to these workers for jobs more than 80 kilometres from their primary residence.

"(In the) second-last budget, the federal government gave those tax credits to long-haul truckers," she said. "For some reason, they excluded the building trades."

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):

The other petition, Mr. Speaker, that I am pleased to table today is yet again on the urgent need for the House to adopt BillC-390. The bill would allow tradespeople and indentured apprentices to deduct travel and accommodation expenses from their taxable income so that they can secure and maintain employment at construction sites that are more than 80 kilometres from their homes.

This time the petitions have come from St. John's, Glace Bay, Sydney, Fredericton, Timmins, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Val Caron, Sudbury, North Bay, Owen Sound, Windsor, Chatham, Port Elgin, Cambridge, Kitchener, London, Sarnia, Toronto, Brandon, Winnipeg, Moose Jaw, Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Kamloops, Nelson, Castlegar, Victoria, Whitehorse, and of course the Golden Horseshoe, in an expression of support that is truly national in scope.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):

Finally, Mr. Speaker, as we find ourselves in another round of pre-budget consultations, I am pleased to present another petition on behalf of members and supporters of the building trades. This time the petitioners are from Sudbury and the Nickel Belt area in Ontario.

Building trades across the country have lobbied successive governments for over 30 years to achieve some basic fairness for their members. They want trades persons and indentured apprentices to be able to deduct travel and accommodation expenses from their taxable incomes, so that they can secure and maintain employment at construction sites that are more than 80 kilometres away from their homes.

39th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION
EDITED HANSARD • NUMBER 148
CONTENTS

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present two more petitions, both of which were circulated by members and supporters of the building trades. The petitioners are from Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.

Building trades across the country have lobbied successive governments for over 30 years to achieve some basic fairness for their members. They want tradespersons and indentured apprentices to be able to deduct travel and accommodation expenses from their taxable incomes so that they can secure and maintain employment at construction sites that are more than 80 kilometres from their homes. It makes no sense for tradespersons to be out of work in one area of the country while another region suffers from temporary skilled trade shortages simply because the cost of travelling is too high. To that end, they have gathered hundreds of signatures in support of my bill, Bill C-390, which would allow for precisely the kind of deductions that their members have been asking for.