PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
By Carla Milne President, CARM
Executive Committee
President
Carla Milne
MNP LLP
Vice President
Natasha Farren
Flynn Group of Companies
Treasurer
Aaron Jackson
BDR Services
Secretary
Chris Fortier
Excel 7 Design
Past President
Jared Jacobson
J & G Group of Companies
Directors at Large
Bart Curtis
CW2 Construction & Design
Brent Bromley
Premier Commercial Builders
Brett Konkin
D.G. Konkin Construction
Chuck Judd
Jamieson-Judd Electrical
Derrick Stewart
J & G Group of Companies
Devin Reinhardt
Crane Steel Structures
Jason Lamb
Horizon Builders Ltd.
Mike Finley
South End Lumber - Timber Mart
Mike Peters
Alair Homes
Neil Winters
Flynn Group of Companies
Rob Mulligan
Mulligan Electric Ltd.
Ryan Jones
J & M Industries Ltd.
Zac Penner
T.L. Penner Construction
Construction Funding
It is great to be a Manitoban! We have so
much to be thankful for during these uncertain
times, including the health and
safety of our family, friends and community.
Our various levels of government have
shown great leadership and we could not be
more proud.
Our fundamental strengths as an industry
have enabled us to adapt to a multitude
of changes – but there are more challenges
to come.
To recover from the impact of COVID-
19 will require a significant focus on
restoring our economy. We need our businesses
to continue to operate, employ
people and reinvest in our province.
However, supporting the economic wellbeing
of Manitobans during this pandemic
has and will continue to increase the
amount of debt for our province and country,
which eventually must be paid.
The good news is the construction
industry and investment in infrastructure
are great partners to kickstart the restoration
of our economy. To make it happen,
we need to communicate, collaborate and
get involved with the restoration process.
Governments need information from our
businesses to make well-informed decisions.
We want to give Manitoba construction
companies a stronger voice in deciding the
future of our province, including:
• Projects in municipal, provincial and federal
infrastructure/capital investments.
• Government regulations for the industry
– input into standardization methods.
• Level the playing field on projects for
qualified companies.
• Stability in project availability for companies
to employ Manitobans.
• Ensure labour standards are met to protect
our members.
We also want to provide user-friendly,
efficient and comprehensive access to
opportunities for tenders and have done so
through a new, custom-made platform.
CARM PlanPoint, launched in February,
provides these tools. It is simple to navigate
and allows the user to input data on a wide
range of projects, all in one platform. CARM
PlanPoint also targets projects that are relevant
to our members.
Announcements on
infrastructure
The Province of Manitoba has announced
almost $1 billion of additional funding
towards infrastructure in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic. This includes:
• $10 million in grants to support 344
projects for community organizations,
municipalities and provincial parks
delivering Green Team projects this
upcoming summer.
• Manitoba Restart Program ($500
million) to help boost the provincial
economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic
added to the $3 billion infrastructure
investment in Budget 2020.
• Provincial share projects $230
million Investing in Canada
Infrastructure Program.
• $150 million for asphalt
highway resurfacing.
• $50 million for the Water Services
Board to address backlog.
• $65 million for major projects that
will improve the safety of
Manitoba highways.
• $5 million on municipal
law enforcement.
The funding for these announcements
needs to be timely to be effective, and CARM
must continue to push accountability.
As the president of the association, I
will ensure we communicate with other
associations, government officials and
the newly created Manitoba Premier’s
Economic Opportunities Advisory Board
(EOAB) to ensure our members feel relevant
and supported.
EOAB's mandate is to help find opportunities
for economic recovery and growth,
to find ways to harness private-sector capital
and investment. We want to support
these efforts by contributing our member’s
observations.
We are in this together, and we want to
provide support. Therefore, please reach out
to our team or any of our board members to
voice a concern, issue, recommendation or
to discuss your situation.
Thank you for this opportunity to
lead our team to help you, our valued
members. n
2 | Issue 1 2020 www.carm.ca
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