Gerard Asselin from Bloc Québécois, a federal political party in Canada, has proposed amending Canada's federal Public Works Act to make wood the "preferred" building material for any future government construction projects. The idea is expected to go before Parliament contained in a private member's bill sometime this month.
The Canadian Steel Producers Association, however, does not support the proposed legislation or any that would unfairly favor workers in any one sector over another and has joined a coalition opposed to making food the material of choice in federal building projects. The group of opponents have joined together under the name "Coalition for Construction Fairness," arguing the bill on grounds that it violates trade and economic policy, as well as overall fairness principles.
Steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal Dofasco, which has said that steel for construction accounts for approximately one-third of its volume, has joined the coalition on the basis that this bill, or any public policy that favors one sector over another, to be essentially unfair.
Members of the coalition now include trade associations for iron and steel, as well as concrete, cement, civil engineering, and iron workers industries.
The association has sent a letter to Parliament the Coalition for Construction Fairness urges members to defeat the bill on the grounds that job creation in the lumbering sector will be offset by job losses in other sectors, like the steel industry.
The bill has already passed two of three required readings in Parliament and clause-by-clause committee review.