Quebec to relax rules for volunteer work
The Quebec government is going to allow volunteers to do more construction work in schools, hospitals and daycare centres as well as for non-profit organizations.
Rules will be loosened to let people without certificates lay gypsum, replace windows, install countertops and sand and varnish floors. A certificate will be required, however, for plumbing and electrical work.
The move follows a recent complaint filed with the group that oversees Quebec’s construction industry over a decision by a group of volunteers to paint the interior of a school in, a small town about 60 kilometres south of Montreal near the U.S. border.
The March episode made headlines around the province and highlighted the tight hold of unions over Quebec’s complex bureaucracy, which politicians and economists say inflates the cost of construction projects and hinders civic engagement.
Quebec Labour Minister Dominique Vien says details of the changes will be published in the province’s official gazette and be available for consultation for 45 days before the measures become law.
With the help of a group of volunteers, St-Sebastien Mayor Martin Thibert was almost finished painting the interior of his kids’ public school when a provincial construction inspector showed up.
The inspector told the gathering of parents, grandparents and teachers that painting a school for free — and without the proper licence — is illegal in Quebec.
She then demanded the names and IDs of all 10 people in the room.
“At first I refused, but then she threatened to call the provincial police,” Thibert said.
“My wife went home to get my ID because she didn’t want me getting arrested over painting a school.”
“There is an evolution in Quebecers’ thinking — but it’s slow,” said Marc Picard, a member of the National Assembly for the Coalition Avenir Québec.
“And unfortunately the unions aren’t keeping up.
“People in our society see that things aren’t going well. We have rules governing everything. We pay more and more in taxes and our services are not better.”
Data from the provincial government released in mid-April revealed that in one Montreal school board alone, about 90 per cent of buildings were listed in “bad” or “very bad” condition.
The data indicated hundreds of school buildings across the province are in poor condition.
Thibert said the elementary school in the community of fewer than 1,000 people hadn’t been painted in 33 years, and no money from the board was forthcoming.
So the mayor took the initiative, bought roughly $3,500 worth of paint and scheduled about 30 people a day to help bring some new colour to the school.
After he was caught painting, the school was forced to hire professionals to complete the work at $94 an hour.
“The guys didn’t want to charge us,” Thibert said.
“But the union called them and forced them to charge full price.”
Painting the entire school at the union rates would cost the school board roughly $120,000, Thibert said.
These high costs, coupled with union rules and bureaucracy, are making it increasingly difficult for small towns to pay for construction work without the help of volunteers.
“We’re at the mercy of the laws,” he said.
“Ask any mayor of the towns across the province. Work that should cost $30,000 often ends up costing $70,000. It’s our reality and it needs to change.”
The guys didn’t want to charge us. But the union called them and forced them to charge full price.