Minister lauds uniform training for truck drivers
Hargrave says Prairie Provinces sending message ‘across Canada’
REGINA Saskatchewan’s truck driver training schools are “geared up” and ready to go, though an examination backlog has prompted SGI to grant a longer grace period.
That’s according to Joe Hargrave, minister responsible for SGI, who said Saskatchewan’s program is becoming a model for others. He celebrated news that Manitoba has become the third Prairie province to announce plans for a mandatory standard.
“We’re very pleased that Manitoba announced basically the same program,” Hargrave said. “We think it sends a message right across Canada.”
Manitoba Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler said Tuesday that Class 1 drivers will require 121.5 hours of training as of Sept. 1. That’s precisely the same number of hours that became mandatory for new Class 1 licence applicants in Saskatchewan this month.
Alberta’s mandatory training program took effect on March 1, just two weeks before Saskatchewan’s.
Hargrave noted that hundreds of trucks pass over those borders every day. He said it’s “really important” to have consistent regulations across the three provinces. He said he’s been in regular contact with his counterparts to the east and west to get it done.
“We spearheaded that group, and so we’re very proud of that,” he said.
Though Hargrave stressed that Saskatchewan’s program has been running smoothly in the two weeks since implementation, there has been one notable speed bump.
Existing drivers in Saskatchewan are being grandfathered in. Hargrave said there’s been a rush to book an exam and get licensed before the new rules take effect. But it’s been too much for the examiners to process all at once, prompting SGI to extend the deadline for those drivers.
“There was some extension to the testing period because we were pretty jammed up,” he said.
That only goes for those who booked an exam before the regulations took effect. Anyone who wants to get a Class 1 licence now must do the training.
“Now if you phone up and say ‘I want to book one now,’ it’s too late,” Hargrave said.
Hargrave said he hopes the emerging consensus on the Prairies will “put pressure” on B.C. and other provinces that haven’t yet followed suit.
One Saskatchewan training school contacted by the Regina Leader-post said it has seen little uptick thus far in those seeking training. Ripanjeet Singh, manager of Neway Driving School, said he noticed more people calling to inquire about 1A truck driver training, but most were deterred by the cost.
The three Prairies provinces have taken slightly different approaches on a few issues, however, especially with respect to farmers. According to Manitoba’s news release on its plan, the new training requirements will apply to the agriculture sector in September 2020.
Saskatchewan has so far exempted farmers from the training requirements, so long as they remain inside the province. However, they still have to pass the same new, more rigorous tests. Hargrave has said SGI plans to conduct further consultations with the industry on the matter.
Both Saskatchewan and Manitoba were already aiming at mandatory standards before the Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy in April 2018, according to their respective ministers. But Schuler said the tragedy was an impetus to push the measure forward.
“Many of us have loved ones, in my case I have children, who would ride on these very same buses and go to sports events. I think it impacted every one of us and it showed that this is necessary,” Schuler said.
“We wanted to be very careful as a government that we got it right.”
Hargrave said the thought of those lost and injured last April got everyone on the same page about the urgency of action.
“We’ve got to come to a consensus. This is another tragedy we never ever want to see,” said Hargrave. “And so everybody was more than willing to get the job done.”
— with files from The Canadian Press