Ontario Bill 161 was a Private Members Bill designed to license temporary staffing firms. The Bill was poorly conceived and if it had become law, it would have had very serious repercussions upon the staffing industry, our clients and our workers. Simply put, this was a bad Bill. We worked very hard along with the Association of Canadian Search, Employment & Staffing Services (ACSESS) in opposition to this Bill. We had tremendous cooperation from Ontario Ministry of Labour staff and also received strong support from conservative MPP Tim Peterson (Mississauga South).
Unfortunately, the sponsoring member, Vic Dhillon (Liberal, Brampton West – Mississauga), was less than cooperative. He cancelled every appointment we had and in my opinion, he was repeatedly quoted in the media and in the legislature making inaccurate and disrespectful comments about our industry. He clearly underestimates the valuable contribution that the staffing industry makes to the people and the companies we serve. I know that our staff at all of our companies within Design Group Staffing Inc are proud of the services we provide. I sure am!
The good news is that we were effective in getting our message out to the more reasonably minded politicians, bureaucrats and the media. On June 5th, 2007, Premier Dalton McGuinty called for an early end to the Ontario Legislature. He probably had dozens of good reasons for his decision but one good result was that Bill 161 was quietly put to rest as it failed to become law. Thank you Premier McGuinty!
During this recent period of heavy lobbying, I was able to make bold claims and public comments about our company and how we operate. Ethically, Effectively and Respectfully! National media chose our company as a positive example of the industry. The CTV coverage last week was a good result of the positive messages we have to offer.
http://www.thepeoplebank.com/video/ctv_temp_staffing.wmv
ACSESS continues to provide tremendous value as an effective industry association and I encourage all of our staff and industry members to participate and contribute to ACSESS activities. The Certified Personnel Consultant designation is a good start to industry association involvement.
Thankfully, all is good….
Cheers,
Steve
