The Government of Canada Fails Truck Drivers yet again.
May 29th. 2017 The Government of Canada responded to a petition designed to recognize truck driving as a skilled trade because it is not recognized as a skilled trade in any sense of the word.
Truck drivers need to be recognized in the same way as carpenters, brick layers, electricians, vehicle technicians, plumbers and so on. Truck driving requires a skill equal to or more than any of these mentioned trades but other than requiring a special classified license, no other training or skill development is required, tested. There’s no career path as with other trades. Once a driver gets that license, then nothing with the possible exception of contempt.
Recognition would ensure a proper entry level skill, an apprenticeship method of gaining knowledge and skill that should take the entry level truck driver from zero skill to advanced skill over a period of time that be accompanied with monetary advancement as well as responsibility advancements. As it is, when a truck driver attains that commercial driver’s license with absolutely no working experience, he or she is at the top of their game. The only advancements are strictly at the whim of an employer. There’s no incentive to “get better”, “become more than you are”.
But essentially, on May 29th 2017, the Government of Canada said, there was nothing that could be done and they weren’t going to give it any consideration.
Below, is quoted the Government response verbatim. The Government of Canada’s response is like a sentence with no verbs.
“The Government of Canada (Employment and Social Development Canada) funded Trucking HR Canada (THRC) to update the national occupational standards (NOS) for Professional Truck Drivers.
“A NOS defines the knowledge, tasks and subtasks which collectively describe the occupation, and the updated NOS is formulated around the following elements: supportive competencies, functional competencies, and driving competencies.
“In the development of the NOS, every provincial trucking association was involved as an official partner on the project, and consultation sessions were held in each region of the country, with each province represented. The NOS is the foundation for mandatory entry-level training in Ontario, as announced by the Ontario Transport Minister in 2016. THRC has noted 2,000 unique downloads of the NOS since it became available on their website.
“Trucking is mainly under provincial and territorial jurisdiction. Each Canadian province has jurisdiction to regulate motor vehicle transportation within its own borders. Driver licensing and training is a provincial/territorial responsibility.
“Part III of the Canada Labour Code establishes minimum working conditions in federally regulated industries, such as hours of work, minimum wages, statutory holidays and annual vacations, as well as various types of unpaid leave.
“Federally regulated industries include about 904,000 employees (or 6% of all Canadian employees) working for 18,310 employers in industries such as inter-provincial and international transportation (including air, maritime, rail and road), banking, telecommunications and broadcasting, as well as for federal Crown corporations and certain activities on First Nations reserves.
“The Motor Vehicle Operators Hours of Work Regulations, which is administered by Transport Canada, modify certain provisions under Part III related to hours of work (i.e. standard hours of work, averaging, standard working hours for a week in which a holiday occurs, and maximum hours of work) for drivers involved in the interprovincial and international transport of goods or passengers and in the transport of mail on contract with Canada Post. Maximum hours of work are defined by the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations, which is administered by Transport Canada. With respect to the remaining labour standards provisions under Part III of the Code, drivers are covered by the same protections as other federally regulated employees.”
