As I mentioned earlier, the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions met in mid-January in Fort Smith, and one of the activities we looked at was the Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Board and the trade advisory committees. The standing committee has made some observations and a series of recommendations, and I would like to go through those.
Apprenticeship And Trade Certification Board
First of all I would like to talk about the Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Board. Subsection 5(1) of the Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Act makes it mandatory for the Minister to establish a board called the Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Board. Seven Members must be appointed by the Minister, such that there is equal representation of employers and employees from the trades occupations. The board is required under the act to hold a minimum of four meetings each year.
The board is intended to perform several functions. It is empowered to hear appeals of certification decisions made by the supervisor of apprentices, but such an appeal has never been made. It also reviews recommendations made by the trade advisory committees on training and examination issues. It takes on other duties assigned to it by the Minister, although the standing committee could find no instances in which this has taken place. It can make recommendations to the Minister about which trades should be designated and about regulations governing the trade, and it can make recommendations for appointments to trade advisory committees.
In reviewing the composition of the Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Board, the standing committee agreed that it was important to ensure existing levels of representation of employer and employee interests. While the standing committee would encourage the Minister to make appointments which provide adequate regional and women's representation, as well as representation from the full range of designated trades, it was felt that this was unnecessary to establish this in legislation.
However, the standing committee was of the opinion that some adjustments should be made to the statutory role and meeting requirements of the Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Board. Statutory authority to hear appeals should be taken from the board, and the act should be amended to allow the Minister to appoint time-limited appeal panels. The standing committee also felt that a requirement for the board to meet at least four times yearly should be removed in favour of meetings held at the call of the Chair.
Motion To Adopt Recommendation 1, Carried
Mr. Chairman, our first recommendation is, and I would like to make it a motion: I move that the Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Act be amended to a) repeal provisions requiring the Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Board to meet four times each year; b) repeal provisions which require the Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Board to determine appeals relating to apprenticeship contracts; and c) allow the Minister to establish appeal panels which would be in existence for a time-limited period for the specific purpose of determining appeals relating to apprenticeship contracts.