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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday July 25, 2008 - 11 Oakville MPPs want hospital construction back on schedule By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF They may not agree on why it happened, but Oakville's MPPs are scrambling to get the construction of Oakville's new hospital back on track after the province announced last month that the project could be delayed for a year. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy cited a shortage of construction firms needed to build the hospital as the reason behind the delay that will see the hospital open in 2014 instead of its intended 2013 opening date. The news prompted Halton MPP Ted Chudleigh to begin circulating a petition, addressed to the premier, which essentially calls on him to get rid of any possible delays to the Oakville hospital project. Chudleigh said the response to the petition has been amazing in its first few weeks. "The petition is doing very well. People feel very very strongly about their hospitals and it's a hot button issue in any community," he said. "We've had a huge turnout, there's more than 350 signatures that we've received in the office and there's all kinds of petitions that have been mailed out to groups who are getting names put on them." Chudleigh will continue taking names until the legislature reconvenes in late September when he will present the petitions and question the minister about the delay. "I can't believe the government is doing this," he said. "It's so counterproductive. First of all, it's not necessary and if I was going to delay the hospital I would come up with a much better excuse than no (construction) capacity." While Chudleigh believes the real reason for the delay lies in the hospital being de-prioritized by the province he also points out that the `no construction capacity' explanation if true could also be explained by poor management on the part of the province. "One problem they do have is the way in which they contract hospitals," said Chudleigh. "They've got the criteria screwed down so tight that only the largest can bid on it. That makes for a cozy little club and that's not good for the public interest. It should be available for a lot more companies to bid on." Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn noted that through a meeting with the Vice President of the General Contractors Association he has determined that a construction capacity problem does indeed exist with only three construction firms (PCL, EllisDon and Corillian) currently capable of building a modern hospital in Ontario. This exclusivity is something Flynn said he hopes to change. "There's some optimism that there are ways of expanding that and bringing more firms into the marketplace Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn and prequalifying them because before you can bid on a job like a hospital job you have to prove that you have the ability to do it," said Flynn. "So I'm hoping that there is a way to expand the number of FREE RIDE Flynn noted combinations of smaller projects are being examined to see if the Oakville hospital could somehow move ahead of them. Flynn is also working with the premier's office to try and contractors." Flynn said he has also examined the province's latest projects list and said nothing has changed with the Oakville hospital occupying the same priority ranking it always had. For Flynn the task now becomes to bump the Oakville hospital closer to the top of the list. "What I've done is I've taken a look at some of the projects that come before the Oakville project on the list and I've sort of classified them, (according to project size)," said Flynn. "What we're doing now is taking a look at other projects that are in the hospital's category and we're trying to find out if they indeed are as far along as the Oakville hospital is in its planning. We don't have that information yet." Halton MPP Ted Chudleigh find a resolution to the situation. "I've gone back to my own government and said, `This delay is simply unacceptable. I understand it's not something that we want to see, I understand that it's not something that we as a government have caused it's the economic conditions and it means the province is building full tilt, but we need to find a way to bring this project back on schedule,'" said Flynn. "I'm pretty optimistic that we can." Ted Chudleigh's petition is available at his office located at 174 Mill St. in Milton. Those who want to have a petition mailed to them can call 905-878-1729 or the petitions can be downloaded off Chudleigh's website at www.tedchudleigh.com. FREE RIDE With 6 months Free Gas! With up to $1500 in Free Gas! ¥ WE'RE PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS TO ACHIEVE 24 MONTHS OF RECORD-BREAKING SALES! SUMMER CLEARANCE EVENT JULY 25-31 Receive total Consumer Cash up to $12,750! DORVAL DRIVE R WYECROFT RD. SPEERS RD. 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