Ontario’s former minister of labour, immigration, training and skills development Monte McNaughton has moved on to pursue a career in the private sector but he remembers his time in politics fondly, especially the relationships he built with the construction industry.
“One of the biggest compliments that I received in government, and I really did wear it as a patch of honour, from time to time, I wouldn’t be introduced as the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, sometimes I was introduced as Ontario’s Minister of Construction,” said McNaughton.
He was the speaker at the Council of Ontario Construction Associations’ (COCA) annual general meeting held recently in Vaughan, Ont. and was presented with the Hard Hat Award, given to an individual who does something special to advance the interests of the construction industry.
McNaughton announced his decision to step down in September 2023. He is now working as executive vice-president, industry relations and people experience with Woodbine Entertainment.
“Serving in government really was a very exciting time for me,” McNaughton recalled. “I loved every minute of it…I always intended on going back to the private sector. I remember vividly last April, May, all of the announcements pretty much out of government was around the Skills Development Fund which is our signature training program.
“I remember it just got harder and harder to get to leave home and to get on that plane to go away for a night or two and ultimately that was the reason why I left government. I wanted more time for my family.”
Having the ‘straight talk’
McNaughton was an MPP and became minister of labour in June 2019.
“My very first stakeholder meeting was with (COCA president) Ian Cunningham when I got elected back in 2011,” McNaughton said. “From that day on we really formed a really close working relationship. We achieved a lot of things together in opposition and in government…We didn’t always agree on everything, but we always heard and I always got honest feedback, straight talk. I think that’s really important and really led to great and better decisions when we were in government.”
He spoke a bit about his current role at Woodbine Entertainment, which is known for horse tracks, but is also embarking on one of Canada’s largest property development projects, an almost 400-acre project in Etobicoke, Ont. which will include a privately-funded mass-transit train station and about 29,000 residential homes as well as commercial and industrial development.
“It’s 400 acres that will really transform the city of Toronto and certainly help alleviate some of the housing issues that we’re seeing here in the province,” McNaughton said.
He recalled some of the wins he and the Doug Ford government have achieved over the years with the help of the industry with the number one being improvements in health and safety.
“That, for me, was the very first thing that I wanted to champion,” he said.
He talked specifically about how the government and industry was able to work together to keep sites safe throughout the pandemic.
Elevating the trades
Getting more people into the skilled trades was also a priority.
“Months before I stepped down in September, we released the most current apprenticeship registration numbers and we had the highest number of females registering into the skilled trades for apprentices in provincial history,” he noted.
“What I’m proud of is not just the record investment that we made through government, but we drove so much change in the education system.”
For the first time in many decades the government was able to bring respect to the men and women in the trades, he said.
“I honestly believe that people in the past looked down on people in the skilled trades. We were able to elevate them, to talk about the opportunities that are out there and how proud they are of the job that they do,” he said.
“I took a lot of heat when I said prior to the June 2022 election that Ontario is built by those who shower at the end of the day, not the beginning.”
He also spent a lot of time working with labour leaders across the province.
“It wasn’t the norm for a Conservative minister of labour to build those relationships,” he pointed out. “It clearly became evident from the very beginning that we were aligned on a lot of things: One, health and safety. Two, getting more people into the trades. Three, investing in training. And four, really building those projects that are going to create jobs and economic opportunity for people in Ontario.
“We didn’t agree on everything, but we were able to find that common ground and really work together.”
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