MPP Monteith-Farrell and The Mrco Discuss Tax Fraud Solutions
Thunder Bay, ON. – The Millwright Regional Council met with Judith Monteith-Farrell, MPP Thunder Bay-Atikokan to discuss what we can do together to stop construction industry tax fraud, improve health and safety, and create a level playing field for legitimate contractors, Friday March 11, 2022.
According to Tim Sadler, MRCO Business Representative Millwright Local 1151 Thunder Bay, “The underground economy in Ontario’s construction industry undermines the province’s fiscal position and hurts legitimate contractors. The primary driver of the underground economy is employers improperly classifying their workers as ‘Independent Operators’ rather than employees.”
A study commissioned in 2019 by the Ontario Construction Secretariat estimates that annual revenue losses due to underground activity have increased by 30% over the past decade. Between 2013 and 2017, the Province of Ontario and Federal Government lost between $1.8 billion and $3.1 billion annually as a result of contractors operating in the underground economy.
The styling of workers as ‘independent operators’ is the real foundation of the underground economy and the principal cause of revenue losses to governments and government agencies” said Chris Sutton, Director of Political Affairs of the Millwright Regional Council.
It is time for all of us to stand up against tax fraud in the construction industry. Learn more about how you can help protect construction workers and their families at www.stoptaxfraud.ca
The UBC Tax Fraud Days of Action is taking place across Canada and the United States April 11-16, 2022 to bring awareness to the issues of tax fraud and the underground economy.
About the Millwright Regional Council (MRC)
The Millwright Regional Council (MRC) is composed of eight affiliated Local Unions of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC) across the Province of Ontario. We represent thousands of women and men working as progressive cross-trained construction and maintenance professionals with exceptional skills to install, maintain, diagnose, and repair precision machinery, UBC millwrights are vital partners in industries as diverse as energy, automotive, aerospace, food processing, pharmaceuticals and more.
For media inquiries, please contact Duncan McIntosh, Director of Communications, dmcintosh@millwrightont.com
