News & Events

CDAO Takes Steps to Solidify Members

July 21, 2013

The Construction and Design Alliance of Ontario (CDAO) is taking steps to become a permanent organization. “We have a new vision of what an association should look like. It’s not going to be a bricks and mortar association. It’s not going to have a lot of staff. We intend to be a very lean, mean machine,” said CDAO chair Clive Thurston. An organization focusing on the construction and design of infrastructure has been missing in Ontario, he said. “There’s been other organizations that tried, they’ve been noble experiments. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. Most of them became very bureaucratic or were unable to make decisions or take stands on controversial issues,” he said. “We will take stands, we will move forward. Basically we’ll just get things done.” The next step is for the organization to have a strategic planning session, scheduled for September, to work out CDAO’s bylaws, policies and membership and decide how it will operate. From there, the next step would be full incorporation. “I think you’re going to see the alliance around for quite some time,” he said. CDAO held its annual meeting on July 17, which involved discussions of major issues pertaining to residential and ICI construction, such as environmental concerns and the bundling of projects. “The alliance feels that it has been successful, it has made an impact and the members were very, very supportive of the fact that we’re sharing information like never before,” said Thurston. “Even if there’s a disagreement on something it’s based on fact, studies and people who know what they’re doing.” CDAO grew from an advisory committee for former infrastructure minister David Caplan. The alliance was specifically founded to deal with the issues of infrastructure and maintaining the long-term infrastructure investment plan. It succeeded in getting a local knowledge component in Infrastructure Ontario’s (IO) request for qualifications, setting up project bundling framework adopted by IO and was instrumental in a number of the proposals in the province’s 10-year infrastructure plan. The alliance does not work on consensus, it works on majority vote. “Issues can move forward, but very clearly the minority opinion will always be respected and included in any releases or papers that we develop. We will not be afraid to take stands on major issues,” said Thurston. Members of CDAO recently met with transportation and infrastructure minister Glen Murray to discuss its issues surrounding the bundling of the Eglinton Crosstown project. They have also met with Minister of Government Services John Milloy to discuss the misinterpretation of the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive. CDAO will continue to be a virtual organization, working online, with the majority of work done by volunteers, so the costs are minimal, pointed out Thurston. There are currently 14 member organizations and a number of other associations that are currently applying for CDAO membership, said Thurston.

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