(UPDATED October 29 with VIDEO) October 22, 2014 – According to the Electrical Contractors Association of Ontario (ECAO), 25 construction industry stakeholders representing ICI (industrial, commercial, institutional) and residential trade contractors, labour unions and benefit plan administrators gathered earlier this month at the inaugural members’ meeting of Prompt Payment Ontario (PPO).

“The number of committed members from so many different constituencies who attended the first meeting is a clear signal that Prompt Payment Ontario will be a force to be reckoned with in the fight for prompt payment legislation” said Eryl Roberts, ECAO’s executive vice-president and one of PPO’s founding directors.

VIDEO: Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Monte McNaughton makes a statement supporting Prompt Payment in Ontario on October 27, 2014.

Roberts highlighted the three main reasons for creating the new entity:

• PPO will keep the Ontario government focused on fixing the issues of prompt payment and fair distribution of risk as promised prior to the election. “Since the election, Prompt Payment appears to have moved to the back burner and does not appear in the ministerial mandate letters, though it was in the Liberal pre-election platform.”

• The proponents want to expand the scope of stakeholders beyond the group of trade contractor organizations who championed Bill 69: The Prompt Payment Act. In addition to Trade Contractors, PPO includes pension plans, labour organizations, supplier associations, benefit administrators and other supporters.

• The push for Bill 69 was seen by some as focused on the ICI sector. PPO has been created to attract supporters from all sectors, including residential and roads.

PPO is a single-issue organization dedicated to promoting and achieving Prompt Payment Legislation for Ontario’s construction industry, says ECAO, with membership open to all stakeholders who support and wish to participate in achieving this goal.