b'PRESIDENTS MESSAGEBut infusing innovation and embracing technology come at a cost. A necessary investment for those who wish to survive, true, but a cost nonetheless. And it wont be funded by margin compression. We are way too nervous as an industry for that, particularly with all the insolven-cies of late. In the short term, R&D is simply a cost contractors need to bear that will inevitably drive short-term prices up.We cant talk about the construction cost landscape and not wonder about the domino effect of a skilled labour shortage. You tell me. Are you one of those pot-smoking liberals who rely on government immigration policy to supplement our aging workforce? From where I sit, our immigration and temporary foreign worker policies are actually disadvantaging Canadians. Dont worry. I am resisting the temptation to elab-orate, but lets agree at a minimum that as long as construction volumes remain high (and they will), the consequence of a diminished skilled labour pool will inevitably be higher construction prices.Heres one you may not have considered. What about global warming? In Canada, we have the dubious distinction of warming at double the global average rate despite the 2016 Paris Agreement and our lacklustre efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions. To Environment and Climate Change Canada, that gloomy statistic means urgent action is required. The sense of urgency is appropriate, of course, but remedial action is expensive and prices always rise when we are forced to play catch up, yet again, on all things green. I wish there were more good news. Something. Anything. It isnt just politics and policy change, economics and technology or productivity and the labour shortage. Its commodity price volatility, process-related administrative burden, the quality of documents, safety protocols, foreign competitors mistaking their conventions for ours, extortion level development charges, and the cost of educating our workforces on the new technologies and methodologies we need to embrace to survive. All at a cost. Collectively, the only certainty from my perspective is cost escalation.Respectfully,John MollenhauerTCA President & CEOInternational Union of Painters and Allied Trades DISTRICT COUNCIL 46Bruno Mandic Business Manager/Secretary-TreasurerLocals 557, 1487, 1630, 1819, 1891, 2005 132 Toro Road, Toronto, ON M3J 2A9 T: 416-630-9604 F: 416-630-3400Toll: 800-668-1823Satellite Offices Local 114205A - 1724 Bath Road, Kingston, K7M 4Y2613-384-4810 Local 200880 Lady Ellen Place, G6, Ottawa, K1Z 5L9613-722-6293 Local 205/17951430 Osprey Dr., SS 71, Ancaster, L9G 4V5 905-304-0001 Local 1494631 Pitt Street West, Windsor, N9A 5M5 519-256-8050 Local 15901151 Confederation Street, Sarnia, N7S 3Y5519-337-3791 Local 1671777 Red River Road, Thunder Bay, P7B 1J9807-345-2681 Local 1824124 Sydney St.S., #104, Kitchener, N2G 3V2519-744-4714 Local 190468 Dennis Street, #3, Sault Ste.Marie, P6A 2W9705-946-1904 PLEASE VISIT US AT WWW. IUPAT.ON.CA PaintersDrywall FinishersGlaziersPlasterersSignwritersEIFS-StuccoHazardous MaterialsIndustrial8BUILDERSDIGESTQuarter 12019'