The radical drop in the number of fines imposed by the Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ) on construction sites is “perhaps” a good sign, according to the Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, who hopes that prevention has had its effect. fruits.
“It’s an approach which, I hope, produces results,” he reacted in a press scrum on Wednesday.
Despite the increase in activity on construction sites in recent years, the number of tickets distributed by the CCQ has decreased by more than half since 2015, going from 10,544 at the time to 4,009 last year, revealed The duty.
Questioned on this subject, Minister Boulet stressed that the CCQ had relaxed its approach. “We travel to construction sites, and when there are non-conformities, we inform, we issue opinions, we ask for corrections within a deadline. But we do not issue tickets with the payment of fines straight away. »
And added that it was “perhaps” an indication “that on construction sites, we respect more the obligation to have a certificate of competence and the others”.
In his exchanges with The duty In recent days, the CCQ explained that it had replaced thousands of infraction notices with courtesy notices (warnings) in recent years. She says this did not lead to a relaxation of the rules, but had to admit that she did not have proof.
In front of journalists, Minister Jean Boulet also mentioned in passing that the CCQ was “autonomous” from the government.
Bill 51 on construction which he is currently submitting to Parliament does not directly deal with reports of infractions and inspection mechanisms. However, it increases the amounts of fines, which had not been indexed for years. It also imposes new administrative obligations on the CCQ, which will now have to report to the minister in a strategic plan including performance indicators.