By: Jennifer Layman [email protected]Guy Longtin, the Town of Ren- frew’s Fire Chief who was fired for being 60 years old, is follow- ing through on his pledge to sue the municipality. Longtin filed a Statement of Claim on August 23, 2018 with the Ontario Supe- rior Court of Justice. The facts are not being disput- ed - both Longtin and the Town of Renfrew agree that Longtin was fired because of his age. Whether the two sides differ is whether the Town had the right to do that. Province-Wide Impact The local issue has far-reach- ing consequences that could impact the recruitment of fire departments across Ontario. Renfrew’s case relies on provin- cially-set legislation that, they say, demands that Fire Chiefs be included in the mandatory retirement age. While other mu- nicipalities disagree with that in- terpretation, if they are correct, it could send fire departments into a recruiting frenzy, losing their most senior and most educated fire fighting personnel due to age alone. That could put pressure on being able to fill Fire Chief positions, and might impact the availability of municipalities to provide fire services. The Town’s Position The Town’s position is being forwarded by Reeve Peter Emon, no Mayor Don Eady. Reeve Emon told Ottawa Valley Busi- ness in May that Mayor Eady felt Emon was the most knowledge- able person on council to further the Town’s position. There are several elements to the Town’s position. First, Emon references the Fire Prevention and Protection Act (FPPA) which includes a manda- tory retirement age for fire fight- ers with collective agreements. Emon references subsequent Human Rights and Superior Court rulings that firefighters in- volved with fire suppression and incident command face greater health risk and thus, mandatory retirement at age 60 is appropri- ate. While the legislation is for fire fighters, Emon told CBC News that the Town of Renfrew is within their rights to fire Longtin because he assumes the role of incident commander as the Fire Chief, even though admitting he did not know how much time he had spent in that role. The Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs disagrees. Upon receipt of legal counsel, OAFC is of the opinion that actions to mandate a retire- ment age for chief fire officers contravenes section 41(2) of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 (FPPA) which states, ‘(a) a person shall be deemed not to be a firefighter if, (a) in the opinion of the board, he or she exercises managerial functions or is employed in a confidential capacity in matters relating to labour relations, (b) he or she is a person designated under subsec- tion 54(4).’” It is clear that a chief fire officer, executing managerial functions, is excluded from the definition of a “firefighter” in Part IX of the FPPA. The OAFC supports the position that a chief fire officer is not subject to man- datory retirement. The OAFC does not support the dismissal of a chief fire officer, who regularly exercises managerial functions, based on the grounds of his or her age.” Another organization that disagrees is the Town of Arnprior who hired a 60-year-old Fire Chief in 2017. Continued on Page 5 Longtin Files Suit On Far-Reaching Decision Small towns could pay a huge price if Renfrew’s right The Region’s Business Media. More than 3,400 Subscribers. www.ovbusiness.com | [email protected]Issue No. 237 Published by: Forward Thinking September 4, 2018
Guy Longtin, the Town of Ren-frew’s Fire Chief who was fired for being 60 years old, is follow-ing through on his pledge to sue the municipality. Longtin filed a Statement of Claim on August 23, 2018 with the Ontario Supe-rior Court of Justice. The facts are not being disput-ed - both Longtin and the Town of Renfrew agree that Longtin was fired because of his age. Whether the two sides differ is whether the Town had the right to do that.
Province-Wide Impact The local issue has far-reach-ing consequences that could impact the recruitment of fire departments across Ontario. Renfrew’s case relies on provin-cially-set legislation that, they say, demands that Fire Chiefs be included in the mandatory retirement age. While other mu-nicipalities disagree with that in-terpretation, if they are correct, it could send fire departments into a recruiting frenzy, losing their most senior and most educated fire fighting personnel due to age
alone. That could put pressure on being able to fill Fire Chief positions, and might impact the availability of municipalities to provide fire services.
The Town’s Position The Town’s position is being forwarded by Reeve Peter Emon, no Mayor Don Eady. Reeve Emon told Ottawa Valley Busi-ness in May that Mayor Eady felt Emon was the most knowledge-able person on council to further the Town’s position. There are several elements to the Town’s position. First, Emon references the Fire Prevention and Protection Act (FPPA) which includes a manda-tory retirement age for fire fight-
ers with collective agreements. Emon references subsequent Human Rights and Superior Court rulings that firefighters in-volved with fire suppression and incident command face greater health risk and thus, mandatory retirement at age 60 is appropri-ate. While the legislation is for fire fighters, Emon told CBC News that the Town of Renfrew is within their rights to fire Longtin because he assumes the role of incident commander as the Fire Chief, even though admitting he did not know how much time he had spent in that role. The Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs disagrees.
Upon receipt of legal counsel, OAFC is of the opinion that actions to mandate a retire-ment age for chief fire officers contravenes section 41(2) of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 (FPPA) which states, ‘(a) a person shall be deemed not to be a firefighter if, (a) in the opinion of the board, he or she exercises managerial functions or is employed in a confidential capacity in matters relating to labour relations, (b) he or she is a person designated under subsec-tion 54(4).’” It is clear that a chief fire officer, executing managerial functions, is excluded from the definition of a “firefighter” in Part IX of the FPPA. The OAFC supports the position that a chief fire officer is not subject to man-datory retirement. The OAFC does not support the dismissal of a chief fire officer, who regularly exercises managerial functions, based on the grounds of his or her age.” Another organization that disagrees is the Town of Arnprior who hired a 60-year-old Fire Chief in 2017.
Continued on Page 5
Longtin Files Suit On Far-Reaching DecisionSmall towns could pay a huge price if Renfrew’s right
The Region’s Business Media. More than 3,400 Subscribers.www.ovbusiness.com | [email protected]
Issue No. 237 Published by: Forward Thinking September 4, 2018
ABOUT US
Ottawa Valley Business (OVB) is a twice-monthly publication cov-ering business news and events throughout Renfrew, Lanark and Pontiac counties and surrounding areas. OVB is published by For-ward Thinking Marketing Agency.
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CONTENT & SUBMISSIONS
News, article ideas, employee news, business events, tenders and letters to the editor are wel-comed. Content will be edited to fit the space available. Events not related to business can consider 101 Things to Do in the Valley: [email protected]
September 10, 2018Starter Company Plus Orienta-tion in Smiths Falls. Morning and afternoon sessions. Free to attend to learn about these business starting sessions. Call 613-283-7002 or www.smallbiz-centre.ca
September 10, 2018Adapting to the Needs of an Aging Population. A workshop for businesses and entrepreneurs. Adults over age 55 represent 44 % of the community’s popula-tion. Hosted by Mattawa and Region Community Develop-ment. Mattawa Legion. 6:30pm-7:30pm. RSVP to JoAnne Montreuil at 705-744-5300.
September 11, 2018Understanding QuickBooks online. Logan Katz CPA work-shop. Hosted by Invest Ottawa. 9:00am-12:00pm. Free to attend. 7 Bayview Road, Ottawa. www.investottawa.ca
Events
September 4, 2018 Ottawa Valley Business Page 2
September 11, 2018Social Media for Non-Profit Organizations. 1:00pm-4:00pm. $130 per person. Hosted by Vol-unteer Ottawa. Phone: 613-736-5270 or [email protected]
September 18, 2018Facebook Advertising: Beyond the boost button (advanced). 10:00am-Noon. 91 Cornelia Street West, Smiths Falls. $20 per person. Phone: 613-283-7002.
September 18, 2018Use Google Tools to Accelerate Your Business. 1:00pm-3:00pm. 91 Cornelia Street West, Smiths Falls. $20 per person. Bring own laptop and create own Google account. No Google AdWords. Phone: 613-283-7002.
September 18, 2018Airbnb Workshop at the Mu-nicipality of Hastings Highlands in Maynooth. $20 per person. 1:00pm-5:00pm. Register in advance with Russ Grant: [email protected] 613-338-2811.
September 19, 2018Women in Business event. on-trac’s 2nd annual event. Speak-
ers TBD. St. John Parish Hall in Arnprior. 8:30am-3:30pm. Contact Jennifer Armstrong. [email protected]
September 20, 2018Steps to Establishing a Price for your Product or Service. Hosted by Valley Heartland CFDC. Pre-senters: Scott Runte & Stephen Beamish, Launch Lab. 9:00am-11:00am. 91 Cornelia Street West, Smiths Falls. $25 tickets. Call 613-283-7002.
September 20, 2018Airbnb Workshop at the Mu-nicipality of Hastings Highlands in Maynooth. $20 per person. 5:00pm-9:00pm. Register in advance with Russ Grant: [email protected] 613-338-2811.
September 27, 2018How To Get Paid Without Going To Court. A primer on secured transactions and other means of protecting your business against unpaid accounts. 10:00am-11:30am. Free to attend. Invest Ottawa. 7 Bayview Road, Ot-tawa. www.investottawa.ca
October 1, 2018Provincial election day in Que-bec. www.electionsquebec.qc.ca
October 17, 2018Bridges to Better Business. Human Resources 101. Hosted by Enterprise Renfrew County. More information closer to the date. Call 613-432-6848.
October 22, 2018Municipal election day in Ontar-io. Check with your municipal-ity to obtain voting information and visit www.voterlookup.ca to ensure you are on the voter’s list.
October 25-26, 2018Eastern Ontario Local Food 2018 Conference. Mowhak Community Centre, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. For informa-tion, contact Karen Fischer at [email protected] or call 613-475-4908. www.easternont-localfood.ca
October 30, 2018Managing Your Team: Intro-duction to Employment Law. 10:00am-11:30am. Presented by Low Murchison Radnoff LLP. Free to attend. 7 Bayview Road, Ottawa. www.investottawa.ca
September 4, 2018 Ottawa Valley Business Group Page 3
Book Club
Co-owner of Boston Pizza and star of CBC-TV’s Dragons’ Den, Jim Treliving reveals the secrets of his success, taking you behind the scenes at critical points in the building of his businesses. Covering the “big” decisions - from what to do with your life to how to source capital, find partners, handle change and inspire growth - Treliving sets out the tools for making effective choices and explains why every decision requires action. He also discusses how to bounce back from those not-so-good deci-sions, explaining how to refocus and recalibrate, just as Treliving had to do when he realized that Boston Pizza’s expansion into Asia was causing the company to drift off-brand. Pulling back from Asian opportunities was a tough decision at the time, but the move became crucial to guid-ing successful BP expansions later on. Always candid, Treliv-ing shares his insights on some very public choices. Down to earth, sensible and filled with vision and humour, Decisions is a book for budding entrepreneurs and for those who want the inside business stories. But it’s also for people who want to transform their compa-nies into ones that create steady wealth and lasting success. Even if you are not in business, this book will help you make wiser decisions in your life and move forward with confidence.
Business News Around The ValleyCounty Uses Extra Dollars To
Extend Burnstown Road WorkThe County of Renfrew has approved extending the reha-bilitation of County Road 52, Burnstown Road, at a distance of approximately 1.85km at a cost of $333,400. The extension will not go out to tender. The County’s capital budget will have surplus of funds of more than $400,000. This is a “draft” decision.
Bonnechere Manor Gets Government Funds
Two Renfrew businesses held their own “Project Runway” in support of the Bonnechere Manor Foundation, owned by the County of Renfrew. Bonnechere Bakery and The Shoe Lounge raised $3,500 to go towards the Foundation. Bonnechere Manor recently received two forms of additional funding from the Champlain LHIN to offset in-creased costs to the Fair Work-places, Better Jobs Act (mini-mum wage increase legislation) and also Community Investment Funding from the LHIN. Bon-nechere Manor is hosting a gala in the fall for $125 per person to raise additional funds for the Foundation.
More Tourists, Spending Down in Renfrew County
The County of Renfrew has released draft tourism data for 2016 that shows some interesting
fact about where tourism visi-tors are coming from. Ottawa-Carleton remains the top visiting market for both 2015 and 2016, with Renfrew County the second top visiting market. Frontenac County was third for both years. However, in 2015 the fourth visiting market was Toronto fol-lowed by Simcoe County, and in 2016 those locations have been replaced with Northumberland County and Halton Region. There was an 8 per cent increase in total visitation from 1,588,339 visits in 2015 to 1,720,304 visits in 2016. However, visitor spend-ing was down 15 per cent.
County Looking To Charge For Defibrillator Inspections
County of Renfrew council is recommending that a $100 fee be charged for all sites that host a defibrillator under the County of Renfrew Public Access Defibril-lator Program. The fee will cover an annual inspection, responding to service alarms, maintaining the defibrillator database and ordering or installing pads and batteries. The county is looking to have various sponsoring orga-nizations in the program sign the agreement.
County To Make DonationsThe County of Renfrew will be hosting a Warden’s Golf Tourna-ment at Whitetail Golf Cub in Eganville and will be making donations to the Renfrew Victo-
ria Hospital Oncology Unit and the United Way’s Mental Health Task Force. The cost to each player is $85.
County Won’t Donate To Airport
The County of Renfrew has decided not to make a donation to the Pembroke & Area Airport because they have a “No Grants” policy. The Airport made a presentation to the County of Renfrew in February 2018, and was asked to come back in May to present to all of County Council and to have a financial ask. The second presentation took place in May where the Air-port made it’s financial request which was $5,000 per County of Renfrew municipality per year for five years. The Airport was denied the request because of the County’s “No Grants” policy.
Ottawa Chambers Amalgamating
The Ottawa Citizen is report-ing that a new Ottawa Board of Trade will be formed, result-ing in the amalgamation of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, West Ottawa Boar of Trade and Orleans Chamber of Commerce. The new entity will have a 22-member board of directors.
-----Do you have news to report from your business or municipality?
Quebec Election: Oct. 1Candidate session is September 13 While Ontario is gearing up for municipal elections in October, Quebec will be hosting provin-cial elections. On October 1, 2018, Quebec will go to the polls for their provincial election. The current government is Liberal, led by Premier Phil-lippe Couillard. They have been the party in power for most of the past 15 years (for 18 months the Parti Quebecois was in power). The Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) is led by Francois Legault. Legault is a former businessman and CEO of Air Transat. He was a former separatist but is not a pro-Canada politician. The Parti Quebecois is led by Jean-Francois Lisee, a former writer and columnist. While they have been faltering as a party, they would lose party status if they fail to secure 12 votes in the legislature. Finally the Quebec Solidaire party is another separatist party. They are led by Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois
and Manon Masse (co-spokes-persons). In the Pontiac the current member of provincial parlia-ment is Liberal Andre Fortin. He earned 75.76 per cent of the vote in the 2014 election. The riding has been Liberal since 1970. The candidates registered thus far in the Pontiac for the upcoming election include: Marie-Clair Nivolon (Parti Quebecois), Olive Kamanyana (Coalition Ave-nir Quebec) and Andre Fortin (Liberal). The Pontiac Chamber of Com-merce will be hosting a candi-dates forum on Thursday, Sep-tember 13, 2018 at 6:30pm. It will take place at the RA Centre, 2 Second Road in Campbell’s Bay. For information contact the Chamber at 819-647-2312 or [email protected]. The event is being held in collaboration with the Pontiac community radio station, CHIP 101.9.
On The MoveEmily Hollington
Emily Hollington is the new Social Services Director for the County of Lanark. Holling-ton has been employed by the County of Lanark for more than 10 years and most recently as the Housing Redevelopment-Regeneration Coordinator. She is also currently the Interim Execu-tive Director of Lanark County Housing Corporation. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Human Service Administration degree, Social Service Worker diploma, Executive Diploma in Munici-pal Management, Certificate in Property Management and she is a certified housing practitioner with CIHC.
Angela ClouthierAngela Clouthier has retired from Miramichi Lodge as the Administrative Assistant-Finance. Her retirement was effective June 29, 2018.
Brendan MellishBrendan Mellish is the new Administrative Assistant-Finance for Miramichi Lodge. Mellish previously worked at Miramichi Lodge as an Administration Clerk for five years. He began his new position on July 3, 2018.
Laura LePineLaura LePine, the Manger of Ontario Works for the County of Renfrew, has been appointed to the Ontario Municipal Social Services Association Board of Directors.
Paul MoreauPaul Moreau is the new Chief Administrative Officer for the County of Renfrew. Moreau was a district manager for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources prior to becoming employed with the County of Renfrew. He served five years as the Director of Development and Property, and then two years as the Direc-tor of Social Services. Moreau replaces Jim Hutton who will retire on September 29, 2018.
All Eyes On Renfrew: Was Firing Justified?Continued from Page 1
Arnprior’s Chief Administra-tive Officer, Michael Wildman, told CBC News that Arnprior interprets Ontario’s age restric-tion as not applying to the chief, since in their view he is not a frontline firefighter even while working as an incident com-mander. However, that isn’t the sole reason Renfrew enacted the policy. Emon has also expressed to CFRA Radio that “It’s not the physical nature of the job, it’s the stress and associated long term stress of the position.” The challenge here will be proving that Longtin was too stressed to do the job since they fired him before any evaluation. Longtin, however, has pursued his own evaluation. He volun-tarily took a Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test and an ECG Stress Test at the University of Ot-tawa Heart Institute. Both tests
confirmed there is no reasonable medical basis for any concern about his ability to perform his job as Fire Chief.
Expediency of Decision Emon told Ottawa Valley Business that he dealt with the mandatory retirement issue as soon as he knew about it, citing it as something he “couldn’t wil-fully ignore.” The changes to the Fire Prevention and Protection Act came into effect in 2011 and information was widely distrib-uted to municipalities. In many local municipalities, including neighbouring Horton Township, the issue of mandatory retire-ment of professional fire fighters was discussed in municipal fire committees. However, Emon was Mayor of Greater Madawas-ka in 2011 and did not become Reeve of Renfrew until 2014. In the legal and human rights cases referenced by the Town of Renfrew, the mandatory retire-ment age was already known to the employees. In two cases,
there was a recommended ac-commodation for a 60-year-old fire fighter to ask to be recon-sidered for a position not in fire suppression but still within the fire department in order to main-tain his salary. However, what makes the issue different for the Town of Renfrew. On May 2, 2018, Longtin left to attend the annual symposium of the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs. That is when Town of Renfrew first met to discuss implementing a mandatory retirement policy that would result in Longtin being fired. On May 7, 2018, council met in a closed session to pass the policy. Later that same day, Longtin was fired. The policy did not impact anyone else. Longtin was never invited to participate in the discussion on mandatory retirement. It was certainly unusual not to consult the senior management team em-ployee who has been responsible for the fire department for 26 years. In reviewing past minutes of Town of Renfrew council, Longtin often fielded questions and provided explanations to members of council on areas involving the fire department. One would have thought that Longtin would be a resource of information for the municipality to assist them in issue involv-ing mandatory retirement in a composite (full time and
volunteer) fire department with his considerable experience. However, there is no requirement that council is required to consult with any employee - senior man-agement or otherwise - on any decision of the municipality.
Additional Factors? In his Statement of Claim, Longtin alleges that the reason all this happened is because both Mayor Eady and Reeve Emon have personal biases that are im-pacting their decision making. In the case of Eady, Longtin filed a workplace harassment complaint against him in 2017, and believes his firing is retaliation for that complaint. In the case of Emon, Longtin alleges that Emon has “a personal relationship with Tim Hill” who was the former fire department captain and wanted to see him promoted. Hill was promoted to Acting Fire Chief when Longtin was fired. The case is certainly putting Renfrew on the map as munici-palities across Ontario are watch-ing to see the results of the law-suit. Longtin is being represented by D. Bruce Sevigny of Sevigny Westdall LLP of Ottawa. Emon told CBC News that the Town of Renfrew is committed to defending itself all the way to and including trial. The Town of Renfrew has until mid-Sep-tember to respond to Longtin’s Statement of Claim.
September 4, 2018 Ottawa Valley Business Page 6
* denotes incumbent (individual currently holds this position). (A) denotes acclaimation.
RENFREW COUNTYAdmaston Bromley1 mayor, 4 councillorsMichael Donohue - Mayor (A)*Kevin LeGris - Councillor*Robert Dick - Councillor*Michael Quilty - Councillor*Jamieson Dyer - CouncillorRobert Hall - Councillor*Angela Field - Councillor
Tender Results Around The RegionInspect Climbing Ropes and Walls. Defence Construction Canada. Awarded to Jp2g Con-sultants Inc. of Pembroke in the amount of $8,562.65.
Install 15 Monitoring Wells. Defence Construction Canada. Awarded to SLR Consulting of Markham in the amount of $89,618.75.
Reshingle Roof on Building J104. Defence Construc-tion Canada. Awarded to CK Construction of Val Caron in the amount of $39,743.00.
Install Waste Oil Tank. De-fence Construction Canada. Awarded to McNolty Mechanical of Wendover in the amount of $57,469.00.
Replace Air Conditioning Units. Defence Construction Canada. Awarded to Saffco of Pembroke in the amount of $78,488.00.
Repaint Road Lines. De-fence Construction Canada. Awarded to Greenwood Paving of Pembroke in the amount of $29,686.00.
UXO Clearance and Avoid-ance. Defence Construction Canada. Awarded to Notra Inc. of Ottawa in the amount of $330,700.00.
Vimy Boulevard, Carswell Street, Prince Avenue. Town Contract No.11-2018. Renfrew.BR Fulton - $820,416.05RGT Clouthier - $898,684.82Bonnechere Ex. - $1,113,957.42Recommended award to BR Fulton.
2018-06 Well Drilling. Town-ship of South Algonquin.The project will be retendered.
Tender 2018-18 Cobden Man-hole Rehabilitation. Whitewa-ter Region.Only one tender was received. Recommended award to RGT Clouthier in the amount of $54,761.16.
Two Half Ton Trucks. Town-ship of Drummond-North Elmsley.Awarded to Mike Fair in the amount of $36,888 per vehicle.
RFP 2018-04 Supply and Installation of a Generator for the Municipal Building. Kil-laloe, Hagarty and Richards.Only one quote was received. Awarded to Welk Electric in the amount of $57,844.70.
Resurfacing of Tennis Courts. Town of Smiths Falls.Only one tender was received. Recommended award to Toro Court Equipment in the amount of $102,945.00.
Ontario Hospital Drain Main-tenance Contract. Montague.Audet and Assoc. - $122,288.60Charles McLellan - $26,498.50Landworks - $108,068.83Recommended award to Charles McLellan.
RFP 2018-08 Engineering Paugh Lake Road. Madawaska Valley.WSP Eng. - $98,200-$118,200Perspective Eng. - $94,000Recommended award to Per-spective.
RFP PWC-2018-30. Manufac-ture, Supply and Delivery of two SPCSPA Culvert Exten-sions for C124 (Cameron Cul-vert). County of Renfrew.Atlantic Industries - $156,280.10Canada Culvert - $161,496.05Recommended that the tender not be awarded.
PWC-2018-21 Rehabilitation of C124 (Cameron Culvert). County of Renfrew.Bonnechere Ex. - $974,096.00Clearwater - $1,278,930.00Recommended that the tender not be awarded.
PWC-2018-34. Manufac-ture, Supply and Delivery of SPCSPA Culvert for C217 (Hila Road Culvert). County of Renfrew.Atlantic Industries - $109,500.09Canada Culvert - $136,594.21
News 10 How well do you know the news of the past few weeks? Answers on page 10.
1) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reached out to this person to congratulate them on winning a golf tournament. Who was this person and what did they win?
2) A study of 50 nursing mothers who used marijuana while nurs-ing showed that THC showed up in breast milk ____ days after the sample was provided.
3) The United States and Mexico have agreed to their own trade agreement, excluding Canada. What is the name of the agree-ment?
4) The Federal Court of Canada quashed the Trans Mountain pipeline project. On what grounds did the court do this?
5) The highest benchmark inter-est rate in the world is 60 per cent. What country is this in?
6) This company marks its 100th anniversary this year. They make a key back-to-school item that has been used by generations. What is the company and what do they manufacture?
7) As NAFTA talks continue, and Canada remains excluded from the North American agreement, what is one of the key issues that seems to come between the Canada and the U.S.?
8) The RCMP Foundation is auctioning off horses that didn’t make the cut for the musical Ride, or that have been retired. What breed of horse are they?
9) Cannabis sales update: When are online sales and regulated private retail sales of cannabis set to start?
10) Facebook and Instagram will undergo what change starting mid-2019?
Current Tenders
September 4, 2018 Ottawa Valley Business Page 9
REQUEST FOR QUOTATION
Pembroke Business Improvement Area Summer
2019 Flowers-----
Pembroke Business Improvement Area 2019 Maintenance Contract
-----Three Pick-up Trucks
TENDERS
Grading and Asphalt Paving-----
Sewer Lining Program -----
Quarry Limestone Crusher Dust Supply And Delivery
-----Grinding of Construction,
Demolition, Wood and Other Waste
-----Tree Removal
-----Four-Wheel Drive 1 Ton Truck,
Heavy Duty -----
Grinding of Construction, Demo-lition, Wood and Other Waste
NOTE:Tenders and results are posted online at: www.ovbusiness.com
Any business, municipality or organization can send tenders to be published free of charge on our website and promoted in upcoming issues of Ottawa
Valley Business. We encourages municipalities to send us their
open tenders and tender results for more options in their bidding
processes.
Tender ResultsAround The Region
PWC-2018-21 Replacement of C217 (Hila Road Culvert). County of Renfrew.RGT Clouthier - $374,850.00Bonnechere Ex.- $379,733.00
RFQ - Algonquin Trail Crush-er Dust. 2018-03 Horton/Ren-frew. County of Renfrew.GP Splinter - $35,180.00Bonnechere Ex. - $41,925.30H&H Construction - $57,596.00
RFQ - Algonquin Trail Crush-er Dust. 2018-04 Whitewater Region. County of Renfrew.GP Splinter - $21,890.00Bonnechere Ex. - $26,197.30H&H Construction - $38,994.00
RFQ - Algonquin Trail Crush-er Dust. 2018-05 Laurentian Valley. County of Renfrew.GP Splinter - $31,040.00Bonnechere Ex. - $40,188.30H&H Construction - $47,808.00
RFQ - Algonquin Trail Crush-er Dust. 2018-06 Laurentian Hills. County of Renfrew.RGT Clouthier - $36,000.00GP Splinter - $39,120.00Bonnechere Ex. - $41,817.00H&H Construction - $47,027.30
RFQ - Algonquin Trail Crush-er Dust. 2018-07 City of Pem-broke. County of Renfrew.GP Splinter - $23,410.00Bonnechere Ex. - $31,642.30H&H Construction - $37,985.00
Supply and Installation of Five Gates on Algonquin Trail. County of Renfrew.Quotations were requested. Only one quotation was received. Rec-ommended award to G.P. Splin-ter Forest Products of Pembroke in the amount of $11,831.86.
-----Active tenders and results at:
www.ovbusiness.com
September 4, 2018 Ottawa Valley Business Page 10
By: Jennifer [email protected] This past spring, I read an article by Cathy Vingrass, head of Canadian operations for Square, a company that provides debit and credit card services to businesses. The article revealed results of a study Square had completed where 79 per cent of consumers are “card-first” buy-ers - they want to pay by debit or credit as a preference. The other interesting figure was that 47 per cent of consumers actually avoid businesses that do not accept credit cards. While that figure is certainly high - imagine losing nearly 50 per cent of potential business because you don’t take credit cards - it was what Vingrass said in her final two sentences that really struck me: “Too often, small businesses make the mistake of focusing on how they want to be paid, and not how their customers want to pay them, which leads to them not getting paid at all,” she explained. “That is a huge challenge as no business, large
or small, can afford to miss out on sales.” No matter what our reason for getting into business, there is just no getting around the fact that to succeed, a business needs customers. That is an undisputed fact. So, when you make deci-sions that involve the customer, you better darn well consider their preferences, otherwise, you might push them right into the arms of your competition. This tendency of a business or organization to choose their preference over that of their customer is something that is happening more and more often in the field of marketing. My theory on why this is happening is this: people who are in charge of making decisions are chal-lenged for time, so they focus on getting the task completed as opposed to getting the task completed well. The more a person feels under the gun for time, the more quickly they will want to make the decision, and the less consideration will go into the customer’s preferences. So how do you act quickly with the customer’s preferences in mind? Choose smart people to work with. I recently ordered some ball caps for a client and the proof came back with the logo on the hat. I thought the logo looked a
bit big, but that is because my preference is for a smaller logo. When I mentioned a smaller logo to the supplier, they explained how the larger logo is usually what people who wear the caps prefer. As they had printed tens of thousands of ball caps for thousands of customers in their 15-year history, and I had not done that, I trusted their exper-tise. You have to choose good people to help you grow your business and then you have to rely on them to give you good advice. If you’re new in dealing with someone, take a moment to consider why you chose to do business with them in the first place. They must have a product or service you like, or perhaps they were referred by someone whose opinion you trust. This new supplier didn’t earn your business as a fluke - trust your-self that you chose them for a good reason. There are enough forms of competition in our business life these days, don’t let your own preferences be one of them for your business.
Jennifer is the owner of Forward Think-ing Marketing Agency. Her column appears every issue.
Picking Your PreferencesHow to focus on what the customer wants
AnswersAnswers to the News 10 Quiz:
1) Smiths Falls native, Brooke Henderson; she won the Cana-dian Women’s Open - the first woman to do so in 45 years.2) In 34 of 54 samples, THC was present up to six days after the sample was provided.3) United States/Mexico Trade Agreement4) Inadequate consultations with Indigenous peoples.5) Argentina6) The company is Hilroy; they manufacture notebooks.7) Canada’s supply management system for dairy products.8) Hanoverians: the RCMP started using them in the 1980s instead of thoroughbreds.9) Online: October 17, 2018. Private retail: April 1, 2019.10) They will charge GST on online advertisements purchased through their Canadian opera-tions.
OTTAWA VALLEY BUSINESS
September 18, 2018Deadline: September 12, 2018
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Deadline: September 27, 2018-----
October 16, 2018Deadline: October 11, 2018
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Deadline: October 31, 2018-----
November 20, 2018Deadline: November 14, 2018
101 THINGS TO DO IN THE VALLEY
November-December IssuePublishing: October 25, 2018 Deadline: October 23, 2018
HEALTH MATTERS
The Fall 2018 Edition is distributing in early September.
