Ontario of College of Trades: Puppet Spokesmen, Dissing Contractor Associations and Drawing Fat Payc

Last week’s Canadian Contractor article by editor Steve Payne, on the Ontario College of Trades (OCOT), was spot on… "Just… wow. Check out this incredibly misleading video from the Ontario College of Trades."

My take on this video is, OCOT’s underlying message to homeowners is not to use online contractors or trades. OCOT continues to beat their own drum, giving the impression they are the only game in town. I say this slights other organizations in the industry, many of whom I’m sure are tired of being stomped on by this new, unskilled kid on the block.

Their (OCOT) video uses fear and scare tactics aimed towards homeowners, telling them that OCOT is their knight in shinning amour, the only organization that will get the bad apples out of our industry.

The first speaker in the video is Alan Silverman, a well-known consumer advocate on TV – a journalist, supposedly. I thought journalists were supposed to get to the truth of a subject. Well, Silverman’s appearance on behalf of the OCOT in this video seems to be all about making money. It’s sad that a formerly well-respected consumer advocate has become a puppet for hire.

The second speaker is Frank Cozzolino, an electrical contractor and member of OCOT. He talks about the the downside of hiring contractors based on online reviews, saying “no one is checking their credentials." Wrong!!!!

This contractor’s words deliver a hit to the reputations of many long-time electrical contracting organizations in Ontario. They include respectable, well-established organizations where homeowners can already check credentials online. Surely Mr. Cozzolinon is aware that, long before the OCOT was foisted on all of us, we already had the following, among others…

Electrical Safety Authority (ESA)

Electrical Certified Contractor

Electrical Contractors Association of Ontario

Electrical Contractors Association of Central Ontario (ECACO)

Electrical Contractors Association Northern Ontario (ECANO)

Greater Toronto Electrical Contractors Association

Ontario Electrical League

… and others.

Cozzolino is himself a current member of the ESA (Electrical Safety Authority). I’m sure ESA checked out his electrical qualifications before accepting his membership.

Furthermore, this electrical contractor did several seasons on TV with Mike Holmes. Is that the same Mike Holmes who has often boasted that, as a kid, his dad allowed him to do wiring – albeit with supervision? No further comment necessary.

Of course, no wonder the OCOT has decided it needs to bend the facts to try to get those cheques coming in. It has some fat paycheques to cut, after all…

For example, the OCOT spokesperson in the video, Bob Onyschuk (Director of Compliance and Enforcement) was paid, according to the Ontario Sunshine List, $136,668 in 2014. Another nine OCOT employees are on that list and their salaries range from $102,796 to $187,977, that latter amount earned by Marilyn Crawford, executive director.

But, let’s put aside the salaries for a second, and get right down to the really offensive part of this video: It basically lies about protecting the public from anyone or anything. And that’s sad from an organization that has been funded by a combination of public money and increasingly, yes, money from you, the contractor.

Feel free to share your good, bad and ugly stories about OCOT, in the comments field below.