VIEW Winter 2024 Canada Post Mail Publications Agreement Number: 40609661 The voice of the Canadian Tooling & Machining Association It looks like industry and government have different ideas about what zero plastic waste means. Is there a better way to achieve consensus moving forward? A BUMPY JOURNEY TOWARDS WASTE PLASTIC5 CONTENTS WINTER 2024 24 Remembering CTMA members MEMBER PROFILE 25 Custom gear? No problem, says Rapid Gear CTMA HEADLINES 26 Welcoming new CTMA members 27 CTMA, attendees enjoyed incredible tour of RM Auto Restoration in Blenheim 28 CTMA’s sporting history 31 CTMA, members raise awareness for careers in skilled trades through Level Up! events 32 Try the new forum at www.ctma.com MEMBERS IN THE NEWS 33 Premier’s Awards: Recognizing the outstanding contributions of Kris Girdauskas 34 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS 22 UP FRONT 7 A Message from the CTMA president FEATURES 8 A bumpy journey towards zero plastic waste 11 CTMA celebrates 60th Anniversary at AGM & Dinner 20 Class is now in session: Teaching the teachers the ABCs about CNCs 22 Clover Tool: Building for the future 3325 Winter 2024 Published For: The Canadian Tooling & Machining Association 140 McGovern Drive, Unit 3 Cambridge, Ontario N3H 4R7 Tel: (519) 653-7265 Fax: (519) 653-6764 marketing@ctma.com www.ctma.com The contributed articles presented in this magazine represent the opinions of the authors and the interviewees. Their inclusion does not directly or implicitly denote concurrence by the Canadian Tooling & Machining Association. Articles were selected for inclusion based on the issues and views of interest to the industry. Published By: Matrix Group Publishing Inc. 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To request permission, please contact the association’s office by e-mail at info@ctma.com. 1167 UP FRONT WHEN I WAS GOING THROUGH both my grade school and high school years the reoccur- ring comment on all of my report cards (do they still have them?) was that “Louis has a lot of potential .” This comment, I am confident to speculate, probably appeared on a lot of report cards, including many of yours. At the recent CTMA Annual General Meeting (AGM) & Dinner on Sept. 21, the keynote speaker, Joe Roberts, aka the “Skidrow CEO,” shared his personal life experience about how an old man named Gus saw the potential in him. At the time, Joe was strung out on drugs daily, and living on the streets of Vancouver, pushing around a shopping cart with all his earthly belongings. One day, while sitting on a park bench, a stranger named Gus told Joe that he saw potential in him. This conversation was the spark that led to Joe changing his life completely, returning home, going back to school, and becoming the CEO of a very successful company. The inspiration for this editorial started while watching a group of amazing apprentices walk across the stage at the AGM to receive recognition and some pretty large monetary awards. As each apprentice was introduced, their bio was read extolling their strengths and contribution to the industry and highlighting their potential . To add to the inspiration of seeing future industry leaders during the AGM, we had an amazing cast of CTMA honourary members present in the room. It was like the industry hall of fame; the line included Jack Tickins, Ken Watton, Ed Glover, Andy McTear, Les Payne, Ted Callighen, Ray Buxton, and Mike Solcz Sr. (he had to miss being present but we did acknowledge him). These CTMA honourary members and industry leaders all started out as apprentices in their respective trades and developed their potential , leaving not only great legacies, but started or developed many companies that we still work with, or are still thriving within Ontario and throughout the world. The CTMA’s Annual Apprentice Awards are so important to the industry and are a good barometer to measure the health of young talent in Ontario, who are currently developing their potential . It was amazing to see these apprentices firsthand and it was comforting to know that these young men and women are the future leaders and CEOs in our industry. I am always impressed when I read about new technologies and industry improvements developed in our backyard here in Ontario. There are a lot of companies here tackling some very large technological challenges and succeeding. Just last month, the title on one of our trade magazines was “Achieving The Impossible” featuring a Lifetime Achievement Award winner solving automation problems with “innovative thinking and perseverance.” These technologies and industry improvements are gamechangers and differentiate us from other players on the world stage. Our potential really is great, and it is the Guses of the world who see it in us and resources like the CTMA helping on many levels and in many ways to cheer us on to develop ourselves in the industry. There is no doubt that we all have potential . ❙❙❙ Louis Jahn CTMA President Jahn Engineering Ltd These CTMA honourary members and industry leaders all started out as apprentices in their respective trades and developed their potential, leaving not only great legacies, but started or developed many companies that we still work with, or are still thriving within Ontario and throughout the world. What is our potential?8 ON THE COVER s part of Canada’s plan to move toward the goal of zero plastic waste by 2030, the federal government is developing a registry to require producers to report each year on all major categories of plastic products in the Canadian economy. This includes packaging, construction, automotive, white goods (e.g. home appliances), electronic and electrical equipment, textiles, and agriculture. In 2023, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) met with industry representatives, including Alex Mazerolle representing the Canadian Tooling & Machining Association (CTMA), to let them know more about these upcoming changes and gather feedback. “The meeting that I was involved in was set up by Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME), which works closely with the federal government on issues like these as an industry stakeholder,” said Mazerolle. In addition to being president of Archer Precision, Mazerolle also sits on the CTMA board of directors as its government relations chair. “This meeting was primarily focused on the labeling changes for plastic and organizers spoke to how plastic products are expected to be labelled on the shelf going forward as the next step towards zero plastic waste.” The federal government appears keen on establishing a more comprehensive standard for plastic labeling, which entails the inclusion of a Canadian flag to denote the product’s country of origin and a more detailed specification of the type of plastic employed in the product. The exact scope of information required, however, appears to remain subject to further determination. THE CHALLENGE OF COMPLIANCE The majority of industry representatives who were present at the meeting appeared somewhat apprehensive about these changes and brought up several concerns. The main challenge facing Canadian manufacturers is related to label cost and real estate. Many items on the market tend to be compact in size and, what’s more, are already subject to labeling requirements. This would leave minimal space for any additional It looks like industry and government have different ideas about what zero plastic waste means. Is there a better way to achieve consensus moving forward? labels. Additionally, implementing the new labeling regulations will necessitate a substantial investment in mould retooling and will lead to significant costs for CTMA members working in this market. “There’s going to be a huge cost to retooling for our members to meet the new labeling requirements, and a lot of the products and packaging we’re talking about have already been minimized to reduce the plastic we’re using—there’s just not a lot of space left over for any new requirements,” said Mazerolle. The current labeling practices are also governed by various regulatory bodies, and conflicts may arise if these regulations evolve without enough due diligence and comprehensive consultations across regulatory domains. “People in the meeting, especially from the medical industry, were also confused about how the new rules might conflict with specific labelling regulations already in place,” said Mazerolle. “They are being asked to now add information to medical packaging that is already required by their medical boards, and they are concerned that there are areas of overlap where the two sets of labelling rules might contradict each other.” Compounding matters, the consensus at the meeting was that the timeline for these changes appears to be rather condensed, with a draft Section 46 Notice set for publication by the close of 2023. It was felt by those in attendance that the government’s timeline may be too accelerated, and overly optimistic to be feasible. “I believe that the government’s justification for the new labelling rules is just to reduce the amount of single use plastic and keep everything that can’t be recycled out of the landfill, and this is something that the CTMA supports,” said Mazerolle. “But there was also quite a bit of skepticism in the meeting about whether these labeling requirements would—in any way—contribute to the government’s desired outcome of the removal of these plastics from the environment.” “I got the sense that this legislation is going to move forward, whether it’s well-constructed or not,” said Mazerolle. “Of course, ECCC didn’t come out and say that, but the people came out of the meeting feeling a little disillusioned about the entire process. So, the By Paul Adair, Staff Writer A BUMPY JOURNEY TOWARDS WASTE PLASTIC9 likelihood of this being successful is slim, the timeline for how they want to implement this is probably too short, and market pressures are probably not going to allow the industry to move as quickly as the Government of Canada would like—but here we are going full steam ahead anyway.” A MIXED BAG FOR CTMA MEMBERS That being said, these new rules are not all bad, and there may actually be opportunities mixed in with the challenges for CTMA members in the future. So, while some may need to make additional investments to comply with the regulations, others may benefit from moulds needing to be re-machined, modified, or updated and put back into the lines. “This might be a bit of a double- edged sword, but the CTMA doesn’t have any major objections about this,” said Mazerolle. “I am sure the government will eventually get this ironed out and get it right. Besides, a coherent labeling system for plastic is probably, at the very least, a good place to start the journey to move away from single use plastics by 2030.” The strength of an association like the CTMA is that it can bring together its members and advocate on issues with a single voice. Looking ahead, the CTMA will continue to monitor the direction the federal government takes on this issue and relay that information back to its members. “I’m just one machine shop, and if the government came to me and asked, ‘What do you think about this?’ I would have a very limited ability to respond,” said Mazerolle. “But the CTMA leadership is made up of many industry representatives from many diverse sectors, who can come together and discuss these matters in detail, and then respond to the government in an intelligent manner that benefits its members.” A NEW STAGE IN THE WAR ON PLASTIC In 2020, ECCC announced the federal government’s intention to ban ‘plastic manufactured items’ to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) Schedule 1: List of Toxic Substances. This was done in a round-about way to allow the government to regulate their use in Canada and inch towards the end goal of zero plastic waste by 2030.Next >