HRAI talks Ontario College of Trades, climate change and more with MPPs at Queen’s Park

Parliamentary Assistant to the Ontario Minister of Finance Doug Downey speaks at the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute (HRAI) Queen’s Park reception.

The Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute (HRAI) capped off a day of meetings on pressing industry issues at Queen’s Park with a reception in downtown Toronto.

Members of provincial parliament and HRAI representatives gathered at the InterContinental Toronto Yorkville on October 30, 2018 following the inaugural “Queen’s Park Day.”

Martin Luymes, vice-president of government and stakeholder relations at HRAI, discusses the Queen’s Park advocacy day.

“We had the opportunity to meet with MPPs from all parties and explain how HRAI can be their bridge to the HVAC/R industry,” posted Victor Hyman, profit centre manager at EMCO Managed Equity Solutions, to LinkedIn.

Martin Luymes, HRAI vice president of government and stakeholder relations, said “a lot of progress” was made “on a number of files” in a speech to attendees. Those files included climate change, the Ontario College of Trades and “regulatory impediments.”

Luymes added that he felt the industry was “underappreciated” and not well known. For that reason, he stressed the importance of the provincial government working with the industry–though he applauded the government’s efforts so far.

Doug Downey, parliamentary assistant to the Ontario Minister of Finance, affirmed the audience that Ontario is “open for business,” referring to the progressive conservative government’s recently tabled bill, the “Making Ontario Open for Business Act.”

“Pleased to bring greeting on behalf of [Premier Doug Ford] to the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada,” Downey tweeted.