CTA to hold summit Jan. 22-24

OTTAWA (Dec. 13, 1999) — The Canadian Trucking Alliance has scheduled its promised summit on what the group can do to prop up the image of the nation’s for-hire trucking industry.

The meeting, called Crossroads 2000, is scheduled for Jan. 24-26 in Winnipeg.

The CTA, a federation of Canada’s seven regional for-hire trucking groups, wants to develop a plan to improve its standing on the public policy agenda, which includes safety, labor, and environmental issues.

But the overarching concern is how to boost the public perception of the industry, said Massimo Bergamini, CTA vice-president, government and public affairs. “The industryÕs image problems color so many views — how policymakers see us, how potential labor sources see us, how other businesses see us,” he said.

The roster of invited stakeholders includes the Canadian Automobile Association, the Teamsters, several government agencies, shipper groups, and a journalist from the mainstream press.

However, the summit will likely be closed to the public and to non-CTA members.

“We’re not segregating CTA members from non-CTA members. It’s simply a matter of logistics,” Bergamini explained. “If we were holding this in January 2001, a wide open forum might make a lot of sense. Since weÕre holding this in a few weeks, we canÕt do that.”