On Dec. 4, Ontario’s former infrastructure minister David Caplan began serving the Ontario Road Builders Association (ORBA) as its new chief operating officer.
“A familiar name in our industry, David bring his extensive knowledge of our infrastructure sector and strategic leadership experience to ORBA,” said ORBA president Geoffrey Stephens.
“He led the development of Renew Ontario, a $30 billion investment plan and began Ontario’s infrastructure renaissance. He introduced new finance delivery models (Alternative Financing and Procurement) into Ontario and created Infrastructure Ontario,” Stephens said.
Before entering the corporate world, Caplan held several cabinet positions under the government of Dalton McGuinty. He left Queen’s Park in 2011, and took on the role of vice chair at Global Public Affairs, the country’s largest independent public relation firm. In this office, he continued “his solid working knowledge of current issues” affecting the construction industry.
Over the years, the former minister has received numerous awards including: Daniel Burnham Award from the American Planning Association for a Comprehensive Plan; Excellence in Planning Award from the Ontario Professional Planners Institute; and the Award for Planning Excellence from the Canadian Institute of Planners.
The Council of Ontario Construction Associations (COCA) has expressed its support for Caplan. In the organization’s November 2017 newsletter, COCA said that he is “an ideal pick for the job” as he knows Queen’s Park better than anyone in ORBA. He also has a track record of working collaboratively and has friends from both political parties.
“… we have every confidence he will hit the ground running and lead ORBA to new high levels of success. Your friends at COCA look forward to working with you on the important issues of our industry,” COCA said.