B.C.’s Transportation Minister is defending using union-only labor for major highway projects despite widespread concerns of costs.

Claire Trevena says 80 per cent of North American contractors say they’re facing a shortage of skilled workers, which she says the NDP’s Community Benefits Agreement addresses by bringing in a cohort of “highly-trained, highly-skilled” workers.

“The cost, including community benefits, are everything from wages through to camp. Obviously there is some administration as a payroll provider. But it is also an investment,” Trevena says.

“People sort of say ‘should we be spending 5.8 per cent of a budget on community benefits, on part of the labor side? And I would say yes, because we are building up the workforce of British Columbia.”

The province says it is spending an extra $35 million on the Kicking Horse Canyon expansion project because of the union labor requirement. While the province says it will add 5.8 per cent to the total cost, based on the original budgeted cost of $450 million, the CBA adds 7.7 per cent.

A former B.C. Transportation Minister who announced the project, Kamloops-South MLA Todd Stone, called it ridiculous that the NDP suggests the extra spending for the Kicking Horse Canyon project is a good deal for taxpayers.