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Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Highway tragedies signal urgent need for truck driver training standards, industry professionalization
A Humboldt Broncos hockey jersey hangs in the lobby of Jim Campbell's trucking business, serving as a daily reminder of the omnipresent danger on Canada's highways. The memory still lingers in the seven years since 16 members of the junior hockey team died and another 13 were injured when their playoff-game-bound bus was struck by a semi-trailer in rural Saskatchewan. 'There's carnage all across Canada,' Campbell says as he climbs the stairs to his second-storey office at First Class Training Centre. To offer further proof, he opens Facebook, pulls up a national trucking community page and scrolls through videos of crash scenes and semis in ditches. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS A Humboldt Broncos jersey at Campbell's truck driver training school serves as a constant reminder of the dangers on Canadian highways. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS A Humboldt Broncos jersey at Campbell's truck driver training school serves as a constant reminder of the dangers on Canadian highways. According to Statistics Canada, there were 307 fatal crashes and 5,851 injury collisions in 2021 involving straight trucks, tractor trailers and buses. Manitoba, meanwhile, was the site of one of Canada's worst mass highway casualty crashes in 2023, when a handi-transit bus collided with a semi-trailer near Carberry, killing 17 seniors en route to a casino. And last November, a mother and her eight-year-old daughter were killed when their vehicle was struck by a semi-trailer near Altona. The Ontario driver, accused of running a stop sign, has been charged with two counts of dangerous driving. He remains wanted after evading police since his release. A veteran of long-haul trucking, Campbell just shakes his head. He spent 43 years on the road — from northern Manitoba to the southern United States — later opening First Class in 2012 to train a new generation of drivers. Ten years later, he founded the Professional Truck Training Alliance of Canada. He is part of a nascent movement pushing for trucking to become a Red Seal trade certified program with nationwide standards. Not everyone is onside with the idea. But industry associations, trucking companies, insurance corporations and drivers seem to be unified on at least one level — there's a need for better training before a driver gets behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler. The Mandatory Entry-Level Training (MELT) program for truck drivers took effect in the province in 2019, a year after the Humboldt tragedy. Manitoba's MELT programming covers 121.5 hours, split nearly equally between in-class, in-yard and in-cab training. Students get three opportunities to pass their Class 1 licence road test before requiring additional training in order to try again. Once obtained, drivers join an industry contributing $3.7 billion annually to the provincial GDP. Trucking encompasses more than 28,000 jobs and at least 2,800 employers in Manitoba. Several private vocational institutions in Manitoba, such as First Class, whose programming preceded MELT, offer double the amount of training, with 244 hours. Training varies widely by province. Ontario requires at least 103.5 hours of instruction; B.C. seeks 140 hours; and Alberta, previously, 113 hours. It's a fragmented system which has created an unsafe environment across Canada, Campbell says. Tired of waiting for change, he began contacting colleagues across the country who shared his concerns. Today, the Professional Truck Training Alliance of Canada has 67 members and four key objectives: MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Jim Campbell and his peers across the country have been pushing for the industry to be trade-certified with nationwide standards. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Jim Campbell and his peers across the country have been pushing for the industry to be trade-certified with nationwide standards. In Manitoba, the number of driver-training schools ballooned during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, 21 Class 1 driver-training schools held active permits from Manitoba Public Insurance; by 2023, 34 did. The growth corresponded with a boom in demand for truckers. It also followed MPI's creation of the MELT program, which made it easier for operators to open schools. 'If somebody meets all (MPI's) requirements, they're basically handed the curriculum,' says Manitoba Trucking Association executive director Aaron Dolyniuk. Most Manitoba training schools follow the law, Campbell and others stress. But they are concerned some are cutting corners — for example, falsely crediting students for achieving the minimum hours of required training when actual instruction fell short. According to MPI, five driving instructors and four driving schools (not limited to Class 1) were sanctioned for failing to act with honesty and integrity and for failure to comply with conditions between 2023 and 2024. Those failures cover a 'range of bad behaviours' including fraud, criminal activity, dishonesty and general poor conduct, MPI spokeswoman Tara Seel says. In those situations, MPI would either decline or cancel a permit, or impose a suspension. As of February, the Crown corporation can also fine schools and instructors, from $250 for a first offence up to $4,500 for third and subsequent infractions. Since 2022, the year MPI established its MELT compliance program, the insurance body has received approximately 56 complaints about Class 1 academies. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Jim Campbell supervises a classroom of students working on their final exam for a training course. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS MPI currently has five employees regulating driver-training schools, instructors and training vehicles of all licence classes (Class 1 through 6), a significant improvement from when there were only two employees auditing training schools between 2020-23. Campbell and others consider MPI's audit process robust. Records, vehicles, facilities and programs are inspected on-site. Class 1 schools are audited annually while complaints are investigated separately. However, Campbell notes audits might elicit different results if investigators showed up unannounced rather than in scheduled visits, as is the current practice. 'We need to get a good handle on the schools that are out there and make sure they are complying,' Campbell says. About 95 per cent of offences flagged during an audit are considered minor or moderate, such as administrative deficiencies that pose limited or no public-safety risk. They typically result in warnings or, as a last resort, suspensions. The new fines help toughen up oversight, Seel says, because warnings can be ignored and suspensions can negatively impact students. 'I'm trying to offer a bigger program for $9,000 … Who's going to come to a $9,000 program if you can get it faster and cheaper somewhere else?'–Jim Campbell The disparity in training-hour requirements results in a similar disparity in tuition costs, which, according to Seel, can range from $3,500 to $9,000. Some operators caution you get what you pay for. First Class is at the higher end because of the additional training provided, but Campbell admits it leaves him at a disadvantage, business-wise. 'I'm trying to offer a bigger program for $9,000,' he says. 'Who's going to come to a $9,000 program if you can get it faster and cheaper somewhere else?' Says Dolyniuk at the Manitoba Trucking Association: 'Companies are using non-compliance as a competitive advantage. MPI is doing what they can, but having a two-tiered system (MELT and the 244-hour), it makes it very hard to regulate.' On any given day, thousands of truckers cross multiple provincial borders in order to keep Canada's economic engine running. That border fluidity means poorly trained drivers, regardless of where they're from, are an always present danger. A 2024 CBC Marketplace investigation caught Ontario driving instructors who falsified documents for cash, saying students took driving classes when they didn't. A followup report found the system for testing truck drivers had been compromised by bribes, forged documents and 'rigged testing.' Alberta has suspended about five of its 60 Class 1 driving schools in recent years for similar infractions. 'The largest reason is just not putting in time,' says Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen. 'Falsified records of things being done when they weren't done, truckers not actually having the proper time or training on certain things.' JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Many experts believe the various Mandatory Entry-Level Training programs don't go far enough in preparing drivers for the industry. JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Many experts believe the various Mandatory Entry-Level Training programs don't go far enough in preparing drivers for the industry. Cecilia Omole, the Insurance Bureau of Canada's manager of commercial policy, says her organization has documented a link between driver preparedness, claims and accidents over the last five years. 'A lot of truck training schools are very good, and they do a good job at preparing students,' Omole says. 'However, there's a few bad apples in the bunch.' As a result of its findings, the IBC formed a working group and commissioned a third-party report, which found new, inexperienced drivers were most likely to be involved in accidents and emphasized a need for oversight and enforcement of driver-training standards. The IBC has clocked a change in provinces' mandatory training since forming its working group. Last year, both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador implemented approximately 112-hour MELT programs, while Ontario is reviewing its process for obtaining a semi-trailer licence. 'I think there's broad agreement that MELT does not go far enough,' Omole says. 'We would love to see a national standard of some sort.' For Campbell, the solution is simple: make trucking a Red Seal trade. The Professional Truck Training Alliance of Canada has met with various provincial governments to discuss the idea. Five provinces must be on board before a trade can gain Red Seal status. Plumbers, carpenters and bakers are among those holding the designation, which is recognized inter-provincially. They must undergo apprenticeship before graduating. To get there, there's a curriculum to create, inter-province meetings to endure and an application requiring approval. It's a 'long haul,' Campbell says. The PTTAC has met with Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Nova Scotia officials. Alberta, which previously only required 113 hours of training, has been at the forefront in pursuing the designation. It switched its driver-training model to a tiered system in April. The final tier, if other provinces join, would be Red Seal status. 'We didn't believe the MELT was actually giving the competencies that were needed,' says Robert Harper, president of the Alberta Motor Transport Association. 'We believe a lot of people had gotten some rather poor training in the industry.' 'We believe a lot of people had gotten some rather poor training in the industry.'–Robert Harper Alberta is short about 4,500 truck drivers. Officials believe a Red Seal designation can help keep people in the industry. 'The hope was that it would address the trucking shortage, to get people behind the wheel so they view trucking as a mortgage-paying, good profession … versus just something you do every now and then,' Transportation Minister Dreeshen says. The executive director of the Manitoba Trucking Association isn't convinced it's the answer. Red Seal trades require extensive training on the job before a licence is received, which is the reverse of truck-driver training, where mentorship typically comes after a licence is awarded, Dolyniuk says. NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS FILES Aaron Dolyniuk is executive director of the Manitoba Trucking Association. NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS FILES Aaron Dolyniuk is executive director of the Manitoba Trucking Association. He envisions an alternative, one where truck driving is a nationally designated trade — 'it'd do great things for our industry' —but training is tailored to the sector's reality. Such a move would help legitimize on-the-job training and produce safer drivers, he says, although cautioning many companies currently can't afford to spend much time mentoring new hires. If a national standard is created, he adds, it's crucial to 'harmonize up.' 'If one province has a lower standard, guess what happens? That's where those seeking a lower standard go to get their Class 1 licence,' he says. 'The lowest common denominator… typically dictates the state of our industry.' 'If one province has a lower standard, guess what happens? That's where those seeking a lower standard go to get their Class 1 licence.'–Aaron Dolyniuk Still, some Manitoba companies have extensive onboarding processes. Bison Transport has a phased program including 11 weeks of in-cab instruction, local runs for two months and restrictions on assignments for two years. Payne Transportation puts its drivers through internationally recognized Smith System Driver Improvement Institute courses and rewards those acting safely on the road. It uses artificial intelligence-equipped cameras in trucks to monitor driving. The provincial government, MPI and industry stakeholders are part of a joint steering committee the Manitoba Trucking Association co-chairs. The group was struck to study recruitment, training and retention of truck drivers. A 2023 report, commissioned by the MTA for the committee, found the retention rate of long-haul truckers sponsored for training was 'significantly' lower than other trades. The province would not make a minister available for comment, and instead issued a general statement saying it is committed to evaluating driver training and curriculum standards, improving testing and job retention, and is open to considering alternative training models. TIM SMITH / BRANDON SUN FILES A semi-trailer passes by a memorial on the TransCanada Highway near the intersection with Highway 5, where 17 seniors were killed in 2023 in one of Canada's worst mass highway casualty crashes. TIM SMITH / BRANDON SUN FILES Currently, Quebec is viewed as Canada's gold standard of truck-driver training. It offers subsidized programs allowing for 24 months of experience before a full Class 1 designation is received. During that time, the driver has a Class 1 learner's licence. Alan Warrington has trained hundreds of truckers at Alan's Driving School, a Portage la Prairie academy. Retirement is on his horizon. While he says MELT is an adequate program, he believes trucking 'certainly should be' a Red Seal profession, but with more focus on road training and less on classroom theory. Students often come from farms and Hutterite colonies. Some can't read or write well, but they can drive perfectly, Warrington says, adding success comes from teaching to learners' capabilities. Managers at Big Freight Systems and Payne Transportation and drivers interviewed at a Headingley truck stop expressed support for a national program. 'I think the profession would be taken a lot more seriously,' said Scott Warkentine, Big Freight Systems' director of safety and driver services. 'I think people that are in the profession or want to get into it … it would set a higher standard.' Improved safety would follow, he says, though the cost of putting a driver through a Red Seal or similar program could be a challenge for some. Employers would need to be willing to pay more for staff, cautions Thomas McKee, Payne Transportation's vice-president of driver services and innovation. 'Red Seal would be such a blessing,' he says, noting it could protect truckers from low wages. 'It would just elevate the whole industry.' Trucker Sandeep Dhaliwal went through the MELT program several years ago. Improving training may improve driver skill, but it could also detract people from entering the profession, he says, and also might force out established drivers if they have to go back to school. 'There are a lot of untrained and unskilled people driving semi-trucks, which they should not be doing,' he says. 'It's a hard career. It's not an easy job.' The onus shouldn't just be placed on training schools. Sometimes there's a lack of willingness to learn and a 'disregard for others' safety' on the driver's part, he says, noting he has also encountered unsafe truckers on the highways. 'Every day, you run into good ones and bad ones,' Dhaliwal says. 'I don't know. I try to do the job honestly.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Gabrielle PichéReporter Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle. Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Freeing up trade and keeping workers safe
Opinion Over the last few months, we have heard a lot about the need to remove so-called interprovincial trade barriers, driven by political responses to the impacts of Donald Trump's trade threats and tariffs on the Canadian economy. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he wants interprovincial trade barriers taken down by Canada Day. Here in Manitoba, the NDP government recently passed Bill 47, legislation that the government claims will free up interprovincial trade. While interprovincial trade barriers are clearly something that politicians of all political stripes are currently focused on, the actual evidence of barriers that exist is a bit murkier. When I talk with my business counterparts, I find they are often hard pressed to name many examples of specific interprovincial trade barriers that are interfering with trade between provinces. About a month ago, I had the opportunity to discuss the topic of interprovincial trade barriers with Loren Remillard, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, on a local radio station. The only example of an interprovincial trade barrier that he offered was that each province has individual rules for fall protection. We have all heard the lofty claims that removing interprovincial trade barriers will unleash billions in economic activity. But I fail to see how taking away a province's ability to set strong protections to keep workers from falling from roofs will unleash billions of dollars in economic activity. Removing interprovincial trade barriers should not be used as code for things that are not barriers at all, but important protections that keep workers safe — like setting high workplace health and safety standards. A healthy workforce is a more productive workforce, and governments should be doing all they can to keep workers safe and healthy on the job. Here in Manitoba, workers continue to suffer over 25,000 workplace-related injuries a year, demonstrating that there is a lot more work to do on workplace health and safety. When it comes to having common standards across the country, we should be striving to have the best standards, not the lowest. For example, look at Red Seal certification, something that unions have been major supporters of through training and apprenticeship programs. When someone is Red Seal certified, you know they are well trained, and you can trust the work they do. For trades workers, that Red Seal is a ticket to a good paying, family-supporting job, and it is recognized throughout our country, meaning you can work anywhere in Canada. Having Red Seal certification demonstrates that a worker has completed the highest standards of training. And the highest standards are something that we should all aspire to when it comes to our economy and our workforce. Our province's interprovincial trade legislation will enable Manitoba to identify jurisdictions in Canada as reciprocating jurisdictions, in effect treating that jurisdiction's standards as equal to Manitoba's when it comes to the sale of goods and services. It closely copies legislation that Ontario and Nova Scotia have introduced on the subject, and Premier Wab Kinew also signed an interprovincial trade MOU with Ontario a few weeks ago. But other recent action by Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government should give us pause on going full steam ahead with treating it as a reciprocating jurisdiction, no questions asked. Premier Ford is currently fast-tracking a controversial law to allow cabinet to identify 'special economic zones,' which could exempt any company or project in the zone from having to comply with whichever provincial laws, provincial regulations or municipal bylaws the government chooses. This would open the door for the Ontario government to declare that such things as Ontario's minimum wage rules or its environmental protections no longer apply within the designated zone, an extreme measure that exists nowhere else in Canada. As is often the case with vague notions like interprovincial trade barriers, the devil will be in the details of the Manitoba NDP government's interprovincial trade plans. And these details will only be addressed when the government makes untold numbers of regulatory changes now that Bill 47 has become law. But Manitoba's unions will do all that we can to ensure that Manitoba strikes the right balance regarding common sense trade reforms and the best interests of Manitoba workers. Kevin Rebeck is the president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour.
Global News
23-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
Union warns of possible foreign worker exploitation on St. Paul's Hospital build
A B.C. trade union is raising concerns about the potential improper use of foreign workers at the St. Paul's Hospital construction site in Vancouver. Now in the latter stages of construction, the massive site has seen thousands of tradespeople of all types on the job. According to Robert Sheck, business manager of the BC Insulators Local 118, the union began looking into the matter after a handful of people doing insulation work at the site started talking last year. 1:18 B.C. premier tours future St Paul's Hospital site 'I'm thinking there's some water cooler talk might have happened, and they said wait a second here, we're not making very much, let's go and see if we can talk to these people about finding a better opportunity.' Story continues below advertisement Sheck said there were between 10 and 15 workers from the Philippines, who were in the country on tourist and student visas, which he says are not the right documents for this kind of work. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy He also said they were getting about half the pay that's typical for the job. 'I got some pay stubs from them, and it was showing well below market value, we're talking $18 an hour, $19 an hour,' he said. The company that allegedly employed them is Ontario-based Legends Insulation. The company's website includes a page covering the work it has done at St. Paul's. 1:44 New St. Paul's Hospital getting multi-million dollar research centre A lawyer for the company told Global News Thursday that all their employees on that job had the correct permits and that they'll be taking legal action against the insulators' union, including a possible defamation lawsuit. Story continues below advertisement But there may now be other parties involved. In a joint statement Thursday, the provincial ministries of labour and infrastructure called the allegations deeply concerning, and said they were connecting with the hospital's owner, Providence Health Care, to investigate. That is one of the outcomes Scheck said the union was hoping for. 'We're hoping that the authorities and the ministries will come to investigate this matter,' he said. Scheck said some of the affected workers have been taken into the union and are now working towards Red Seal certification.
Winnipeg Free Press
28-04-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Sponsored Content Laying a foundation for the future
Greg Wood has been fascinated with stone masonry and the built environment for as long as he can remember. That's why its fitting Wood is among the first cohort of students to take part in the Pre-Apprentice Bricklayer Program being offered by non-profit organization First Peoples Development Inc. (FPDI). The program was designed in conjunction with Bricklayers Union Local 1 to give Indigenous people training in employment readiness, safety, and construction skills to facilitate a direct pathway to apprenticeship and employment in the construction industry. Wood is originally from the First Nations community of South Indian Lake and spent much of his adult life working as a heavy equipment operator in northern Manitoba. Two years ago the single father moved to Winnipeg to further his education and seek a new career while providing his two sons a similar opportunity to 'learn and grow.' Shortly after arriving in the city he learned about FPDI's Bricklayer Program from a family friend. He applied a short time later and began his studies in January. It was a match made in heaven. 'To tell you the honest truth, I've been fascinated with stonework ever since I was a kid,' he says. 'And I was always fascinated with old buildings when I was a kid. I always wanted to know how old this or that building was. I always had an eye for that type of work but never realized I was going to be trying to get into it until I (did).' The FPDI Bricklayer Program runs for 23 weeks. Students receive two weeks of workforce readiness instruction followed by a week of safety training including lessons on First Aid, flagging and fall protection. That is followed by 20 weeks of pre-apprenticeship classroom and practical training. Wood and his classmates will receive their Level 1 apprentice bricklayer accreditation in June once they have completed 800 hours of training. They will then take part in a three-month work placement. One of the things Wood enjoys most about the program is its focus on hands-on learning. 'If it was just auditory or visual learning … you would not know how to flow with a brick or with your trowel or to feel the mortar or know how your body moves. With the program, you feel first-hand how to adjust and what you need to do for yourself,' he says. Wood plans to continue on his current path and eventually obtain his Red Seal certification as a Level 3 bricklayer. Bricklayers are in high demand in the Canadian construction industry and can specialize in a number of different areas including stone work, restoration, ornamental work and the installation of refractories and corrosion-resistant materials. Wood says part of what drew him to bricklaying is that it's a unionized trade that offers health benefits and greater job security than his previous occupation did. It also offers an opportunity to have an impact on the community around him. 'Just having your work somewhere and knowing its your work, that's tangible. That's yoursignature and you're putting an imprint on the city. That is significant to me in the long-run and more satisfying to the soul. The paycheque is good too because it will help sustain me and let me do more creating.' The next Bricklayer program begins in fall 2025. For details about the program and its prerequisites, please visit
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Don't just decorate eggs this Easter weekend — try a new dish, says B.C. chef
As Easter approaches, kids and adults alike will get crafty, decorating eggs with spring-time colours and hunting for egg-shaped goodies in the yard (weather-permitting). B.C.'s Chef Dez is encouraging British Columbians to take this egg-cellent opportunity to add eggs to meals in ways that may not seem obvious, and consider using them more often as an affordable, highly nutritious protein. "They're just so well balanced," he said. B.C. Egg, a non-profit that manages the province's egg farming industry, estimates an average egg has about 80 calories, 6.5 grams of protein and nine amino acids. Amanda Brittain of B.C. Egg told CBC News earlier this month that increases in the price of eggs in the province have been much smaller than in the U.S. due to Canada's supply management system. Since the beginning of 2024, more than 70 million laying hens were affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI, or bird flu) in the U.S., working out to about 19 per cent of U.S. production, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. While avian flu has been reported in B.C. flocks, it hasn't had quite as great an impact in the province, Brittain said. Eggs are an affordable, healthy protein, according to Abbotsford's Chef Dez. (Peter Power/The Canadian Press) Dez, a Red Seal chef and corporate chef for B.C. Egg, said there are about 149 egg farms in B.C. producing millions of eggs each year. "Every single one of those is family owned and operated, so elbows up, we're all about supporting Canadian," he said. "We can take this one step further by reading the label on your carton of eggs and make sure you're supporting local farmers here in British Columbia." Chef Dez said he incorporates eggs into a lot of meals, adding fried eggs to burgers and sandwiches and on top of pizza and pasta, boiled eggs on salads, and poached eggs with vegetables, among other things. "They are so versatile," he said. "You can use them in almost any application, you know you can find them anywhere." Dez shared some of his favourite egg recipes with CBC News: Ramen in a Hurry 4 cups beef broth 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tbsp grated or minced ginger 1 to 2 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp rice vinegar 1 tbsp sambal oelek 2 100-gram packs of noodles (discard the seasoning packets) 2 tbsp canola oil 8 to 10 thin slices of pork tenderloin 2 large eggs ¾ cup bean sprouts 2 green onions, thinly sliced at a 45-degree angle 1 small sweet red pepper, thinly sliced into rings Nori, cut into a handful of small strips In a medium pot, add the broth, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sambal oelek. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce the heat to simmer uncovered for 5 minutes, then increase the heat to bring to a boil and add the noodles. Cook for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a medium pan over medium/high heat until hot. Add the oil to the pan and fry the pork slices until cooked and crispy. Remove the pork from the pan, but leave the residual oil, and set aside. Crack the eggs into the pan and fry without flipping them. Once they are half-set, poke the yolk and continue to cook until the bottoms of the eggs are crispy. Remove the eggs from the pan and set aside. Divide the noodles and broth equally between two large bowls. Top with the crispy pork slices, crispy eggs, bean sprouts, green onions, red pepper, and nori. Ramen in a hurry by Chef Dez. (Submitted by Chef Dez) Lemon Zabaglione 4 large egg yolks ¼ cup white sugar Pinch of salt ¼ cup limoncello liqueur 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice Fresh berries Bring 2 to 3 inches of water to a boil in a medium-sized pot. Place the egg yolks in a medium-sized stainless steel mixing bowl along with the sugar and a pinch of salt. Whisk vigorously for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture is thick and pale yellow in colour. Then vigorously whisk in the lemon liqueur and the lemon juice until thoroughly combined. Reduce the heat to bring the water to a simmer and place the bowl on top of this pot while making sure that the bowl does not touch the water. Whisk constantly over the simmering water until the mixture reaches a temperature of 145 F to 150 F and becomes thick and frothy. Remove from the heat and spoon into small dessert dishes and serve warm, or cool slightly to room temperature and serve with fresh berries. Lemon Zabaglione by Chef Dez. (Submitted by Chef Dez) Cajun Shrimp Egg Salad Sandwiches 300 g raw prawns (16/20 size or smaller), peeled and deveined ⅓ cup minced onion 1 tsp smoked paprika ½ tsp dried oregano ½ tsp salt ½ tsp ground black pepper ¼ tsp ground cayenne pepper 2 tsp canola oil, divided ¾ cup mayonnaise ¼ cup small diced celery ¼ cup small diced red bell pepper 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh chives 2 tbsp sweet green relish 1 tbsp dill pickle juice 1 tsp lemon juice 3 to 4 dashes Tabasco brand hot sauce 6 large hard-boiled eggs, chilled, peeled and roughly chopped Salt and pepper to taste 4 4-inch brioche buns, cut in half horizontally Cut the prawns into small pieces, if desired. Combine the prawns in a small bowl with the minced onion, paprika, oregano, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, cayenne pepper, and 1 teaspoon of canola oil. Heat a 10-inch non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the remaining teaspoon of canola oil, and then the prawn mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until the prawns are cooked through, for approximately two minutes. Transfer cooked prawn mixture to a shallow tray and refrigerate immediately to chill. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, celery, bell pepper, chives, relish, pickle juice, lemon juice, and Tabasco together. Stir in the chilled chopped hard-boiled eggs and the chilled prawn mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Portion mixture equally onto the 4 prepared buns and serve. Cajun shrimp egg salad sandwiches by Chef Dez. (Submitted by Chef Dez) Egg and Quinoa Power Bowls 2 cups vegetable broth 1 cup dry quinoa ½ tsp salt 4 baby sweet red peppers, sliced (or 2 cups chopped red bell peppers) 540 ml can chickpeas, drained, and rinsed 2 cups shredded cabbage 40 grape tomatoes 4 mini cucumbers, sliced (or 2 cups sliced cucumbers) 4 large, hard-boiled eggs, peeled (sliced in halves or chopped) Handful of fresh baby spinach leaves, sliced thin ½ small red onion, sliced thin 1 cup walnut halves 2 cups fresh blueberries (or thawed, drained from frozen) Kosher salt or other pure finishing salt, to season Fresh cracked pepper, to season Dressing 6 tbsp extra virgin avocado oil ¼ cup raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar 2 tbsp whole grain mustard (seed mustard) Combine 2 cups vegetable broth, 1 cup quinoa, and ½ teaspoon salt in a medium pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn down to medium-low heat and cook uncovered until all the broth is gone, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and chill or keep at room temperature. In 4 large-diameter, shallow bowls, arrange equal amounts of the following in each bowl, working clockwise: cooked quinoa, sweet red peppers, chickpeas, cabbage, grape tomatoes, and cucumbers. The bottom of the bowl should be completely covered with these ingredients. Arrange the following ingredients in equal amounts on top of the bottom ingredients: eggs, spinach, red onion, walnuts, blueberries, kosher salt, and fresh cracked pepper. Combine the dressing ingredients together thoroughly. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of the dressing on each bowl.
