MAY 2007 ISSUE

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council briefs

Regulatory Framework Balloting Demonstrates APEGGA Business Plan Progress

The PEGG gathered the following items from the April 27 APEGGA Council meeting in Calgary. The final meeting of the 2006-2007 Council year, it was held in conjunction with the 2007 APEGGA Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting.

The next meeting will be June 21 in Lloydminster, within the Vermilion River Branch’s area, as APEGGA resumes the practice of holding one meeting a year in Alberta centres beyond Edmonton and Calgary. It will be the first meeting of the 2007-2008 Council.

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CONNECTIONS AND FAREWELLS Executive Directions: Top, David Curtis, PE, left, discusses issues with Len White, P.Eng. Mr. Curtis is Executive Director, Idaho Board of Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors, and Mr. White is Executive Director, the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia. The Annual Conference was perfect for many such discussions, with special guests attending from across Canada and from several U.S. states. Parting Gift: Larry Staples, P.Eng., speaks at his last meeting on the Executive Committee. David Chalcroft, P.Eng., takes over as Past President.

Successful balloting on a memorandum of understanding with ASET kicked off an update on 2007 APEGGA Business Plan performance. Council heard that the April 11 presentation to the province of a letter announcing balloting results marks a major step forward in a business plan priority.

The priority states that APEGGA should partner with ASET in regulating the professions. The Hon Iris Evans, Minister of Employment, Immigration and Industry, spoke highly in the Alberta Legislature of the one Act, two Associations model, which a discussion team of ASET and APEGGA developed. See the front page of this PEGG for more on the regulatory framework.

Among other items covered in the business plan update were

• recent Ipsos Reid surveying and focus groups

• the kick off of a new APEGGA advertising strategy

• progress on various practice standards

• progress on improving the ease of professionals registering in jurisdictions other than their own

• progress on a labour market study.

Pioneering Environmental Joint Standard Approved

After an extended comment period, an historic joint standard for reclamation and remediation work is essentially ready for publication and in its final version, Council decided. The standard is part of APEGGA’s pioneering work with five other professional regulatory organizations to create a new system of professional sign-off on the reclamation and remediation of brownfields.

The standard requires approval from all six pro­fessional regulatory organizations. Alberta Environment, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, and the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board are reviewing the entire sign-off framework, which APEGGA and the others created.

Subject to minor editorial changes, Council has now approved for publication the Practice Standard of Professional Responsibilities in Completion and Assurance of Reclamation and Remediation Work in Alberta. The 36-page document sets out professional and ethical responsibilities of professional members when performing the work.

Developing the new system with APEGGA are the Alberta Institute of Agrologists, the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists, the Association of the Chemical Profession of Alberta, the College of Alberta Professional Foresters and the College of Alberta Professional Forest Technologists.
APEGGA’s governing act is the only enabling legislation that contains exclusive scope of practice, notes a report to Council from the Joint Practice Standard Task Force for Reclamation and Remediation. There is, however, an overlap in defined scopes of practice across all the professions involved.

“By establishing consistent standards across our professions, we are better able to ensure that the public interest is being protected — regardless of the professional designation of the individual performing the work,” the report continues.

The standard outlines the responsibilities of all involved parties, which are owners and clients, regulators, professional regulatory organizations, coordinating professionals and contributing professionals. “This makes it clear that all involved parties have obligations to the public and each other, for professional sign-off to be effective,” says the report to Council.

Mentoring Recognition Suggested for Summit Awards

Should the APEGGA Summit Awards be expanded to include one for outstanding mentor? Council hasn’t decided for now, because some councillors aren’t sure the Summits are the right place to recognize mentoring.

Council tabled a motion that would establish the award. Councillors agreed on the importance of mentoring, but many look at the Summit Awards as recognition for career-defining achievements rather than one area of a professional’s work.

APEGGA runs its own mentoring program and has awarded two Mentors of the Year, independently of the Summit Awards. Last November in Edmonton, APEGGA hosted its first-ever National Mentoring Conference, which was open to all professions.

Nominating Committee Invitations Approved

Council recommended an updated list of Nominating Committee members, which with one addition was approved the next day at the 87th Annual General Meeting.

Twelve new members will be invited to sit on the Nominating Committee, which each year comes up with a list of candidates for APEGGA elections. Elections are not limited to those recommended, however – members can be nominated for Council by 10 professional members. Nominees for President-Elect/Vice-President must have served at least one year on Council.

For more on the nomination process, visit the February 2007 PEGG Online at www.apegga.org, and read Your Vote Helps Chart Your Professional Future, by Larry Staples, P.Eng.