July 2005 ISSUE

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President’s Notebook
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National Initiatives Important to Our Professions

BY LARRY STAPLES, P.ENG.
APEGGA President

A funny thing happened on the way to the golf course…

When I head for the golf course, it can be pretty humorous — a strong, straight drive somehow got missed when they were assembling my presidential tool kit! Nevertheless, a delightful afternoon was enjoyed by everyone at the Consulting Engineers of Alberta tournament at Red Tail Landing. (It is a tough job, but someone has to do it.)

To me, an equally satisfying part of the day was the morning meeting between the executive committees of APEGGA and the Alberta Society of Engineering Technologists. Several productive hours were spent discussing issues of common concern, and identifying ways in which the two organizations can work together to promote engineering and technology in Alberta.

We agreed to work on

• encouraging our branches and chapters to co-operate even more on “soft skill” professional development opportunities

• exploring the possibilities for joint APEGGA/ASET booths at career fairs to appeal to a broader range of students

• presenting jointly to educational leaders and industry leaders to highlight the growing shortage of both engineers and technologists.

Much has been made in recent years of one philosophical area where ASET and APEGGA disagree — whether technicians and technologists should practice independently, under their “own” professional legislation. The satisfaction from the morning meeting was that the two executives were able to look beyond that preoccupation and focus on activities that will benefit our respective memberships and the general public.

LARRY'S TOP TEN Why am I proud to be an APEGGA member? The top 10 list starts now - and I'll keep adding to it over the next nine editions of my column's appearance in The PEGG. NUMBER 10 Participation: I have the power to participate in and shape the future of my profession. NUMBER 9 The Power of the Ring: When I am introduced as a professional engineer, people assume that I am smart, practical and have an interesting career. (Not a bad starting point, and geologists and geophysicists are in on this one, too.) NUMBER 8 Professionalism: The standards for my work (Practice Standards, CPD requirements etc.) are set by my peers, who understand the practicalities of what I face from day to day.

It was a pleasure to work shoulder-to-shoulder with our ASET colleagues, and fun to cement the efforts with a little golf fellowship.

The Geoscience Scene
In my last President’s Notebook, I mentioned the very interesting overview of the Canadian engineering scene I gained at the meeting of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers. In June, it was déjà vu all over again, at the annual general meeting of the Canadian Council of Professional Geoscientists.

The CCPG is the umbrella organization that represents the provincial and territorial associations in addressing common issues and providing a national voice. (Some provinces, such as Alberta, have combined engineering and geoscience associations, while others, such as Nova Scotia, have separate ones.)

CCPG is dealing with many of the same issues as CCPE, for instance national consistency of the undergraduate syllabus required for registration. At the same time, it was interesting to me to understand some of the unique perspectives of our geoscientist colleagues. Mobility (quick and seamless transfer from province to province) and incidental practice (occasional short projects outside the province of registration) are much higher profile issues for geoscientists than for engineers.

APEGGA has provided vital leadership to the CCPG as it has grown during recent years. This makes sense, because half or more of CCPG’s members are also APEGGA members. We have provided office space and administrative support in our Calgary office.

Much more significant than the logistics have been the personal efforts and enthusiasm of Dr. Gordon Williams, P.Geol., who first served on an APEGGA committee back in 1976. He has worked steadfastly ever since for APEGGA and also left his stamp on the CCPG.

Dr. Williams has been an APEGGA councillor, a member of various task forces and committees, and twice a second vice-president. He’s also found time to represent his Association on the CCPG board, culminating his service with completion of his term as CCPG past-president.

Gordon’s vision and professionalism have created a tremendous legacy for CCPG — and APEGGA as well.

Strategic Planning
The APEGGA Strategic Plan — 2005 to 2015 was approved at the June Council meeting. Within the 10-year strategic context, the plan identifies priority areas to be addressed in the 2006 APEGGA Business Plan and the 2006 budget.

To read the strategic plan, click here. To pique your interest, I thought you might like to see a portion of the strategic vision — what we want our Association to look like in 2015. Check out the sidebar on this page, titled Visioning APEGGA in 2015.

I invite you to share your ideas and questions with me via president@apega.ca, or to share them with all of our colleagues via a letter to The PEGG editor, for publication in Readers’ Forum.

Visioning APEGGA in 2015 “We will have succeeded in our strategic objective to regulate in the public interest when our regulatory processes are effective, fair, and transparent, and when the public is confident that APEGGA assures skilled and professional practice of the EGG professions. We will be recognized as an enlightened regulator, adapting to changing demographics without compromising our mission, so that the public is protected while facilitating an adequate supply of highly skilled and ethical professionals. We will have created a vibrant, unmistakable culture within the professions, such that our members have internalized individual self-regulation, and are guided by their internal compass rather than external rules. The balance of competency and ethics inherent in our members, which is taken for granted in Alberta and Canada, is a rare and valuable combination that we will advertise globally.”

HEADS UP This issue of The PEGG is packed with interesting articles — and there are a couple of stark contrasts. • On page 3 (click here), the Field family is literally building the quality of life in their community of Grande Prairie. Then on page 16, (click here) the Earth Tech team is figuratively parachuted in to rebuild shattered facilities and infrastructure at An Numaniyah, Iraq. Alberta professionals are making a profound difference, at home and abroad. • The full spectrum of APEGGA activities is illustrated at one end by the hard-edged Compliance report on page 4 (click here), and at the other end by the proactive, positive commitment to promoting excellence in teaching math and science to future members of our professions, on pages 1 and 5 (click here). What a range!