May 23, 2006

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa ON
K1A 0A2

Dear Prime Minister:

The Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA) is concerned regarding comments by a parliamentary committee in reference to Mr. Gwyn Morgan, P.Eng., a long-standing and well-respected member of the Association.

Mr. Morgan is a highly respected professional engineer with a demonstrated ability to lead and to achieve success. It is within this context that we, his colleagues and associates, find it regrettable and offensive that he has been unfairly characterized as “unsuitable” to chair the proposed Public Appointments Commission.

As a professional engineer, Mr. Morgan is known to be an individual of the greatest integrity whose actions are guided by the highest standards of honourable conduct and informed professionalism.  It is sad that Canadians have lost an opportunity to benefit from Mr. Morgan’s selfless desire to contribute by doing something “new and good in government” through working with others to develop a set of standards and guidelines for the transparent appointment of officials in Crown corporations and other government bodies.

Mr. Morgan, like all APEGGA Members, is dedicated to providing leadership in the community and to enhancing our society through volunteerism. This past April, Mr. Morgan was honoured by over 1,100 Albertans who attended the prestigious APEGGA Summit Awards ® Gala in Edmonton where he received the Centennial Leadership Award from his peers recognizing him as an executive of outstanding integrity and enterprise.

APEGGA actively encourages Members to be leaders in the community and to volunteer their services. This brings the benefit of their professionalism, knowledge and skills to the public forum. We are concerned that this kind of biased, negative attitude by some parliamentarians towards one of our Members will seriously discourage other professionals from entering the public arena to the detriment of us all.  

Sincerely,

David B. Chalcroft, P.Eng.
President

cc:       M. Gilles Duceppe, M.P.
            The Honourable Bill Graham, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
            Mr. Jack Layton, M.P.
            Mr. Gwyn Morgan, P.Eng.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------