May 2007 ISSUE
sight lines 2006
exec. director's report
Exec. Director’S REPORT
By H. Neil Windsor, P.Eng.
APEGGA Executive Director & Registrar
The effects of Alberta’s booming economy have rippled through every APEGGA department, presenting numerous challenges to the organization, especially in the Registration Department. Simply coping in a year like this one could be considered a major accomplishment.
However, APEGGA did far more than cope. Under the strategic direction of Council and the Executive Committee, APEGGA improved professional regulation on a number of fronts. We began streamlining our registration procedures, even as applications flooded our offices in record numbers.
We increased the resources we put towards investigating the illegal and unlicensed use of our protected titles. We also continued to make progress towards better mobility of our professionals across borders, particularly with licensing bodies in the U.S.
In concert with ASET, we began the process of redefining how technologists work in their professional teams. If all goes well in 2007, this one Act, two Associations model will stand out as APEGGA’s crowning achievement of 2006. APEGGA and ASET reached a new level of cooperation, working with government officials and a government-appointed mediator, David Jones, QC, in reaching a memorandum of understanding on the model.
The late-breaking news on this matter is that the majority of votes cast by members of ASET and APEGGA in special ballots came out in favour of one Act, two Associations.
This regulatory reform will allow the two organizations to redirect their energies as they work together in regulating technologists under the Engineering, Geological and Geophysical Professions Act. More importantly, the public will enjoy a heightened level of protection.
On the environmental front, APEGGA also played a leadership role in 2006 in devising and agreeing to a system of professional sign-off on reclamation and remediation projects. Our Professional Practice Department worked for 20 months with five other professional regulatory organizations to create this framework and set a cross-Canada precedent.
A Board of Examiners task force arrived at 56 recommendations for licensure improvement. These are designed to maintain our high licensure standards while giving the Board of Examiners more latitude, and to give our staff extra direction in handling files. We began putting these recommendations into practice during 2006, and we look forward to implementing more of them and measuring their impact in coming years.
Particularly exciting is the new role for the U.S. Fundamentals of Engineering exam. Applicants assigned confirmatory exams are now given the option to write the comprehensive FE instead. If they’re successful, these applicants will have already taken an important first step for registration in the U.S., so there’s a double benefit.
Incidentally, APEGGA has offered the FE exam since 2003 to engineers who want to apply for registration with state boards. This new Board of Examiners policy means we can now put the exam to an additional use by streamlining the registration process for some applicants.
One of APEGGA’s important regulatory roles is making sure non-members do not use our protected titles. These Compliance Department investigations also extend to individuals and businesses actually practicing the professions, even though they are not licensed to do so.
Council wants to ensure the Compliance Department has the needed resources to protect the public. To this end, APEGGA hired an engineering consultant and a geology consultant for the department in 2006, and we hope to fill a geophysics consultant position in 2007.
In the area of mobility, major advances have been made with a number of particular U.S. state boards. Also, through work of APEGGA and others with the Pacific Northwest Economic Region organization, legislators and regulators in the U.S. are gaining appreciation of the mutual benefits of enhanced cooperation. The PNWER region covers Alberta, B.C., Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Alaska, which together make up the world’s 11th largest economy.
Mobility across Canada has been enhanced through a number of initiatives designed to streamline the process and remove the differences in licensure requirements that act as barriers. Work on creating a national database is very close to a successful conclusion, while efforts to address mobility barriers specific to geoscientists have made significant progress.
APEGGA’s relationship with the Alberta Government has never been better. The new Department of Employment, Immigration and Industry has initiated an enhanced team approach with reporting agencies and professions, which will strengthen and coordinate the efforts of both government and regulators.
APEGGA’s work is important to the public, to government and to members. The development and improvement of our operations must continue, no matter what the economy is doing. I’m proud to say that APEGGA has made great strides under sometimes difficult circumstances in 2006.
Council, outgoing President David Chalcroft, P.Eng., and the entire Executive Committee have provided us with the strategic guidance, resources and support we’ve needed to make this a very successful year for the Association. I applaud them, as well as our directors, managers and staff, for a job extremely well done.