MAY 2005 ISSUE

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President’s Notebook
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Your President and Council Will Build Upon Last Year’s Momentum

BY LARRY STAPLES, P.ENG.
APEGGA President

Dear Fellow APEGGA Members:

It is my privilege to serve you and our professions during the upcoming year. I commit to doing everything in my power to enhance the outstanding job APEGGA does in protecting the public interest and in leading our professions into the 21st century.

This commitment is easy for me to make because of the outstanding group of individuals who are on Council — remind yourself by checking out the lineup on page 4. You will recognize colleagues who are leaders in our profession and leaders in our communities. You will recognize them as people who bring vision, integrity, energy and great problem-solving abilities to the Council table.

We will build upon the momentum of last year — we sincerely appreciate the hard work and achievements of the 2004-05 Council, led so effectively by Past-President Linda Van Gastel, P.Eng.

On behalf of all of us, I also extend special thanks to retiring Past-President Mike Smyth, P.Eng., and retiring Councillors Julie Aitken, P.Geoph., Jack Hole, P.Eng., Ian McIlreath, P.Geol., and John Moldon, P.Eng.

Wasn’t That a Party?

One of my favourite evenings of the year is the Summit Awards, which we celebrated April 22. I am always impressed at the technical innovations and personal achievements featured — and I am proud to be counted in the company of these superlative individuals and project teams.

There is one award to which I would particularly like to direct your attention: the Honorary Life Membership granted to David L. Curtis, PE, Executive Director of the Idaho Board of Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors. This award recognizes the visionary role played by Mr. Curtis, together with our own Executive Director Neil Windsor, P.Eng., in advancing cross-border mobility between Canadian provinces and U.S. states in the Pacific Northwest.

This is a long-term initiative, requiring both “big P” persistence and “small p” political persuasion. It is an initiative of tremendous importance to the future of professionals on both sides of the border.

Our Annual General Meeting

The main points from our AGM, held April 23 in Calgary, are reported on pages 1 and 3. I would like to comment here regarding the APEGGA members who made the effort to attend and speak directly to the AGM and Council about specific concerns.

Issues ranged from lingering worries about inclusivity to disappointment about the pace of our discipline procedures. I listened carefully in order to understand the concerns expressed, and I know my Council colleagues did as well. We are conscious that it is our job to consider and address such concerns appropriately within the “big picture” of APEGGA.

At the same time, let’s not forget the many activities APEGGA staff and volunteers carry out superlatively well. I am a proud APEGGA member when I sit in the AGM round table discussions with presidents from our sister associations across Canada. It is clear that APEGGA is admired by our peers as a well-managed, forward-thinking regulatory organization.

Forward to the Future

As I write this column, our new Council is preparing for the three-day Strategic Retreat, which is traditionally held each year in early May. The new team spends this quality time understanding issues facing the professions, reaffirming long-term goals, distilling three-year focus areas and, finally, identifying the next year’s Business Plan

priorities. In other words, Council and senior staff are spending some serious time plus intellectual energy to ensure that your Association continues to be well managed and well positioned in the years to come.

Strategy is a particular interest of mine, so I hope to use future columns to brief you on some of the thinking behind APEGGA’s Strategic Plan.

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