May 2008 Issue
Council Task Force Addresses Low Turnout In 2008 Election
A lower-than-usual turnout at the polls for the 2008 APEGGA Election and Special Ballot has Council looking for reasons and remedies. The drop to below 10 per cent came when, for the first time ever, APEGGA conducted the election online.
In the past votes were gathered through a mail-in system, using printed documents and ballots, and the regular post. Although voters had the option of using the old system in 2008, a large majority of those who voted chose the convenience of using their keyboards.
Typically, 15 per cent or more of voting members exercise their franchise.
However, this year’s election attracted votes from just 9.9 per cent of APEGGA’s 36,847 eligible voters. Special ballot questions on members-in-training rights and the creation of a new geoscience designation attracted only 9.2 per cent of the electorate.
Council has created a task force on the issue, made up of two Executive Committee members, a councillor and representatives from the Edmonton and Calgary branches.
Because voter turnout on the ballot questions was under 10 per cent, results aren’t binding. But Council did receive messages to help chart the future.
Council decided to drop the issue of M.I.T.s getting full rights to vote and serve on Council. Less than 47 per cent of the votes favoured M.I.T.s receiving full voting rights and less than 22 per cent favoured them being allowed to stand for election to Council.
Creation of a new geoscience designation, however, did earn support. Of the votes cast on that question, 72 per cent were in favour. Even though the vote isn’t binding, it’s a strong enough indication of support that APEGGA will propose amendments to the Engineering, Geological and Geophysical Professions Act.
Members will be able to vote again on the issue by favouring or rejecting the proposed amendments. If approved by members, the amendments will be forwarded to the Alberta Government for consideration.
The new designation would bring APEGGA in line with all the other geoscience regulators in Canada by combining geophysics and geology under one designation, called Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.). However, members holding the existing titles of Professional Geologist (P.Geol.) or Professional Geophysicist (P.Geoph.) would be able to keep them.
The change would recognize the amount of overlap there is in the two professions. A P.Geo. would be ethically bound to practice only in areas of expertise and training — which is already the case for all APEGGA professionals.