The PEGG

March 2002

COUNCIL BRIEFS

Editor's Note: Following is a report on the most recent APEGGA Council meeting, held Feb. 7 at the Westin Hotel in Calgary. Council and the APEGGA Executive Committee meet five times a year, in Edmonton, Calgary and one of the other branch communities.

APEGGA Education Foundation Donations
Members contribute about $30,000 a year to the APEGGA Education Foundation, Council heard. The Foundation is a separate entity from APEGGA and operates at arms-length from Council. APEGGA does have representation on the Foundation, however, and does make annual contributions.

Centennial Plans
Council heard that Alberta's Centennial in 2005 will be marked with events highlighting 100 years of innovation, science and technology. Associations, industry and others will work on the projects, and so far there's "a tremendous amount of interest," said APEGGA Executive Director Neil Windsor, P.Eng.

Downtown Space Eyed
Calgary's APEGGA office will likely remain downtown after its current lease expires, and it should be in a building close to major hotels, the covered plus-15 pedestrian system and rail transit. "We haven't conducted a formal survey, but there's been a clear signal from members that we need to be downtown," Executive Director Neil Windsor, P.Eng., told Council. That means that APEGGA has a wide selection of properties to consider as it reviews its current lease.

Ethical Practice Is Key
Engineering associations need to keep on promoting and monitoring the ethical practice of engineers in their areas of experience and competence, the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers affirms in a draft policy statement on specialization and certification. The CCPE draft, which APEGGA Council received for information, recognizes that as engineering becomes more specialized, the demand for new areas of certification grows.
It says, however, that provincial and territorial associations should avoid adopting any program of registration or licensing by specialized areas of engineering. "If there is a demand to identify special qualifications for engineers, then certification should be proposed as the solution to meet that demand," the CCPE document states. Certification should be voluntary for engineers and must not impede mobility in Canada. And the associations should handle certification or allow third parties that they decide are acceptable to do so.

Financial Statements Approved
Council received and approved APEGGA's audited financial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 2001, with nothing out of the ordinary for the growing association. Expenses totalled $6,373,317, which was $183,897 less than total revenues. Expenses in 2000 were $5,686,172. Increasing revenue, which grew to $6,557,214 from $5,878,817 the year before, offsets the growth in expenses.