| A Quebec court has ruled
against Microsoft Canada’s
use of the word “engineer” in its international
software certification program – a decision which bodes
well for legislative wording changes approved by the 84th
APEGGA Annual General Meeting in April. The AGM voted in
favour of recommending that the Alberta Government make a
statutory amendment to the Engineering, Geological and Geophysical
Professions Act to strengthen right-to-title provisions and
APEGGA’s authority to protect them.
Judge Claude Millette of the Court of Quebec ruled that Microsoft
Canada contravenes a Quebec provincial code with its Microsoft
Certified Systems Engineer designation. The proposed new
Alberta wording of the EGGP Act is closely aligned with the
Quebec wording.
“
We were anxiously awaiting this decision, and we’re
very happy that it favours our sister organization in Quebec,” said
APEGGA Executive Director & Registrar Neil Windsor, P.Eng. “This
is more ammunition for us in our legislated role of making
sure the public is not misled by illegally used titles.”
L’Qrdre de ingéniéurs du Québec
brought the action against Microsoft under Quebec’s
Professional Code. Director General Denis Leblanc, ing.,
said the Quebec association originally held off in its action
against Microsoft Canada because it believed the company
would drop engineer from its MCSE designation.
Mr. Leblanc told the April 23 edition of Computing Canada: “There
is a risk for the public to be fooled by people who pretend
to be an engineer without having gone through a university-approved
program in engineering. Our job is to make sure we protect
the public against any misconception about the way the real
engineers practice.”
APEGGA Council began the process of strengthening the EGGP
Act after a court loss in November 2003. An Edmonton man
won an appeal and can continue calling himself a “systems
engineer” or “systems engineer representative,” even
though he is not an APEGGA member and is not a professional
engineer.
The Association contends that Raymond Merhej is misleading
the public when he uses the titles. APEGGA filed an injunction
to stop him, but the Court of Queen’s Bench did not
agree and the Court of Appeal upheld the decision.
The decision did not sit well with APEGGA or Council. The
ability to enforce the reserve title and practice provisions
is considered fundamental to the Association’s self-regulating
and public protection mandate.
The statutory change recommendations stress that the words
engineer, geologist and geophysicist can’t be used “alone
or in combination with any other title, description, letter,
symbol or abbreviation that may represent expressly or by
implication that the individual, corporation, partnership
or other entity” is a professional engineer, professional
geologist, professional geophysicist, licensee or permit
holder.
One of the key changes is the addition of the word “may” in
front of “represent expressly.” That takes away
the need to demonstrate a misused title actually misleads – if
there’s any chance it misleads, the new wording makes
it illegal.
There are right-to-title exceptions. APEGGA’s right
does not extend to uses covered by any other enactment.
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