APEGA
Major Milestone Reached in Legislative Review
Delivery of Act Changes to the Province Follows Strong Engagement in the Fall Consultation
After garnering the most stakeholder engagement in the process so far, the fourth round of consultation in the APEGA legislative review is now closed. In fact, Council has now submitted all proposed changes to the Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act (EGP Act) to the Government of Alberta (GOA), marking the attain- ment of a major milestone in the review. A submission on regulation changes is slated for the end of June. The submission comes after Council endorsed the latest 20 proposed recommendations for improvements to our legislation. The endorsements followed three hours of Council discussions on January 25 that were both detailed and wide-ranging. Councillors weren’t the only ones deeply engaged in this stage of the review. The recommendations from the fall 2016 consultation earned unprecedented partici- pation and input from stakeholders, especially those in the geoscience community. Council listened, discussed, and reacted to the extensive feedback, seeking clarification from staff members working on the review and in one instance approving an amended proposed recommendation. In some cases, Council approved moving proposed rec- ommendations forward to the province with the mixed feedback included. SOLE PRACTITIONERS AND THE LEGISLATION Council was particularly concerned about the effect of possible future legislation on the practices of sole prac- titioners. One proposed recommendation would require sole practitioners to have Permits to Practice. By definition,
a sole practitioner has just one employee, which would mean he or she would be the Responsible Member (RM). Under the current Act, sole practitioners do not need a Permit to Practice. However, there’s a sound rationale for the pro- posed recommendation, Council heard. It would give the public and clients assurance that the same re- quirements are met by a Permit Holder, regardless of whether it’s a sole practitioner or a corporation. Also included in the proposed recommendation is further clarification that an RM would be profession- ally responsible for a company’s Professional Practice Management Plan (PPMP) and for ensuring it is imple- mented and followed. The goal is to better protect the public through clearer definitions of what RMs are re- sponsible and accountable for. The PPMP would clarify and emphasize that the quality management system used by a Permit Holder is an appropriate environment for the practice of engineering, geoscience, or both. A proposed recommendation for mandatory profes- sional liability insurance (PLI) was also a major point of concern. Individuals, partnerships, and companies that provide engineering and geoscience consulting ser- vices would be required to carry primary PLI to ensure that the public is protected in the event of errors or omissions. Mandatory PLI would also protect the individuals and Permit Holders themselves from the cost of negli- gence and compensatory damages. Also, implementing the insurance would bring APEGA in line with many constituent associations in Canada and other Alberta self-regulating organizations.
34 | PEG SPRING 2017
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker