APEGA
Some stakeholders have said that an umbrella requirement for PLI wouldn’t recognize the different realities sole practitioners face in their practices. The financial burden would be heavily felt by individuals and small companies, and insurance is a contractual issue that does not need to be addressed legislatively. Taking these and other considerations into account, Council revised the proposed PLI recommendation to simply state that Council would have the authority to create policy, at a later date, on requirements for Permit Holders and Members to carry PLI. Council felt that more consultation was necessary to fully understand the issue. THE GEOSCIENCE VOICE Much of Council’s discussion centred on comments from the geoscience community, an audience APEGA targeted in the consultation. One recommendation proposes an updating of the actual definition of the practice of geoscience to make it better reflect current technology and practice areas. Representing a group of subject-matter experts, several geoscientists — who are also volunteers with the champions collaborative — assisted APEGA in shaping proposed recommendations for the definition of geoscience, descriptions of geoscience work products, and geoscience exemption changes. The champions collaborative is made up of APEGA professionals who share information about the review and generate participation and feedback. The geoscience champions also reached out to their networks to build interest, leading to multiple in-house consultations with major Permit Holders and their staff, and two sessions — one in Calgary, one in Edmonton — held specifically for geoscience Members. All the recommendations are considered proposed because the Government of Alberta (GOA), as owner of the legislation, will write the EGP Act and General Regulation . APEGA has been consulting with GOA on a weekly basis since September 2015. THE FALL NUMBERS More than 2,000 people provided input, making it the largest round of consultations since APEGA started collecting feedback in May 2015.
Members and Permit Holders participated through: • 17 face-to-face sessions • four in-house consultations • eight webinars • a survey • numerous email submissions Most survey respondents reviewed background material on the official legislative review website, before answering questions. About 20 per cent attended consultation sessions. More than 50 per cent of respondents surveyed identified themselves as registered APEGA geosci- entists, which suggests that more than 11 per cent of APEGA’s Professional Geoscientist membership participated. During the two-month-long survey, responses numbered 1,148, the most in any legislative review surveys posted so far. • 87 per cent of survey respondents were Professional Members. • Five per cent of survey respondents were Permit Holders. • Two per cent were members of the public. • Seven per cent identified as other. Since consultation began in the spring of 2015, more than 6,000 Members and Permit Holders have provided valuable feedback on proposed recommendations. MORE INFORMATION A summary of the proposed recommendations and consultation responses can be found in We’re Listening: Fall 2016 Consultation Summary. NEXT SESSION APPROACHES One more round of consultation — the fifth — remains in the review, set to take place in May, this year. APEGA appreciates everyone’s participation in the 2016 fall session, which brought to a close our consultations on issues covered in the EGP Act . Planning is underway now for the final legislative review consultation with Members and Permit Holders. Proposed recommendations will primarily involve General Regulation items not covered in the fall of 2016.
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