President’s Notebook
APEGA
This didn’t occur, but there were changes to our Act during this period, including the requirement that applicants be assessed by a Board of Examiners to determine whether they were qualified. True to form, our ever-logical predecessors already had this process in place, and it had been that way since the Association’s inception in 1920. Other changes to the Act included increasing the size of Council from eight to 12 and increasing the term a Councillor serves from two to three years. The Discipline Committee was now formalized in the Act, too. Perhaps most importantly, the definition of engineering was expanded to include geology, even though the Act did fail to include a distinct title. This oversight has since been corrected, first with definitions of Professional Geologist and Professional Geophysicist, and more recently with the definition of Professional Geoscientist. Other Association developments include actions by the 1957-58 Council, which hired Ivan Finlay, P.Eng., our first full-time Registrar. He continued in the role for two decades. Along with the Counselling and Education Committee, Council examined the matter of certification of engineering technologists and approved the publica- tion of a booklet called The Engineer and his Profession. THE WORDS WE USE Our Association and society have evolved over the years. We have become, for example, more conscious of the language we use. When I first read the article in 1995 that referenced the booklet, The Engineer and his Profession, I do not recall thinking anything of the title. Recently, as I reread it, I was taken aback. My mind set immediately went to: “Way to exclude 50 per cent of the population!” In the context of its day, it wasn’t designed to exclude anyone — but that was the effect. The title is a good example of how we have learned to change our style of communication and be cautious of the words we use. The words in the Act, the General Regulation, and our bylaws matter, too. As we move legislative changes
forward, we need to be aware of how these changes will impact our Permit Holders and Members, particu- larly with the number of specializations of our profes- sions continually increasing. We are no longer simply civil, electrical, mining, and mechanical engineers. Nor are our geoscientists simply geologists or mining engi- neers. Changes to our legislation will lay the foundation for the future of our professions — including areas of practice that we may not envision today. We, as members of society at large and as Mem- bers of our Association, have learned and progressed through the last 98 years and we will continue to do so. Yet many of the issues we faced 50 or a 100 years ago remain the same today. Society went from little houses to massive houses and now the trend is to go to tiny homes. We went from home-cooked meals to frozen and fast food and now the trend is back to “slow cooking.” We went from electricity for every home and business to some of us shifting our lives off the grid completely. Our professions have developed solutions to the problems inherent in all these changes, and our professions will continue to do so. As we meet societal demands, we need to think ahead to the future we are creating now. I invite you to look to the past, to identify some of the landmark discoveries, innovations, and successes of our last 98 years, and to document some of the history of our professions. I would love to hear your stories, and I am sure many of your mentees and younger colleagues would as well. I also invite you to look at the accomplishments of your colleagues and employers. Although the 2018 Summit Awards nominations are closed, you can always “shine a light on excellence in engineering or geoscience,” as our promotional materials say, for future years. Help us celebrate the accomplishments of today — for the prosperity of tomorrow.
Questions or comments? president@apega.ca
6 | PEG FALL 2017
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