WINTER 2017
PLOT DEVICES
Children Engineer Solutions for Storybook Characters
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The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta
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Contents
WINTER 2017
FEATURED PHOTO: PAGE 18›
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DEPARTMENTS
FEATURES
11 Council Candidates Announced 13 Legislative Review Wraps Up 16 Dues Increase Goes to Risk Reserve 36 Provincewide Mentoring Kicks Off 38 Foundation Renamed, Refocused 40 Storybook Career Building
4 President's Notebook 7 RCEO’s Message 17 Movers & Shakers 29 Buzz 35 Branch Calendars 48 Volunteer Listings 50 The Discipline File 75 Member Benefits
WINTER 2017 PEG | 1
The PEG (ISSN 1923-0052) is published quarterly — online — in the spring, summer, fall, and winter, by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta. Publication of a print version of The PEG ceased with the distribution of the winter 2016 edition. The PEG ’s content relates primarily to APEGA, our statutory obligations, our services to Members and Permit Holders, and the professional development of Members. The magazine also celebrates Member and Permit Holder accomplishments in Professional Engineering, Professional Geoscience, and other areas. The PEG is not a technical, peer-reviewed publication. Although we publish items about accomplishments in research, we do not publish actual academic or scientific papers and presentations, even in summary form. The PEG does not accept advertising. Opinions published in The PEG do not necessarily reflect the opinions or
VOLUME 1 | NUMBER 4 | WINTER 2017 ISSN 1923-0052 Acting Director of Communications Gisela Hippolt-Squair Gisela.HippoltSquair@apega.ca Editor George Lee , FEC (Hon.), FGC (Hon.) George.Lee@apega.ca EXECUTIVE TEAM Registrar & Chief Executive Officer Jay Nagendran , P.Eng., QEP, BCEE Deputy Registrar & Chief Regulatory Officer Matthew Oliver , P.Eng., CD Chief Operating Officer Heidi Yang , P.Eng., FEC, FGC (Hon.) Chief Financial & Administration Officer Sharilee Fossum , CPA, CMA, ICD.D, MBA Acting Director of Communications Gisela Hippolt-Squair BRANCH CHAIRS Calgary Gobind Khiani, P.Eng. calgarybranch@apega.ca Central Alberta Genesh Chariyil , P.Eng. centralalbertabranch@apega.ca Edmonton Bob Rundle , P.Eng. edmontonbranch@apega.ca Fort McMurray Roya Iranitalab , P.Eng. fortmcmurraybranch@apega.ca
policy of APEGA or its Council. Inquiries: George.Lee@apega.ca
COUNCIL President
Jane Tink , P.Eng., FEC, FGC (Hon.) (Okotoks)
President-Elect Nima Dorjee , P.Eng. (Calgary) Vice-President John Rhind , P.Geol. (Calgary) Past-President Dr. Steve E. Hrudey , P.Eng., FEC, FGC (Hon.), FCAE, FSRA (Canmore) Councillors Natasha Avila , P.Eng. (Calgary) Dr. Jeff DiBattista , P.Eng., MBA (Edmonton) Jennifer Enns , P.Eng. (Calgary) George Eynon , P.Geo., FGC, FEC (Hon.) (Calgary) Darren Hardy , P.Eng. (Calgary)
Dr. Brad Hayes , P.Geol., FGC, FEC (Hon.) (Calgary) Dr. Timothy Joseph , P.Eng., FCIM (Edmonton) RaeAnne Leach , P.Eng. (Grande Prairie) Manon Plante , P.Eng., MDS, CD1 (St. Albert) Jason Vanderzwaag , P.Eng. (Fort McMurray) Claudia Villeneuve , P.Eng., M.Eng. (Edmonton) Emily Zhang , P.Eng. (Calgary)
Lakeland Azam Khan , P.Eng. lakelandbranch@apega.ca Lethbridge Albert Tagoe , P.Eng. lethbridgebranch@apega.ca
Medicine Hat James Johansen , P.Eng. medicinehatbranch@apega.ca Peace Region Youssef Iskandar , E.I.T. peaceregionbranch@apega.ca Vermilion River Dustin Wiltermuth , P.Eng. vermilionriverbranch@apega.ca Yellowhead Colleen Mireau , P.Eng. yellowheadbranch@apega.ca
Susan McRory , LL.B., ARCT Mary Phillips-Rickey , F CA Georgeann Wilkin , RN, LL.B., MBS
Public Members of Council
APEGA CONTACT INFORMATION HEAD OFFICE 1500 Scotia One, 10060 Jasper Avenue NW Edmonton AB T5J 4A2 PH 780-426-3990 TOLL FREE 1-800-661-7020 FAX 780-426-1877
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS Engineers Canada Directors Lisa Doig , P.Eng., FEC, FGC (Hon.), MBA
Dr. Gary Faulkner , P.Eng., FEC, FGC (Hon.) Dr. David Lynch , P.Eng., FEC, FGC (Hon.), FCAE, FEIC, FCIC Connie Parenteau , P.Eng., FEC, FGC (Hon.)
www.apega.ca email@apega.ca
CALGARY OFFICE 2200 Scotia Centre, 700 Second Street SW Calgary AB T2P 2W1 PH 403-262-7714 TOLL FREE 1-888-262-3688 FAX 403-269-2787
Geoscientists Canada Director Colin Yeo , P.Geo., FGC, FEC (Hon.)
2 | PEG WINTER 2017
Looking for Qualified Engineers or Geoscientists?
Our job board is exclusive to APEGA Members. Save time by getting your job posting in front of the right candidates. Visit the job board today or email jobboard@apega.ca.
Learn from the Best in Your Industry! Gain personalized guidance from an experienced Member. Hundreds of Professional Members are waiting to meet you through APEGA’s online matching software. Become a mentee with APEGA’s Mentoring Program. Sign up at www.apega.ca/mentoring .
WINTER 2017 PEG | 3
President’s Notebook
MASTER APEGA
Here’s Looking at Another Successful Year of Improvements BY JANE TINK, P.ENG., FEC, FGC (HON.) APEGA President
As 2017 ends, it seems only appropriate that we review how we progressed through the year, leading to the revisions, tweaks, and renewed focus we need for 2018. It is something we are taught to do in our personal lives, our professional lives, and our business lives, and it is something APEGA does in its regulatory life, too, as we prepare for the year ahead. Challenging, exciting, and occasionally bittersweet changes and developments have highlighted your Association’s 2017. APEGA AND ASET I trust that over the last few months many of you have been able to participate in at least one of the numerous information sessions we have held to update Members and Permit Holders on the progress of the legislative review. If you did not have the chance to do so, I invite you to watch the video posted on APEGA’s website that explains our position on changes proposed by the Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals (ASET). I also encourage you to read APEGA’s response to ASET, also posted on our site. The Government of Alberta (GoA) had requested a joint submission from APEGA and ASET, but it became necessary for APEGA to act independently, submitting our proposals and the reasoning behind them without ASET’s support. Currently, it appears unlikely that any changes to the Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act and General Regulation will occur before the next provincial election. However, the extensive review and discussions held with our Members and Permit Holders have prepared the Association to move forward when the GoA addresses our legislation.
APEGA’s submission comprises more than 80 Council-endorsed recommendations, the result of work we began at the launch of the legislative review in 2014. These updates are important to the modernization and strengthening of APEGA’s regulatory system. A consequence of this extensive review, when it is combined with the viewpoints of new public members on APEGA’s Council, is that we have gained new insights into how the current legislation can be used more effectively. We also have a perspective on how other self-regulating organizations in Alberta are making their legislation work for them, despite their own needs for legislative modernization. In our web materials, you will see a link to a survey to submit your comments about the legislative review positions of APEGA and ASET. If you have not already, please take the survey. EXCITING CHANGES In April, APEGA welcomed Jay Nagendran, P.Eng., QEP, BCEE, FEC, as our new Registrar & CEO. This newly created position combines the positions of Registrar and CEO to ensure that our regulatory roles and obligations, along with the business of running the Association, are more effectively balanced at the highest level. In this way, we ensure that important initiatives have the resources to succeed. Also new this year to the executive team is Sharilee Fossum, CPA, our new Chief Financial & Administration Officer. Heidi Yang, P.Eng., FEC, FGC (Hon.), who served as our Interim CEO, has taken on the role of Chief Operating Officer. Matthew Oliver, CD, P.Eng., formerly our Director of Registration, is now Deputy Registrar & Chief Regulatory Officer.
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President's Notebook
APEGA
We have gained new insights into how the current legislation can be used more effectively. We also have a perspective on how other self- regulating organizations in Alberta are making their legislation work for them, despite their own needs for legislative modernization.
These individuals, together with the rest of our staff, our Council, and our more than 1,500 volunteers, are moving APEGA towards being a stronger and more proactive regulator. IMPROVED PRACTICE REVIEWING APEGA is improving the processes for conducting reviews of Permit Holders and their respective Professional Practice Management Plans (PPMPs). These reviews help ensure that Permit Holders comply with their APEGA requirements and meet their professional responsibilities, along with the requirements and responsibilities linked to other stakeholders and their own organizations. They also enable APEGA to assist those Permit Holders and Responsible Members that need additional clarification and guidance in preparing PPMPs. Efforts are being made to contact more individual Members who have failed to comply with our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program. Even if you have submitted records of your CPD hours, you may also get a letter asking for supporting documentation. Being a strong regulator means holding Members accountable, and this is a big part of that work. It is important to note that APEGA can assist and guide Members who may wish to declare themselves non-practising, or need clarification on what activities constitute CPD hours and how to document them. STANDARDS UPDATING In May, we released a major update of the professional practice standard entitled Evaluation of Oil and Gas Reserves and Resources for Public Disclosure. At the same time, we issued the new Joint Standard to Regulate Professional Responsibilities in Completion and Assurance of Wetland Science, Design and Engineering Work in Alberta. Watch for more updated and new documents. With the participation of volunteers who are experts and experienced in the appropriate practice areas, staff members continue to review,
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President’s Notebook
APEGA
have reached a stage in your career that allows you to commit to a busy, longer-term position on one of our statutory boards. I encourage you to peruse the list of opportunities on our website. Time commitments vary from a few hours to a lot longer, but I think, no matter what you are accepted for, you will find that volunteering for APEGA is a worthwhile and invigorating use of your time. It also counts towards your CPD hours. FURTHER MEMBER SERVICES APEGA offers value-added professional development sessions. Organized and hosted by APEGA, these ses- sions encompass soft-skill and technical topics. We also offer a free online job board for Members seeking employment. Unemployed Members may qualify for discounted pricing on our professional development sessions — simply let our staff know and they will see what they can do. You may also qualify for a reduction in your annual membership dues. For additional information, check out our Career Resources web page. THE BITTERSWEET In 2017, it has been bittersweet to see the retirement of some of the Association’s long-term staff members. These people gave wonderful support to our Associa- tion and our many volunteers over many years. I would like to thank those who have left the Association for their hard work and dedication, and wish them well in their new endeavours. THANK YOU In closing, I want to thank all our volunteers, Members, staff members, Councillors, and Permit Holders for their extraordinary commitment to APEGA. It has been and continues to be a privilege and honour to meet and work with you. I wish you all success and happiness in 2018, professionally and personally.
MORE INFORMATION
Video on Proposed ASET Changes Mentoring Program Information Volunteering Opportunities
APEGA Job Board Career Resources
update, and develop standards, guidelines, and bulletins. As they are released, or whenever you need a refresher, please review the standards, guidelines, and bulletins that pertain to your area of practice. Electronic versions are available on our website under Publications , for download and use by Members and others. MENTORING NOW WIDELY AVAILABLE We have expanded APEGA’s mentoring program to serve all 10 of APEGA’s Branches, making the program truly provincewide. After you have applied, taken the online training, and been accepted as a mentor or mentee, our online mentoring tool will help you connect with the person who meets your needs. Our tool allows you to search for a mentor at all stages of your career, not just when you are a Member-in-Training. Mentors and those mentees who have advanced to Professional Member status can claim mentoring under our CPD program. The advent of technology like Skype and FaceTime means that you can meet with your mentor or mentee no matter where the two of you live. Our system does not restrict you to finding a mentor or mentee who lives or works nearby. VOLUNTEERING YET? APEGA offers many volunteering opportunities, whether for Branch executive and activities, or for the full Association in its regulatory and non-regulatory roles. Perhaps you can volunteer with Outreach as a science olympics judge, or help prepare university students for the workforce by participating in a rapid resume review. Perhaps we need your expertise to assist in updating a critical standard. Perhaps you
Questions or comments? president@apega.ca
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Registrar & CEO's Message
APEGA
How Will You Serve Your Professions in 2018? BY JAY NAGENDRAN, P.ENG., QEP, BCEE, FEC APEGA Registrar & Chief Executive Officer
APEGA Council and staff are busy preparing for another year of serving the public — and serving you, too. At first glance, those two aspects of APEGA’s role may seem contradictory. Can APEGA effectively act on behalf of both sets of stakeholders? The answer is yes, but let me qualify that statement. We do not act on behalf of specific individuals in the way a union does. Rather, our Member services are about providing you with the tools and information to practise ethically, professionally, and successfully. That distinction is critical in enabling us to regulate objectively and effectively, through things like enforcement, discipline, registration, and our various reviews, investigations, and audits. Our mission statement puts APEGA’s role bluntly: “Regulate the practices of engineering and geoscience to serve the public interest in Alberta.” That’s a straightforward command — it tells us what we must do — and Members are not even mentioned. The nuance of what we are and how we regulate is found within our vision statement: “APEGA will earn the confidence of the public and instill pride in its Members.” Those words hint at the complementary nature of the services we offer you. Regulation does not operate in a vacuum. Certainly, regulation is about the organization known as APEGA, but it’s also about you and your professional responsibilities and obligations. We don’t earn the confidence of the public by simply regulating well. We earn the confidence of the public by regulating well and having engaged, ethical, properly educated and trained, and supportive Members. That is the essence of self- regulation. The more of you there is in that equation, the better we are.
We offer you tools and programs to make the partnership work, from professional development events through to our mentoring program. We offer services to help you advance your career and succeed in a challenging economy. We offer benefits that enable you to leverage your buying power, insure against personal and professional risk at an affordable rate, plan your investments, and even travel less expensively. We provide volunteer avenues that allow you to play a role in making regulatory decisions, share your knowledge with future generations of Professional Engineers and Professional Geoscientists, and organize events in your own communities. I’d also like to emphasize that internally, many of our functions support our overarching regulatory roles. There’s an APEGA contingent whose work you rarely see, mostly in the areas of finance, information tech- nology, and quality and performance management. No regulatory body of APEGA’s size and scope can do its job without these parts of its operational foundation. Many of you will want to tell me about all the disengaged and even disgruntled Members you know. I realize they are out there. There’s also a large contingent of what I’d call minimally engaged Members. They pay their dues, they complete the requirements of our mandatory Continuing Professional Development program, and they practise ethically and competently. But for whatever reason, that’s the extent of it. I look at engagement as a continuum. It starts on the low end, with Members who grudgingly comply with our regulations and standards — or don’t even fully comply, requiring APEGA to exercise its regulatory obligations — and literally roll their eyes at any email request or new initiative from their Association. The continuum extends to fully engaged Members, who
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Registrar & CEO's Message
APEGA
AS YOU LOOK TO THE NEW YEAR AND YOUR FUTURE AS A PROFESSIONAL, CONSIDER WHAT YOUR ROLE IS IN SELF- REGULATION. WHERE ARE YOU ON THE MEMBER ENGAGEMENT CONTINUUM? ARE THERE A FEW SMALL COMMITMENTS YOU CAN MAKE TO MOVE YOURSELF A LITTLE MORE TOWARDS THE FULLY ENGAGED END?
WHAT ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION’S PLANS? What is APEGA doing to deserve this 2018 commitment I’m asking for? Our plans centre on being a better regulator and continuing to strengthen our organizational foundation. That’s very much consistent with what I’ve said in the first part of this column. The main guiding document for all of this is our strategic plan — you could call it the marching orders we receive from you, via your elected Council. The stra- tegic plan that continues to guide us in 2018 is Strategy 2017–2022: Towards a Century of Service . We, your staff, use this document to create an operational plan. What you’ll see in 2018 is a continuation of many of the initiatives begun or worked on in 2017. We’re build- ing and strengthening our foundation through improved quality management, financial performance manage- ment, and information technology development. And we’ll continue to become a better regulator, through the updating and adding of practice bulletins, guidelines,
commit to self-regulation in a big way. They serve on Council or other boards or committees. They volunteer in our Outreach program. They organize luncheons for APEGA Branches. They are on the lookout for opportunities to participate in APEGA events and otherwise support APEGA. I realize you have other career and personal obliga- tions in your lives, and I’m not asking that each one of you leap to the fully engaged end. I do ask this. As you look to the New Year and your future as a professional, consider what your role is in self-regulation. Where are you on the continuum I’ve described? Are there a few small commitments you can make to move yourself a little more towards the fully engaged end? As we close in on our 100th anniversary in 2020, why not do something in 2018 to increase your personal investment in APEGA? Take part in some of our activities, regulatory or otherwise, that advance the APEGA professions. Include us in your plans. Help us and your peers fulfill the APEGA mission and vision.
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Registrar & CEO's Message and standards, by improving our mandatory Continuing Professional Development program, and by improving our Permit Holder practice reviews. Also under the better regulator banner, we’ll continue to improve enforcement and discipline, whether we’re dealing with complaints against individuals and companies not licensed to practise who mispresent themselves or practise illegally, or complaints of unskilled practice or unprofessional conduct against those who are licensed. Watch also for continued improvements in the way we license and register Members and Permit Holders. Those are the broad sweeps. For a detailed look at how we’ve done in 2017, I encourage you to attend the APEGA Annual General Meeting, April 20, 2018, in Edmonton. Before the AGM, watch for the 2017 APEGA Annual Report, which will be available online in early April. If you’ve never done either before — gone to the AGM or read the Annual Report — perhaps those two efforts will be your commitment to engaging more with APEGA in 2018. It’s a great start. DUES INCREASE You’ll read elsewhere in this PEG and on apega.ca about a dues increase of $32 that Council approved on November 30. Dues increases are never popular, but this time I like to think I’m the bearer of good rather than bad news. This increase has a non-operational and specific purpose, and I think it’s a purpose many of you will relate to: improving risk management. We are committed to putting and keeping our financial house in the best order possible. Part of that commitment is being prepared for unforeseeable threats. A huge lawsuit or challenge to your right to self-regulation, for example, could jeopardize the future of APEGA. The experts have told us that we need better pro- tection in this area, much of it in the form of money we set aside for the purpose. It needs to be done, however, and I hope we have your support. We also recognize that some of our Members have still not recovered from the economic downtown. In an unprecedented move, Council has extended a dues re- duction for unemployed Members for a third year in row.
APEGA
LEGISLATIVE REVIEW UPDATE A key component of being a better regulator is our legislative review. We have made our submission to the provincial government, but the Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta (ASET) has made a separate submission. The two organizations differ in what the path forward should be when it comes to regulating technologists. The crux of our disagreement is this: ASET would like to be a self-regulating body for technologists who take responsibility for their own work, without APEGA’s involvement. APEGA has always held, and continues to hold, that public safety is not properly protected if ASET has self-regulatory independence. We will, however, continue to work with ASET to try to reach an agreement on the matter. In the meantime, we have fully functional legislation, and the government has in its possession a wide-ranging set of recommendations to eventually make it even better. I encourage you to click on the links below to read our materials on this matter. Also, check out the latest legislative review story in this edition of The PEG.
Legislative Review Site
ASET & APEGA Proposed Changes
HOLIDAY WISHES Finally, I’d like to wish all of you the best of the season. And if I may, let me add special best wishes to Council and APEGA staff, who have been forthright and supportive in my development and growth as the APEGA Registrar & Chief Executive Officer. I’m excited about what we’ve accomplished in my first eight months in the role, and I look forward to many more accomplishments to come. Thank you!
Questions or comments? Registrar_CEO@apega.ca
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NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING In accordance with APEGA Bylaw 16(20) of the Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act, official notice of the 2018 APEGA Annual General Meeting is hereby given.
Friday, April 20, 2018 | 2 p.m. Shaw Conference Centre | Edmonton, Alberta
Luncheon 11:30 a.m. – 1:40 p.m.
Attendance Qualifies for CPD Credit
Further details on the APEGA Annual General Meeting and Conference 2018 will appear on www.apega.ca as they become available.
Have your say in how APEGA is governed. Cast your vote in the Council election.
The 2018 APEGA election runs from Friday, February 16, 2018, at 9 a.m. to Monday, March 19, 2018, at 12 noon
Just before polling begins, APEGA’s secure elections provider will email you voting instructions and a unique, personal link. Your primary email address will be used for this message, as it appears in the Member Self-Service Centre. If your primary email address is out of date, please update it now.
Your vote, your Council. Take part in this important part of self-regulation.
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APEGA
Nominating Committee Announces Candidates For APEGA’s Election 2018 The list of candidates for APEGA’s Election 2018 is set. The annual nomination period is over, and Nominating Committee interviews and recommendations are also complete. In all, 12 APEGA Professional Members are seeking three-year Council terms. Three other Members are running for positions on the APEGA Executive. The rest is up to you, as Professional Members of APEGA. Find out which candidates you support. Vote during the polling period. And encourage your professional peers to do the same. In January, full candidate information and detailed voting instructions will be available online and promoted in the e-PEG. Also, to supplement written materials candidates may choose to have APEGA post a video about who they are and why they are running. Names of candidates in each category appear below in alpha- betical order. EXECUTIVE CANDIDATES Of the three candidates, the one with the most votes becomes President-Elect and the runner-up becomes Vice-President. Each term is for one year, but the President-Elect automatically becomes President in 2019, serving a one-year term in that position, followed by a third year on the executive, as Past-President. • George Eynon*, P.Geo. • Tim Joseph*, P.Eng. • Shawn Morrison*, P.Eng.
Polling runs from: Friday, February 16, 2018, at 9 a.m. to Monday, March 19, 2018, at 12 noon Members will cast votes for up to four Council candidates and one candidate for President-Elect/Vice-President. Your next President was decided in the 2017 election. Nima Dorjee, P.Eng., officially takes over as President in Edmonton on Friday, April 20, 2018, at the APEGA Annual General Meeting. ELECTRONIC VOTING APEGA is using an experienced and secure third-party to run the election. Before polling begins, you will be emailed a unique, personal link and instructions from a company named Scytl Canada Inc. It’s part of the worldwide Scytl group, an industry leader that has managed more than 1,700 election technology implementations and 100,000 elections in more than 40 countries. Make sure right now that you have a current, primary email address listed in the Member Self-Service Centre — one that you monitor regularly. If you have forgotten your password, follow the prompts. If you have questions about the elec- tion, please call us at 1-800-661-7020. You can also email us anytime at elections@apega.ca and we will get back to you within two business days.
COUNCIL CANDIDATES • Craig Clifton*, P.Eng. • Jennifer Enns*, P.Eng. • Tim Hohm*, P.Eng. • Walter Kozak*, P.Eng. • Keith McCandlish*, P.Geol. • Jim McCuaig*, P.Eng.
• Zobayur Rahman, P.Eng. • Hasan Rizvi, P.Eng. • Bob Rundle*, P.Eng. • Muhammad Tayyab, P.Eng. • Jason Vanderzwaag*, P.Eng. • Claudia Villeneuve*, P.Eng.
*candidates endorsed by the Nominating Committee
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REGULATORY
Second Phase of Permit Dues Increases Takes Effect on July 1, 2018
As you may be aware, APEGA Council approved a change in its permit dues model in December 2016. Permit dues increase with the size of the company, as measured by the number of APEGA Members employed, as per APEGA’s permit files. The Permit Holder dues formula is $500 times the square root of the number of registered APEGA Members employed. Types of Members used in the calculation are Professional Members, Licensees, Professional Licensees, restricted practitioners, Provisional Licensees, Members-in-Training, and exam candidates. The new rate structure is a more equitable reflection of the costs required to regu- late Permit Holders than the one it replaces. In the past, there was one dues amount, no matter the size of Permit Holder. We staggered implementation of the increase to give smaller companies more time to prepare for this change. For Permit Holders employing six or more Members, the increase was effective July 1, 2017. For Permit Holders employing five or fewer Members, however, it is effective July 1, 2018, about six months from now.
To help in this transition, APEGA updated its Company Self-Service Centre (CSSC) to allow the designated Chief Operating Officer on APEGA’s permit file to view and edit the list of APEGA Members employed with the company. A Permit Holder can update its information at any time and is encouraged to keep its permit file current, including names of APEGA Members and Responsible Members, and contact information. A dues estimator also appears in the CSSC, to help you determine how much your company will be paying. To keep Permit Holders informed, APEGA sends its first permit dues notification to Permit Holders 60 days in advance of the due date, allowing the Permit Holder one month to modify its APEGA Member list. At 30 days prior to the due date, APEGA sends the final invoice and then allows the Permit Holder 30 days to make payment.
MORE INFORMATION
For permit questions, please email permits@apega.ca.
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REGULATORY
Legislative Review — Now and Tomorrow
APEGA’s recommendations are in the Government of Alberta’s hands, but the actual government rewrite of our legislation will likely take place several years from now. Still, work needs to be done. Joint regulation and scope of practice for technologists will be the focus of discussions between APEGA and the Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta (ASET) in 2018
LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD We began our legislative review project in 2014, at the request of the provincial government. Three years and five rounds of APEGA stakehold- er consultations wrapped up this year, with more than 6,000 Professional Members sharing their feedback on proposed changes to the Engineering and Geosci- ence Professions Act (EGP Act) and General Regulation . Your input was collected through surveys, face-to-face meetings, webinars, emails, and video conferences. A champions collaborative made up of Members representing APEGA Branches ensured that the conversation reached every corner of the province. Earlier this year, Council submitted more than 80 proposed recommendations to the Government of Alberta (GoA) for its approval — but there’s still important work to complete in 2018 and beyond. Although the government likely won’t move for- ward with amendments to our legislation before the next election, the completed work is important and is not lost. KEY HIGHLIGHTS The current Act is not broken. But it is 35 years old and the legislative review project was an opportunity to improve it — to give APEGA better tools so we
can better regulate in the public interest. It was an opportunity to make the Act and regulations better and align them with modern professional legislation. Many of our proposed changes seek to clarify our authority: to make explicit what is currently implied. Modern professional regulatory legislation enshrines this explicit authority in the legislation itself. To name a few, these proposed changes: • clarify the Registrar's authority to make certain administrative decisions so they don’t need to be brought to Council (for example, some of the items that currently go through our policy and standards task force) • grant explicit authority of delegation, where appropriate • grant Council authority to approve terms of reference for statutory committees • grant Council authority to approve practice standards Having these authorities specifically laid out in the legislation will benefit the Association by reducing confusion and reducing potential legal challenges. A modernized EGP Act will also support reciprocal notification of incidents with Occupational Health & Safety, the Alberta Energy Regulator, and other government ministries and regulators. These
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REGULATORY
actions will be allowed when significant events occur that involve engineering or geoscience. The benefits to the public and the government include: • faster resolution of matters • cost effectiveness • less duplication of effort • harmonious work with other regulators to protect Albertans and the environment Another key recommendation was to authorize APEGA’s Registrar to initiate complaints and investi- gations in the absence of formal written complaints, when the public, workers, or the environment are at risk. This authority is currently implied, but making it explicit will eliminate doubt. We have proposed enhancing the investigative powers of investigators and practice reviewers when investigating complaints and conducting practice reviews into engineering and geoscience activities. This will improve our ability to obtain relevant information to effectively regulate in the public interest. Another key proposal is to increase the maximum fines that can be awarded against individuals and companies. Public expectations have changed, and the current $10,000 maximum fine is inadequate when major events occur. We need fines that are progressive, proportionate, and effective. We have also proposed that the legislation be amended to grant us explicit authority to impose creative sanctions, in addition to or instead of fines. It is important that there be other tools available to assist in correcting a behaviour — fines alone may not accomplish this. Another area we looked at was the practice of the professions and how we can better regulate in the public interest, to improve the health of the professions generally while also helping our Members and Permit Holders improve their professional practices. This includes: • introducing the concept of mandatory practice standards and bulletins • authorizing practice reviewers to assess against practice standards and make recommendations, including suggestions to help Members and Permit Holders improve their practice
• authorizing practice review panels to make orders for failing to comply with practice standards and bulletins Another proposal was clarifying authentication requirements in the legislation, to include definitions for authentication and professional documents. Additional proposals were made regarding Permits to Practice, including clarifying the responsibilities of Responsible Members, and enhancing APEGA’s authority to apply conditions or restrictions on Permit Holders and their Permits to Practice. BETTER TOOLS, BETTER REGULATOR As mentioned, the current Act still works, but it needs an update to align it with other, modern professional legislation. We believe the recommendations we’ve submitted to the government will give us better tools to serve the public interest. Input from Members and Permit Holders was vital to the development of these recommendations, but there were other benefits to these conversations. Our legislative review consultations increased your engagement with APEGA in a positive way. We learned, from conducting these consulta- tions, that many Members didn’t know about certain requirements under our current legislation. The consultations helped raise their awareness. This will help them in their individual and corporate practices, under the current legislation, and will help improve the health of the profession overall. The surveys that accompanied each round of consultations also were a positive engagement tool. Although not all Members agreed with our recommendations — and there were certainly some hot-button items that generated both significant support and significant opposition — they did result in Members being engaged. That is always a positive thing for APEGA and Members.
COMING SOON: PRACTICE STANDARD CONSULTATIONS
We are carrying the momentum we built with the legislative review consultations into upcoming
14 | PEG WINTER 2017
REGULATORY
consultations on updated practice standards. APEGA is actively working on updating our authentication standard and we expect it to generate lively Member and Permit Holder engagement. The legislative review project has been a large- scale endeavour involving extensive work and effort. A lot of good work and stakeholder engagement has gone into getting us where we are today, providing significant value to the Association. There is a deeper understanding of the current legislation, which will lend itself well to the advancement of APEGA and the professions in the coming years, as we move forward on regulatory initiatives. The guiding principles and intent won’t change, and when the government is ready to move ahead, the work is done. WHAT’S NEXT • Continue to build relationships with the government and ASET • Be aware of the General Regulation expiration in 2021 • Continue the conversation with Members and Permit Holders SHARE YOUR OPINION: APEGA AND ASET This fall, we held information sessions with APEGA Members and Permit Holders to seek feedback on proposed changes to the Act that have been submit- ted by the Association of Science and Engineering
Technology Professionals of Alberta (ASET). Under the Act, APEGA and ASET have a shared responsibil- ity to jointly regulate the province’s more than 800 Professional Technologists (P.Tech.s).
APEGA has created a video that outlines our con- cerns about ASET’s proposals in more detail. So far, almost 2,000 Members have watched the video. Our concerns are also summarized in our FAQ and we posted a response on our website. We’re still collecting your input through an online survey. We hope APEGA Members take the time to learn more about this important issue and share their thoughts with us. We’ll continue to engage Members, ASET, the GoA, and other stakeholders in informed and constructive conversations. FIND MORE INFORMATION ONLINE Review the full list of endorsed recommendations, along with the supporting briefing notes and other documentation, at apegalegislativereview.ca.
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APEGA
Risk Management Need Addressed Through Dues Increase
On November 30, Council approved a Member dues increase for 2018 to enable APEGA to improve the way it mitigates risk, as the organization progresses in its efforts to become a stronger regulator and a more resilient organization. Dues for Professional Engineers, Professional Geoscientists, and Professional Licensees will increase by $32 to $392, plus GST, from $360, plus GST. Dues in other membership categories are also increasing. Council directed staff to place revenues from the in- crease in a new regulatory risk-management reserve. No portion of the increase is being used to fund operations. "We must be sure we are capable of handling severe risks, such as lawsuits, protecting title, ensuring compli- ance, and enhancing public protection," said APEGA Pres- ident Jane Tink, P.Eng., FEC, FGC (Hon.) "The reasoning behind this increase is sound, particularly in light of the extra emphasis we have been putting on strengthening our foundation and becoming a better regulator." She continued: "This is the second dues increase in a row, and I know it is going to be difficult for some of our Members to accept. An enormous amount of work by staff, the Audit Committee, and Council went into this decision. I want our Members and Permit Holders to know that Council never takes dues increases lightly. We all know that it is still tough out there, and if it were not necessary, we, Council, would not approve an increase." Member Dues in Canada Professional Engineers and Geoscientists
In an unprecedented move, Council also passed a motion for an additional one-year extension to APEGA's dues reduction for unemployed Members. The maximum timeframe for a Member to make use of the reduction is three consecutive years. If they remain unemployed, Members who are currently paying reduced dues can apply for an extension in 2018. Dues for Professional Engineers and Professional Geoscientists in Canada range from $220 to $450 a year, based on recent data. With the increase, APEGA dues will rank fourth among 13 engineering and geoscience regula- tors. In addition, APEGA's dues are on the lower end of the spectrum compared to many other self-regulating professional organizations in Alberta. "Ultimately, APEGA and our Members are all serving the public interest. We believe that self-regulation is the right model for doing this effectively, so managing risk is paramount," said Ms. Tink. When Members are invoiced at the new rate depends on when they first registered. You’ll be invoiced one month before the anniversary of your registration. WHY SUCH A CONCERN ABOUT RISK? Study, Design, Frame - PEG Spring 2016 The Privilege of Self-Regulation - PEG Fall 2016
Member Dues of Other Alberta Professions
$2,600
$450
$425 $420
$392 $380
$1,960
$351 $340 $340
$300
$1,532
$264 $263
$241
$1,051 $1,000
$220
$962
$802
$584
$570
$392
APEGA
College & Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta
College of Dietitians of Alberta
Alberta College of Pharmacists
Law Society of Alberta
College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta
Alberta Veterinary Medical Association
Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta
Alberta Dental Association & College
Alberta Association of Architects
APEGS OGQ APGO APEGA (2018)
APEGM EGBC (APEGBC)
NAPEG OIQ ENGPEI
APEGY ENGNS PEGNL
PEO
As of November27, 2017.Amounts donot include taxes.
As of November27, 2017.Dues donot includeGST.
16 | PEG WINTER 2017
MEMBER NEWS
Movers & Shakers ENGINEERING STUDENTS HIT THEIR PAYLOAD AT ROCKET
COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH Callie Lissinna and a Norwegian student (left) prepare for launch in the telemetry and data collection room at Andoya Space Center.
SCIENCE CRASH-COURSE For University of Alberta engi-
neering student Callie Lissinna , an APEGA university student member under our ASAP program, some highlights particularly stand out after her mid-October visit to the Andoya Space Center on the far northern tip of Norway, a few degrees north of the Arctic Circle: 1. Eating waffles that were, figura- tively speaking, out of this world. 2. Watching a spectacular aurora borealis display with other, equally thrilled engineering and astrophysics students. Oh, wait. One other thing: launching a rocket into space. “Who would've imagined that U of A students could travel to Norway for a crash-course in rockets?” says Ms. Lissinna. The students were part of the 14th annual Canada-Norway Stu- dent Sounding Rocket (CaNoRock) exchange program, a partnership between the universities of Alberta, Calgary, and Saskatchewan, the Royal Military College, the University of Oslo, and the space centre. Ms. Lissinna, along with fellow engineering students Kinza Malik and Suey Fong , and engineering
-photo courtesy Callie Lissinna
physics student Taryn Haluza-DeLay — all ASAP participants, too — were the U of A’s first all-female team to take part in CaNoRock. Three students from the University of Calgary’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, four students from the University of Saskatchewan, and 10 Norwegian students also took part. Working together, they built a single-stage sounding rocket to collect data about the atmosphere. “It flew sensors for temperature, pressure, magnetic field strength, light, and acceleration,” explains Ms. Lissinna. After the launch, the students initially thought the rocket wasn’t working, because of a few anomalous data points they discovered. But a rocketry expert deemed their data very clean, explaining that such results were typical and even expected. This wasn’t Ms. Lissinna’s first rocket mission. She’s a veteran of the AlbertaSat student team, which built and launched the Ex-Alta 1 satellite that’s currently orbiting Earth and measuring space weather patterns.
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Movers & Shakers
MEMBER NEWS
the Blackfoot people. “This sacred rock was not only used as a landmark and meeting place, but also as a spiritual medicine centre,” explains Mr. Diakiw. Indigenous pictographs of people and shapes are found on both halves of the rock, which is split down the middle. A Blackfoot story explains how the huge rock ended up in two pieces in the middle of the Prairie. Napi, a supernatural trickster, gave his buffalo robe to the rock as a gift. When a cold wind blew, he took it back. The angry rock rolled after him, so Napi ran for his life and called on his bat friends for help. They dived at the rock, stopping it and breaking it in two. This story explains, mythologically speak- ing, why bats have flat faces. And, says Mr. Diakiw, it’s also an important moral tale of why you shouldn’t take back what you’ve given away. PEG readers might recognize Mr. Diakiw’s name. He was an auxiliary firefighter who helped battle the Fort McMurray wildfire and was featured in the winter 2016 edition of the magazine. He’s also inspired hundreds of young rock hounds as an APEGA Outreach volunteer. ROCK TALKER Above, left The famous Okotoks erratic, or Big Rock in Black- foot stories, is the inspiration behind the tour company name Talking Rock Tours. Above, right Keith Diakiw, P.Geo., shows off a rock formation along the Bow River in Banff. -photo courtesy Keith Diakiw, P.Geo.
ARE THOSE ROCKS ACTUALLY TALKING? SORT OF — WHEN THIS APEGA MEMBER TELLS THEIR STORIES Rocks tell the story of the Earth’s history. Keith Diakiw, P.Geo. , wants to share these stories through a unique new business venture, Talking Rock Tours. The company is a geo-educational hiking and sightseeing adventure company — with a twist. “By launching Talking Rock Tours, I’ll not only teach people about Alberta’s geological wonders, but also showcase the associated First Nations and Métis histories and storytelling from a time before Canada 150,” explains Mr. Diakiw. Based in Edmonton, Mr. Diakiw will lead discovery tours across Alberta. His list includes Banff, Nordegg, Elk Island Park, the Badlands, and even his own backyard, Edmonton’s scenic river valley. A proud descendant of historical Métis leader Gabriel Dumont, Mr. Diakiw says tourism ventures like his are one way that Indigenous peoples can reclaim and share their culture and heritage. Talking Rock Tours gives him the chance to pass along his lifelong passion for the Earth sciences with fellow Albertans and tourists from around the globe. He was one of six entrepreneurs invited to pitch their business ideas to a live audience at an ATB BoostR Tourism event in Banff on October 21. He wasn’t crowned the champion, but he did make $10,205 through a successful crowdfunding campaign — enough to pay for a new tour van. Mr. Diakiw’s company name — Talking Rock Tours — was inspired by Big Rock, the famous glacial erratic near Okotoks in southern Alberta. It’s a location of great spiritual significance to
18 | PEG WINTER 2017
Movers & Shakers
MEMBER NEWS
CHAMPION FOR CHANGE: GAIL POWLEY, P.ENG., HONOURED WITH U OF A ALUMNI AWARD When she graduated with a chemical engineering degree from the University of Alberta Faculty of Engineering in 1984, Gail Powley, P.Eng. , didn’t set out to become a champion for women in the profession. She just wanted to make a difference — as engineers do. And she wanted to build her career. Turns out, she ended up doing all three. Her efforts have been celebrated with a prestigious University of Alberta Alumni Award. Ms. Powley was among 21 of the school’s most influential alumni recently honoured for their professional achievements, community service, and innovation. Women in the engineering profession were an anomaly when Ms. Powley entered the workforce. About 90 per cent of her colleagues at the time were male. She got used to being the only female engineer on the job site or in the boardroom. Still, she was optimistic that more women would enter the profession and that the numbers would eventually balance out. When that didn’t happen, Ms. Powley decided she could make a difference in another way — as a change
leader. She joined WISEST (Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science & Technology), a U of A group that empowers women in STEM fields. She helped found WISER (Women in Science, Engineering & Research), BESTT (Bridge for Engineering, Science, and Technology Talent), and MentorUP Alberta. All these groups support under-represented professionals in science and engineering. Her volunteer work with the Alberta Women’s Science Network earned her the Mentor of the Millennium award. In 2011, she was founding chair of the Women in APEGA advisory group, which aims to increase female representation in the engineering and geoscience professions. In this role, she led development of Managing Transitions Before, During and After Leave , a best-practices guide for employees and employers that supports the retention of women after maternity leave. In 2016, the document was adapted and jointly published by Engineers Canada and Geoscientists Canada. Ms. Powley’s work to build a more diverse, inclusive, and innovative work force also earned her the Women in Engineering and Geoscience Champion APEGA Summit Award in 2014.
CHAMP AMONG WOMEN — AND A CHAMP FOR WOMEN
Gail Powley, P.Eng., receives her 2014 APEGA Summit Award from the APEGA President of the day, Colin Yeo, P.Geo., FGC, FEC (Hon.).
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