“The reputations of our Members and Permit Holders, both domestically and internationally, are important to all of us and they need to be protected. When you take this need to protect our reputation and combine it with our overriding role of protecting the public, you can see why APEGA has undergone such an extensive review of our legislation.”
JT We aren’t the only ones speaking about the scrutiny self-regulating organizations are under across Canada. Each of our sister associations, as well as the other self-regulating professions within the province and elsewhere in Canada, recognize the need to ensure that their Members continue improving their skills through professional development. They, like us, are also striving to ensure that complaints against their Members are promptly and thoroughly investigated, that discipline action is taken when required, and that the process follows the course of natural justice. The public and the government need to be confident that the services we provide and roles we perform are the very best they can be. During your time as President-Elect, APEGA developed a system of scaling Permit Holder dues according to the number of Members they employ. Because of the timing of the increase, you will undoubtedly be speaking about it often during your time as President. Could you explain the rationale for this new system? JT After much deliberation, Council concluded that it was necessary to change the Permit Holder dues structure to reflect the
In your Annual General Meeting speech, you emphasized how much you enjoy meeting Members and Permit Holders. What are you hearing from them? JT From our Members-in-Training: “How are you going to get our Members back to work?” “Where am I going to get a job or enough experience to become a Professional Member?” From Permit Holders: “How can we assist APEGA to communicate with our employees?” And, from the public, one of my favourites: “Wow! You’re a woman!” I am always happy to explain to anyone who will listen that there are women engineers and geoscientists. I do believe we can get Members back to work and facilitate their transitions into new initiatives. Put a problem in front of our Members or Permit Holders and they will find a solution. They personify a can-do attitude! Your predecessor spoke and wrote about the amount of scrutiny self-regulating organizations are under across Canada. He also mentioned the public’s lowered confidence in experts, regulators, and their institutions. How should APEGA prepare for the risks these trends represent?
12 | PEG SUMMER 2017
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