APEGA
are going to become contributing members of society, we had to start off strong and send a strong message. The new arrivals also had to be mindful of their role in helping others. After 80 per cent of the initial group arrived, it was their turn to contribute. So we did no more fundraising on the program’s behalf after that. It was up to them. My training as an engineer was important. I set out a plan that ensured a cost of only $600 per person for resettlement. Within three months these refugees had achieved basic financial self-reliance. At the end of the day we brought 1,000 displaced Tibetans to Canada, who are already contributing not only to their own community but to the larger community. We’ve ensured that this happened in an incredibly cost-effective way. I hope now at this point that they will go on to help others. Their role is to become good ambassadors and contribute to this whole mosaic of a country we call Canada. Would you say that your experience in this area speaks to the effects of immigration in Alberta? And how about APEGA, which has an incredibly diverse membership when it comes to countries of origin? ND Immigration makes us stronger. Alberta has attracted talent from around the world. Rather than looking at this as a burden, we should look at it as our strength, as our opportunity. What professionals from around the world bring to us is an understanding of the world community. The rest of the world is always larger than what we are here. The cultural know-how, the business, the climate related to other places in the world—we have that knowledge here. We have attracted that to this province, and it happens to be a part of APEGA as well. That is what we have to offer. When our local, provincial, and federal govern- ments talk about economic development, we need to let them know that we have this talent. We just need to make those strong connections. Our multiculturalism is something we have not looked at as a strength, in terms of something we can market, and not just in the business sense but also in solving the problems the world faces. This is what our members do: we come up with solutions. Canada has traditionally taken a leadership role, worldwide, in many of these issues, and the downturn
should at the very least give us more opportunity in this area.
Diversity also presents challenges for APEGA, especially when it comes licensing professionals from other countries. How are we doing on that end? ND One of APEGA’s fundamental roles is to make sure that we license competent professionals who are ethically, academically, and experientially qualified to do the work of engineering and geoscience. We give the public confidence that the work done by these professionals will keep them safe. From the perspective of those coming into the organization, though, it needs to happen quickly. And we do want to decide on their applications in a timely manner. But we must be uncompromising when it comes to the quality of our assessments and evaluations. Now, the world has changed, and some of our application and assessment tools and approaches haven’t always worked the way they were intended to work. That’s why a massive registration renewal project is well underway, and it is starting to show results. We need to communicate clearly to potential members about the state of their applications, and sometimes this is a challenge. The image applicants sometimes have is that we’re causing delays, but historically that’s not always the case. I’m hopeful that the updated and largely web-based tools are reducing delays, and in fact we’re seeing evidence of that. The legislative review was a great example of member engagement. What should we do to further engage members in their association? ND It’s an interesting issue, when you talk about engagement with a regulator. Our reason for existence is the licensing and regulating of professionals. Beyond that, in terms of member engagement, Council and APEGA have a duty to understand what is happening out there, and that’s a big part of engagement: an accurate picture of the landscape. That’s how we end up with collegial, collaborative approaches to addressing our self- regulatory challenges.
SUMMER 2018 PEG | 17
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