President-Elect’s Notebook
APEGA
in Professional Engineering and, by extension, all professional, business and government communities. In Quebec, Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec (OIQ) has had to adjust to revelations of corruption unearthed by the Charbonneau Commission. Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) is re-examining the way it regulates in the wake of the report of the Elliot Lake Inquiry on the deadly collapse of the Algo Centre Mall. And in B.C., the failure of a tailings pond and the resulting spill at the Mount Polley Mine are raising questions about the pond’s design — an issue of major concern to APEGBC. For our recent strategy sessions, representatives from OIQ and PEO interacted with a cross-section of APEGA management staff to help APEGA turn their lessons learned into our lessons learned. The associations thanked us for the opportunity; we were the only other self-regulating organization to share and solicit information in this way, and they deeply appreciated our approach. They learned a lot about the way APEGA regulates, too; these were dialogues, not speeches. I think this sharing of information will help all the parties involved and, ultimately, the public in each jurisdiction. It’s a great example of the national leadership APEGA shows in the regulation of Professional Engineering and Geoscience, as we and our sister associations work towards better alignment of our processes. Also, our strategic planning sessions included a deceivingly simple pair of questions: is our number one role to regulate the
practices of Professional Engineering and Geoscience? Or is it to regulate the individuals who earn and maintain the privilege of their designations? I’m not sure there’s a definitive answer, but simply posing these questions is a great way to examine the nature of our work. Now, I’ve said quite a bit in this column about planning. But it’s important to clarify that strategic planning does not affect most of the day-to-day business of the Association. It informs operations, resulting in some changed priorities. But business planning is always the responsibility of the CEO, and our regulatory functions and most of the services we provide are not going to change. This is something that became clear to your Council over the last year. We had too many committees. Many of these committees had operational roles. Now, we have a small number of committees, and their work is strategic. Members run for election to APEGA Council in the hopes of finding a meaningful way to give back and make a difference. That’s certainly why I’m here. It’s why I’m excited about the work we’re doing on the next strategic plan. And it’s why I’m thrilled to be your President-Elect (and soon-to-be President).
Questions or comments? presidentelect@apega.ca.
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SPRING 2015 PEG | 5
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