Legislative Review Recommendations Earn Council Endorsement, Strong Member Engagement

APEGA Council has endorsed 20 proposed recommendations for improvements to APEGA’s legislation, during detailed and comprehensive discussions that follow stakeholder feedback collected in the We’re Listening: Fall 2016 Consultation Summary.

With the fourth round of the consultation now closed, on February 1 Council submitted proposed changes to the Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act (EGP Act) to the Government of Alberta (GOA), reaching a major milestone in the legislative review. The submission on regulation changes is slated for the end of June.

In a major piece of the fall consultation, 1,142 participants took part in an APEGA survey on the proposed recommendations – the most survey respondents so far in the legislative review. As well, more than 1,100 Members and Permit Holders participated in the consultation through in-person sessions and webinars. Most survey respondents reviewed background material on the legislative review website before answering questions. About 20 per cent attended consultation sessions.

Authentication practices, Permit to Practice responsibilities, creative sanctions, mediated settlements, investigator authority — these subjects and many more are covered in the proposed recommendations endorsed during the January 25 Council meeting.

Much of Council’s wide-ranging discussion centered on comments from the geoscience community. More than 50 per cent of survey respondents are registered APEGA geoscientists, meaning that more than 11 per cent of APEGA’s Professional Geoscientist membership participated.

Although many recommendations affect the practices of both APEGA professions, some are particularly important to geoscience. One proposes an update of the actual definition of the practice of geoscience.

Based on feedback from Members, Permit Holders, and other fall consultation participants, Council revised a proposed recommendation regarding professional liability insurance (PLI). The original proposed recommendation was replaced by an amended one that would give Council the authority to create policy, at a later date, on requirements for Permit Holders and Members to carry PLI.

All the recommendations are considered proposed because the Government of Alberta (GOA) will actually write the new Act and general regulation. One more round of consultations — the fifth —remains, with the possibility that the government will proclaim a new Act in 2018. In some cases, Council approved moving recommendations forward with mixed feedback included as part of the discussion with the government.

Canada’s other engineering and geoscience self-regulating organizations provided feedback. So did other Alberta professional associations, the Consulting Engineers of Alberta, and the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists.

On the legislative review website, you'll find more information on the review, Council’s response to proposed recommendations from each consultation, and the consultations themselves.

APEGA appreciates everyone’s participation in the 2016 fall consultation. Another opportunity to take part approaches — planning is underway now for the final legislative review consultation, this coming spring.

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