INNOVATION March-April 2018

A S S O C I A T I O N

Engineers and Geoscientists BC is often referred to as a “dual-mandate” organization, meaning that its primary duty is regulation, but that it also has the objective of supporting members’ interests, subject to its primary duty. This blend of regulation and member support can sometimes lead to confusion about what the association’s primary responsibility is, and this can open the door to misinterpretation and misunderstanding. Over the years, consultation data from members has indicated that there is sometimes a gap in understanding between what some members perceive to be the mandate of the association and what the mandate actually is. Members who have indicated that they believe the association’s primary function is to support and advocate for members and their interests are frustrated when these expectations aren’t met. “The misunderstanding is certainly something we’ve noted anecdotally,” says Ann English, P.Eng., the association’s CEO and Registrar. “But it’s also something that gets communicated to us in survey feedback and directly to Council and branch executives. For some members, it’s a major point of frustration, because what they believe we should focus on isn’t what we’re mandated to do.” The Engineers and Geoscientists Act gives the association only one duty: “to uphold and protect the public interest with respect to the practice of professional engineering and geoscience.” Subject to this duty, we also have three purposes, known as “objects,” in our Act : 1. to uphold and protect the interests of our members and licensees, 2. to establish, maintain, and enforce standards of entry to practice, and 3. to promote the professions. Our duty of public protection sets us apart from other types of organizations, such as voluntary membership associations, but the addition of member support functions complicates perceptions of who we are and what we do. This challenge is by no means a new one, but it has become increasingly important to address because the regulatory landscape is evolving in the engineering and geoscience industries as well as others. There have been major shifts in the regulation of teachers and realtors in BC, and notably the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec, which has been under trusteeship since 2016. Engineers and Geoscientists BC conducts a public opinion poll roughly every three years to measure public awareness of the association and the professions. We conducted our most recent poll last summer, and it revealed an upward trend in the amount of importance the public places on professional regulation. For example, when asked if engineers and geoscientists should have an organization that regulates and governs them, positive responses from the public have shown a steady increase since 2008. CONNECTING WITH MEMBERS TO INCREASE REGULATORY CLARITY

Q: ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10, PLEASE TELL US HOW MUCH YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT.

% A gree (7-10)

2008

2011

2014

2017 82% •

Engineers and geoscientists should have an organization that regulates and governs them to ensure they meet set standards.

74% •

71% •

66% •

Similarly, when asked to rank the importance of Engineers and Geoscientists BC’s current and potential responsibilities, the public rated almost every regulatory tool as more important compared to previous years—with one exception: the question of whether the association should promote the professions. While the response remained neutral or declined slightly between 2008 and 2014, there has been a sharp downturn in the past three years in public attitudes towards whether the association should promote the professions.

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I N N O V A T I O N