INNOVATION March-April 2018

Q: PLEASE RATE THE IMPORTANCE OF EACH OF [THE ASSOCIATION’S] CURRENT AND POTENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES.

% I mportant (7-10)

2008

2011

2014

2017

88% •

84% •

83% •

Develop guidelines and standards of practice.

82% •

87% •

83% •

82% •

Assess qualifications to issue licenses to practice.

81% •

84% • 86% •

Regulate firms offering engineering and geoscience services to the public. Audit the practice of individuals to assess compliance with rules and standards.

81% •

81% •

79% • 79% •

78% •

78% •

73% •

73% •

72% •

Promote the professions of engineering and geoscience.

62% •

“As a public sector organization,” says CEO Ann English, “we’re created by and accountable to government to serve and protect the people of British Columbia. We’re accountable to the people of British Columbia. I think it’s clear that public expectations for regulatory bodies like ours are changing. So it’s important for us now, perhaps more than ever before, to clarify our role and our dedication to protecting the interests of the public.” BRINGING CLARITY TO THE ASSOCIATION’S REGULATORY ROLE In 2016, Council set out to explore the issue more in depth, with a long-term vision for increasing members’ understanding and awareness of our regulatory role under the Act . This is reflected throughout the association’s 2017–2020 Strategic Plan, one of the main objectives of which is to ensure that the association’s role as a regulator is widely understood. Work on this began with a comprehensive update to association communications, to bring prominence to our regulatory role across all communications channels. This included website architecture updates that now provide more direct access to practice-related resources and complaints and discipline information, changes to university student outreach materials to emphasize our regulatory responsibilities, and highlighting members’ participation in regulation through practice, standards, and ethics at new member induction ceremonies. Senior staff also engaged with internal stakeholders, such as branch and division executives and volunteer leaders, to bring clarity to this issue and to understand member concerns and questions regarding our real and perceived roles. Of particular interest during these discussions was the chain of events that led to the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec (OIQ) coming under trusteeship in 2016. The instituting of trusteeship followed OIQ’s attempts to curb corruption in the management of construction contracts and improve the quality of engineering practice in the wake of the Charbonneau inquiry. OIQ implemented mandatory continuing professional development (CPD), increased practice audits significantly, implemented a requirement for mandatory professional liability insurance, and increased member fees to help pay for these changes. Members then called a special general meeting in response, which more than 1,800 members attended and in which several motions were passed: that Council should repeal professional liability insurance requirements, suspend CPD regulation, provide access to a drug insurance plan, do roll-call votes of the board, and abolish membership-fee increases. Following an investigation by the Office des professions du Québec, the authority that oversees all of the province’s professional regulatory bodies, trusteeship was introduced in July 2016. The office issued a statement that read: “The Office believes that the effective delivery of activities of regulation of the profession and the financial stability of the OIQ are seriously affected, to the point of putting into question the capacity of the OIQ of carrying out its primary mission of public protection.” ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES For Engineers and Geoscientists BC to perform its role effectively, we need to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to upholding the standards of a strong, credible regulator. Over the course of 2018, we will be engaging in discussion with members on this issue to increase awareness about how we deliver on our mandate of public protection. Council vice-president Kathy Tarnai-Lokhorst, P.Eng., will be hosting engagement sessions during visits to each of the association’s branches around the province. Sessions in Richmond and Parksville have been well received by members, generating positive discussion and a stronger understanding of the legislative framework within which the association operates. Information on these sessions will be available in our events directory at egbc.ca/Events/Branch.

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