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this page | So what is APGO doing about unlicensed practice?? ... Maybe a lot more than you think!! At the recent APGO Council meeting in Ottawa on September 16 th a formal report was presented to Council providing statistics on Enforcement and Compliance and the considerable progress that has been made so far by your Association on the important issue of unlicensed professional geoscience activity within the province. At that same meeting, I was assigned by your Council an “Action Item” to share this progress with you as members. Commencing in earnest in early 2004, the APGO office started to contact both individuals and organizations on a systematic basis when it became aware of instances, either brought to its attention by members and by the public or when it became aware of them on its own accord, that illegal practice may be occurring. The contact consists of a letter, with an attached declaration, asking the individual: 1) are they practising professional geoscience? 2) are they using the designation P.Geo. in Ontario but are not registered as a P.Geo. in Ontario? and, 3) are they holding themselves out to be a professional geoscience by job title? A similar declaration and letter are sent to firms that are indicated to be offering and providing geoscience services to the public without carrying a C of A (Certificate of Authorization). The following table outlines both the base and cumulative volume of cases handled by the APGO from mid 2004 through to the latter part of August 2005; the accompanying figure represents the cumulative information in graphic form.
For simplicity of reporting, 4 categories of cases are tracked:
Since early 2004, of a total of 169 cases: 30 have become P.Geo.’s or taken out a C of A, 39 have declared their intent to do so, and 41 have been closed with cause; representing a 65% completion rate on an ongoing basis. APGO has made considerable progress in this area and it will continue to follow up all instances of unlicensed practice when it becomes aware of them in the future. Nevertheless, it should be remembered that the APGO is a young and small organization and does not have at its disposal the investigative resources that some of Ontario’s larger regulated professions may have. The Enforcement and Compliance Committee (or “E&C Committee” as it has become known) is an active volunteer member committee chaired by Steve Wilson, P.Geo. (Regional Councillor for South Eastern Ontario). This Committee provides oversight and advice to the Registrar and the APGO office on E&C matters. It reports directly to Council. Consistent with the Association’s mandate under the Act, APGO Council has asked that it be made clear that individuals or corporate entities that practice without licensure, present a risk to the public and each case that comes to the attention of the Association must be brought to a conclusion. Also, as part of its duty of governance, Council has directed that E&C activity be formally tracked and publicly reported. To demonstrate ongoing progress with this important component of APGO’s mandate, Field Notes will, in future, carry the above table as a regular reporting feature in each issue. |
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more information on APGO, please contact info@apgo.net
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