The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Advocates Mobile Practice of Geoscientists - Deadline For You to Complete Their Survey is March 31!

By Richard Moore, PDAC Director
Chair of the PDAC’s Geosciences Committee

The mobility survey is a Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) response to the unwillingness of provincial self-regulating bodies to adequately facilitate the mobile practice of geoscience. The APGO mobility committee strongly encourages members to complete the PDAC's mobility survey in order to help demonstrate that Canadian geoscientists need a much more fluid system of professional self regulation. The current provincially based system is clearly out-of-step with the mobile character of geoscience practice in Canada. The following article from the PDAC describes the Institute on Governance mobility survey and provides a link to the survey.

The PDAC supports the professional registration of geoscientists in Canada. Nevertheless, informal discussions with geoscientists across Canada have led to the conclusion that we currently do not have a satisfactory system for mobility of professional practice among provinces and territories, and that bureaucratic procedures and costs are keeping many geoscientists from joining the professional associations. The Canadian Council of Professional Geoscientists (CCPG) has been working on the issue of mobility, but progress has been slow and there is not yet universal acceptance among the regulatory bodies of the need for mobility.

Survey of professional geoscientists
We at the PDAC believe that a modified system is needed, and, to this end, the PDAC has contracted the Institute On Governance (IOG) to research the issue and report back on the organizational structures and procedures that other provincially-regulated professional organizations in Canada have instituted in order to promote mobility. At the PDAC Convention in March, the IOG conducted a brief survey to determine geoscientists' awareness of the registration issue and to develop a profile of the geoscientist population attending the convention.

March 31 deadline
The online version of the survey (available at: www.iog.ca) will remain open until March 31, 2006. This will allow us to reach additional geoscience organizations and obtain data on a broader spectrum of professional participation, including those who work outside the mineral exploration industry. The results of this study will be made available to all of the professional and technical geoscience organizations in Canada.

It is the PDAC's position that an internationally recognized, Canada-wide system of professional registration would promote consistent standards of practice, high rates of compliance, cost effective administration, improved flexibility and, most importantly, enhanced protection of the public.

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Field Notes is published by APGO and is edited by Wendy Diaz, P.Geo. If you have comments or wish to contribute material to this newsletter, please contact Wendy Diaz, P.Geo., or Norman Williams, P.Eng., Executive Director/Registar.

Copyright 2006, Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (APGO)