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this page Geoscience Mobility-"Death By A Thousand Paper Cuts.1" George Wahl, P.Geo.With much fanfare, the governments of British Columbia and Alberta announced the signing of a BC-AB Agreement on Trade Investment and Labour Mobility in April of 2006. The agreement is founded on Canada's Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) (http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/inait-aci.nsf/en/il00033e.html) which in turn is founded on Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The key element of the BC-AB Agreement that affects geoscientists is the concept that "workers certified for an occupation in one of these provinces will have their qualifications recognized in the other". Part of this Agreement is aimed at removing, to use the government's language, "wasteful duplication, costs, and inter-provincial barriers to workers who may need to cross provincial boundaries to earn a living". Highlights of the agreement are available at the following link: http://www.gov.bc.ca/ecdev/down/bc_ab_agreement_overview.pdf. A full copy of the BC-AB agreement is available at: http://www.gov.bc.ca/ecdev/down/BC-AB_TILMA_Agreement-signed.pdf. This most recent agreement appears to be driven by a paper written by the Conference Board of Canada which highlights ongoing labour mobility issues and is appropriately entitled, "Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts - The Effect of Barriers to Competition on Canadian Productivity - May 20061. http://www.gov.bc.ca/ecdev/down/173_06_barriers_to_competition.pdf The notion of reducing the number of differences in regulations that exist across Canada's provinces and territories has been contemplated by most professional associations, however, the Conference Board of Canada highlights the negative economic impact of allowing these differences to continue in all sectors of our economy in light of looming labour shortages. Resistance to the form of barrier free mobility that geoscientists require to address the unique nature of their practice, is very strong in some jurisdictions who argue that their provincial governments would not support the required Act changes. Fortunately, most barriers to mobility are not imbedded within the Acts which regulate professions. They are items imbedded within the SRO's (Self-Regulatory Organizations) procedures and regulations, which are easily changed by Council decisions. If provincial governments wish to facilitate complete and effective labour mobility they will need to create additional policies that will facilitate the harmonization of regulations and any necessary Act changes. There is a growing realization that with the impending labour shortages, change is inevitable and necessary. A good example of this acknowledgement is by APEGGA's (Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta) Executive Director to the British Columbia-Alberta Mobility Agreement in an article published in Alberta's self-regulating newsletter, the PEG. (http://www.apegga.org/Members/Publications/peggs/Web05-06/mobility.htm)". Alberta has also taken a leadership role in seeking a national license for engineers at the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers in Whitehorse. APGO applauds Neil Windsor's and APEGGA's staunch support for the Agreement on Trade Investment and Labour Mobility and the leadership role they and BC are taking on the issue of Labour Mobility. APGO will continue to work with industry and professional groups to lobby senior levels of the provincial and federal governments to facilitate a seamless model of labour mobility for geoscientists. APGO would like to express its appreciation to APEGBC (Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia) and APEGGA, the Ministers of Inter-Governmental Affairs and the AIT Secretariat in participating in collaborative efforts to address barrier-free mobility. |
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