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this page President's Perspective: Farewell and a Review of an Eventful Year with APGO From Your President  By Maureen C. Jensen, P.Geo.APGO President The AGM marked the end of my 2006-2007 term as APGO President. This has been a year of change and growth for the organization and I would like to take this opportunity to review some of the past year's accomplishments. The APGO tackled a variety of issues during this past year and we have made significant progress with a specific focus on our core responsibilities and a commitment to "getting it right". I want to briefly highlight and discuss progress in 6 key areas that are important to the organization:
The APGO membership continues to grow at a rate greater than forecasted and there are currently 1404 members and 138 Certificates of Authorization on the registration record. The association will continue to grow this membership base and to ensure that all professional geoscience practitioners are licensed. APGO remains the largest Geosciences-only organization and we continue to be leaders in responding to geoscience issues faced by Canadian self-regulatory organizations. Financial Status The APGO financial situation remains strong and we are working to keep our fees at current levels. We are continuing to slowly build a fund for any serious enforcement issues that we may face in the future, while ensuring that we invest in activities that help our licensees in their practices. Improved Regulation During the past year, APGO has worked hard to improve the core regulatory functions of the organization. The complaints process was reviewed and improved to make certain that all complaints are dealt with in a timely manner. We ensured that the APGO discipline process and hearing procedures were working well and are effective for the organization. In addition, changes to the APGO regulations, passed earlier this year, now allow a Certificate of Authorization (C of A) holder to decide whether or not to hold personal liability insurance (PLI). Should the C of A holder decide not to hold PLI, they must disclose this in writing to their clients. This allowed smaller firms or sole practitioners to limit their expenses but still ensure that clients were protected through disclosure. At the request of APGO and other professional associations, the CCPG recently agreed to initiate a national compliance strategy on registration. This initiative will ensure a campaign to license all non-licensed geoscientists who are practicing professional geoscience. Mobility and National Issues APGO worked hard during the past year on these important issues for members. In particular, I would like to thank George Wahl, the APGO representative on the CCPG board, for his hard work and his commitment to these issues. George has pushed this message again and again at the CCPG board and committee level. He made certain that mobility and all of the associated issues always remained central to the discussions at the national level. APGO remains committed to achieving full national mobility of geoscience practioners across Canada. Many issues remain, but we are making progress. We continue to make progress with The Inter-Association Mobility Agreement (IAMA), and APGO now has a 72-hour turnaround for all transfers from other jurisdictions. We are working to update the Ontario-Quebec agreement, which allows for incidental practice between Quebec and Ontario with notification. On the national level we have joined the National Database project and the work on the Common Registration form, in the hopes of expediting the IAMA goals. And finally, at the most recent CCPG meeting, the National Syllabus was approved and all Associations are asked to adopt this common syllabus for educational requirements for registration. Professional Development During the past year the CPD Program was developed and this is the first year of the mandatory filing of CPD credits. The development of a program to audit filings is underway and will be tested against the 2006 filings due later this month. Staff and Infrastructure This has been a year of transition for APGO staff. Our interim Registrar/ Executive Director, Dr. Norm Williams left the organization in March and we thank him for his efforts during this past year. The new Registrar / Executive Director, Andrea Waldie joined the organization in late March. Andrea is a geoscientist with 17 years of experience in the mining sector and has implemented many changes in her short time at APGO. We are thrilled with the progress to date, including an office move at the end of March. The APGO staff is hard working and always ready to help you with any issues, so I encourage you to call. It's been an eventful year for me with APGO and it has been my honour to serve you. While APGO is still growing and faces issues on an ongoing basis, we worked with the philosophy that "there are no problems but only challenges with solutions". My experience during the past year was rewarding and sometimes frustrating, but dealing with committed professionals trying to do the "right thing" is always inspiring. I was privileged to work with a great staff, dedicated councilors and a very hardworking executive committee. I have also found that our member geoscientists are very creative and focused not only on doing things right, but also on how to do things better. APGO is lucky to have such a resource of talent. Thanks for a great year! |
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