Council met on February 5, 2021 to review the remaining feasibility plans. Council has now considered action for all 33 recommendations on governance change. A summary of Council’s February decisions can be found in the table on the next page.
”I am exceptionally proud of the volunteers and staff who worked tirelessly to reach our first major governance change milestone by addressing all 33 recommendations.”
– President Andrew Lockwood, P.Eng., FEC
To date, council has approved 24 of the recommendations and staff and committees have acted or are in the process of acting on those recommendations. Council will reconsider the final nine recommendations further to planned consultations, as outlined in each of their specific feasibility plans.
If you have any questions, refer to the January/February 2021 issue of The Professional Edge for answers about the project, or contact project director Tina Maki, P.Eng., Director of Special Projects at tmaki@apegs.ca, who will relay them to the steering group.
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What is this project about?
APEGS is reviewing its governance and regulatory frameworks and practices. The review focuses on 33 recommendations made by a consultant regarding:
- Council size and composition,
- Risk management,
- Public transparency,
- Management of sponsorships,
- Organizational structure,
- Roles of committees and staff,
- Training for committees,
- Relationship with constituent societies.
Why is APEGS doing this project?
A growth in membership and changes in the regulatory environment make a review timely to modernize governance that focuses resources on activities aligned with enhancing regulatory effectiveness.
For more, refer to previous issues of The Professional Edge from May/Jun 2020 to Jan/Feb 2021.
Steering Group:
Stormy Holmes, P.Eng., Past President (2019-2020)
Kristen Darr, P.Geo., President-Elect
John Desjarlais, P.Eng., Vice President
Nicholas Kaminski, P.Eng., Council Member
Peter Jackson, P.Eng., Past President (2012-2013)
Staff Advisors:
Bob McDonald, P.Eng., Executive Director and Registrar
Shawna Argue, P.Eng., Director of Registration
Project Director:
Tina Maki, P.Eng., Director of Special Projects
Consultants:
T. Bakkeli Consultants Inc. and Lana Gray Leadership Services
Summary of Council’s February decisions
Area
Council size and composition
Decisions
- Several bylaw amendments and additions were approved to capture the new requirements for the number of council members, council composition, nominations and elections.
Notes
- Refer to the article on page 22 for more on proposed bylaw amendments, which require a vote of the members at the annual meeting on May 1, 2021.
Risk management
- Enhance the rigour of risk management by expanding the Audit Committee’s terms of reference to include assisting council, boards and committees with risk assessment.
- The name of the Audit Committee will be changed to the Audit and Risk Management Committee and risk management will be added to the terms of reference.
- The committee will engage a consultant to conduct an organization-wide risk assessment.
Organizational structure
- After the council elections in May, create a new Governance Board to focus on governance-related responsibilities and practices, including oversight for the Audit and Risk Management Committee and the Nominating Committee.
- The previous board of the same name, which focused on regulatory matters, was appropriately renamed the Regulatory Board, effective January 1, 2021.
Sponsorships
- Assign to council the responsibility for developing and monitoring a sponsorship policy.
- APEGS will determine a strategic direction for sponsorships that aligns with the objects of the association and draft a sponsorship policy, evaluation matrix and procedures for council’s consideration.
Volunteer Orientation
- Reinstate required annual volunteer orientation training for new committee members and chairs, offer optional training for returning volunteers and formally add the responsibility for training volunteers on committee-specific responsibilities to staff.
Other
- Create a task group focused on corporate regulation.
- Create a task group to assess improvements to the relationship with constituent societies and if there are any activities that the regulator should transfer to the constituent societies.
- Assess removing “sustain the professions” focus area from the APEGS value proposition.
- Maintain government relations processes while staff reviews its current practices and develops formal policies and programs for council’s consideration.