President’s Message

John Desjarlais, P.Eng.

I appreciate the opportunity to address you as APEGS’ new president. I’m incredibly excited and honoured that my leadership and experience is valued by the association and its members to be able to serve in this capacity and I look forward to the year ahead in this role.

Being sworn in as part of APEGS’ new council – and being able to do that in person at this year’s annual meeting and professional development conference – was gratifying. This year was the first opportunity we have had in a few years for those involved in APEGS – from members to volunteers to administration – to be able to meet in person and celebrate what we do in our professions.

The whole event was extra special because of that return to being together in person again while also providing an online experience. Hosting a hybrid event allowed for APEGS’ membership to be even more engaged in our annual meeting, allowing for online participants to present motions and be part of the proceedings to strengthen our governance.

This evolution to a hybrid event also broadened what was possible for professional development sessions because virtual presenters along with in-person ones could be incorporated in this year’s agenda with members choosing to sit in on sessions or join some online.

The sessions were incredibly diverse and comprehensive with a range of amazing topics that included some that were highly technical to those that were more related to social development and engagement around equity, diversity and inclusion.

A highlight of this year’s event was the awards ceremony to celebrate the successes of our membership. It is important to celebrate those who deserve to be recognized as considerable contributors to our practice as engineers and geoscientists.

It was an honour to be able to shake people’s hands, see their smiles, feel their pride and share in that experience with them in person. It was something that you absolutely couldn’t do the last few years, making this year’s event that much more special.

As for my year ahead as APEGS president, what I am interested in being known for is stewardship. I want to be a leader that supports the organization through a lot of the changes the association has been going through and will continue to go through as it evolves.

My term will be less about initiating new developments and more about helping to operationalize a lot of the initiatives that have been developed during the ongoing transformation of APEGS.

I’m especially excited about what this opportunity for me to be president means for the Indigenous community. Being the first Indigenous president in the history of APEGS is an incredible and humbling honour.

It really reflects something very special to me in that I have the opportunity to serve the community from that perspective and I’m really excited about what that means. I hope that others from the Indigenous community can identify and relate to what that means and what it could mean for us. This strengthens Indigenous participation in regulatory functions.

I very much appreciate that I have the confidence of our members to be able to serve in this capacity and serve the organization according to its mission, which is to regulate the practice of engineering and geoscience in Saskatchewan for the protection of the public and the environment and the benefit of society.