Message from the President

Delegate Reports

By Dave Rutherford, BCLS

Since my last report to the membership during our own annual general meeting on March 12, I have attended the virtual AGMs of six other organizations as a delegate of the Association of BC Land Surveyors. In this article, I provide some highlights from those meetings:

Association of Canada Land Surveyors AGM (April 14)

President Jim Christie summarized a very busy year for the ACLS, including an update of the national syllabus for CBEPS, an updated process for accreditation and exemptions through a partnership with land surveying associations and educational institutions, and a governance project that included a review of the ACLS mission and vision statements.

Executive Director Jean-Claude Tetreault reported on:

Alberta Land Surveyors Association AGM (April 15 & 16)

➤ The Modernization of the Canada

Land Surveyors Act; ➤ The MyCLSS Security project in order to comply with Government of Canada Policy on Government

Security; ➤ The Towards an On-Line Degree (TOLD) project; ➤ The ACLS book project and the continued work of author Charlie

Wilkens.

Mr. Wilkens attended the AGM for a short period of time where he recited a chapter of his new book based on an interview with Tim Koepke.

Registrar Marie Robidoux reported that there were 11 new Canada Lands Surveyors commissioned last year and there were no complaints or discipline cases in 2020.

There are currently 463 active CBEPS candidates.

President Bruce Drake convened the meeting and introduced the keynote address, “Seeing Land Through a Different Viewpoint”. Presented by Jessica Vandenberghe, P.Eng., the address opened with a relationship building perspective between land surveyors and the Indigenous peoples of Canada. Jessica’s keynote included a historical review of treaty boundaries and the impact of the Indian Act on Indigenous peoples in the years 1867-1975.

The President’s address highlighted work in key regulatory areas, including: ➤ Strategic initiatives with a focus on regulation of the profession; ➤ Authoritative coordinates and associated legislation; ➤ Fair registration practices and greater public involvement; ➤ Digital signatures and their application to Real Property Reports.

The ALSA Executive Director reported a decline in membership from 463 to 415 over the past five years and that there were 48 complaints received from the public during the past year. Members were asked to provide input on the ALSA Long Term Stability Fund and consider how large the fund should be and what it should be used for.

President Drake passed the Presidency to incoming president John Byrne in a socially distanced video ceremony on the grounds of the Alberta Legislature, which featured John Haggerty and family on bagpipes and recognition of Past President Steve Yanish.

Incoming President John Byrne talked about the Alberta Government’s pending legislative review and their goal of “red tape reduction”. The Government is looking for consolidation of professional organizations as one possible solution to red tape reduction.

There were a number of motions put forth during the open session, including:

➤ Creating terms of reference for the migration of professional standard practices, which are currently spread amongst several large documents (e.g. Hybrid Cadastral Standards,

Compiled Plan Standards) to a single ALSA Professional Practice document. ➤ A review of the number and type of Association non-regulatory functions and their associated costs. This task would be followed by a membership survey to determine which of these functions to either continue or eliminate. ➤ The formation of a diversification in surveying Working Group as an opportunity to reach out and allow

ALSA to educate and expand in areas that have been difficult to reach. ➤ Consider a format for future

Annual General Meetings to include those members who are unable to attend in person.

Applied Science Technologists and Technicians of BC AGM (May 7)

President Sarah Campden opened the AGM with a welcome address from David Eby, the Minister responsible for the Professional Governance Act (PGA). ASTTBC was one of five professions first brought under this new act and the meeting included a presentation on their transition to governance under the PGA.

Of particular interest this year was the nomination and election process of a new Council under the PGA. Mr. David Sparanese was elected by ASTTBC Registrants and appointed to the position of President on May 6, 2021 by ASTTBC Council.

In addition to AGM business, attendees could participate in a virtual tradeshow, CPD sessions, and a virtual networking lounge.

The virtual AGM of the Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association was held using the Gather Town app.

Association of Newfoundland Land Surveyors AGM (May 12 –14)

A continuing professional development program took place on May 12, with President Clint Rumbolt presiding over the AGM business sessions on May 13 and 14.

The professional development sessions included a fascinating presentation by lawyer Greg Finch on the evolution of natural boundary determination in Newfoundland.

There was great discussion on all issues currently facing the Association. One item involved disciplinary matters with respect to CPD program noncompliance and the time and effort required to administer the program. A motion for a fee increase to cover the increased cost of this administration was defeated. An item under new business centered around a possible name change for the ANLS to include the word “Labrador”.

The ANLS election results were presented, and Corey Collins was introduced as the incoming President.

Professional Surveyors Canada AGM (May 26)

Chair Michael Thompson opened the meeting with approximately 82 attendees. In his opening remarks, Mr. Thompson reiterated the role of Professional Surveyors Canada as one of advocacy and went on to list several areas of current work, including:

➤ P.Surv Magazine; ➤ Unauthorized practice; ➤ The new “P.Surv” trademark and its licensing; ➤ Public relations initiatives; ➤ Member services; ➤ Quebec membership; ➤ International connections; ➤ A Sectoral Initiatives Grant

Program application to attract talent to the land surveying industry at both professional and technical levels.

Michelle Zuk was introduced as the new Executive Director. Michelle urged members to send stories of unauthorized practice to PSC, and there was much discussion between the members on this topic.

Dave Gurney provided an update on the PSC Professional Liability Insurance Program and indicated the well-known Loss Control Bulletins will be updated, starting with the construction sector where at least half of all insurance claims are generated.

This was Mr. Thompson’s last meeting as PSC Chair, with Mr. Jordan Litke now assuming that role.

Saskatchewan Land Surveyors AGM (June 2-3)

The virtual AGM of the Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association was held using the Gather Town app which allows you to visit exhibitor booths, stand at the floor mic or chat with other attendees.

Following a day of professional development on June 2, President Regan Rayner opened the AGM business session on June 3. One item of interest during his address was his attendance at a local information session put on by Engineers and Geoscientists of BC (EGBC) regarding B.C.’s Professional Governance Act. President Rayner enjoyed the session and came away with a better understanding of the Act and its application in BC.

Of note, the Charitable Fund Selection Committee reported that there will be no Saskatchewan Polytech donation this year due to the collapse of the Geomatics Program; and the Professional Conduct Committee reported that there were no formal complaints in the preceding year.

Two of the three motions for which notice was given were carried by the membership. They included a resolution for a surcharge on iron posts and collection of the PSC levy.

One interesting discussion at the open forum was about the need to keep a physical office for the Association. Most members were in favour of doing so, however a few other provincial Land Surveying associations have decided to go with virtual offices.

Congratulations to Calvin Bourassa for taking on the role of incoming President. ✥

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