Election All-Candidate Meetings

Did you find some time this week to view the 2014 PEO Election all-candidates meetings?  I watched most of them on Monday and Tuesday and I had the opportunity to be in front of the camera on the evening of January 29th for the Vice President all-candidate broadcast.  The president's all-candidates meetings were also broadcast and taped on the same evening. 

Today the videos were posted on the PEO website at: http://www.snwebcastcenter.com/custom_events/peo-2014/site/index.php  It's a little confusing to find the actual videos... you need to click on the arrow beside the position you're interested in.  Alternatively, here are the direct links:

President: http://www.snwebcastcenter.com/custom_events/peo-2014/site/player_flash_archive6.php
Vice President: http://www.snwebcastcenter.com/custom_events/peo-2014/site/player_flash_archive5.php
Councillor-at-large: http://www.snwebcastcenter.com/custom_events/peo-2014/site/player_flash_archive3.php
East Central Regional Councillor: http://www.snwebcastcenter.com/custom_events/peo-2014/site/player_flash_archive2.php
West Central Regional Councillor: http://www.snwebcastcenter.com/custom_events/peo-2014/site/player_flash_archive1.php
Eastern Regional Councillor: http://www.snwebcastcenter.com/custom_events/peo-2014/site/player_flash_archive4.php

What are your thoughts on the all-candidate meetings?  Have you viewed them?  Do you find them helpful in making your decision?

I'm personally most interested in the position of president - they are the individual that will lead our council when they take the seat of president.  The candidates responses to questions and their candidate statements provide a true insight into their personalities. We have a diverse set of candidates this year.  What characteristics do you look for in the leader of your council? 

I personally look for the following characteristics, experiences and personal qualities:
- honesty an integrity;
- excellent and healthy communication skills;
- a positive attitude and the ability to focus on the good in others and foster positive relationships;
- diverse experience with PEO and / or council or leadership of another board;
- respects those around them;
- the ability to inspire others;
- the ability to delegate and let others take ownership of what they are working on, building on the strengths of the individuals in the team;
... I'm sure I'll add more to the list as I think about this.

A little bit about me...

I’d like to spend a bit of time here sharing the skills, training and experience which I am bringing to the position of Vice President of PEO.

·       I have always held leadership positions – most recently as a supervisor and previously as a team / group leader.  I’ve also chaired numerous technical studies, committees and working groups including leading technical studies in remote areas of Canada, and chairing technical, policy and strategic working groups at both the workplace and national level. 

·       I am currently a supervisor of a team of regulatory inspection and compliance staff in the Ontario Public Service (OPS).  My other employment experiences include positions as a senior engineer with a large consulting firm; as a technical expert in the OPS; as a project manager and assistant manager in the OPS; and, as a research scientist at an international European research institute, an engineering faculty and a science faculty.  

·       I am currently one of the two elected PEO Northern Region Councillors as well as the Appointed Vice President.

·       I am a team and bridge builder and I am respected amongst my colleagues and peers as such.  When working with a group of people to accomplish a task, I draw on their strengths to accomplish the goals that are set out.

·       I use positive, constructive and creative approaches to get buy-in from team members and stakeholders.  I celebrate the successes of my individual team members and the team. 

·        I have strong interpersonal skills and a significant network across the province and Canada.

·        In the last 10 years, I have completed significant leadership training in conflict avoidance and management, emotional intelligence, building corporate culture, risk management, stakeholder relations, media relations, facilitation skills, and project management.  I participate in continuous learning opportunities several times a year.

·       I have been recognized for my leadership contributions.  I was nominated for a Ministry of the Environment Emerald Award and received an Ontario Public Service Amethyst Award for co-chairing a national working group.  I was also nominated for a Greater Toronto Area United Way Spirit Award for leading the Ministry of the Environment’s United Way campaign to its most successful year in 2009 – we beat every goal and our team has never been beaten.
If you have any questions about my experience or qualifications, please feel free to contact me at SandraAusmaPEng(at)yahoo.ca

"Our dues are too high!!"

Often when I engage engineers in discussions about PEO and the election, I hear “What happens to my dues?" or " I don’t get anything out of the PEO!" or "The dues are way too high for what I get in return!”

Where do your dues go? They contribute to the regulation of the profession.  According to the PEO web page (http://www.peo.on.ca/index.php/ci_id/1994/la_id/1.htm) “The annual fees from licensed practitioners enable PEO to take responsibility for the licensing and discipline of engineers and companies providing engineering services. As part of its mandate, PEO also establishes, maintains and develops:

-  standards of knowledge and skill;

-  standards of practice for the profession;
-  standards of professional ethics; and

-  promotes public awareness of its role.”

So what exactly does that encompass? Annual dues and other revenues help to provide the solid infrastructure to ensure that only qualified individuals earn the right to call themselves professional engineers; that appropriate action is taken against those that use the P.Eng. designation in an unauthorized fashion or taken when discipline action is required; that we defend the PEO to protect our position or when others take legal action against us; that we participate at a national level to ensure that Ontario is consistent with other jurisdictions and to help our engineers practice across the country; that we reach out to our licencees and future engineers; that we ensure accredited universities are periodically assessed; that we continue to build the profession; that we develop and modify regulations, policies and guidelines as needed; that we as a regulator, build relationships with politicians so we can get support for regulatory changes that we bring to Queen’s Park; and so on…

That's a long list and it is far from complete.

All of the above requires staff, physical infrastructure, consultants, capital equipment, lawyers, supplies, insurance, advertising, database software, mortgages, and the day-to-day expenses to support all of this.

The PEO does all of this on an annual budget of about $25 million. (If you are interested in viewing the draft 2014 operating budget, it is embedded in the agenda of the 487th Meeting of Council held on 26 September 2013 on page 152 http://www.peo.on.ca/index.php/ci_id/27094/la_id/1.htm).

While you may not tangibly see the direct impact of much of this in your day to day life – it is what makes us all proud to be an engineer – a well respected and well regulated profession in Ontario.

Are our dues too high?  Ask any P.Geo. in Ontario their thoughts on whether our P.Eng. dues are too high - APGO 2013 practicing member dues were $420.  Or how about Chartered Professional Accountant Ontario dues - $1084 in 2013.   PEO dues are the lowest professional engineering association fees in Canada and they have been frozen at $248 per year for at least 5 years in a row.  There is currently no plan to raise them this year.

I’m not going to agree with you that our dues are too high - because I don’t believe that.  I sit here and wonder how we can do so much with the dues we pay.  I was speaking to a fellow councillor last fall and he asked if I knew that in the 1970s, discipline decisions were written up by staff.  For those of you who are unaware, discipline decisions are now written up by volunteers.  I believe our ability to keep our dues where they are has a lot to do with our growing army of almost 900 volunteers who freely donate thousands of hours of their personal time to PEO activities and business every year. 

Let’s all take a moment to thank our volunteers for their time and dedication! 

I must confess...

…that I am a lifelong learner.  I expect that as engineers, many of you are the same.  We all upgrade our skills, share what we learn or accomplish, and teach others as our careers progress.  What we learn and how we learn changes over our careers.  For myself, my continuous learning plan has evolved from one of primarily technical learning early in my career to my present focus on developing a broader skill set in leadership, communications and political acuity that benefits my career as I progress into management.  I have always documented my education and accomplishments, included it in my resume and discussed it with potential employers during job interviews – I expect that most of you do the same.  I have never expected the simple fact that I am professional engineer to fully qualify me for any job or position – it is the sum of my learning and employment experiences that qualify me.  I embrace continuous professional development.

I was very excited a few days ago when election materials were posted on the PEO web site and the first of 3 eBlasts was sent out to licence holders.  Before I had a chance to even review all the candidates’ material and positions, I received several emails of support and an email posing a question “What is your position on continuing professional development (CPD)?” 

Upon reviewing the election material, I was interested to see that the election “issue” this week appears to be CPD.  I found it surprising, to say the least, that according to some candidates PEO and your council is apparently implementing “mandatory” CPD that will cost licence holders thousands… hmmmm… I must have missed that council meeting!  In today’s blog post, I’d like to express my views on CPD and to provide you with the information and links you need to make an informed decision about CPD and what is happening at council with respect CPD.

You may or may not be aware that the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) prepared a report in 2013 entitled “Continuing Professional Development – Maintaining and Enhancing our Engineering Capability” http://www.peo.on.ca/index.php/ci_id/27324/la_id/1.htm  This report was presented to council in a motion at the 487^th Meeting of Council on September 26, 2013 (C-487-3.5) http://www.peo.on.ca/index.php/ci_id/27094/la_id/1.htm .  You can listen to the discussion around the council table at http://www1.peo.on.ca/AUDIO/2013/487Council/September2.MP3 starting at minute 22:14.  The following motion was carried unanimously (pg. 9 of the minutes of the 487th Meeting of Council held September 26, 2013 http://www.peo.on.ca/index.php/ci_id/27370/la_id/1.htm ):

 

That Council, in principle, support the implementation of a Continuing Professional Development program. To initiate this, the report of OSPE’s Continuing Education Working Group, Continuing Professional Development, Maintaining and Enhancing Our Engineering Capability, dated June 19, 2013, be referred to the Professional Standards Committee for comment, with the direction that it solicit written and verbal comments from the PEO membership during its review, and report its findings and proposed plan of action at the February 2014 Council meeting.

While I do not agree with everything in the OSPE report, I do find Table 1 in the report particularly noteworthy in that Ontario is the only jurisdiction in which some sort of formalized CPD program has not been implemented.  

Another significant event in 2013, which will continue into 2014, is the outcome of the Belanger Commission otherwise known as the Elliot Lake Inquiry.  As part of the inquiry, two sets of policy roundtables were held http://www.elliotlakeinquiry.ca/roundtables/index.html.  If you take a look at the material, you will note in the submissions that respondents were asked to comment on training for structural engineers “including specific training and mandatory continuing professional education components for engineers practicing and holding themselves out to the public as “structural engineers””.  The reality is that PEO, and consequently licence holders, may not have a choice regarding CPD, it may be imposed by the commission.  You will note  the comments of Councillor Chris Roney at minute 11286 of the September 26, 2013 Meeting of Council (http://www.peo.on.ca/index.php/ci_id/27370/la_id/1.htm) “it is possible that the Elliot Lake Algo Mall inquiry will recommend enhanced professional development, PEO should be seen to be proactive on this issue. It should be noted that PEO is the only Canadian engineering association without a formal continuing professional development program.”

For those of you who are interested in my positions, I support:
    -     The motion presented to council at the September 26^th, 2013 meeting of council.

-   Our association being modern and proactive and coming up with possible solutions to the concerns raised about CPD in various forums rather than waiting for another body to impose a solution upon us.
 

-   The implementation of well thought out flexible CPD program that meets the needs of our licence holders and addresses public safety concerns. 

I do not support:

-   The arbitrary implementation of a mandatory CPD program that will annually cost licence holders thousands of dollars and significant lost hours at work with no measureable outcome to the individual or their career.

What will CPD look like in Ontario?  I envision something that ranges between a voluntary program for everyone to a mandatory reporting program for practicing engineers whose decisions affect public safety.

 

Introduction

Welcome to my blog!  I’ll be using this blog to present my thoughts, opinions and responses to questions while I run for Vice president of Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) in the elections that will open early in 2014.  I’m hoping to touch on a variety of election, engineering and philosophical topics that arise in the coming weeks and months.  I'd love to hear from you about your thoughts and questions about the engineering profession, particularly in Ontario.

 Who am I?  I'm currently the elected Northern Regional Councillor and the Vice President (Appointed) on PEO Council.  I was first elected in the 2012 elections and am coming to the end of my first term on council.  My undergrad degree is in chemical engineering and I have a Master’s in food engineering and a PhD in land resource science.  I currently work for the Ontario Public Service as a supervisor of a team of compliance officers. During my 25 plus year career, I have held a variety of engineering, research, policy and technical positions in academics, consulting and government.