Never mind "governance" and "PEAK"!   Defend the value and relevance of the PEng licence.

The big issue underlying enforcement is whether the regulator has sufficient power and inclination to do the job.  The Micro$oft/MCSE issue and the derailed repeal of the industrial exception show that PEO does not.  Real power resides with the provincial government and industry.  PEO, instead of cultivating the critical relationship with these two, has been obsessed with—and distracted by—activities such as unending "governance" reform and compulsory—and illusory— "professional development".  Discipline and enforcement are applied, but always on small practitioners, not the big players.

Several engineering-practice issues have been very much in the public eye:  Where were PEO enforcement and discipline on the Nipigon-River bridge failure, Ontario Power Generation's recruitment of unlicensed engineers for its nuclear facilities, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT mess, the embarrassing Ottawa LRT fiasco?  Why has PEO not acted for over two years on formal complaints about engineering being done on the costly and disruptive Eglinton LRT by non-engineers?

We're in the "Walmart age", where everyone seeks value.  There must be value in the PEng licence, or current members will abandon it and potential members will not bother to get it.  If government and industry also do not perceive value in the licence, then we truly have become irrelevant.

We keep hearing about the changes at PEO being part of a "modernization" push.  This word has been hijacked to prop up the ambitions of a relatively small group.  In reality, modern regulation is lean, focussed, and connected intimately with those who deliver the services.  Unnecessary bureaucracy is not "modern".

My opponent in the current PEO presidential election does not agree with me on this.  She supports a paternalistic and bureaucratic PEO.  She pretends she is a politician "devoted to the people", yet she states that PEO is not a democracy!  I say the "wisdom of the crowd"—not crowd control—is what will guide this profession into the future.  We need people on Council who understand this.  I stand on my twenty-five-year record of defending member-directed self-regulation at PEO.

Questions?  Comments?  Feel free to contact me.