MONTREAL, Sept. 13, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - While participating today in the consultation on Bill 98, An Act to amend various legislation mainly with respect to admission to professions and the governance of the professional system, the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec (OIQ) pleaded for a major revision of the Engineers Act, which has remained virtually unchanged since its adoption in 1964.
"The protection of the public hinges in part on the governance of the orders and the Professional Code, but also on a definition of professional practice that is in step with the reality. It is high time that the Engineers Act reflected the changes that have occurred in the profession in the last half-century," says Kathy Baig, Eng., FEC, MBA, President of the OIQ.
Tougher proposals for the Professional Code
Even though the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec thinks that Bill 98 makes a positive contribution to modernizing the professional system, the organization proposes additional measures to improve the protection of the public, such as:
- greater protection for whistleblowers against acts of retaliation, including demotions and lay-offs;
- information sharing between the syndics of professional orders and, when a syndic has good reason to believe that there is an imminent threat to public safety, with other authorities in charge of security and public protection;
- consistency between the fines set out in legislation respecting the professions and those in the Professional Code. If the fines were left as they now stand, the fine for unlawful use of the professional title of engineer would be $62,500 under the Professional Code, while the fine for using plans not signed by an engineer would be only $10,000 under the Engineers Act.
Finally, the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec welcomes the proposal to reduce the size of professional orders' boards of directors, a desire frequently expressed by the OIQ in recent years.
The brief outlining the eleven recommendations submitted by the OIQ to improve the bill is available on the OIQ's Web site.
About the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec
Founded in 1920, the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec has a membership of some 62,000 engineering professionals in all fields, except forest engineering. The mission of the OIQ is to ensure the protection of the public by supervising the practice of the profession within the framework of its constituent laws and ensure that the profession serves the public interest. For more information, go to the Web site www.oiq.qc.ca.
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SOURCE Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec
Patrick Leblanc, Communications Advisor, Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec, 514 845-6141 or 1 800 461-6141, extension 3108, Cell: 514 441-3697
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