An Open Letter to APEGA members

Fellow Engineers, 

I am writing to you to remind you of your oath: to hold paramount the health, safety, and welfare of the public. Your signature and stamp carry with them a responsibility - not to the government, not to your employer, but to the people whose lives depend on the integrity of your work. 

Danielle Smith has given the Minister of Advanced Education a mandate to lower the quality of our standards and invite political meddling in our technical work. To accept this is a violation of our oath and a betrayal of public trust. 

The Professional Governance Act is how they will do it.

They Have Earned Our Distrust

The Act claims to serve the “public interest”. But let’s be clear about what that phrase means to this government. When Premier Danielle Smith says she turns to CEOs for guidance on Alberta’s energy future, she is endorsing a model where technical judgment is secondary to corporate profits. 

Look at their track record: 

They abruptly halted renewable energy development with a half-baked directive that led to the cancellation of billions of dollars of development. Not because of technical concerns, but for political reasons. The UCP pressured AESO to go against their technical judgment and support the pause. This resulted in lost jobs and less grid capacity. 

They spread misinformation about COVID-19, undermining public health expertise, and silenced medical experts. Now Alberta is the measles capital of North America. This disease was nearly eradicated in Canada and has returned under their watch. 

Most significantly, they invoked the notwithstanding clause to strip Charter rights from teachers doing their jobs. When a law stands in their way, they remove it. They claim to support professionals while tearing them down. They are lying. 

This is the government that now wants control over our professional standards.

The Professional Governance Act gives them that control. Section 202 allows the Minister to order APEGA to rewrite our Code of Conduct or Practice Standards, based on the Minister’s definition of “the public’s best interest”. If we refuse, Section 197 allows them to remove our elected Council, install an administrator, and write the rules themselves. 

Engineers all over the province will be second guessing their work, asking themselves if their recommendations will spark the ire of a government official. 

So who will stop this?

It is our Duty to Protect the Public

APEGA’s mission is to “safeguards the public welfare of Albertans by proactively regulating the practices of engineering and geoscience”. In the past they’ve avoided political issues because advocating for engineers as workers falls outside of their mandate. But this is different. 

Opposing the Professional Governance Act is protecting the public. 

A government with a documented pattern of overriding expert judgment now wants power to rewrite our safety standards. This is a direct threat to public welfare - exactly what APEGA exists to prevent. 

But APEGA needs to know their members support this position. They need to hear that we understand: This fight is not political, it is professional. 

In his book On Tyranny, Timothy Snyder writes:

When political leaders set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become important. It is hard to subvert a rule-of-law state without lawyers, or to hold show trials without judges. Authoritarians need obedient civil servants, and concentration camp directors seek businessmen interested in cheap labor.

Our Code of Conduct and ethics are explicit: our duty to protect the public is paramount, even when it conflicts with our employer or client. Just as a soldier must reject an unlawful order, or a worker must reject a dangerous working environment, we must reject this legislation. 

APEGA can act on this, but only if we demand it. This is within their mandate. 

This is their duty

And it is ours.

Their Intent Is Clear

This requires urgent action: the government has already announced their first moves. In their fall session announcement, they stated “there will be legislation proposed to protect regulated professionals from undue discipline that violates their rights and freedoms for matters outside their work.”

Translation: lower the bar for professional discipline so engineers who spread misinformation are freed from technical peer review. 

The Minister’s mandate letter explicitly states the goal to “… continue the acceleration of expediated and streamlined credentialling for workers from national and international jurisdictions with similar standards”. 

Translation: lower the standards for the PEng designation by fast-tracking foreign credentials without ensuring competency in Canadian codes, climate conditions, or ethical obligations. 

These changes degrade our profession and harm the public. Lower discipline standards mean engineers face less accountability. Weakened credentials means less competent practitioners. Both violate our current Code of Conduct - they are detrimental to the health and safety of the public. 

And it’s just the start.

Engineering is self-regulated for a reason. We are the ones who approve designs, take risks, and sign our name to them. This is how we make our living and feed our families. We are being asked to accept a government veto on the rules that govern our work, while holding all the liability. 

This isn’t theoretical. Alberta has built something rare: a safety culture that actually works.

Regulations are Written in Blood

During the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfires, the city evacuated calmly while the inferno raged all around, at arms length in some places. This was only possible because of the high percentage of the population who have received oil field safety training. Thousands of Albertans go to work every day and come home safe because of safety oriented engineering. 

That foundation is now at risk and it’s happening with shocking speed. 

The bill was fast tracked through the legislature, moving from first reading to Royal Assent in just two months. APEGA has publicly endorsed the Act, the day after the first reading. Privately, there are many who are gravely concerned about the language in the Act.

A senior engineer familiar with APEGA’s internal discussion explained to me the bind we are in: 

“The Act is wholly within the government’s power to enact, which it has. Once enacted as it has been, APEGA must enact bylaws that comply with the Act and its bylaws. Non-compliance would mean the government would remove APEGA’s power to regulate engineers in the province.”

But that engineer is wrong about one thing: we do not have to accept this silently. 

So let’s be clear about what we are choosing.

It Is Our Duty To Refuse This Act

If we stay silent while associations realign their by-laws to comply, here is what we accept:

• Professional ethics become suggestions, subject to political override
• The public loses the independent professional judgment that protects them
• Alberta becomes a jurisdiction where professional certification is politically controlled

When apologists push back saying this is an overreaction, we need to press that this government cannot be trusted. They have demonstrated that they will go as far as stripping Charter rights to get what they want. Letting them skip due diligence to fast-track projects is not in the best interest of the public, no matter what lies they spin.

The engineering Code of Ethics states that our duty to protect the public is paramount. It requires us to refuse work that creates undue risk to the public when there are clear alternatives. 

Not only is fighting this bill within our rights to practice, it is our lawful duty. 

We took an oath. Now we must uphold it.