In an ever-changing world with historically high rates of inflation, a provincial election around the corner and environmental issues such as climate change at the forefront, the ACPA has been busy adapting to this new world order. As our past president, Sean Stewart spoke about in his AGM message last year, a lot of effort has been put into preparing for the new legislation regulating professionals. Bill 23 has not received third reading and we are waiting to see who will be (re)elected in the upcoming election as this will certainly have an impact on whether this legislation moves forward or not. We feel that this new legislation will greatly help our organization as well as professional chemists in Alberta as it will level out the playing field and provide the ACPA with more opportunities to increase our presence within Alberta. In addition to Bill 23, we have been actively reviewing the impact on the ACPA of the Fair Registration Practices Act (FRPA) (2019) and the Labour Mobility Act (2021) which were introduced by the Government of Alberta through the Ministry of Labour and Immigration.
In anticipation of this new legislation, several internal documents of the ACPA have been updated including a new governance manual, which is currently in its final stages of approval. Our committees are also reviewing our current Bylaws and potential changes that may occur.
An issue facing the ACPA that I would like to address is our current financial situation. Over the last few years, the organization has posted a loss within our financial statements. Though not large and the organization's overall financial situation is good, it has raised my awareness as well as the Board’s. Some changes that you may have already seen include a rate change in your membership fees. As an organization, we strive to keep our fees as low as possible and comparable with other professional organizations within Alberta and avoid any increases as long as we can. The last membership fee increase was seven years ago (2016). In addition to increased membership fees, the organization is actively looking for other possible sources of revenue to help offset our expenses and continue to keep membership fees low. We are always open to any suggestions or ideas that you might have regarding how we can increase the value you received from being a member of the ACPA.
I am glad to say that we are finally returning to more face-to-face seminars and social events after a three-year hiatus. We will still be utilizing online meetings for certain events to be sensitive to our members in remote or distant locations and ensure they can attend and participate in meetings, including the AGM.
Sincerely,
Shane Harnish
President, ACPA