ASET Technology Alberta Winter 2019 - 9

We hope to eventually see the fulfilment of the promise implicit
in the legislation, perhaps in new amendments to the Act which
we have promoted and suggested to government - the realization, finally, that Albertans deserve the right to be served by
those who are qualified to do the work, and to know who is actually qualified; the realization that the work that technicians and
technologists do is unique, is that for which they have been educated, and is too important to the safety, welfare, and industry of
this province to be left to people who have not been tested and
found worthy, people who call themselves engineering technologists who are not qualified ASET members.
We have proposed, and have argued for, and we will continue to
reiterate the need for a scope of practice for CETs, or alternatively a definition of technologist practice in the Act, accompanied by exemptions from the professional engineering scope of
practice to actually permit them to do the work implied in that.
We have never argued for an exclusive scope of practice, which
would deny others (particularly professional engineers) the
ability to do the work if they are qualified. But that is the point.
Much of that work is work for which those who practice it should
be qualified and certified by ASET as the regulator of technology practice, in the interest of public safety and welfare, and it
is work for which certified ASET members are highly qualified.
Ultimately, and finally, we know, to state it again, that thousands
of uncertified, unregulated people are performing engineering
or engineering technology work in this province. That cannot be
allowed to continue, and the bland assurance from the regulators of professional engineering that they can or do supervise
all such work is misrepresenting the facts and should no longer
suffice as a convenient reason to dismiss a genuine matter of
public interest.
One thing that seems to be left unsaid by those other than ASET
is that the profession which has developed in the last five decades, based on solid practical engineering experience and
incredibly comprehensive and academically demanding education at our colleges and polytechnics, quite simply deserves
to be recognised by the province in which it serves the public.
If nothing else, the dedicated, highly qualified, well-educated
members of ASET deserve that recognition.
In the past couple of years, ASET has succeeded in persuading
the member organizations of Technology Professionals Canada
to support a joint statement on rights to practice, and the profession across the country is determined to achieve the rights
and recognition so appropriate to the credentials and professionalism of engineering technologists.
So, that's why we keep pushing and why we will until this profession is properly and appropriately recognised and supported."
ASET Technology Alberta Winter 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASET Technology Alberta Winter 2019
