OSPE - The Voice - Winter 2021 - 45

How does PEO's enforcement team stand up
for the interest of engineers?
" The interest of engineers is public safety. The enforcement
team works to ensure unlicensed individuals are not providing
engineering services to the public, thus helping to assure public
safety and trust in the engineering profession, " says Enforcement
Committee Chair Joe Adams. P.Eng., FEC.
Above all, PEO's enforcement team focuses on protecting the
public. Importantly, this involves title and practice protection. The
team is currently composed of Manager Cliff Knox, P.Eng., FEC,
Enforcement and Advisory Officer Steven Haddock, Enforcement
and Outreach Officer Ashley Gismondi and Administrative
Assistant Maria Iannone. The team has maintained its
proactive and reactive enforcement methods-searching for
illegal practice and responding to allegations-throughout the
COVID-19 pandemic. This has thrown a slight wrench into the
ability to engage fully, particularly around outreach. " Before
the lockdown, we would visit chapters, engineering students,
companies, engineering interns and community colleges to
educate them on the importance of licensure and why they should
report those practising engineering or using title rights without
authorization, " says Gismondi.
Did you know PEO has an enforcement
hotline?
Why should you call the hotline? Well, for one, we have a very
good track record. According to 2020 stats, PEO's enforcement
team closed a total of 381 files, with a 98% compliance rate. In
this context, the " compliance rate " denotes that when a file is
closed, the respondent (or respondents) are fully compliant
with the provisions of the Act and no further action is needed.
Secondly, an engineer's duty to report is an essential component
of an engineer's commitment to professionalism. PEO licence
holders are our eyes and ears. PEO relies significantly on
external reporting to call attention to practice violations. It also
enables us to take timely action, and, quite often, courts levy
heavy fines against perpetrators. Fun fact: the highest fine ever
given out was in 2006, for $45,000, to Sean Clyke for using the
titles " professional engineer " and " P.Eng. " and misrepresenting
himself to an employment agency. In 2018 and 2019 respectively,
Amr Robah and his company, Revival Design and Management
Group Inc., received fines of $27,500, for a series of seal offences.
Robah submitted documents to the respective city's building
department containing a professional engineer's seal without
the engineers' knowledge or consent.
The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted many
workplaces, including PEO and OSPE. How
has the pandemic transformed the work
enforcement does?
Haddock says the biggest loss was the ability to send out mail. It was
a roadblock to moving forward in several cases, as we were trying
to contact individuals where no email address was available. In
addition, it turned out not all the e-mail addresses were reliable,
even from licence holders and applicants. Surprisingly, many
respondents can only be reached by mail. The pandemic also
interrupted not only the courts but also government ministries
and services. The courts were strictly on an " urgent matters only "
basis. Many court services were closed all together, preventing
PEO from even bringing charges. Addressing corporate name
challenges with the Ministry of Government and Consumer
Services was impossible. And one of the worst issues was trying to
get information from building departments, which had until that
point been able to quickly provide documents. But, thankfully,
presentations to stakeholders have been more seamless, with the
use of software such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
What is next for enforcement, and how can this
benefit members of OSPE and PEO licence
holders collectively?
The team is currently working on an informational video for
PEO's social media channels about enforcement reporting to
educate stakeholders. " Although PEO's role as a regulator is clear,
we all have a stake in ensuring that that engineering work is done
by qualified practitioners and that only licensed individuals use
the title of engineer. Enforcement staff are happy to respond to
questions or concerns from OSPE members, " says Knox.
Ashley Gismondi is an enforcement and outreach officer with
Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO).
Need to report a concern? Enforcement Hotline
416-224-1100 Ext. 1444
or 800-339-3716 Ext. 1444 (toll free)
Email: Enforcement@peo.on.ca
Mail: Professional Engineers Ontario
Suite 101-40 Sheppard Ave West
Toronto, ON M2N 2K9
December 2021 THE VOICE
45
OSPE - The Voice - Winter 2021

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