OSPE - The Voice - September 2017 - 12

news

OsPe members Putting advocacy into action

On February 17, 2017, PAN representative
Kevin Wright, P.Eng., met with MPP Nathalie
Des Rosiers (Ottawa Vanier) to discuss
OSPE's report Crisis in Ontario's Engineering
Labour Market. As Parliamentary Assistant
to the Minister of the Status of Women, MPP
Des Rosiers was interested in the findings
pertaining to women in engineering. MPP
Des Rosiers welcomed a future meeting
with OSPE, which was held at Queen's Park
on April 25, 2017 and focused on the 2017
report nd focused on the 2017 report entitled
Weathering the Storms.

As a small but nimble organization,
OSPE relies on the engagement of its
knowledgeable and diverse membership
to help spread the Society's advocacy
work and the profile of Ontario's
engineers across the province. So far,
2017 has been filled with government
relations outreach, with a total of 11
constituency meetings led by Political
Action Network (PAN) volunteers with
their respective Members of Provincial
Parliament (MPPs) between January
and June.
PAN provides OSPE members with
an opportunity to become engaged
in advocating for the engineering
profession. It helps members build their
leadership and communication skills as
well as policy acumen, and allows them
to build relationships with key decisionmakers at Queen's Park. PAN is OSPE's
largest volunteer program, consisting of
50 engineering students, Engineering
Interns, and Professional Engineers.
Volunteers meet with their MPP to
share the perspective of Ontario's
engineers in response to critical policy
issues facing Ontario.

12

The VOICe

September 2017

On April 28, 2017, PAN representative
Luke Norman, EIT met with MPP Percy
Hatfield (Windsor - Tecumseh) to discuss
the province's Long-Term Energy Plan
and OSPE's submission to the Ministry of
Energy, Power to Lead. MPP Hatfield is
very knowledgeable about OSPE's excess
soils management report and has delivered
greetings at several recent OSPE events.
The meeting provided a valuable opportunity
to discuss another advocacy area with MPP
Hatfield - namely OSPE's energy file.

On May 19, 2017, OSPE's PAN
representative for Beaches-East York, Tamajit
Chakraborty, EIT met with MPP Arthur Potts
to discuss the engineering labour market.
MPP Potts noted the province's new Career
Kick-Start Strategy will provide 40,000 new
work-related learning opportunities to help
young people build their resumes, skills, and
land their first jobs. Tamajit noted that OSPE
is a strong proponent of work-integrated
learning and is pleased with the government's
initiative to address the skills gap.

On May 12, 2017, PAN representative
Mohammad Naqvi, EIT and PEO Government
Liaison Program (GLP) representative
Narayana Asogan, P.Eng., met with Ontario's
Minister of Education, the Honourable Mitzie
Hunter to share OSPE's 2015 report, Crisis in
Ontario's Engineering Labour Market, which
found that a significant number of engineering
degree holders worked in jobs that did not
require a university degree. Minister Hunter
encouraged OSPE to share the report with
the Minister of Labour.

On June 2, 2017, PAN representative and
University of Waterloo student Richard
Cunningham and OSPE Senior Research
Officer Lee Weissling, PhD met with the
Honourable Reza Moridi (Richmond Hill),
to share OSPE's Excess Soil Management
report (2016) and Weathering the Storms
report (2017). Minister Moridi expressed
interest in learning more about Waterloo's
co-operative education program.

➝ Interested in learning more about PAN? Check out ospe.on.ca/
political-action-network/join and download a copy of our comprehensive
informational guide, Putting Advocacy into Action. Depending on your
riding, there may be availability in OSPE's Political Action Network. Please
contact advocacy@ospe.on.ca for more information.
http://ospe.on.ca/
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of OSPE - The Voice - September 2017
