OSPE’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held virtually on Monday, May 9, 2022. The evening opened with a moment of silence in memory of Board Director Irene Sterian, P.Eng. who suddenly passed on Sunday, May 8. OSPE’s President and Chair, Mark Frayne, P.Eng., acknowledged the land he was on and thanked OSPE’s valued partners and Board of Directors. Following housekeeping items, the Minutes from the previous AGM were approved by the members.
CEO, Sandro Perruzza, joined President Frayne to review OSPE’s accomplishments over the past year with regard to the Strategic Plan’s Lead, Care and Unite pillars. The organization’s leaders highlighted how OSPE demanded that the government consult with the right sources related to air quality in schools, proposed changes as part of the Red Tape Reduction Bill, and raised important issues such as energy planning, transportation electrification, sustainable infrastructure, and critical minerals. Also acknowledged were OSPE’s mentorship program, our Diversity, and Inclusion Leadership series, International Women in Engineering Days live podcast, and the Conceptualizing Black Experiences panel. You can learn more about OSPE’s major activities in 2021 in our Annual Report.
Following the Year in Review, the Chair of the OSPE Nominations Committee, David Carnegie, P.Eng., provided the report to the membership on behalf of the 2022 Nominations Committee, which included Ronald Clifton, P.Eng., Jonathan Hack, P.Eng., and Christina Visser, P.Eng. According to the nomination and election procedures set out in the Society’s bylaws, he announced that the following professional engineers shall be Directors of the Society to hold office for three-year terms, effective immediately following the close of this AGM:
- Sandra Ausma, P.Eng.
- Stephanie Holko, P.Eng.
- Raymond Mantha, P.Eng.
- Jane Ravenshaw, P.Eng.
The next item of business was the presentation of the financial statements of the Society for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, by the Treasurer, Nicholas Burgwin, P.Eng. He reviewed a summary of revenues and expenses for 2021. The Treasurer then noted, on behalf of the Audit and Finance Committee, that a request for proposals was sent out to various audit firms for the 2022 audit. This was conducted as a matter of good business practice and due diligence. As a result of this review, it was recommended that BDO Canada, LLP, be appointed as the Society’s auditors for 2022. This motion was approved by the membership.
Following the presentation of the 2021 finances, President Frayne presented a motion to amend bylaw #2, Article 6, Governance, 6.9, Committees of the Society, 6.9.1 (c). The proposed amendment would revise the wording and composition of the Human Resources Committee, adding “President and” in front of Chair as the Chair is the President of the Society, as per the bylaws. A second update is to formally add the participation of the Vice Chair.
As the President and Chair of OSPE is also the chair of the HR Committee it is important for continuity that the Vice Chair participates as a member of the committee for one year before taking on the role of Chair. Also, the Board Director and Officer terms do not coincide with the CEO performance evaluation. This ensures that the incoming Chair will be involved in the entire evaluation process. This motion was approved by the membership.
Next, President Frayne introduced CEO Sandro Perruzza and Dr. Marilyn Powers, P.Eng., Vice Chair of OSPE and the Chair of the Board Development and Strategic Planning Committee, to present the new 2022-2025 Strategic Plan. They reviewed the development of the plan and thanked all OSPE members and stakeholders who participated in the process. The strategic plan continues to situate OSPE as the home to the entire engineering community, where engineers come together to realize their full potential. It is grounded in four pillars: Engineers Lead, Engineers Grow, Engineers Care and Engineers Prosper. To learn more about OSPE’s new Strategic Plan, please visit HERE.
As is custom OSPE leadership took questions from members. President Frayne responded followingly.
What are some initiatives for members to be more active and contribute in this group?
The OSPE Ambassador Program houses all opportunities for OSPE members to volunteer and your time and expertise are invaluable to the organization. We want to make your experience with OSPE as meaningful as possible a place to network, develop new skills, contribute to important issues and make a positive impact within the engineering profession. Opportunities include being a subject matter expert, joining a task force or working group, or participating in an Exchange Hub. Visit the ambassador website at www.ospe.on.ca/membership/ambassador for more information.
With respect to the OSPE Board elections, why are candidates not given the ability to login to the portal to view the results themselves?
OSPE has an established Board election process, which was made available on our website to all members and to all candidates during the Call for Nominations. OSPE uses a secure third-party elections platform, Big Pulse, to run the voting function with all voting done electronically through the BigPulse site. Votes are not submitted to the OSPE office or to the OSPE staff during the election period. The voting period for the Board Elections ended on Friday, April 15th at 11:59 pm and The BigPulse platform automatically closes the poll and sends the results of the elections to the OSPE staff at 12:00am on April 16th. This process is all computer-generated and the results are final. It is then our procedure that the CEO, or their designate, call each candidate personally to advise them of the results on the following business day. We limit access to the site to minimize any security risks. This process has served the association well and has ensured there is no staff or other outside influence or interference, for several years.
Why was there no mention of transparency in the OSPE Values?
Although transparency is not specifically noted in the values, it was discussed by the Board Development and Strategic Planning Committee as well as the Board. President Frayne agreed that transparency is a right of members and is implied in all actions of the organization.
Engineering Month Annual University Student Challenge
This student competition takes place every March. Teams of up to 5 students work together to host one or more public outreach events in their local community. Getting involved in public outreach is a great way to strengthen communication and organization skills – something future employers will be keen to see.
The winners were announced:
First Place – McMaster University, team lead Kira White
Second Place – Carleton University, team leads Baillie Noel & Bailey Lenihan
Third Place – University of Waterloo, team leads Yukttha Sivaraju & Jhanavi Chaitanya
Volunteer Award Winner
OSPE was pleased to announce the recipient of the President’s Volunteer Award to an individual who has gone above and beyond in effecting positive change for the engineering profession in Ontario. The 2022 President’s Award – Professional Category was awarded to Darya Duma, P.Eng.
Closing Comments and Thanks
President Frayne thanked OSPE’s outgoing Board Directors for contributing their time and service to the engineering profession over their completed terms:
- Ronald Clifton, P.Eng.
- Anna Gkalimani, P.Eng.
- Suzanne Tessier, P.Eng.
The AGM concluded with Vice Chair Powers acknowledging and thanking President Frayne for all his hard work and dedication throughout his term.
New OSPE Executive Committee
As is custom, the first meeting of the Board was held immediately following the AGM and it is our pleasure to announce that the following individuals were elected as officers of the Board:
- Dr. Marilyn Powers, P.Eng., President and Chair
- Stephanie Holko, P.Eng., Vice Chair
- Nicholas Burgwin, P.Eng., Treasurer
- David Carnegie, P.Eng., Secretary
- Mark Frayne, P.Eng., Past Chair
