LETTERS TO THE EDITOR — National QP standards a must

I couldn’t agree more with Ben Ainsworth’s letter (T.N.M., Aug. 31-Sept. 6/98) advocating a national standard for those of us who might be classified as “Qualified Persons.” The current state of affairs, whereby elitist or xenophobic organizations such as the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC) prevent Canadian geologists suitably qualified in other provinces from working within their provincial boundaries would be laughable if it did not adversely affect our livelihood so directly.

As a Canadian geologist who grew up in Ontario, now lives in Quebec and has worked in most other parts of the country for 24 years, I can practise my profession more easily in Swaziland than in British Columbia. To quote Bob Dylan, “now everything’s a little upside down.”

I realize that this sorry state of affairs has arisen not only because natural resources fall under provincial jurisdictions, but also because of occasional orgies of greed, which, every decade or so, besmirch the name of the mining exploration business.

The latter problem will not change, no matter what type of complex superficialities we try to impose on exploration financing. However, the jurisdictional problem can be altered in a way such that natural resources remain in the provincial realm — provided the licensure of a qualified person is transferable between provinces, or provided a set of national standards becomes accepted in all provinces. The national standards route would be the most desirable way to go.

The wheels are already turning on the problem of coming to a national solution. However, the brave but meager forces currently behind the national solution are facing a long uphill climb together with entrenched obstacles, such as the APEGBC.

Two things must happen in order for the national solution to succeed. First, organizations such as APEGBC must be reasonable, and its members confer among themselves and agree to ease the way for a national solution. Second, those of us most affected by the current state of affairs must become more vocal in our effort to achieve a national solution.

The second point is crucial. If we cannot form a common front with the will to rectify this ludicrous situation, then, as Bob Dylan says, “We are idiots, babe.”

Jack Charlton

St. Lazare, Que.