Dear Colleagues:
Council met March 17-18, 2022. Here is a summary of the meeting:
Welcome to Dr. Susanne Morris
Council was pleased to welcome its newest elected member, Dr. Susanne Morris, to her first meeting.
Divestment of the Association function
The divestment of the Association function was effective December 1, 2021. Council received a final report on the work done by the College of Chiropractors of Alberta (CCOA) and the administrative and financial support that was provided to establish the Chiropractic Association of Alberta (CAA) and transfer the Association function over. A total of $1,538,027.32 in financial support was allocated to this divestment, with the College covering $49,823.39 to support the initial formation of the organization and $1,488,203.93 directly provided to the Association for its use. In addition, several hundred College staff hours were dedicated to this work. Council is pleased to have been able to provide this support to establish the CAA.
Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics
As part of Bill 46, there was work to amend/add to the Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics. Council reviewed the drafts presented and approved them to be submitted to Government for public consultation. It is anticipated that these will be approved in December 2022. Council extends its thanks to the regulated members who participated in the consultation process, which was vital to informing the final drafts presented to Government.
Governance
As part of our ongoing commitment to developing governance acumen, Council engaged in an interactive governance education session featuring two different case studies of common governance issues faced by boards. This was followed by the presentation of an executive summary of a recent discussion “What is the Public Interest?” hosted by the Canadian Network of Agencies of Regulation (CNAR).
Council also approved policy recommendations presented by the Governance and the Finance and Audit committees as part of the continuation of work related to Bill 46.
Strategic Plan approved
The Strategic Planning Advisory Committee, a sub-committee of Council, presented the strategic plan to Council for its review and approval. Council made a few clarifying comments and approved the strategic plan. Information about the strategic plan will be shared with the regulated membership and the public in the coming weeks.
Environmental scan
Council reviewed the recent introduction of Bill 88 by the Government of Ontario, which proposed to eliminate the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario. While this proposal was dropped a week after it was introduced, it represents the ongoing scrutiny of regulated health professions by governments across Canada. Given that Alberta considers Ontario and British Columbia models in crafting its own legislation, Council continues to monitor these jurisdictions to anticipate what might be introduced in Alberta.
We hope this summary of the March Council meeting provides context for the work undertaken by Council. As always, if you have questions or would like further context on a particular item, please connect with your assigned Council contact or Sheila Steger, CEO, at ssteger@theccoa.ca.
Dr. Brad Kane, Chair
Council
