2022 is the Year!

I’m running for PEO President-Elect, a three year term, from May 2022 to May 2025. (See my previous blog on the number 25.)

Many of you have reached out and encouraged me to run. Thank you for your confidence and support. With your vote I will elevate the engineering profession in Ontario and take action to make PEO a relevant regulator.

Darla Campbell, P.Eng., CSR-P, FEC

This campaign is about leadership, vision and results.

Leadership: PEO needs a leader with a proven record of accomplishments, leading boards, organizations, people and projects.

Vision: What direction is PEO moving in? Is it the right direction to protect the public interest? PEO needs a leader who will champion Engagement Initiative 2022 that gathers your ideas, suggestions and opportunities to make PEO a relevant regulator.

Results: Provide clear direction for PEO by developing a robust strategic plan that puts PEO on a path to relevancy, incorporating the input from the Engagement Initiative 2022. PEO needs a leader who gets results within the 3 year term of office and sets PEO up for success going forward.

My Key Priorities

• Enhancing standards and practice guidelines
• Accelerating and modernizing the licensing process
• Embracing chapters as a model of communities of support
• Advocating where the public interest is at risk
• Operating in a global world: regulate locally, function globally.

More about these priorities in future articles. I look forward to connecting with you.

#EI2022 #redefinepossible #elevate #engineering #PEng

Inclusive Leadership (Listening and Engaging)

The world has changed due to the pandemic and we are leaning quickly how to adapt. Since taking office in May as PEO Vice President, I have attended 25 PEO meetings or events, with an estimate of 89 hours of Zoom meetings. Who would have imagined that so much could be possible without leaving your home office?

This campaign is like no other in PEO’s history. I am grateful to the chapters who have invited candidates to send video greetings or to speak for a few minutes in an upcoming meeting hosted by the Chapter. Inclusive leadership fundamentally requires a level of engagement and more importantly, time to listen and learn.

In the 2017 election I set a goal of visiting 50% of the chapters during the campaign and I achieved it. By visiting the 18 chapters I listened and engaged with EITs, seasoned P.Eng.s and newly licensed P.Eng.s in Chapter AGMs, License Ceremonies, tours and pub nights.

I have also had the opportunity to attend several Regional Congress meetings, GLP Academy and Congresses, Volunteer Leadership Conferences (VLC), Chapter Leaders Conferences and PEO Government Relations Conference and PEO Queen’s Park Receptions.

As your future President-Elect I am setting a goal to visit all 36 chapters during the year leading up to taking the office of President. (What a great training ground to engage with chapters and P.Eng.s across the province in preparation for the role of President.)

During this campaign I’ve been asked what I think the top three goals that should be delivered in the next one year by PEO. My answer is:

• Continue governance roadmap (which will be completed by spring 2022). This will enable PEO to focus on right touch regulation.
• Improve licensing process (i.e. reduce waiting time).
• Put a plan in place to achieve right touch regulation.

I look forward to working closely with the next President, Christian Bellini, in moving PEO forward to meet the expectations of the public in being a modern regulator.

If we haven’t already met at one of the PEO events that I’ve attended in the past, I look forward to meeting you in the future and learning from you as we build the future together.

Chapters Visited (2017 – 2020)

(in alphabetical order)

1. Brampton
2. Brantford
3. Chatham-Kent
4. East Toronto
5. Etobicoke
6. Georgian Bay
7. Grand River
8. Hamilton-Burlington
9. Kingston
10. Kingsway
11. Lake Ontario
12. Mississauga
13. Niagara
14. Oakville
15. Peterborough
16. Scarborough
17. Sudbury (host of regional candidate meeting 2018)
18. Toronto-Humber
19. West Toronto
20. Willowdale/Thornhill
21. York (host of All Candidates meeting 2017)

Leadership in 2021

Not only is the world changing, it’s changing fast. It’s no longer “business as usual”. The current PEO Council has advocated to move forward to adapt to a changing world. PEO must continue this positive change to remain relevant.

As PEO’s Vice President-elect, I serve on the Executive Committee (EXE) and the Joint Relations Committee (JRC). Previously I have served on the Government Liaison Committee (GLC) from 2011 to 2017, in the last two years as chair. I attended many “Take Your MPP to Work” events across the province, hosted by local chapter’s Government Liaison Program (GLP) chair. I often stated that we had our “finger on the pulse” of PEO.

Souvenir bag from Joint Government Relations Conference (PEO and OSPE)

The GLC has hosted several joint government relations conferences and receptions at Queen’s Park, as well as Regional Congresses which provided training and opportunities to meet with local MPPs. The most recent conference was a virtual event on November 6th where I had the privilege to interview MP Marilyn Gladu, the first woman engineer elected to Parliament, on her important contribution as a role model.

Leadership in engineering includes communication of the role of engineers, the value of the engineering “brand”, the value of being part of a profession, and the value to the public and industry in hiring professional engineers. All these messages support the regulatory role of PEO. A strong P.Eng. brand supports protecting the public interest.

Key regulatory messages include:

• The self-regulatory model that PEO is priveleged to operate under in Ontario;
• The role of regulation and standards in serving and protecting the public interest; and
• Differentiating PEO’s mandate (as a regulator) from OSPE’s mandate (as an advocacy body).

To achieve a sustainable future of self-regulation for our profession, one of my priorities is Enhancing the Value of P.Eng. I commit to enhancing the value of your license from EIT through all stages of your professional career.

Vote Darla Campbell for PEO President-Elect 2021.

#PEOElection #EngineeringMatters #redefinepossible #BuildingFuture Together