The New Brunswick Forest Technicians Association votes to reject Draft Document and Process for Right to Practice Legislation

To Whom It May Concern;

At the Annual General Meeting of the New Brunswick Forest Technicians Association (NBFTA) on April 7^th, 2011 the Membership voted on Right to Practice Legislation.

The Members were asked to cast their vote as either “Yes” or “No” on the following statement:

“I support the Act to Incorporate the Association of New Brunswick Forestry Professionals”.

The vote results were as follows:

25 Votes Cast

Yes Votes: 2 (8%)

No Votes: 23 (92%)

The vote was cast after a presentation from Dr. Roger Roy, President of the Association of Registered Professional Foresters of New Brunswick (ARPFNB) on Right to Practice (RTP), followed by a question and answer session. After Dr. Roy left the meeting the Membership discussed the issue and then a motion was made to conduct the vote.

Following this vote, and much focused discussion, the NBFTA has concluded that it cannot support and must now oppose the ARPFNB’s proposed RTP legislation. The NBFTA believes that the process by which the RTP document has been produced is fundamentally flawed thus yielding a flawed document. Further, this process has failed to gain the necessary participation of a broad base of the New Brunswick forest sector.

Based on Membership feedback, the NBFTA’s reasons for rejecting the current RTP document are as follows:

• The NBFTA required written letters of support from stakeholders when we became partners in the RTP process with the ARPFNB. This requirement had been previously agreed to by the ARPFNB, yet, as of the writing of this letter, none have been received. Generally speaking, the NBFTA Membership was not satisfied with the explanation given by the ARPFNB regarding why there are no letters of support.
• The RTP document has been changed significantly, from the early stages, when all forestry practitioners would be required to work within their competencies and continue their education. This is no longer the case in the current RTP document.
• Changes to the RTP document were made without any consultation with the NBFTA before voting for the changes. Rather than standing up for the original proposal, which was agreed upon by our two Associations, the ARPFNB chose to make significant changes to bring some of their members on board.
• Because of changes to the definition of forestry, the RTP document no longer requires that all practitioners become registered and, in fact, contains an ‘out’ clause which, in effect, would allow one person to assume the entire responsibility for an organization, no matter its size. If public accountability is the goal of the RTP document then this ‘out’ clause does a disservice to the public. In the opinion of the NBFTA the RTP document does not have anything to do with the best interest of the general public.
• The RTP Document has been changed and approved by a small number of members of the ARPFNB, yet non-members, who are practicing Foresters in New Brunswick, have had little or no input. The NBFTA finds this most troubling; that an organization would attempt to force something on professionals without allowing them to participate in the process.
• From the Government of New Brunswick website (underlined sections are important because the proposed Act would affect the rights and interests of many others not included, such as Technologists, and other forestry practitioners not represented by either association):  Private Bills are those relating to private or local matters or for the particular interest or benefit of any person, corporation or municipality. Private Bills are not usually promoted by members of the Legislature, but by outside persons or bodies. They confer special powers upon companies, municipalities and private persons and are not of general public concern. Therefore, before any special favour of this nature is granted, the Legislative Assembly requires to be satisfied that no other rights or interests would be prejudiced by granting the special legislation sought to be obtained.

In conclusion the NBFTA feels that the approach to RTP has been a flawed process due to lack of written stakeholder support, changing the RTP Document without NBFTA consultation, resulting in sacrificing any apparent public good or accountability to the public by forestry professionals.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the New Brunswick Forest Technicians Association;

 

Todd MacPherson, Past President

UPDATED APRIL 06, 2011 – Meeting Locations

NBFTA Executive Meeting
10:30 – 12:00 Will be held in the Board Room (which is in the main part of the hotel)

NBFTA AGM
1:00 – 5:00 – Will be held in the Maritime/East Coast/Atlantic room (same as last year)

This is a tentative Agenda for the 2011 AGM to be held in Moncton at the Ramada located in Crystal Palace. The time and date is 1:00 PM on Thursday, April 7th at 1:00 PM. I will post updates as I receive them.

If there are any items to be added please email me ASAP at todd@woodtrax.com

Thanks

Todd MacPherson,
President

Open meeting

- verify quorum
- moment of silence for Technicians / Technologists who have passed away
- recognition of any new members

Reading and Confirmation of 2010 minutes

- hand out copies and allow a few minutes for review

Appoint Ballot Counters

Executive and Committee Reports

- President’s Report
- 1st VP Report
- 2nd VP Report
- Secretary’s Report
- Treasurer’s Report
- Past President’s Report
- Regional Representative 1 Report
- Regional Representative 2 Report
- Regional Representative 3 Report
- Regional Representative 4 Report

Award Winners

- $500 Scholarship #1
- $500 Scholarship #2
- Technician of the Year Award

MCFT Board of Governors Report – Kenny McGinn

CFE Committee

Reading of Correspondence

Special Reports

- NSFTA Report – Andrew Fedora
- ARPFNB Right to Practice Report – Roger Roy, President ARPFNB

Unfinished Business

Election and Installation of Officers

New Business

Auditors for 2012

Time and Date for 2012 AGM

Below is the agenda with all dates and times for the Canadian Woodlands Forum.

To see a bigger version of each page just click on it. There is a registration forum on the last page.

The event kicks off on Tuesday, April 5th at 9:00 AM with a Directors Meeting.

Our AGM will be at 1:00 PM on Thursday, April 7th at 1:00 PM. I will post an Agenda in the next few days.

To download this entire document go to http://cwfcof.org/app/newsletter/article_pdf/121.pdf

Hello

The Association of Professional Foresters of New Brunswick have sent a cover letter and a copy of the proposed Act to its membership as a precursor to a to an online vote scheduled to run from February 21, 2011 – March 4th, 2011.

From the cover letter:

On February 21st , you will receive an email from ClearPicture, a company from Nova Scotia that will conduct a fair and anonymous electronic voting procedure. Please follow the instructions and respect the deadlines indicated. Voting will open on February 21st and close March 4th, 2011. If the Association does not have an email address for you, then you will have received this notice and instructions for voting by post mail.

For years the NBFTA Executive has been working on Right-to-Practice on behalf of Technicians and Technologists working in New Brunswick. Based on a membership vote, at a Nov 2009 emergency meeting, the Executive was giving a clear mandate on how to proceed with RTP. Our mandate was lost for two reasons:

1 – There are no letters of support from stakeholders.
2 – The definition of forestry in the final draft of the Act has changed.

We, as an organization, need to decide what is best for New Brunswick Forests and what is best for Forest Technicians and Technologists.

I have attached the cover letter and French and English versions of the final draft of the Act. This is required reading for anyone who wants to see how this document, if becomes legislation, will affect your profession.

As I outlined in my previous blog post you really need to be involved in this process. We do not want the decisions of a few influencing the lives of so many so get involved and show up at our AGM on April 7th, 2011 at 1PM in Moncton.

COVER LETTER | FRENCH VERSION OF ACT | ENGLISH VERSION OF ACT

You can view the ARPFNB announcement on their website by clicking here.

Bye for now.

Todd MacPherson,

President

Dear Forest Technicians and Technologists of New Brunswick;

The 2011 NBFTA Annual General Meeting will be held in Moncton at Ramada Crystal Palace on April 7th beginning at 1 PM Sharp. Although the Agenda has not yet been released, the primary topic will be Right to Practice. Your Executive and, in particular, Chris Finnamore, has been hard at work with this on behalf of the membership.

As you may recall we held an Emergency Meeting of the NBFTA on November 14, 2009 at which time the Membership voted to support Right to Practice Legislation. We, as an Executive, were tasked by the Membership to meet with the ARPFNB and tell them our conditions of support. We did that. To freshen your memories of those conditions I have copied and pasted them here:

It was motioned and accepted that  the NBFTA Executive meet with ARPFNB Executive to confirm support of Right-to-Practice by contributing $5000.00 toward legal costs incurred to date, conditional on :
- no more money be spent on legal fees until stakeholder support is given
- consultation process to begin immediately, including written letters of support from stakeholders including, but not limited to :

• DNR
• NB Federation of Woodlot Owners
• Crown Licensees and Sub Licensees
• MCFT
• UNB
• U de M
• NBCC Miramachi

The NBFTA Executive met with the ARPFNB Executive on December 5th, 2009 and presented them with our conditions of support. They unanimously accepted the conditions as outlined above.

A joint letter from both Associations was mailed out to approximately 120 stakeholders province-wide late December – early January 2010. No letters of support were received, so at an NBFTA Executive Meeting on October 16th, 2010 it was decided that ample time had passed. The Executive felt that we no longer had a mandate and would bring this to the attention of the Membership at our AGM to decide which way to proceed.

On Friday January 28th, 2011, Chris Finnamore and myself were invited to attend the ARPFNB AGM. At that meeting their Membership voted to change the definition of Forestry from the original draft that the Membership of the NBFTA had supported. With this change in hand, their membership in attendance, which included representatives from two large Crown License holders and one Marketing Board, offered support, through their vote of presenting the document to their membership via a mail-in vote.

The ARPFNB felt that they did not have a strong enough quorum at their AGM to hold a vote to accept the document and begin the public process of having it become Legislation. They decided to send a cover letter and copy of the document to their membership, soliciting a mail-in vote in support of the draft Act.

This may be changing somewhat because recent correspondence that I have received shows that the ARPFNB may hire an on-line voting house to prepare an electronic ballot for their membership who have Internet access.

On Saturday, February 5th, 2011 the NBFTA Executive met and this was the main topic on our agenda. We, the Executive, felt that the NBFTA can not support this new draft of the Act because, with the change to the definition of forestry, we no longer have a mandate from our Membership.

Further, although three representatives of major players in the forest industry voted at the ARPFNB AGM to support the new version of the Act, there are no official letters of support, that our Membership had requested.

Acting on your behalf today, we decided that we would not be joining the ARPF in their mail-out / electronic vote campaign. It was decided that is beyond our scope and mandate and that we need to take the new draft of the Act directly to you, the member, at our upcoming AGM.

If you are a Forest Technician or Technologist working in New Brunswick you need to be at our AGM in Moncton on Thursday afternoon April 7th, 2011. Decisions made at this meeting will chart a course for your career in Forestry. I can not stress enough how important this meeting is. Even if you are not a member, you still need to come. While it would be nice to recruit new members into the Association, you are welcome to come and sit as an observer and listen to the work that has been done, on your behalf, to protect your interests. If what you see and hear inspires you to participate in the process, you are more than welcome to join the NBFTA.

Again, to all Technicians of New Brunswick. I implore you to be present at our AGM. This will be, without a doubt, the most important meeting that we have ever had. You need to be informed. You need to be involved. You need to be there. If you are reading this and are coming, I want you to bring at least one other Technician or Technologist with you.

It is estimated that there are over 1200 Forest Technicians and Technologists currently working in New Brunswick. It is my hope that every single one will be present in Moncton on April 7th. Please do not let the decisions of a few affect the careers of so many.

Respectfully Submitted;

Todd MacPherson, President
New Brunswick Forest Technicians Association

The 2010 Spring Meeting of the Canadian Woodland Forum will be held April 7th and 8th at the Ramada, Crystal Palace Hotel, Moncton. I have attached an agenda for the event.

Also please be aware of two other events taking place at this location:

NBFTA Executive Meeting April 7th (evening) at the Ramada, Crystal Palace, Moncton – time and room number to be determined.

NBFTA AGM will be held at 1 PM on April 8th – at the Ramada, Crystal Palace, Moncton – room number to be determined.

AGENDA: click here to view

Hello Technicians

The Emergency Meeting of the NBFTA set for February 6th, 2010 at MCFT has been canceled. Our next scheduled meeting will be at our AGM in Moncton, Thursday April 8th at 1 PM at Crystal Palace.

More details to follow.

Thanks

Todd MacPherson, President
NBFTA

The 2009 AGM of the NBFTA was held in Moncton on April 2. The link below is to a pdf document of the minutes of the meeting.

Click here to download meeting minutes

At the 2009 NBFTA AGM, the ARPFNB announced that its membership has decided in favor of drafting ‘Right-to-Practice’ Legislation for forest practitioners in the Province of New Brunswick. They have hired legal counsel to help them in drafting legislation that will eventually be presented to the people of New Brunswick through a Private Members Bill in the New Brunswick Legislature.

At the NBFTA AGM we were invited to take part in this process and reserved decision until we could have a formal meeting to discuss this. That meeting took place today, April 22, 2009, and the Executive has decided that we need to be included in this process in order to have our voice at the table.

The current position of the NBFTA, with respect to this legislation, is that we neither support or reject Right to Practice Legislation. That is something that the general membership will decide in the future. Two members of the Executive will be involved in the process, representing the best interests on the Association.

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks

Todd MacPherson, CFT
President NBFTA

2009 AGM Announcement