Election of Registrants to the Council

It’s a new year and we’re off to a running start with the process for electing Registrants to the Council with elections happening in 3 districts. The three-year cycle for elections brings Districts 1 and 3 up for election, and we’re holding a by-election in District 2 to fill a vacancy.

There are two critically important principles to think about when it comes to the election of Registrants to the Council, the first being the role. Unlike the House of Commons or Provincial legislatures, Registrants do not “represent”, advocate for, or speak on behalf of the Registrants in their district. Council members elected from the profession sit at the Council table to bring their perspective as NDs, not to work in the profession’s interests but rather that of the public.

The second critical principle revolves around who should seek election. Registrants should elect the individual who they believe can best serve and protect the public interest. How would you know who’s right for the role? Ask yourself the following questions: Is the person highly ethical, fair and open minded? Do they make decisions with reasoned thought and only after careful deliberation? Do they look for evidence to support decision making? If you can answer yes to each of these, that is the person who should be elected. If you believe you possess these qualities, namely being ethical, fair, open minded, thoughtful, deliberative, and able to see the public interest and value public safety, then you should be seeking election.

New Election Process

This year, we’re implementing a new election procedure to streamline the process. If you’re thinking about being nominated for election, there are two things you need to do:

1. Register for the Orientation session being held on January 20, 2022 at 10:30 am ET. This is a new requirement set by the Council starting this year. At this session, you’ll learn more about what’s involved in the role, the amount of work that will be needed and how much time you must be prepared to commit to the College.
2. Reach out to two people in your district who’ll support your nomination. This is important as once you start to seek the nomination, the College will ask these two individuals formally if they support you being nominated as a candidate.

Through the new process, you will be required to:

• “Express your interest” in being nominated and provide the names, registration numbers and email addresses of the two people willing to support you.
  • • The College will e-mail each of them and ask them to agree to nominate you.
    • As soon as those two nominators agree, the College will come back to you and ask you to officially consent to the nomination.
• You will also have to complete the following six on-line forms:
  • • A Conflict-of-Interest Declaration,
    • Confirmation of Eligibility Declaration,
    • Fiduciary Duties Undertaking,
    • Agreement on Duties if elected,
    • An Election Undertaking, and
    • Biography and Personal Statement.
• Finally, you will be required to complete the remainder of the Qualifying Program established by the Council. The Orientation session was the first part of that program. The remaining parts include:
  • • Completion of an On-line Competency Self-Assessment.
    • A brief interview with a panel of the Governance Committee.

At the end of the process, the Governance Committee determines whether a nominee is eligible to become a candidate in the election. They do this by assessing nominees based on the eligibility criteria set out in the by-laws. The Governance Committee will approve the candidacy of all qualified individuals. Note that the Committee isn’t determining who will be elected.

Reading about this process may cause you to ask yourself why would you go through all this just to be elected to the Council?

While the process seems onerous when written out, it isn’t actually that much work on the part of nominees. What it accomplishes is ensuring that, if you are going to run, you have a very clear idea of what you’re getting yourself into you and that you have the leadership skills to be highly successful in the role.

Experience has shown the Council that if it does not go through this process with nominees seeking election, then the nominees find themselves unaware of just how much work is involved and subsequently encounter a very steep learning curve to adopt to the role of a Council member.

The Call for Nominations has been issued. Interested Registrants have until February 21, 2022 to complete this process to become a candidate in the election.

Good luck everyone!