September 2005 ISSUE

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COMPLIANCE

Calgary Man Guilty of Illegally
Using Engineering Designation

To date in 2005, your Compliance Department has resolved 49 cases of individuals and 30 of companies not licensed and using reserved titles under the Engineering, Geological and Geophysical Professions Act. Violations occurred in all three disciplines. Typical examples include

• Chief Geologist

• Engineer

• Senior Geophysicist

• VP Engineering

• Geologist

• Principal, Geophysics

• Unauthorized use of P.Eng.

• XYZ Engineering Inc.

• AAA Geological Consulting Ltd.

All of these cases except one were resolved by initial contact and persuasion. In situations where this does not work, the Compliance Department must resort to legal action.

That as was the situation that led to the case involving Richard Kwok Fun Yu, 60, of Calgary.

Mr. Yu, chairman and CEO of Prince Resource Corpor-ation, was found guilty of illegally using the P.Eng. designation. He misrepresented himself as a professional engineer in correspondence and in documents publicly available on the Canadian Securities Administrators’ SEDAR website.

The Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta is responsible for regulating the engineering and geoscience professions in Alberta and initiated the action against Mr. Yu.

Mr. Yu contravened Part 1 of the Engineering, Geological and Geophysical Professions Act. The act authorizes APEGGA to prosecute individuals and firms who misrepresent themselves as professionals or who illegally provide engineering, geological or geophysical services to the public.

Mr. Yu’s APEGGA membership was cancelled in July 1997 for non-payment of annual dues. Yet between March 19, 1999, and Oct. 26, 2004, he continued to use the designation P.Eng. Prior to taking Mr. Yu to court, APEGGA repeatedly encouraged him to either seek registration or cease using the exclusive title.

Justice James L. Lewis of the Court of Queen’s Bench granted an injunction against Mr. Yu on June 17, 2005. He has been ordered to cease using the title professional engineer or the P.Eng. designation. Should Mr. Yu breach the court order by personally, or on behalf of his company, holding himself out to be an engineer in Alberta while unauthorized to do so, further legal action may be taken.

“The action in the Yu case was taken because of APEGGA’s regulatory mandate as the administrator of the Engineering, Geological and Geophysical Professions Act. It is incumbent upon us to protect public safety and well-being,” said APEGGA Executive Director and Registrar Neil Windsor, P.Eng.

“One way in which we do that is by ensuring that only persons who are properly qualified and licensed to do so offer engineering and geoscience services within Alberta. As Alberta’s engineering and geoscience regulatory body, APEGGA takes action to prevent individuals and firms who illegally misrepresent themselves as professional engineers or geoscientists or illegally provide these services to the public.”

ACTIVITY REPORT

Editor’s Note: The following statistics track this year’s Compliance Department activity from Jan. 1 to May 31. The department's job is to enforce the right-to-practice and right-to-title provisions of the EGGP Act Part 1. The Compliance Department's focus, therefore, is on individuals and companies that are not members — those which may be, inadvertently or otherwise, holding themselves out as members or practicing the professions illegally.

*Note: Other files were resolved for various reasons such as confirmation that an individual or company is already registered with APEGGA, verification that an individual contacted is not living or working in Alberta, clarification that a company is actually a trade name of a member etc.