1979 - A Record 42 New Members

    A record 42 new members received their commissions during the 1977-1978 fiscal year. The large number of new members was a result of the year being the last year for writing Alberta Land Surveyor examinations under the 1970 syllabus. This membership surge brought the number of active members to 257.

The strong Alberta economy had other implications too. Council referred three matters of non-land surveyors purporting to offer land surveying services to the public to the Attorney-General. The economy also created delays in plan examinations by the Director of Surveys office and the Association held various meetings to look at alternatives. A proposal by the Urban Development Institute to establish a Calgary branch office of the Director of Surveys branch was considered but rejected.

Throughout much of 1977-1978, the Association continued to have many discussions with the University of Calgary, its sister western land survey associations in connection with the establishment of a Western Canada Survey Engineering Program at the University of Calgary. In the end, The Alberta Land Surveyors' Association got the support of the Department of Advanced Education and APEGGA (as the program would be within the Faculty of Engineering).

In 1978, the Provincial Government tabled “policy governing future legislation for the professions and occupations.” The policy virtually challenged each profession to justify its existence as a profession and stressed the need for protection of the public. In this environment, the Association endeavored to introduce a re-written Land Surveyors Act. At the Annual Meeting itself in 1979, the membership reviewed several concepts surrounding some of the potential legal and taxation problems inherent in the then-common practice of incorporating survey firms practicing land surveying. These concepts proved to be the foundation for the professional practice regulation under the 1982 Land Surveyors Act.

 

Back - 1978 - The First Full-time Registrar

Forward - 1980 - Formal Approval of the University Program