Hearing Tribunal and Complaint Review Committee Roster

The Health Professions Act requires that we maintain a list of regulated members to appoint to complaint review committees (CRC) and hearing tribunals (HT). Our HT/CRC Roster serves as this list. HTs and CRCs are statutory/regulatory and directly support our professional conduct responsibilities described in the HPA.

HTs and CRCs have the authority to make decisions as described in the HPA. This may involve:

• whether to ratify a proposed Alternative Complaint Resolution settlement
• deciding complaint review outcomes
• deciding hearing outcomes

HT/CRC Roster Members

Nicole Bartindale
Patricia Demchuk
Amanda Morgan Foster
Susan Nicoll
Simona Shropshire
Corinne Vollrath
Wanda Walker

Complaint Review Committee Activities

When a complaint is being settled through an Alternative Complaint Resolution process:

• review the records of the proposed settlement
• question the involved parties if further information is needed
• decide whether to ratify the proposed settlement
• with the consent of the involved parties, decide to amend then ratify a proposed settlement

When a complaint is dismissed by the Complaints Director and the complainant requests a review of the decision:

• review the decision and supporting information
• review submissions about the complaint and dismissal from the parties
• decide to refer the matter to a hearing, decide that further investigation is required, or decide to confirm the decision to dismiss

Hearing Tribunal Activities

• conduct a hearing regarding the allegations in a complaint when the complaint is referred to a hearing
• hear and consider all evidence presented during the hearing
• decide whether the alleged conduct is unprofessional conduct, as defined in the HPA
• if the alleged conduct is unprofessional conduct, decide whether the conduct is proven
• if unprofessional conduct is proven, decide to make orders (penalties), as allowed in the HPA

If you’re interested in joining the roster

We’d like to hear from you! If you have questions, send us a message. Tell us you’re interested in the HT/CRC Roster and what you’d like to know.

When you’re ready to apply:

• complete the HT/CRC Roster Application Form
• complete the Declaration of Conflict of Interest
• submit your completed forms to contact@abrda.ca

Who can apply?

To comply with the HPA, only regulated members* of our College are eligible to be on our HT/CRC Roster.

Anyone can apply to be on the government’s list of public members that all health colleges draw from when appointing HTs and CRCs. The HPA requires that any HT or CRC is made up of at least 50% public members from the government’s list.

*To be eligible, regulated members:

• must be on the General Register, in good standing with a valid practice permit
• must have at least three years of regulated dental assisting practice
• must live in Alberta
• must not currently, or within the last two years, be an officer, director, executive member or similar position in a professional association, union or bargaining unit that represents dental assistants
• must not be a current member of Council
• must not have been an investigated person under Part 4 of the HPA

What we’re looking for

These are particularly helpful:

• understand legislation, regulations and governing documents and their purpose
• knowledge of administrative justice
• ability to be fair, impartial, objective and open-minded
• demonstrate clear, reasonable thought processes
• respect and honour confidentiality and demonstrate discretion
• recognize how actions, behaviours and communications may be perceived by others
• understand and support our College’s responsibility to regulate dental assistants’ practice in the public interest

Also helpful:

• these Attributes, Competencies and Experiences

Meetings

HT/CRC Roster members don’t have regularly scheduled meetings. When the need for a hearing or review arises, we normally appoint two of our Roster members to serve on the HT or CRC for the given matter.

Hearings and reviews often take place during regular business hours and may be as short as a half day or less, or as long as several days. We generally work with all participants’ availability when we schedule dates.

Reviews are often held virtually. Hearings may be virtual or in-person.

Expenses and Compensation

Roster members may claim expenses, including travel, accommodation and salary replacement. Roster members are not employees of our College – this is a volunteer role. However, they may claim honoraria for attending meetings and other required functions. Our expense policy lists all eligible expenses. It is in our Governance Policies at GP7.1.1.