Council approved changes to our Bylaws to adjust how our Council is made up. We’ve reduced the required number of regulated members on Council to five.
Currently, we have nine regulated members on Council. Four were elected for the 2017-20 term which ends on November 30, 2020. We’ll have five regulated members left when their terms end. As a result, we won’t have any vacant spots to fill on Council for the upcoming year. That means we don’t need to hold an election.
We made these Bylaw changes to align with Bill 30 – the Health Statutes Amendment Act that will amend the Health Professions Act (HPA). The HPA already requires that public members are appointed to college councils, hearing tribunals, complaint review committees and appeal panels. Currently, public members must make up at least 25% of these. As of April 1, 2021, this requirement increases from 25% to 50%.
Our change to five regulated members and the increase to 50% public members means we’ll have a Council of 10 members: 5 regulated members and 5 public members. We feel 10 is a manageable number that allows for diverse experience, background and opinion. That diversity is important to effective decision-making. And, we’ll be ready for the April 1, 2021 requirement.