President’s Message
Message from BCEIA President John Hibbard
The Board of the British Columbia Environment Industry Association (BCEIA) and I would like to thank you for taking the time to learn more about our industry and the companies that work within it. The Environment Industry continues to be a place of change. New environmental legislation includes creation of the British Columbia Spill Response Regime and the Stage 10 Amendments to the Contaminated Sites Regulation which may change the way companies are required to do business. Our continued goal is to promote BCEIA member organizations which are well positioned to provide clients with the most up to date information to support your organization, business or proposed project in a meaningful way.
At the upcoming BCEIA Annual General Meeting (AGM) in May I will be coming to the end of my final term as President of the BCEIA. The past four years have been a great experience, and it has been exciting to be part of such a talented Board of Directors and Executive during this time. I hope that the Board can continue to build off of the work we have achieved and continue to find better ways to serve the industry. Over the past four years the BCEIA has achieved a number of new initiatives including, but not limited to:
- Creation of the Bettering Environmental Stewardship & Technology (BEST) Conference
- Creation of BCEIA Scholarship Fund
- Major update of BCEIA website
- New Management of BCEIA Hockey Tournament & Softball League
At the upcoming AGM the Board will propose an updated Constitution, Bylaws and new Code of Conduct. These changes are being proposed in part to comply with the new Societies Act of British Columbia, and also to update our guiding documents with the current focus of the Board. The Code of Conduct Document will provide better direction to incoming Board members as responsibilities for each position on the Board are defined in the document. The Board hopes this tool will provide Board members better focus, and guide potential new Board members with relevant information when making a decision to get involved.
In the upcoming year, the BCEIA is excited to be presenting the fourth annual Bettering Environmental Stewardship & Technology (BEST) Conference in Whistler, BC. The Conference will present several policy updates from the British Columbia Ministry of Environment after the Conference is opened by the Deputy Minister of Environment, Wes Shoemaker. The Conference Committee is excited to have former Premier, Mike Harcourt, as a keynote speaker on Thursday and Ken Coates, Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation, on Friday. The BEST Committee will also award our first annual BCEIA Scholarship during the Conference’s opening lunch. The entire line-up of speakers for both days is a very interesting group, with panels of experienced experts organized to facilitate discussion on the topics presented.
In addition to our annual conference the BCEIA has a number of other important planned events. These include:
- BCEIA Spring Hockey Tournament
- BCEIA Summer Softball League
- BCEIA Member Photo Contest
- October Victoria Luncheon
- Regional Social Events – Victoria, Kelowna & Vancouver
For information on BCEIA organized events, as well as news and notes from around the industry across North America, I encourage readers to visit our new website as well as sign up for our informative newsletter through the website. For those more inclined to quick news blasts we are active on Twitter (@BCEIA_).
As defined in our proposed new Constitution, the purposes of the Society are to represent and promote the business and professional interests of the British Columbia environment industry, provide a forum for the exchange of information regarding the environment industry, promote the research and training in disciplines and matters relevant to the environment industry and to provide comment and input to government on environmental regulation.