Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to open debate on Bill C-31, an important piece of legislation that will transfer to the Association of Canada Lands Surveyors specific responsibilities related to professional standards of conduct, continuing education and skills development of Canada lands surveyors. I acknowledge the support of members and parties of this House as we proceed through this legislation.
Anyone who has ever purchased a house or a piece of property is familiar with the important work of land surveyors. Their job is to provide a detailed and accurate survey of the boundaries of the property for legal registration and for transfer of ownership. The Canada lands surveyor is specially qualified and commissioned to conduct legal surveys on Canada lands, lands which the federal government holds and manages in trust for the people of Canada.
Canada lands include the Yukon and Northwest Territories, Indian reserves, offshore areas of Canada and the national parks system. Anyone who requires a survey of a boundary of Canada lands must have the survey made by a qualified Canada lands surveyor.
I pay tribute to the tremendous contribution made by government surveyors both past and present. Dominion land surveyors, as they were known until 1979, literally opened up this country. Their stories are a part of our history. In 1874 Great Britain transferred Rupert's Land and the Northwestern Territory to the Dominion of Canada. The federal government needed land surveyors at that time to survey and subdivide the land for settlers.
We just have to fly over western Canada to be familiar with the results of the incredible work accomplished in the 1880s when dominion land surveyors conducted what was probably the largest survey effort in history. Their work made it possible for immigrants and settlers to obtain lands in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. We see the results of their labour in the straight as an arrow property lines. When hopeful miners flooded the Yukon territories during the gold rush in 1898, they found a dominion lands survey office already in business in Dawson where they could legally register their claims.
More recently, members of the House have seen the work of the Canada lands surveyors in some of the legislation we have considered in the House: the boundaries of the new national parks such as Vuntut National Park in the Yukon in 1994; the descriptions of the boundaries of land transfers affecting Indian reserves which appear as orders in council; even the boundaries of federal electoral districts. These are accomplished by the Canada lands surveyors through the office of the Surveyor General of Canada Lands.
On behalf of the federal government, Canada lands surveyors are currently making massive and critically important surveys in the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Several thousand parcels of land, some small and some large, involved in aboriginal land interests and land claims must be legally surveyed and recorded. This survey effort will help to define and shape the legal boundaries of the Canadian north. It involves millions and millions of dollars and directly affects the lives of residents of these territories.
I have explained the historical and the present day role of Canada lands surveyors in order to demonstrate to this House the scope and importance of their contribution to the country. These professionals are experts in property rights, land management, land registration and the survey system used in Canada lands. Their expertise is acquired through university education, continuing education through their professional associations, and through hands on experience in the field.
To be granted a commission as a Canada lands surveyor, a candidate must first successfully complete a rigorous set of formal examinations and meet other requirements including basic work experience of at least two years. Surveying is a knowledge based activity and as such demands a great deal of the people who seek the right to use the designation of Canada lands surveyor.
Since 1872 the Surveyor General of the Dominion, now Canada Lands, has had the responsibility for the board of examiners. This body establishes professional qualifications and standards, sets the examinations and grants commissions as Canada lands surveyors. Under the present legislation the board also oversees the professional conduct of the Canada lands surveyors but has limited disciplinary powers.
Bill C-31 will transfer responsibility for the board of examiners from the surveyor general to the Association of Canada Lands Surveyors. The provisions proposed in the legislation are both efficient and appropriate.
For a number of years now at the provincial level, self-governing professional associations have been managing the responsibilities which we are now proposing at the federal level be transferred to the Association of Canada Lands Surveyors. Self-governing associations relieve government of the day to day work of ensuring that the members of the profession achieve and maintain professional standards of practice.
The government of which I am a representative does not hand over such important authorities lightly or arbitrarily. The legislation which we are now considering today touches the day to day lives of hundreds of thousands of people and concerns approximately one-half of the Canada land mass. Thus for some seven to eight years the federal government has undertaken detailed study, consultation and dialogue with the Association of Canada Lands Surveyors, with various other associations and with other federal government departments who rely on the services of Canada lands surveyors. This includes Parks Canada and Indian and northern affairs for instance. Our intent is to accomplish the transfer in an orderly and responsible fashion.
The Association of Canada Lands Surveyors has been actively involved in preparing for this important role since 1990. Formerly established in 1985 as an independent multidisciplinary association, the association is the successor to the Canada lands surveyors professional affairs committee of the Canadian institute of surveying.
There are four principal areas of responsibility involved in this proposed legislation: examination, admission, qualifications and discipline. I have already spoken to some extent about the examination and admission processes which are under the auspices of the board of examiners.
Under the proposed legislation the board of examiners under the management of the Association of Canada Lands Surveyors will continue to set rigorous technical and scientific examinations and issue commissions to successful candidates. What will change in this area however is the day to day management of the examination and accreditation process of the board of examiners which will be assumed by the association rather than by the Office of the Surveyor General of Canada Lands.
This is an important recognition of the stature of the profession and gives the Association of Canada Lands Surveyors authorities similar to those practised by provincial associations. Moreover the move is consistent with the government's commitment to improve the way government works by turning over to the private sector responsibilities in areas of activity that can be efficiently and effectively managed by the private sector.
I spoke earlier of the fact that surveying is a knowledge based discipline. As the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources, which is of course a scientific and knowledge based department, I am very particularly interested in the enhanced role the association will be playing in the skills development, training and continued education of the Canada lands surveyors.
The demanding examination process ensures that Canada lands surveyors are well qualified at the time of receiving their commission and provide professional standards of service, but it is no guarantee that those standards are maintained over time. Under the proposed Canada lands surveyors act the association will have both the authority and the means to ensure that its members maintain their professional standards.
One of the key commitments made by the association in preparation for this legislation is to provide continuing education programs for its members. Given the critical importance of lifelong learning and skills development in the knowledge based society and the new economy, this commitment by the association is particularly significant.
The association has also committed to promoting the profession of Canada lands surveyor in order to ensure that there continues to be a pool of qualified Canada lands surveyors available across Canada. There must be a sufficient number of these people working in the Yukon and Northwest Territories and near Canada lands across the country to provide quick efficient services at a reasonable cost.
The association has already demonstrated its leadership in this area since 1990 by preparing videos and holding seminars across Canada explaining the survey legislation and the Canada lands surveyors examination process.
The fourth key area addressed by Bill C-31 involves discipline and complaints procedures and provisions which will be implemented by the association. These new provisions and procedures significantly improve the current system and better protect members of the profession and the public and clients who call upon the services of Canada lands surveyors.
Ninety-nine per cent of the people actively working in the field carry out their duties with full professionalism and respect for quality, standards and service. Common to self-regulating professions is the ability to investigate complaints concerning performance and standards. As a result of Bill C-31 the association will be able to investigate complaints and to impose a range of penalties appropriate to the situation should fault occur. This will both protect the public interest and safeguard the reputation and integrity of Canada lands surveyors.
Once this legislation comes into effect all Canada lands surveyors who want to conduct legal surveys on Canada lands will have to be members of the association and will be required to carry liability insurance. This will ensure that the association is in a position to monitor, govern and self police the professional standards and conduct of Canada lands surveyors.
The proposed legislation is carefully designed to preserve and maintain the integrity of the Canada lands survey system. The Surveyor General of Canada Lands will continue to be responsible for the standards of property or legal surveys of Canada lands. Likewise the surveyor general will continue to be responsible for the standards of survey documentation submitted to the Canada lands survey records. Boundary commissions, descriptions of federal electoral districts, and surveys required by native land claims also remain under the jurisdiction of the surveyor general.
The benefits of the profession to the clients and to the Government of Canada are clear. With the provisions of Bill C-31 in place, the standards of conduct required of Canada lands surveyors will be enhanced to the level already in place provincially. Members of the profession will be assured that their fellow Canada lands surveyors have all met and continue to meet the high professional standards and requirements of the commission they bear so proudly.
The Canadian public will have the assurance and protection of a self-governing professional association to whom they can turn with complaints and concerns about the professional competence or conduct of Canada lands surveyors whenever that may be necessary. The promotion of the profession by the association will encourage new recruits to join the ranks of the Canada lands surveyors ensuring that qualified people are available across the country to carry out these important surveys. The government will have at its service a pool of professionals whose skills are continuously updated and current as we continue to shape and define the boundaries of lands we hold and manage in trust for the people of Canada.
In conclusion, I would like to thank hon. members for providing me with this opportunity to speak to this important bill, Bill C-31. I also appreciate the level of co-operation which I understand exists in the House today in terms of the furtherance of this bill.
