Every voice counts! It’s your turn to shape the future of our Association.

Highly functioning organizations and associations including ours require strong and effective governance structures. I readily acknowledge that for many physicians, governance isn’t the most exciting subject matter, yet in our professional association of Doctors of BC, effective governance remains vital to our professionalism and our authority. It determines how well each member’s voice is heard, how quickly we respond to your own professional needs, and how effectively we are held accountable to you, our members. And as members, we play a vital role in determining how best to effect this. 

This past year, the Governance Committee has been working diligently toward a robust yet encompassing proposal for a new governance model for our Association – one that would be most nimble and responsive at a board and executive level, while ensuring it provides efficient and effective representation for all members around the province.

The Governance Committee’s new report, “Moving Forward: Proposal for a new governance model,” has now been released which provides detailed information on a proposed new governance model. It is most significant as it was informed by the feedback you and our peers provided in last September’s governance consultation paper. 

The full report, a summary with the key points, Frequently Asked Questions, and the two consultation questions posed to members can be found here. Note: The deadline to provide input is end of day on August 5th, 2016.

The proposed and recommended model would now see the creation of a dual governance structure comprised of a both a significantly smaller Board, and a new Representative Assembly (RA).

The Board will be required to focus on genuine issues of our Association’s governance, with the added ability to be both more nimble and responsive to the Association’s needs. The RA on the other hand will capture the opinions, insights, and sentiments of our diverse membership and provide effective guidance and support to the Board in reaching its decisions.

The members of the RA would be elected representing physicians from both our geographic and field-of-practice / specialty constituencies. To be further inclusive, the RA would also include the appointment of additional RA delegates from key and strategic physician interest groups. The RA itself would have definitive authority within the Association – indeed one of its key roles and responsibilities would be to elect seven of the nine Board members.

The bottom line: I strongly encourage you to participate through the mechanisms noted above and to have your say. Your valued feedback will help us shape a final proposal that will form the subject of a referendum to be administered later this Fall. Our Association – our collective association of peers and colleagues – needs your voice in shaping its future.