APEGA past-president Gilliland exonerated
In November 2014, then-APEGA President Dr. Jim Gilliland, P.Eng., resigned in light of a potential conflict of interest. Gilliland is an employee of Williams Engineering Canada Inc., which was named in a case before a provincial court regarding breaches of the Alberta Building Code at the Rocky Mountain Court building parkade.
A recent Court of Queen’s Bench appeal exonerated Williams Engineering. Gilliland, a principal of the firm, was never charged.
An APEGA investigative committee panel report concluded that there was no evidence of unprofessional practice by the permit-holding firm Williams Engineering or by Gilliland. The decision is subject to appeal within 30 days of all parties having been notified.
The panel independently considered the available evidence and compared that to the governing professional standards. The panel, consisting of three professional engineers with a collective 81 years of related experience, decided that Williams Engineering and Gilliland acted appropriately under the circumstances from a professional regulatory standpoint. The panel did not rely on any court decisions in reaching its decision. The investigative committee accepted the recommendation of the panel and dismissed the complaint.
APEGA does not normally confirm whether an investigation is underway but will do so when it is determined to be in the public interest. Nor does APEGA make investigative decisions public, but given the involvement of a past-president and the perceived potential conflict of interest, APEGA elected to make the decision public. APEGA emphasized that making the decision public is not intended to influence or intervene in any future court proceedings.
In November 2014, Gilliland explained that maintaining the integrity of APEGA as a self-regulating entity is critical to maintaining APEGA’s social licence. He added that by stepping down he believed that APEGA’s integrity could not be questioned with regard to its role as a regulator.
“As I stated publicly at the outset, Jim is an outstanding engineer and a man of principle and integrity,” said APEGA CEO Mark Flint, P.Eng. “Going through any investigative process is stressful. Jim can now move on having been formally cleared.”