Association Registrars

Regulation and the Function of the Registrar

Certain professions and occupations in Canada are self-governed by professional regulatory organizations, which receive their authority through provincial legislation. These organizations are responsible for developing regulations, standards of practice, codes of ethics and other related bylaws that govern their members and ensure the public interest is protected and public safety is maintained.

The person responsible for enacting these functions is known as the Registrar.

The Canadian Oxford Dictionary defines registrar as “an official responsible for keeping a register or official records.”

Definitions of Registrar in the Acts

The 1896 Act (The Manitoba Civil Engineers Act)

The 1896 Act is quite prescriptive regarding the responsibilities, with Section 15 generally describing the duties and with Section 16 describing the harsh penalty associated with failure to undertake the responsibilities.

Section 15 reads:

The Council shall cause to be kept by an officer appointed by it, to be called the Registrar, a book or register, in which shall be entered the name of every person registered as a member of the Society, according to the provisions of this Act, and those persons only whose names are inscribed in the book or register above mentioned shall be deemed to be members of the Society, and such book or register shall at all reasonable times be open for inspection by any member of the Society or by any other person.

Section 16 reads:

If the Registrar shall willfully make or cause to be made any falsification in any matter relating to the register, or shall refuse to allow the register to be to be inspected, he shall be deemed to be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall on conviction thereof be imprisoned for any term not exceeding twelve months.

The 1913 Act

This version of the Act still effectively The Manitoba Civil Engineers Act, retained that same wording.

The 1920 Act

However, the 1920 Act provided separate definitions of registrar and secretary with ”registrar” means registrar of the association” and ““secretary” means the secretary-treasurer of the association”.

Title of Registrar

The Association publication 25th Anniversary Year Book – Association of Professional Engineers of The Province of Manitoba, i.e. 1945, lists the composition of Councils of the Association from 1920 through 1945. In that publication the registrar is listed as ‘Secretary-Treasurer and Registrar’ for all years. It has been effectively the same since then but with the order generally shown as Registrar and Secretary.

Registry

One of the main administrative duties of the Registrar was to manage a the registry of members (which in the 2020s changed to practitioners). The registry included the full name of the member, a record of education or membership in accredited engineering professional organizations such as Member of Engineering Institute of Canada, employment title, place of employment including address and personal address. An annual membership list was published in a booklet and made available to whomever requested a copy. One example was published in the 25th anniversary Book which can be found here https://enggeomb-heritage.a2hosted.com/index.php/File:1945_-_25th_Anniversary_Book.pdf

As the Association got organized, one aspect of managing the registry was the to issue signed membership cards each year so that the member could share their membership status with whoever needed to know. Once signed by the registrar, the card verified that the member was in good standing with the Association. The card would have been used for Association matters like attendance at meetings or work-related matters, like to verify to your employer that you were registered as a professional. Some employers would require such proof while others did not. It is not known when the process started but certainly lasted for the better part of 50 years ending sometime after 2005. In the 1960s and perhaps earlier a booklet titled the Membership Roster was provided to all members with some of the earlier editions containing paid commercial advertising.

The task of signing registration cards was less onerous in the early years when the membership was in the 100s but as the membership number grew it became a significant undertaking but included the member’s individually typed name. The following examples from long-time member Charlie R. Bouskill personal collection illustrate the format of the card and highlight the changing Registrars over time.

Charlie Bouskill 1956 Membership card
Charlie Bouskill 1964 Membership card
Charlie Bouskill 1965 Membership card

Grant Koropatnick incorporated a hard copy plastic card during his time to further simply the process.

Dave Ennis Honary Life Member card

The Signature

The Signature - The use of the members’ signature was used in many of the Association functions. Attendance at meetings was recorded in an attendance journal, meeting after meeting and year after year. Each member’s signature was the main DNA that the Association relied upon to verify participation in Association affairs.

Insert sample image of the registration book.

Inspection of the Registry

An indicator of the responsibility of the function of the registrar is that a section of the very first act, in 1896, reads “If the Registrar shall willfully make or cause to be made any falsification in any matter relating to the register, or shall refuse to allow the register to be inspected, he shall be deemed to be guilty of a misdemeanour, and shall on conviction thereof be imprisoned for any term not exceeding twelve months.

Compensation

It is not known whether the registrar was compensated in any way. One indication of the probability of an honorarium compensation could be that The Manitoba Professional Engineer in its July 1957 edition in reporting on C.S. Landon’s Honorary Degree, notes that “He can be found behind his desk in the Association office every day but Sunday”. He would have been 68 years of age at that time and might have been volunteering in retirement.

Support Staff

It is known that at one point a permanent secretary (not the secretary of the corporation) presumably Loreen Dunkley, was hired.

Al Myska recalled that when he started with Templeton Engineering (1962 - 1965 and 1966 - ) Loreen Dunkley was so ‘active’ in APEM, I thought she ran the Association.

It is also known that the eighth Registrar, Terry Algeo, was a salaried employee and that at some point had the working title of General Manager and Registrar. Early in the tenure of the thirteenth Registrar, Dave Ennis, the title became Executive Director and Registrar. In the term of the fourteenth, Grant Koropatnick, the title changed to CEO and Registrar. One expects that those working titles evolved along with the operations of the Association, the size of the staff, and the norms of the times.

Persons Who Served as Registrars of the Association

G.L. Guy 1920 – 1923
P. Burke Gaffney 1924 – 1925
Jas. Quail 1926 –1927
Eric W.M. James 1928 – 1933
C.S. (Charles) Landon 1934 – 1960 (Also President in 1961)
O. (Oscar) Marantz 1961 – 1963 (Also President in 1961)
T.E. (Thomas) Weber 1964 (Also President in 1963)
T. W. (Terrance) Algeo 1965 –1980
K.M. (Kenneth) Jardine 1981 (Also President in 1982)
W. (Walter) Saltzberg 1981 (Also President in 1980)
O.A. (Ben) Rogers 1982 – 1983
E.A. (Ted) Spears 1984 (Also President in 1987)
W.B. (Bill) Mackenzie 1984 –1989
D.A. (Dave) Ennis 1990 – 2005
A.G. (Grant) Koropatnick 2006 – 2022
M.J. (Michael) Gregoire 2023 –

Brief Biography of Registrars

Fifth Registrar - C.S. (Charles) Landon 1934 – 1960

At various times he worked in an engineering capacity for The City of Winnipeg, The Greater Winnipeg Water District, and the Province of Manitoba Highways Department before entering WWI in the 12th Battalion Canadian Railway Troop. Later he served on the Boards of The Greater Winnipeg Sanitary District and The Manitoba Good Roads Association, and as the Commissioner of both The Winnipeg Sanitary District and The Greater Winnipeg Water District.

Sixth Registrar - O. (Oscar) Marantz - 1961

Oscar Marantz was a Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Manitoba at the time of his tenure as the Registrar. He grew up in Winnipeg and graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1942 and obtained a Masters degree from the same university in 1954 seemingly joining the academic staff in the process. He had served on the Association’s Board of Examiner’s prior to his election as Registrar.

Seventh Registrar - T.E. (Thomas) Weber - 1964

In the 1950s, Tom Weber had been a senior engineer in the Drainage Branch of the Department of Public Works of the Province of Manitoba. By 1963 he was the Chief Engineer of the Water Control and Conservation Branch of the Manitoba Department of Agriculture and Conservation. As part of that responsibility, the head of the Red River Floodway Division, which designed and administered the construction of the Floodway reported directly to him.

He had previously participated in committees of the Association and had been the Chair of the Civil section of the Engineering Institute of Canada.

Eighth Registrar - T. W. (Terrance) Algeo 1965 – 1980

Terry Algeo had graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1950 with a degree in electrical, the same year as many veterans of WWII. He too had served in the RCAF in Europe.

His career in engineering had involved automotive manufacturing companies nationally. He then moved to an engineering services company in Manitoba, Pritchard Engineering Company, where he was responsible for all phases of its engineering.

Nineth Registrar - K.M. (Kenneth) Jardine - 1981

Ken Jardine graduated from the University of Manitoba with a degree in civil engineering in 1953. In 1981 he was the Executive Director of Planning and Design at the Manitoba Department of Highways.

Tenth Registrar - W. (Walter) Saltzberg - 1981

Walter Saltzberg graduated from the University of Manitoba with a degree in civil engineering in 1957 and joined the Manitoba Department of Highways. In 1981 his position with the Department was Chief Bridge Construction Engineer.

Eleventh Registrar - O.A. (Ben) Rogers 1982 – 1983

Ben Rogers graduated from the University of Manitoba in Electrical Engineering in 1973. He had served in the RCAF before starting his engineering education as a mature student. Before joining the Association, he worked as at the Traffic Operations Division of the Manitoba Highways Department during which time he was active on Association Committees.

Twelfth Registrar - E.A. (Ted) Spears - 1984

Ted Speers graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1949 in Chemical Engineering. In 1984 he was the President of E.A. Speers & Associates a Winnipeg based company which specialized in research and development and consulting. He served on Committees of the Association – most notably the Bulletin Committee which published the Manitoba Professional Engineer.

Thirteenth Registrar - W.B. (Bill) Mackenzie 1984 –1989

Bill Mackenzie graduated from the University of Manitoba with a degree in civil engineering in 1948. He had also graduated from the last class of the Commonwealth Air Training Program. His career took him to employers in Manitoba, then Montreal and Toronto, and back to Winnipeg. By the time he started at the Association he was employed with a steel building manufacturer in Winnipeg.

Fourteenth Registrar - D.A. (Dave) Ennis 1990 – 2005

Dave Ennis graduated from the University of Manitoba with a degree in civil engineering in 1961. His career started with the Bridge Division of the Manitoba Department of Highways under the tutelage of future Association Presidents George De Pauw and Walter Saltzberg. From there he worked for a heavy construction contractor, Macaw & Macdonald Ltd., before moving to the Association in 1987 as the Act Enforcement Officer.

Fifteenth Registrar - A.G. (Grant) Koropatnick 2006 – 2022

Grant Koropatnick graduated from the University of Manitoba with a degree in civil engineering in 1983. His career had been in facilities management at the University of Manitoba and with Pembina Trails School Division.

Sixteenth Registrar - M.J. (Michael) Gregoire 2023 –

Michael Gregoire graduated for the University of Manitoba with a degree in Biosystems Engineering in 2002. His career had been in the engineering consulting sector before becoming employed as the Professional Standards Officer of the Association for 16 years. He earned an MBA during that period.

Compiled By

Dave Ennis, P. Eng. Life Member, FEC

Posted by Glen N. Cook, P.Eng.(SM), FEC