FEATURE STORY
The Value of Public Members: Bill 30 Leads to Change BY DEBBY WALDMAN
WHEN MURRAY HIEBERT JOINED the Alberta College of Social Workers (ACSW) Council as a public member in 2014, his knowledge of the profession was limited: he assumed that there were a few hundred social workers in the province, most of them in the field of child protection.
of the members of the profession,” she says. She wanted the opportunity to bring similar value to a board, so she responded to a newspaper ad for public members. Then she had an interview and was put into a pool of preauthorized public members.
After five years on the Council, the retired consultant from Calgary not only has a comprehensive understanding of the profession, he has boundless admiration for those who practice it.
In addition to her law degree, Delfs has a master’s degree in international development and experience in the global fight against human trafficking. She suspects that made her a good fit for the ACSW. Her three-year term began in 2018 and she says she intends to renew her commitment. She also serves on the board of Homeward Trust Edmonton and is a member of the City of Edmonton Subdivision and Development Appeal Board. LAURA DELFS “My experiences serving on various boards have been very positive,” says Delfs. “My board work typically provides an opportunity to work alongside competent, interesting people, and certainly with a regulatory board, these are also people that are committed to their profession. Because serving on a board is time-consuming, I think people who volunteer with their professional regulatory body are often very interesting people, very inspiring people, very committed people. I like interacting with people like that.”
MURRAY HIEBERT
“My only regret is that the people of Alberta don’t know enough of what social workers do,” he says. “They don’t understand the impact that social workers have on the lives of Albertans, particularly in times of need. It was a big learning experience for me.”
The ACSW has had public members on its council for more than 20 years, and the number is about to double. Bill 30, the Health Statutes Amendment Act 2020 which the Alberta government tabled in July, has increased the required percentage of public members on regulatory colleges’ governing councils, hearing tribunals, and complaint review committees from 25 percent to 50 percent. The change will come into effect on April 1, 2021. Although the government posts openings for specific agencies, boards and commissions, applicants don’t always know until they are chosen where they will serve. That was the case for Laura Delfs, an Edmonton lawyer with previous experience working with a regulatory board. She was inspired to fill out an application, recognizing from her prior experience that public members have much to contribute. “I think public members bring an interesting perspective, one that is often quite different from that 16
SPRING 2021
Public members are invited to participate in other functions of the ACSW by serving on committees. Delfs is a member of the ACSW’s Registration committee, and also chaired an ad hoc committee that made recommendations to Council about balancing the ACSW’s advocacy and regulatory roles. Bukola Oladunni Salami, an associate professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta who also serves as a public member on the Council with Delfs, joined the committee responsible for publishing the Advocate.
