Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER March 7, 2016 12 NEWS EmploymentSource™ Works as hard for you as you do for your clients Our premier employment content on WestlawNext® Canada is integrated with relevant case law, legislation, expert commentary and legal memos, allowing you to manage your practice in the most efficient way possible. It's the complete mix of resources you need to confidently advise on compliance, defend occupational and health and safety charges, or prepare successful dismissal or termination strategies. 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Associate membership As for Quebec being an associate member, it's far more important that the province is at the table because it should mostly be about collaboration, said Turnbull. "If you have to have a hard vote and to be counting the votes to figure out if you're going to win or lose, then you probably haven't discussed the issue enough be- cause the nature of (CCHRA) should be collaborative, and 99 times out of 100, it shouldn't have issues that it has to respond to in a quick and emergency fashion. So it should have time to form com- mittees and talk to members and meeting amongst themselves to go back and talk to the provinces and come back again." While not a full member, CRHA has been coming to CCHRA meetings and is willing to contribute in many different ways, said Ariganello. "The difference is they'll be paying in kind eventually through PD (professional development) content that they will supply and share with the other provinces… and some of the exam costs," he said, adding CCHRA is revisit- ing its national exam as it has been using a United States ven- dor and it's probably time to "go Canadian." ere's also the chance Quebec will become a full member. "What they stated there is they want to see the continuing evolution and strategic plan for CCHRA to demonstrate to their members the value," he said. For now, CRHA is joining as an associate member, said Poirier. "e idea for us is to come back to the table and collaborate with the national initiative, but I guess we did that transition to see if we can actually have a full member- ship with the Canadian council. So we'll see with time." If the associations can all work together, it's for the best, she said. "I mean, does it need to be one association? I don't know, but as long as we're working to- wards the same goal and using a coherent and constant approach, it would be ideal. To me, it's not about which organization would be better or stronger, it's how can we collectively make it that HR professionals get the recognition they deserve and they continue to better their competencies and that the public understand that they are protected when there's HR people." Synergies As for potential synergies, self- regulation is one area of com- monality since CRHA is already a professional order. "ere are a lot of other associa- tions and other provinces that are working towards becoming a pro- fessional order so I'm sure that all the work that Quebec has done to get to that status, we can probably contribute and help other associa- tions to get that status of profes- sional order," said Poirier. "ere's a lot of services that we offer our members that… would be of interest to other provinces, but overall (it's about) just work- ing together to further the profes- sion and its credibility in the Ca- nadian market — that's our main driver." ere are definitely synergies in terms of how CRHA regulates its members for the protection of the public, said McNelly. "We learn what works and what doesn't from Quebec. ey have a very impressive relation- ship with government and so we want to learn and understand from that because we see the value of connecting with govern- ment, ensuring that any changes that are related to HR in terms of employment practices, that HRIA and other provinces are interested primary stakeholders for the gov- ernment to rely upon for advice and guidance." Quebec brings a lot to the table in terms of its size and numbers, said Gauthier. "ey've spent a lot of time in their province developing and looking at the ethics and standards and credentialing requirements and all those kinds of things." And on the professional devel- opment side, it's about working together to ensure the associa- tions are providing a high level for all members, he said. One of Quebec's strengths is in professional development, which generates 40 per cent of the or- der's revenue, said Ariganello. "ere's synergy there for the other provinces to capitalize on and work together with Quebec." ere's actually a lot of com- monality with CRHA and even though it departed the national body several years ago, it still has a very similar competency frame- work along with a national exam, he said. "The framework is not that apart and that distant, so they felt a lot of synergy that can be had, both at a national level and pro- vincial level." e Quebec association should also be interested in CCHRA's push to have a voice for HR at the federal level and also launch re- search projects that could be used both nationally and provincially, said Ariganello. "ose are the things they really want to get some value out of… and, of course, our international alliances." No voting rights, fees for Quebec QUEBEC < pg. 1 Manon Poirier, general manager, Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés du Québec "Does it need to be one association? I don't know but as long as we're working towards the same goal and using a coherent and constant approach, it's ideal."

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