Quebec association turns leaf with new name and new CEO
May 12, 2015
By
CCE
The Association of Consulting Engineers of Quebec/Association des ingénieurs-conseil du Québec (AICQ) has announced that it is changing its name and has appointed a new president and chief executive officer.
The announcement was made on the evening of May 11 at the Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal, as part of the association’s annual awards celebrations.
Claude Décary, chair of the board of the association, explained that the association will adopt the name of “Association des firmes de génie-conseil – Québec,” and will use the acronym “AFG.” The association’s new name will be put to the vote of members at the annual meeting in June.
Decary said the new name indicates that the association has gone to a new level. The board’s intention is to focus on the positive contribution that consulting engineering firms in Quebec make to the province’s social and economic development, especially in infrastructure, innovation and exports.
In recent years the reputation of the consulting engineering industry in the province has been deeply affected by the fallout from charges of corruption and bribery, especially the evidence aired at the Charbonneau Commission of Inquiry.
Semantically the new name also puts the emphasis on the “company” or “firm” as opposed to the individual “consulting engineer” or “ingénieur-conseil.” The change ties the Quebec association more closely with the national association, ACEC/AFIC- Canada, which stands for the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies/Association des fimes des ingénieurs-conseil – Canada . Most other provincial consulting engineering associations have renamed themselves according to the ACEC format in the past few years, although Consulting Engineers of Ontario, and Consulting Engineers of Alberta have not made the change.
The new president and chief executive officer of the Quebec association is André Rainville. He was formerly chief executive officer of the Ordre des Ingénieurs du Québec (OIQ), which is the province’s engineering licensing body. He has 30 years experience in engineering, including in consulting engineering, public administration and government. He has assumed the post immediately.
André Rainville, new president and chief executive officer of the Quebec association of consulting engineers, or AICQ (to be renamed AFG).
