COBC Newsletter November 2022
Blanketing Ceremony | Upcoming AGM | New legislation | Blanketing ceremony On September 30, COBC participated in a blanketing ceremony on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. The ceremony was led by Joe Gallagher (k’wunəmɛn) of Tla’amin Nation, Principal at Qoqoq Consulting Ltd., and Sulksun (Shane Pointe), proud member of the Coast Salish Nation and the Musqueam Indian Band, and Knowledge Keeper to all. COBC was one of eleven health regulatory colleges to mark the implementation of a new practice standard through this ceremony. Our Indigenous Cultural Safety, Cultural Humility, and Anti-Racism standard is now in effect. BC Health Regulators shared more information about the ceremony and the practice standard in a recent story. | Photo by Michael Sean Lee: Blanketed registrars listening to Knowledge Keeper regarding the significance of the ochre placed on the ground before them
(Left to right) Suzanne Solven, CPBC (Pharmacists); Andrea Kowaz, CPBC (Psychologists); Jonathan Ho, CTCMA; Cameron Cowper, CSHBC; Suzanne Paul, CPTBC; Rick Gambrel, CDOBC; Lisa Bannerman, COBC; Kathy Corbett, COTBC; Lee Dorner, CNPBC; Joanie Bouchard, CDBC; Michelle Da Roza, CCBC | COBC was deeply honoured to participate in this ceremony, which coincided with the second annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Photo by Michael Sean Lee: The College of Optometrists of BC and the College of Opticians of BC connect before the blanketing ceremony
(Left to right) Rick Gambrel, CDOBC Registar/CEO; Peter Luongo, COBC Board Chair; Lisa Bannerman, COBC Registrar/Executive Director; Kim McEachern, COBC Board Member/Finance Officer) | | The adoption of the Indigenous Cultural Safety, Cultural Humility, and Anti-Racism practice standard is a significant milestone on COBC's journey towards a more safe and inclusive health care system in BC. We continue to update our Cultural Safety and Humilty page with resources for opticians, and we look forward to sharing an update very soon on another exciting project we've been working on related to decolonization. | COBC's Annual General Meeting COBC's 2022 AGM will take place online on Thursday, November 24, beginning at 9:00 AM. The virtual meeting is open to all registrants and members of the public. We hope to see you there! Register for the AGM | | COBC & OAC: Who Does What? As self-regulated health professionals, opticians have an obligation to act in the best interests of both the public and the profession. In BC, this obligation is supported by two organizations: the College of Opticians of BC (COBC) and the Opticians Association of Canada (OAC). The work of the regulator and the association is interconnected. For this reason, it can sometimes be difficult to differentiate the two—and to know who to contact when you have a question. COBC has developed a resource to support opticians and members of the public in understanding the role of each organization. Find out more | | You may already have a copy of this new resource if you happened to run into us at the OAC's Western Conference in Burnaby last month! It was our pleasure to see many familiar faces and get acquainted with new ones at the Student Night, the Trade Show, and the Town Hall. We're grateful to the organizers and participants for making this event a great success. | The COBC staff team at the Trade Show on October 15, 2022
(Left to right) Madeline Neufeld, Manager of Registration; Christopher Dodge, Deputy Registrar/Manager of Quality Assurance; Lisa Bannerman, Registrar/Executive Director; Meagan Marsh, Manager of Inquiry and Discipline (Not pictured: Sharon Lee, Coordinator of Strategic Initiatives) | CCP cycle ending soon If you are currently in the third and final year of your continuing education cycle, you must fulfill all the requirements of your Continuing Competency Program (CCP) no later than December 31, 2022. The program is self-managed, so you are responsible for ensuring that all the steps have been completed in the online system. | | This includes: taking the assessment(s), creating goals for yourself, finding and completing activities to achieve those goals, and reflecting on how it went. Please log in to your profile on the COBC website to log your progress. If you have questions about CCP, you can visit our website to access guides and tools or contact Christopher Dodge, our Manager of Quality Assurance. | Unsure when your cycle ends? Log in to your COBC account and navigate to the HOME tab to see your cycle end date, along with other important dates related to your registration. (If you can't see any dates in your HOME tab, it may be that you need to complete your log-in security questions!) | | Vacancies on the Board The deadline to apply to join the COBC Board is January 7, 2023. Any interested registrant, in any BC region, may apply by sending a resume and cover letter to cdodge@cobc.ca. In particular, we are encouraging applications from Indigenous registrants, members of racialized groups, individuals identifying as LGBTQIA2S+, and those with lived experience of physical, cognitive, or mental health conditions. Find out more and apply | | New legislation: Health Professions and Occupations Act The Government of British Columbia has introduced new legislation to replace the Health Professions Act, which currently governs health regulatory colleges in BC. The new legislation, the Health Professions and Occupations Act, will undergo a series of reviews before coming into effect; however, COBC has already begun collaborating with our colleagues in other health regulatory colleges on plans for its implementation. We will provide updates to our registrants and stakeholders as this work gets underway. | | Perhaps most notable for opticians is the new Act's recommendation to reduce the number of regulatory colleges in BC by amalgamating existing regulators. Additional information about amalgamation can be found in the government's press release, which specifically notes the government's intention to "combine the colleges for dietitians, occupational therapists, opticians, optometrists, physical therapists, psychologists, and speech and hearing professionals into one regulator." Read COBC's full announcement Read the Government of BC press release | Do you know whose land you live on? Meagan Marsh joined COBC as Manager of Inquiry and Discipline in 2016, after relocating from the territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples represented by the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations and the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. She resided on the traditional and unceded territories of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem First Nation) and other Coast Salish peoples for five years. She now lives and works on the traditional and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people on Epekwitk in Mi’Kma’ki. | College of Opticians of BC operates on the traditional, ancestral and unceded Coast Salish territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. | Unsubscribing from this email will revoke your consent to receive email correspondence from us as outlined in Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). We will no longer be able to send you important reminders pertaining to your licence, which may affect your registration with the College of Opticians of BC. Please contact us if you have any questions. | | | | |
