Geotechnical News March 2011
15
CGS NEWS
The mission of the CGS is “
To initi-
ate and pursue efforts leading to the
technical competence and excellence
of Canadian geotechnical and geo-
sciences professionals”
. This mission
is as meaningful now as it was when
written. For those interested, the ad-
ministrative manual of the CGS is in-
cluded in the members section on our
website and is useful reading for those
interested in our affairs – few societies
have such a comprehensive outline of
their organization. As further example,
Dr. Vic Sowa presented me with a daily
planner of duties and schedule for the
coming year, just in case my memory
needed a reminder!!
Looking back, the 2010 CGS Annu-
al Conference in Calgary and the 2009
Conference in Halifax were both very
successful. Looking forward, the CGS
will host the 14th Pan-American Con-
ference on Soil Mechanics and Geo-
technical Engineering, the 64th Ca-
nadian Geotechnical Conference and
the
at the Sheraton Centre
Hotel in Toronto, Ontario from October
2 to 6, 2011. This is the first joint con-
ference with the International Society
for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical
Engineering since a similar conference
in Vancouver in 1982. All members of
the CGS are urged to attend this impor-
tant conference.
From May 15 to 17, the 5
th
Cana-
dian Conference on Geotechnique
and Natural Hazards is being held in
Kelowna and from September 18 to 21,
Slope Stability 2011: the International
Symposium on Rock Slope Stability in
Open Pit Mining and Civil Engineer-
ing is taking place in Vancouver. Look
to the Calendar of Events on our CGS
website
for more informa-
tion on these conferences, both of which
are supported by the CGS. Kelowna is
a great place to be in May, right next to
Lake Okanagan, and if you did not visit
Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics,
the Olympic flame statue will still be
there in September when you attend the
Slope Stability conference.
All of the above events originated
from the hard work of CGS members.
These events are part of the continuing
practice and teaching of geotechnical
engineering, which continues to grow
and prosper in Canada. Canadians are
leaders in many aspects of geotech-
nique and continue to develop new
techniques and ideas. One of our great
strengths is the development of young
geotechnical talent through advanced
education and transfer of experience.
Key to this is the mentoring of young
engineers – to that end CGS embraces
and fosters mentoring of young geo-
technical professionals. If this is im-
portant to you, then being a member of
the CGS should be as well!
My two initiatives for this two-year
term are to a start an Oil Sands Geo-
technique Committee and to expand
strategic planning in the CGS. Strate-
gic planning will be pursued at length
over the next two years. The Oil Sands
initiative may become part of a larger
mining initiative, one of which will
come to fruition in 2011. For those in-
terested in the Oil Sands, seven distin-
guished scientists from the Royal So-
ciety of Canada just published a report
on the present environmental status of
that area. This interesting reading is
available from the Royal Society of
Canada website,
Being a volunteer President of this
distinguished learned society carries
with it the triple responsibilities of
honouring those geotechnical engi-
neers who have built this society, ad-
dressing the needs of our current mem-
bership who inevitably seek value for
their annual dues, and gauging the fu-
ture so that our society continues to be
relevant to our members. These are our
challenges over the next two years!
Le
Message du président
Chers collègues,
Ceci est mon premier message pour
les membres de la Société Canadienne
de Géotechnique (SCG) dans mon
nouveau rôle de Président pour la du-
rée de 2011/2012. D’abord, je tiens à
remercier le Président sortant, Michel
Aubertin, et son Comite exécutif (CE),
pour leurs réalisations et leur travail
acharné au cours de cette dernière péri-
Bank and its affiliates were original ad-
dressees thereof; provided, however,
that U. S. Bank and its affiliates shall be
deemed not to be subject to or bound by
any of the obligations of any original
addressee or owner of the Property in
any agreement related to the Report....”
In essence, this wording would require
environmental professionals to commit
risk management suicide. It gives the
Bank all the benefits of being able to
rely on the report (plus a potential es-
cape from the constraints of the eco-
nomic loss doctrine) with absolutely
none of the liabilities or responsibilities
that comprised the business context
through which the report was devel-
oped. In a best-practices scenario – the
type of scenario to which, I presume,
the Bank subscribes – the client selects
a particularly qualified consultant, dis-
cusses its needs with the consultant, and
then works with the consultant to mutu-
ally establish a scope of service for the
engagement. The consultant and client
then discuss the consideration the con-
sultant needs to fulfill the scope of ser-
vice and manage the risk associated
with potentially lifelong responsibility
for the deliverable. Such consideration
includes the fee
risk man-
agement provis
contract,
such as limitation of liability.
By requiring a consultant to prepare
and sign its form letter, the Bank is stat-
ing, in essence, “We want to be able to
rely on the report indefinitely (and even
if we do not issue the financing, by the
way) without having to accept any of
your contractual safeguards, without
having to compensate you for any of
your customary, anticipated risks, and
without having to compensate you for
your new, significantly expanded risks,
especially the new risk that arises be-
cause you designed your service for
some other party, and with no knowl-
edge of the Bank’s needs and prefer-
ences, and no knowledge of the service
scope the Bank believes is best-suited to
address those needs and preferences.”
To a very real extent, Mr. Grundhofer,
this is like requiring a physician to be li-
able for your health after you decide to
follow the course of treatment the phy-
sician prescribed for your friend whose
illness (in your opinion) was kind of
like your own.
do
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