I am writing this from my home in Surrey, BC, on the unceded ancestral and traditional territories of the Coast Salish Nations of Katzie, Tsawwassen, Stolo, Wasanec, and Kwantlen.
The next ceremony of the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer will occur at the Vancouver Convention Centre, East Exhibit Hall A, on March 30, 2023. Registered candidates and guest presenters can begin checking in at 2:30 pm and everyone should be there by 3:45 pm, when the doors will be closed. The ceremony will begin at 4 pm and finish before 5:30 pm. We are looking forward to seeing each of you and taking the Obligation together.
We recently held an online webinar informational briefing to give you some background on what to expect at the ceremony. One candidate requested an advance copy of the Obligation that you will take. Historically, many of the camps have not shared this information prior to the ceremony, not for secrecy, but for privacy. Following the candidate’s request, we reviewed this policy and decided it was out-dated, and so we are pleased to include a link here to the words of the Obligation. I would ask that you read it and familiarize yourself with these words prior to March 30.
I also want to remind you that this Obligation is not an Oath. It is not swearing on any God other than your own. It is not religious or sacred. But it is an obligation. It is a promise you will be making on your own honour. The iron ring you will receive will be a symbol of that promise you are making to yourself and to your colleagues, to practice engineering in a sound, safe and ethical manner.
Here also is a link to the webinar briefing in case you missed it, and a link to a PDF summarizing the key background information.
We continue to work to make this ceremony meaningful and welcoming to all. We are pleased that we have added two new alternate wardens (Karen Savage and Maria Lo) to Camp 5 this year. We are looking forward to hearing from our guest speakers, David Ward, P.Eng., of the Lilwat Nation, and Bowinn Ma, P.Eng., MLA North Vancouver-Lonsdale at the March 30 ceremony.
As always, if you have any questions, comments, suggestions or ideas, please feel free to reach out to me or the appropriate warden (see Contact Us) and we will do our best to answer (but first check the website to see if the answer is there).
Yours truly,
Neil K. Hemrajani Singh, P.Eng.
The Wardens of CAMP 5 