President’s Message – March 9, 2020

Remember to Vote in CCO’s Elections!

Later today, eligible voters will receive a ballot for the elections taking place in Districts 1, 5 and 6.

CCO has regularly made improvements to the election process, including a change to electronic voting within the last few years to facilitate maximum participation by members in the process.

However, I want to draw your attention to changes in the election process that were occasioned by some events in last year’s election cycle.

In 2019, CCO received several complaints about the election process. CCO members raised concerns about efforts made by some individuals (including some who are not members or chiropractic patients) to influence the media’s coverage of the CCO’s election, or otherwise pressure members in favour of a specific candidate. Some organizations appeared to attempt to influence voting in favour of a candidate who aligned with their perspectives on chiropractic. And complaints were received about candidates inappropriately using e-mail databases of eligible voters that CCO had previously provided to candidates.

As a result, in 2020, CCO made many improvements to the election process designed to ensure fair elections, and to ensure professional, respectful communication by not only the candidates themselves, but also by others who may be supporting particular candidates. 

All candidates in the 2020 elections are in good standing with CCO and are eligible to run for election. Once elected or appointed to Council, Council members have one overarching objective – to support and facilitate CCO’s role in enhancing public protection and in ensuring the public of Ontario receives competent, ethical chiropractic care. 

You should also be aware that the current system of electing members from within the province to serve on the College’s Council may not be the way of the future. Many regulators, including CCO, have supported a transition to smaller more nimble boards where the composition of the board (for both professional and public members) is based on skills and competencies that demonstrate a commitment to public interest protection. Stay tuned for possible legislative changes in this regard.

For those members who are not candidates in the elections, please note there are many ways for you to become involved with CCO. Those opportunities include voting, participating in feedback to CCO’s circulation of documents, attending a Council meeting, being a peer assessor, or forwarding your name expressing an interest in serving on one of CCO’s committees. CCO committee work is reliant on the contributions of the non-Council committee members who attend meetings, provide feedback and participate in decision making. CCO committees will be composed on April 16, 2020. If you are interested, please forward your letter and curriculum vitae to CCO.

CCO is committed to openness and transparency in the exercise of its statutory responsibilities under the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991. Here is a link to CCO’s mission, vision, values and strategic objectives. If you want to know more about the work of CCO, I encourage you to review the information on CCO’s website and to familiarize yourself with CCO’s meeting materials.

I would like to thank each of the candidates for putting their name forward to serve on CCO Council. I look forward to continuing to harness everyone’s skills and abilities to support enhancing public protection and exercising CCO’s statutory responsibilities. I would also like to thank all members for your engagement in the election process. There are over 5,000 members of CCO in Ontario. I have confidence that each of you will carefully review the biographies of the candidates and cast an informed vote. 

Dr. Dennis Mizel, President