We, the undersigned, are responding to the College’s call for consultation regarding its proposed changes in the bylaws governing its election model by expressing that we unequivocally DO NOT SUPPORT any of the proposed changes that:

1. Deny dentists the eligibility for College Board position if they have been a director or candidate of other dental professional associations within three years.
2. Limit the eligibility for Treasurer position to only College Board or Committee members who have served within five years.
3. Remove the accountability of the elected officers (President, Vice-President and Treasurer) to an annual democratic election process.

We are concerned that the proposed limitation on candidate eligibility, combined with the current volunteer admission process (by selection only), has the essence of, depriving the College Board the ability to attract quality leaders with proven track record in a timely manner, or worse yet, making it progressively closed-minded.

We would also like to add that there is no evidence to support the lack of continuity and consistency in the current election and succession model. Elected officer positions were filled by acclamation in most of the ten years from 2004 to 2014. The natural conclusion is that the registrants had found most of the College policies and decisions supportable.

Continuity and consistency cannot exist in isolation, without the balance of a sound election structure. The potential danger of a regulatory body that exists in isolation is that it will progressively lose accountability, trust, and ultimately support from its registrants. A regulatory body with the confidence of its registrants will be most effective and relevant in its mandate to protect the public.

We urge the College to seriously re-examine the detrimental effects of the proposed changes to the elections bylaws as stated above, and work toward fostering an open, inclusive, evidence-based and accountable College that is annually accountable to the electorate.