INNOVATION July-August 2012

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recommended that those levels presented in APEGBC, 2010, (repeated in this paper), be adopted by those provincial and territorial jurisdictions.

Concluding Remarks Although written into some Canadian legislation, regulations, guidelines and other requirements, there is no agreed upon definition of “geotechnical” or “geotechnical engineering” in Canada and therefore, Canadian geotechnical practice, including the study of landslides, is essentially only self-regulated, or, rather, regulated by peer opinion. Several recommendations arise from this review: 1) It is recommended that the appropriate professional associations, in conjunction with the Canadian Geotechnical Society, appropriately define “geotechnical” and “geotechnical engineering.” 2) It is recommended that Canadian engineers and geoscientists who carry out landslide studies are made aware of, and possess, appropriate minimum levels of education, training and experience, and remain current through continuing professional development.

Acknowledgement and Note This article is an abridged version of a paper originally prepared under the auspices of the Natural Resources Canada Public Safety Geoscience Project: Canadian Technical Guidelines and Best Practices related to Landslides: a National Initiative for Loss Reduction (VanDine, 2011). This article is a distillation of a great deal of information provided by many professional engineers and geoscientists from across Canada. Their contribution is heartily acknowledged. v Doug VanDine PEng/PGeo FEC works as VanDine Geological Engineering of Victoria, BC. Dr Wayne Savigny PEng/PGeo is Senior Engineer/Geoscientist with BGC Engineering of Vancouver, BC. Combined they have over 75 years of landslide experience in BC, Canada and abroad.

3) Until such levels as referenced above in recommendation 2 are sanctioned by the appropriate professional associations, it is

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