[The following article was presented by Mr. Stuart Hunt at the annual Canadian Radiation Protection Association conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. The article is a personal comment on the CRPA intended to spark discussion on the needs of professional radiation protection practitioners in Canada.]

INTRODUCTION
Twenty three years have elapsed since Richard Osborne took the initiative to call a meeting of radiation protection professionals to determine the level of interest in forming what is now known as the Canadian Radiation Protection Association (CRPA). The meeting took place in Toronto with a cross section of the Canadian radiation protection community attending the meeting. For me the timing of the meeting could not have been better. I had decided, earlier in the year, not to renew my Health Physics Society subscription. The primary reason being that the Board of Governors for the Health Physics Society were not prepared, at that time, to consider the formation of a chapter that would address the interests of University and other Radiation Safety Officers. The meeting in Toronto convinced me that there was a future for radiation protection professionals in Canada and that a Canadian radiation protection society or association would be the medium to further their interests. I am still of the opinion that the CRPA is an essential part of the Canadian radiation protection fabric. However, I have to admit that my enthusiasm for the CRPA is not as strong as it was previously. I am of the opinion that I am not the only CRPA member who is questioning the value of a membership the Canadian Radiation Protection Association. To some of this may sound like heresy but take a step backward and take a look at our Association. The CRPA has achieved significant milestones of which the following warrant mention:

• Incorporation of the Association in 1982.
• 1991 - CRPA rebuttal to the Greenpeace document "Canada's Radiation Scandal?"
• Hosting the joint CRPA/IRPA Conference in Montreal.
• CRPA delegation to the IRPA Conference in Japan.
• 1996 CNS/CRPA Symposium on Radiological Impacts from Nuclear facilities on Non-Human Species.
• Supporting a Joint Conference of the CRPA and Health Physics Society in February 2002.
  

It is important that the CRPA maintain a visible presence within the international radiation protection community but not to the detriment of the CRPA within Canada and in particular to its membership. This issue was raised by Jan Burnham back in July 1993 under the heading "Goals of CRPA?" His article included the following statement. "Who do you know outside of the radiation protection fraternity who's ever heard of us?" It is a good question and is just as relevant today as when it was written by Jan.

To be a successful business a business plan is essential. To remain a profitable venture the business plan must be reviewed at regular intervals to identify problems and to correct them before they have a major negative impact on the business. This same concept also applies to the Canadian Radiation Protection Association. The role and direction of the CRPA needs to be reviewed at regular intervals to identify areas of weakness that need to be strengthened or eliminated. One such weakness that is now fairly obvious is the decline in CRPA membership. Before I go any further it should be noted that this discussion is not intended to be an in depth review of the role played by CRPA as a professional association. It is simply a commentary on my observations on what appear to be problem areas within the CRPA. The recommendations suggested at the end of this commentary should be considered.

MEMBERSHIP
The life-blood of any professional association is its membership. They are a source of revenue for the financial stability of the organization but what is perhaps more important they are the source of energy and ideas that help to maintain a vital and thriving professional association. So why is membership in the Canadian Radiation Protection Association declining? Over the past ten years the number of paid up CRPA members has declined by 20%.

For a business, a 20% decline in market share and revenue would be a wake up call, requiring a major review of the business plan. It would appear that the CRPA should also be giving some thought to this decline in membership so that it can be reversed. It is heartening to note that others within the CRPA are attempting to address the declining membership. Steve Webster and his colleagues are to be congratulated for taking the initiative to address the membership issue through the development of promotional literature. The question that still remains is this visual membership promotion going to be enough? If we fail to increase membership and continue to experience a decline in membership we could reach a point, possibly within the next ten years, where we no longer have a critical mass and the CRPA ceases to exist. This may sound alarmist but we Canadians are incurable optimists and tend to ignore the downside until it is too late. So why has our membership declined? The decline appears to be a combination of factors, which include the following:

• Retirements, however, it should be acknowledged that some retired members continue to support the CRPA.
• Deaths, sooner or later we will all have to deal with this problem.
• Funding cutbacks, funds that were available, at one time, for memberships in professional associations have either been reduced or are no longer available. The funds that are available or that have to come out of an individual's pocket will be directed toward those associations that provide their membership with the best value for their membership fee. This is one item that will have to be addressed by the CRPA Board of Directors and the membership at large.
• Failure to attract new and younger members - the CRPA is rapidly becoming a senior citizens club!
• The loss of members who no longer are of the opinion that the CRPA represents their interests.
• Members who have moved out of the radiation protection field or have moved on to greener pastures.
• Failure by the CRPA to raise the profile of the Association, within Canada, to at least the level that the CRPA enjoys within the international radiation protection community.
• A lack of professional recognition through some form of professional practice certification. This is another issue that the Board of Directors must revisit with major input from CRPA members.
  

So what can be done to reverse the decline in membership? There are number of initiatives that can be put into effect. Both Steve Webster and Mike Gray have already identified the membership problems and have taken steps that will hopefully correct the problem. One measure or objective is to employ current members as recruiting agents for new members. Since membership is critical to the health of the CRPA it is important that we take a closer look at this objective.

NEW MEMBERS
If the current membership is to participate in a drive for new members they need to be provided with information on the location and the number of potential members that could be recruited within and outside of their own organization. For example, if we were able to recruit an additional 10% of the individuals currently responsible for radiation protection in Canada the CRPA membership would double. You may well ask where are these people? If you already know where they are so much the better.

When the Canadian Nuclear Safety Control Act and regulations came into effect the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) required all CNSC licensees to appoint or hire a Radiation Safety Officer. At the present time there is somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 CNSC approved licensees in Canada. According to the CNSC the number of licensees increases by about 200 per year. Some of these potential members have been made aware of the role played by the CRPA by Stuart Hunt & Associates. Individuals attending Stuart Hunt & Associates Radiation Safety Officer training courses are given information about the CRPA during an introductory lecture on the role of a Radiation Safety Officer. To date our recruitment success rate appears to be zero. Our failure is certainly not from a lack of trying. In future we will include a copy of the CRPA promotional pamphlet with our course manual to try and improve our success rate. You may well ask why has our success rate been so abysmal because the number of people that we have informed is not small. Is it the author's opinion that the CRPA appears to ignore the professional interests of its membership. In other words the CRPA has nothing to offer new and existing members in the way of professional development or recognition? For example, take a look my business. Stuart Hunt & Associates has three staff members that should be members of the CRPA. None of them are interested in becoming members regardless of the fact that their membership fees are paid by the Company. The reason is simple. They are of the opinion that there is nothing to be gained professionally through a CRPA membership. This is a very serious indictment from individuals who are actively involved in the practice of radiation protection. I personally will continue to support the CRPA until I retire. However when the next generation takes over that support may no longer continue because they do not have the same emotional ties. So how can the CRPA recruit these individuals. The answer is fairly simple - take steps to introduce a CRPA administered Canadian professional certification in radiation protection.

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION
When I left that first gathering of radiation protection professionals in Toronto I came away with the hope that what is now the CRPA would move quickly on the issue of professional certification. At the risk of sounding pessimistic; I could be dead by the time it becomes a fait accompli. I will continue to hope that the current or a future Board of Directors will take the initiative to make it happen.

It is encouraging to note that the current CRPA Board of Directors included several questions on professional certification with the 2001 CRPA Membership Survey. It is hoped that membership response to the survey has provided a representative sample of membership opinion and that the results will be made public. This is not the first time that professional certification has been addressed by the Board of Directors. Several years ago I was a member for a committee that was asked, by the Board of Directors, to establish criteria for professional certification in radiation protection and to make recommendations on how the program could be administered. I did not agree with the proposed certification criteria and cast a dissenting vote. I have often wondered what became of that committee report. The recommendations were never made public so that they could be discussed by the CRPA membership. It is hoped that the current Board of Directors will make the results of the 2001 CRPA Membership Survey on professional certification available to the membership for their review and discussion. The certification issue will require in depth discussion and a clearly defined set of certification criteria. The good news is that there are Canadian and other certification models that can be used to develop one acceptable to the CRPA membership.

ONE FINAL COMMENT - THE CRPA BULLETIN
The CRPA Bulletin can also be used as an indicator to define the level of interest that the CRPA membership has in this publication. It should be noted that none of the following are directed toward Chris Pomroy as Editor of the CRPA Bulletin. Chris has done an excellent job in keeping the Bulletin alive. It must be very frustrating for an Editor to have to keep wondering if there will be sufficient material available to make the next edition of the Bulletin cost effective. Ten years ago the average number of pages for the CRPA Bulletin was 29 pages of editorial comment and articles contributed by members. Commercial advertisements averaged 3 pages. For the last four Bulletins the average page count was 18 pages of editorial comment and articles contributed by members. Commercial advertisements averaged 9 pages. The ratios between each are as follows:

1991 - 91% Editorial 9% Commercial
2002 - 67% Editorial 33% Commercial

There are two disturbing trends here. The first is that we, as members, do not appear to have either the time or interest to contribute articles that would be of general interest to CRPA members. I can be included among the guilty. There are a number of articles that I could have contributed such as the NORM problem that the oil and gas industry is experiencing in both Western and Atlantic Canada. An article on the cash grab that the CNSC plans to inflict on CNSC licensees under the heading of "Cost Recovery" is another topic. The Commission is looking for input from interested and concerned parties. Comments from CRPA members via the Bulletin would be an option.

To be an effective publication the CRPA Bulletin needs to be a forum for radiation protection ideas, discussion and education for both members and the public at large. The bottom line means that, we the membership, are responsible for ensuring that the CRPA Bulletin survives.

The second trend, which at first glance does not appear to be negative, is the increase in commercial advertisements. Strong support of the Bulletin by vendors is good for cash flow and for meeting publication costs. To maintain this support the Bulletin must be able to publish a range of articles that will encourage members to take the time to read the Bulletin and by extension at least take a look at the advertisements. When vendors come to the conclusion that advertising dollars spent on the CRPA Bulletin is not a good investment they will look elsewhere.

SUMMARY
If the CRPA is to continue being an effective organization representing the interests of the Canadian radiation protection community the following items need to be addressed:

• Determine the minimum level of membership that will ensure sustained financial stability for the Association
• Increase membership by promoting career and professional development opportunities that can be gained through membership in the CRPA.
• Establish a professional radiation protection certification program
• Use the CRPA Bulletin to provide instruction on radiation protection theory, analytical techniques and problem solving.
• Increase the national profile of the CRPA
• Actively seek CRPA representation on the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission Board of Governors
• Become more proactive in promoting the role and objectives of the CRPA to other health and safety organizations and the public at large.
  

Some of the items in the above list may be unattainable but as the saying goes "nothing ventured nothing gained." It is also acknowledge that positive change within the CRPA will not occur overnight. This is especially the case when all of the work has to be done by volunteers. However, the CRPA cannot afford to ignore the weaknesses that have to been discussed. They simply will not disappear, they will only become more of a problem when ignored.