Council Highlights: January 23, 2025
The 447th meeting of the RCDSO Council was held in person and livestreamed on Thursday, January 23rd, 2025. A recording of the session is available on the College’s You Tube channel. Highlights from the meeting follow.
New Executive Committee
Council elected the following members to serve on the Executive Committee from 2025-2027:
President Dr. Harinder Sandhu
Vice President Dr. Nalin Bhargava
Dentist Representatives Dr. Erin Walker
Public Representatives Marc Trudell and Brian Smith
Incoming President, Dr. Harinder Sandhu thanked Council for their collaborative spirit, collective leadership and shared commitment to the public interest. Dr. Sandhu outlined a few priorities for the next two years and beyond including: a long-term vision; a commitment to equitable care; a focus on transparency in governance; PLP divestment progress; a professionalism guide; guidance for the ethical use of emerging technologies; and Council self-evaluation.
New Council Members and Committee Members
Council welcomed new elected members: Dr. Neil J. Gajjar (District 4), Dr. Daniel Fortino (District 5) and Dr. Eilyad Honarparvar (District 11) to serve from 2025-2027. A full list of Council is available here.
The Governance Committee recommended to Council a slate of Committee Chairs and members of the College’s seven statutory and five standing committees. The slate was approved by Council and is available at RCDSO Committees.
Regulation: Professional Liability Program (PLP) divestment
Work continues on the process to transfer the PLP to a third party, with the goal of allowing the program to continue to operate, under separate ownership.
Council approved consultation on draft amendments to the registration regulation to establish a framework that will ensure registrants obtain and maintain liability coverage once PLP is divested. Additional changes to the registration regulation were also proposed in order to streamline the registration processes and reduce registration barriers. Note that the minimum requirements for coverage are being developed to be in effect after the divestment, but they will be addressed using a bylaw revision.
A survey on the proposed amendments is available here. If approved, staff will submit the final regulation amendments to the Minister shortly after the March Council meeting.
These proposed changes are not in effect and do not impact current coverage. Dentists should continue to contact PLP directly for advice or assistance.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of Council will be hybrid and held on March 27th, 2025 at Vantage Venues, 150 King West, Toronto and via Zoom. The meeting will also be livestreamed.