Dear editor:

As the town welcomes Jordan Frost, its first professional engineer in more than a decade, residents may notice a small but distinctive symbol worn by many Canadian engineers: a plain metal ring on the little finger of the working hand.

This iron ring is neither decorative nor honorary, but carries a meaning unique to Canada.

The ring originates in the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer, first held in 1925 following several tragic engineering failures, most notably the Quebec Bridge collapse, which claimed 75 lives.

The ceremony is administered by the Corporation of the Seven Wardens, an independent body separate from licensing authorities. Engineers receive the ring as a reminder that their professional decisions have real and sometimes irreversible consequences for public safety.

The ring itself is deliberately modest — traditionally iron, now often stainless steel — and is worn so that it touches drawings, documents or keyboards as engineers work.

Its purpose is not to confer status, but to serve as a constant, physical reminder of ethical responsibility and humility.

Canada is unusual in maintaining such a tradition. In many countries, professional accountability is expressed almost entirely through licensure and regulation.

Canada complements those systems with a personal, lifelong reminder that ethical judgment cannot be delegated.

My familiarity with this tradition is personal as well as civic. I have two brothers who are professional engineers, and over the years I have seen how seriously this quiet symbol is taken.

It reflects a distinctly Canadian understanding of professionalism: that public trust rests not only on rules, but on conscience.

Stuart McCormack
NOTL