74th ORC - 2017-2018 Branch Liaison Report and Communications Report

Second Annual Branch President’s Meeting

We are very pleased to report that our second Branch President’s Meeting was held prior to the 2017 Ontario Regional Council.  We used this meeting to allow Branch President’s the ability to share their experiences.  As Ontario has a large geographic profile, our Branches are located in both urban and rural settings.  The Branch President’s had the opportunity to provide their concerns, best practices, needs, and challenges.  This was a great avenue for the experienced Branch President’s to share their wealth of knowledge with those that were new to the role.

We had a presentation by Pete Jozsa on the new training direction being developed for PIPSC activists and members.  This provided the Branch President’s the ability to share their concerns and training needs for Pete to take back to the National Training and Education Committee. 

We did a show and tell of the new Branch President’s Facebook group and encouraged the President’s to become active in this group.

 

Branch President’s Conference Calls

We held 3 conference calls with our Branch Presidents or their designate. During these calls we covered areas of interest such are lunch and learn funding, the PIPSC AGM, the 2018 ORC, the 2017 Steward Council and most recently, the creation of Ontario’s Youth Committee. We solicited agenda items for the next Branch President’s meeting and created notes during the calls which were sent out as a follow up.

These calls provide additional opportunities for discussion, learning, and general communication for our Branches outside of the annual ORC and Steward Council.  We will continue this method of communication and sharing in the coming year.

 

Newsletter

With input from our Branches and Regional Executive we created 2 Ontario Region Newsletters. The first Newsletter was published just prior to the 2017 Steward Council.  The second edition will be published just prior to the 2018 Ontario Regional Council.  Thank you to all who contributed to the Newsletters.

We continue to need your help with supplying content.  Please share what your Branches or worksites are doing in support of the members.  Let’s proudly show the world the excellent work you do as volunteers of the Institute to engage your members.

 

Youth Committee

We are very pleased to have accomplished another new initiative for Ontario, the creation of a Youth Committee.  PIPSC is very active in the promotion of engaging youth members who will become the next generation of activists for the Institute.  Your Branch Liaison created a call out, mandate and Terms of Reference for this committee.  With the assistance of the Ontario Regional Executive, 7 young professionals were chosen to become the first members of this committee.  The inaugural meeting will be held prior to the 2018 ORC.  We look forward to the work this committee will do and are excited to introduce them at the 2018 ORC.

 

Other Activities

  • We worked with Branches and the National PIPSC office to identify our Delegates for the PIPSC AGM
  • Engaged with Branches and the National PIPSC office to identify Youth Observers for the 2017 PIPSC AGM and Youth Symposium
  • Solicited ideas from Branches for Ontario Regional Executive Meetings
  • Sent email communication to Branch President’s as required
  • Responded to questions and concerns received from Branch President’s
  • Provided updates to the Ontario Regional Executive

Submitted by:    Yvonne Snaddon

                          Dean Corda

                          John Purdie