AGM Resolutions 2022

Be it resolved that the 2022 AGM receive the audited financial statements for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022.

No comments

Be it resolved that BDO Canada be appointed as auditors of PIPSC and its related entities, for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comment – As advised by the Finance Section, due to capacity restraints, there was insufficient time for a request for proposal (RFP) to be conducted. As such, this is only a one-year appointment whereby normally, this would be a multi-year appointment. Currently a RFP is being worked on for the next auditing cycle.

Be it resolved that the 2022 AGM approve the budget for the period of July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.

No comments

13.2.6.6 Consultation Team Presidents Treasury Board National Departmental Consultation Team Presidents and Consultation Team Presidents from Separate Employers who have applied for delegate status but were not accepted, shall be delegates to the Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comment – This would incur no additional cost as the current AGM budget accounts for the attendance of all Consultation Team Presidents as delegates.

Whereas PIPSC identifies in its statement on governance that, “The Institute has a parallel structure by Occupational Group and by Region. The structure by Group allows each bargaining unit to determine its bargaining priorities and strategies, and to deal with current concerns specific to its members’ profession”; and

Whereas the structure by Region allows the issues and interests specific to a particular geographic Region to be reflected in the Institute’s broader concerns; and

Whereas Committees study issues referred to them by the Board or provide advice and information on specific issues. The Committees formulate recommendations to the Board; and

Whereas the Finance Committee sets the fiscal roadmap of the Institute and as part of that process reviews the budgets of the Regions, Groups and Consultation Teams; and

Whereas none of the Finance Committee representatives are selected by the Groups or Consultation Teams,

Be it resolved that the Finance Committee be increased by two positions and those positions be filled by one Consultation Team representative and one Group representative, as recommended by the Advisory Council.

Be it further resolved that By-Laws 17.1.3 and 17.6.1 be amended as follows:

BY-LAW 17 COMMITTEES OF THE BOARD

17.1 General

17.1.3 Composition – All Committees shall consist of five (5) to seven (7) members, except the Finance Committee which shall consist of seven (7) to nine (9) members, and, unless otherwise specified, shall include one (1) member from each Region. The Finance Committee membership will also include two members recommended by the Advisory Council: one Group representative and one Consultation Team representative. Where there is a Vice-President liaison to a Committee, the Vice-President does not count as a member of the Committee. The Committee Chair shall not be considered a member of a Region.

17.6 Finance Committee

17.6.1 Composition – There shall be a Committee of the Board to be known as the Finance Committee consisting of five (5) to seven (7) which shall consist of seven (7) to nine (9) members. The Chair shall not be a signing officer of the Institute.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comment – As advised by the Finance Section, there would be a minimum cost of $8.6K to a maximum cost of $29.5K

Whereas the AGM implemented a policy in 2020 that restricted the Board’s ability to spend over $500K without AGM approval; and

Whereas the AGM has given clear direction that it wants some oversight of Board decisions to spend amounts in excess of $500K; and

Whereas the requirement to come to the AGM, and the time delay this requires, may prevent the Board from being nimble in responding to evolving needs; and

Whereas it requires a significant expenditure to organize a Special AGM; and

Whereas the PIPSC Advisory Council meets a minimum of four times a year and is comprised of the Institute’s group and consultation presidents; and

Whereas the PIPSC Advisory Council could provide the intended oversight of these initiatives in a timeframe that allows the Board to continue to respond to the Institute’s ever changing needs,

Be it resolved that expenditures of more than $500K on new initiatives which cannot wait for the regular PIPSC AGM, can be referred to the PIPSC Advisory Council for approval and such approval shall be included in the Board and Advisory Council minutes.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comment – As recommended by the General Counsel, the AGM Chair should be ruling this resolution out of order. The Board of Directors’ legislated fiduciary duty of care and duty of due diligence it owes to Institute members pursuant to the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (Act) cannot be delegated to the Advisory Council.

Be it resolved the Institute fund all Sub-Groups and Branches that request it to hold an in-person gathering event by December 31, 2023, in recognition of their members’ continued excellent service to Canadians during the pandemic. The funding will be as follows:

Sub-Groups and Branches shall be able to request funding at the rate of $15 per member who attend the in-person gathering event.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comment – As advised by the Finance Section, this resolution would have a maximum cost of $2.1M.
Based on projections, PIPSC has approximately 3,000 active members. This resolution could result in up to 50% more members attending, for a total of 4,500 members, therefore the outcome could have a projected additional cost of $135K.

Whereas PIPSC BL 17.6.2 does not properly reflect one of the primary functions of the PIPSC Finance Committee,

Be it resolved that BL 17.6.2 be amended as follows;

17.6.2 – The Finance Committee shall be responsible to review budgets, financial statements, the management of Institute assets, financial policies, member reimbursement appeals and other financial matters of the Institute and shall make recommendations to the Board of Directors.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comment – This aligns with the Finance Committee’s terms of reference.

Whereas the Science Advisory Committee, as per BL 17.10.2, has the mandate to:

17.10.2 Mandate The Science Advisory Committee shall advise and make recommendations to the Board on how to address concerns or issues identified in the Workplace which related to science and public science issues, and the Institute’s efforts to present itself as an advocate for public science in Canada and for restoration of a science-based departmental funding (A-base budgets). To achieve its mandate, it will:

• monitor issues in the field of science and technology related to the work of members and the Institute in this field, including issues of science workplace ethics, and
• coordinate and distribute information on public science within the Institute and help coordinate the Institute’s outreach through its communications to Canadians on these issues, under the goal of focusing the public discussion of science issues in the language of science, by scientists, and
• provide an ongoing forum where Public Science-related issues and the Institute’s interests in this issue can be discussed and studied.

Whereas the Science Advisory Committee is representative of all professions involved in science; and

Whereas the composition of the Committee responds to BL 17.1.3 proposing regional representation and does not necessarily ensure equitable representation of all professions involved in science; and

Whereas only the members of the Committee, and not the “friends of the Committee”, have real decision-making power and voting rights in addition to benefiting from financial compensation such as salary compensation and travel expenses; and

Whereas the SP Group represents 14% of the total membership of the Institute and is the largest Group working exclusively in the sciences; and

Whereas the SP Executive already deals with issues affecting their members in science and many of the issues addressed by the SP Executive are also addressed by the Science Advisory Committee,

Be it resolved that while considering regional representation, one member seat on the Committee be specifically allocated to a member of the SP Executive and therefore amend BL 17.10.1 as follows;

17.10.1 Composition – There shall be a Committee of the Board to be known as the Science Advisory Committee consisting of five (5) to seven (7) members. Composition of the Committee should be representative of Science and Technology Membership, which includes research, engineering, and science-related activities.

In selecting Committee members based on regional representation, the Committee Chair shall specifically assign one of the positions to a member of the Applied Science and Patent Examination (SP) Group Executive. The SP Group Executive will provide the Committee Chair with a list of candidates from various Regions for the duration of the regular term.

No comments

Whereas retired members are not affected by collective agreements,

Be it resolved that BL 7.1 be amended as follows:

7.1 Regular and Retired Members Only Regular and Retired members have the right to be candidates for office, to vote for officers, to otherwise participate in the affairs of the Institute, and, subject to By-Law 7.1.1, the affairs of the constituent bodies of the Institute. Only Regular and Retired members shall be eligible to attend General Meetings of the Institute. Only Regular members shall be eligible for appointment as Stewards and to sit on bargaining teams.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comment – As recommended by the General Counsel, the AGM Chair should be ruling this resolution out of order as it is contrary to BL 7.1.1, which provides who can determine the level of participation of retired members.

Whereas timely communications with members is essential for the function of the PIPSC and constituent bodies; and

Whereas translation is required so that communications are delivered in both official languages; and

Whereas the function of constituent bodies has been negatively affected by excessive delays in the processing and release of communications; and

Whereas it is commonplace for organizations to have standard delivery timeframes for these services,

Be it resolved that PIPSC develop, adopt, publish, and adhere to service standards for communications prioritization, review, translation, publishing, and distribution; and

Be it further resolved that PIPSC track each request and report metrics on service delivery performance semi-annually to the constituent body executives.

No comments

Whereas PIPSC members use their own funds to attend PIPSC events; and

Whereas the Policy on Financial Support for Member Participation speaks to ensuring members are not out of pocket to attend events; and

Whereas members rely on these reimbursements in order to pay for incurred expenses; and

Whereas not having being able to rely on a reasonable repayment schedule becomes a barrier to participation; and

Whereas the Finance Section has a processing average of 21 days,

Be it resolved that if a member’s claim has not been paid during the third week from the date of filing, it shall be advanced to the member at 70% of the non-salary portion of the claim and 100% of the salary claim less normal salary deductions.

No comments

Whereas according to Environment and Climate Change Canada, only 9% of plastic used in Canada is recycled and the rest ends up in landfills; and

Whereas at the G7 in 2018, Canada signed the Charter on Plastics in the Oceans committing to move to a more sustainable approach to the production, use and management of plastic and committing that all plastic will be designed for reuse and recycling; and

Whereas according to the Single-Use Plastics Ban Regulations (SOPR) adopted by the Government of Canada, the designated items are: single-use plastic rings for beverage containers, single-use plastic stirring sticks, single-use plastic straws, single-use plastic food containers, single-use plastic shopping bags, single-use plastic utensils; and

Whereas the Single-Use Plastics Ban Regulation (SOPR) prohibiting the manufacture, import and sale of the six categories of single-use plastic articles will not be fully implemented until June 2024; and

Whereas in order to combat the effects of climate change, concrete actions must be taken by everyone,

Be it resolved that all items made of single-use plastic be banned from the events, activities and meetings of the Institute and its regional offices, including visibility and promotional items, effective immediately.

No comments

Whereas PIPSC has a $13.6M Strike Fund as at June 30, 2021; and

Whereas in 2021 PIPSC changed to a Fund basis of accounting and it became apparent that the Strike Fund had no actual money in it; and

Whereas the purpose of a Strike fund, is to have a fund of money available to fund job actions and it is both normal and the practice to fund Strike Funds; and

Whereas because of inflation and the need to reduce the enormous federal deficit, it is reasonable to believe that there may be an increase in job action in the coming years; and

Whereas given, PIPSC had a $16M surplus for the year ended June 20, 2021; and

Whereas given, PIPSC had a $42M of cash and investments at June 20, 2021 and is in a position to put funds in the Strike Fund,

Be it resolved that the Institute transfers $5M into the Strike Fund;

Be it further resolved that the transfer of $5M into the Strike Fund would be a reduction of the $13,647,058 owed to it by the Operating Fund and not an additional levy.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comment – As advised by the Finance Section, the current strike fund balance is $14.2M and is contained in the PIPSC investment portfolio of $38M, with a historical five year rate of return between 10% – 12%.

Whereas continued investment in carbon-intensive industries represent a serious financial liability as governments adopt progressively more restrictive legislation to hold these companies financially liable for the externalities of production; and

Whereas emerging green technologies are progressively rendering certain carbon-intensive industries more and more obsolete and/or unprofitable; and

Whereas PIPSC represents Canada’s leading environmental scientists responsible for identifying, tracking, and remediating the impact of carbon emission related climate change; and

Whereas the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP) have billions of dollars invested in fossil fuel companies and are continuing to develop a consistent approach with respect to investing in a socially responsible and actuarially-sound assets; and

Whereas many large, benchmarked Canadian defined benefit pension funds have already integrated financially prudent carbon divestment policies with no statistically significant impact on the plan’s performance; and

Whereas independent consultants have identified alternative investment opportunities which would minimize the financial impact of excluding carbon heavy asset classes; and

Whereas PIPSC has been leading progress in Canadian society for over 100 years, acknowledges fossil fuel divestment is a necessary step towards a decarbonized economy, recognizes the financial risk that its members incur by their pension plans keeping fossil fuel holdings, and are getting their own house in order to help reduce our environmental footprint (e.g. no longer using plastic water bottles at PIPSC conference center;  bicycles available at PIPSC office; proposed electric car infrastructure at PIPSC offices across Canada etc.);

Be it resolved that PIPSC will send, before the end of 2022, an open letter to the investment board of the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP) calling on them to phase out the fossil fuel investments by 2026, adopt a carbon reduction target of 50 percent by 2030 and carbon neutral by 2035, including an accompanying transition plan to ensure a financially prudent transition; and

Be it further resolved that the letter be accompanied by a media release and will be posted on the PIPSC website.

No comments

Whereas the PIPSC Policy on Balancing Union Activity and Family Life excludes the Advisory Council from Part 5 (Travel and Hospitality for Family Members); and

Whereas these meetings have the same impact on balancing union activity and family life as other meetings included in Part 5 (Travel and Hospitality for Family Members),

Be it resolved that the PIPSC Policy on Balancing Union Activity and Family Life be amended to include the Advisory Council in Part 5 (Travel and Hospitality for Family Members), as follows:

A member who,

• requires accommodation the Friday of a Regional Council, Regional Steward Council, Advisory Council, Group Annual General Meeting or the Institute Annual General Meeting taking place outside their local area, 
• who is accompanied by his / her spouse or significant other and/or immediate family, and 
• would not otherwise be eligible for Saturday night accommodation under the travel policy,

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comment – As advised by the Finance Section, this resolution could have an annual cost of $62K at a projected participation rate of 50%, to a maximum of $124K.

Whereas the AGM implemented a policy in 2020 that restricted the Board’s ability to spend over $500K without AGM approval; and

Whereas the AGM has given clear direction that it wants some oversight of Board decisions to spend amounts in excess of $500K; and

Whereas the policy does not clarify the types of expenditures covered in the expenditure of $500K; and

Whereas the requirement to come to the AGM, and the time delay this requires, may prevent the Board from being nimble in responding to evolving needs; and

Whereas it requires a significant expenditure to organize a Special AGM.

Be it resolved that expenditure policy from the 2020 AGM be updated to permit the Board to spend up to $1M on new initiatives, and that only the procurement costs of goods and/or services be calculated into the spend authority.

Whereas CUPE education workers were in a legal strike position;

Whereas the supreme Court of Canada has indicated the right to strike is fundamental and protected by the Canadian Constitution;

Whereas, prior to CUPE education workers taking any sort of job action, the Provincial government of Ontario imposed a contract upon education workers;

Whereas, prior to CUPE education workers taking any sort of job action, the Provincial Government of Ontario used the Notwithstanding Clause of the Canadian Constitution to prevent CUPE education workers from striking;

Whereas, striking CUPE education workers face fines of $4000 per day and CUPE faces fines of $500,000 per day for each day they are on strike;

Therefore, be it resolved that PIPSC set aside $1,000,000 to donate to CUPE to allow them to continue their fight. should the Government of Ontario again attempt to limit their Constitutional rights before completion of this current round of bargaining.

Be it resolved that $2,000,000 of the 2022 income statement surplus be allocated to the Strike Fund.