BY-LAWS & POLICIES COMMITTEE MEETING
October 5, 2024
250 Tremblay Road, Ottawa, ON
Meeting Code: D2NJM6MXY4C
9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
MINUTES
Present: Manny Costain (Chair), Scott McConaghy (ATL), Michael Kenny (NCR), Mike Chow (BCY)
Virtual: Renaud Guiard (QC), Nicki Ezechinedu (PNT)
Staff: Tony Goddard
Land Acknowledgement (Manny Costain)
1) Approval of the Agenda
Moved: Michael Kenny Seconded: Mike Chow
CARRIED
2) Approval of Minutes of August 22, 2024 as amended.
Moved: Michael Kenny Seconded: Scott McConaghy
5.e amended to reflect “rare situations.”
5.f amended to add “for their next AGM.”
3) Board of Directors Update (Manny Costain)
It was mentioned that many documents are pending translation before they are scheduled on the
next Board agenda. Due to the high volume of documents being translated at the present time, the
AGM documents have been given priority. Also of note is the fact that we have lost our Ontario
rep, Mandy Chan, and since there are only a couple meetings left this year, it was decided to not
replace her at this time. Any input from the Ontario Region will be provided by the Ontario Director.
4) INFO: Results/Approvals from Board meeting(s)
Documents sent to the Board from the August BLPC meeting are still with Translation but should
be dealt with at the November Board meeting.
5) Standing & Priority Items
a. Policy on Institute Staff
In translation, to be forwarded to November Board meeting.
b. Environmental Policy
Rather than create a new policy, the BLPC has recommend including “considerations” in two
key policies that already exist:
(1) Policy on Accessing PIPSC General Funds
Appendix ‘C’ was copied from the original document and reorganized. Promotional
items were removed and inserted into the second policy. Discussion around “single use
plastics” concluded that most are confused on the term. For example, disposable
bottles of water are not single use plastic since they can be recycled. A discussion
around the costs of renting an electric vehicle (or hybrid) concluded with the statement
that, since PIPSC Finance must approve all vehicle rentals, the cost would be
controlled by Finance.
(2) Policy on Constituent Body Allocations
The question was asked “Why does PIPSC want to enforce or recommend environmental
considerations when that is not in our mandate? Scott reminded the committee that we are not
here to craft policy but to make sure that the policy presented is worded correctly and does not
conflict with the Bylaws or any other policy.
The committee reviewed these policies and have recommended, after much deliberation and
revision, the wording provided. These two (2) policies revisions will now be sent for translation
and then to the November Board meeting for consideration.
c. Policy on Better Together Funding
In translation, to be forwarded to November Board meeting.
d. Policy on Election of Officers and Directors of the Institute
In translation, to be forwarded to November Board meeting.
e. Policy on Conflict of Interest
Waiting for PIPSC General Counsel’s comment.
6) Matters Arising
a. NEB Group Bylaws
In translation, to be forwarded to November Board meeting.
b. CRPEG Group
Move to parked items pending AGM.
c. Retired Members
Make a request to the Board to determine if they would like to instruct staff (Member Services)
to request an attestation from new “retired” members to ensure that they are in-fact
superannuated.
d. Northeastern Alberta Branch
Nicki is still working with this Branch to sort out the Bylaws submitted.
e. NWT Branch Amendments
There is confusion on who provided the revisions and exactly what was approved at the Branch
AGM. The annual submission, including the Branch AGM minutes may shed some light on
what transpired.
f. Winnipeg & Southern Manitoba Branch
This submission was withdrawn; the Branch president advised that the revision was proposed
but was never adopted at the AGM.
g. NR Shirley’s Bay Subgroup
Move to parked items pending AGM.
h. Policy on Consultation
In translation, to be forwarded to November Board meeting.
i. NR Vancouver Island Subgroup
Move to parked items pending AGM.
j. Policy on Stewards
In translation, to be forwarded to November Board meeting.
7) New Business
a. AFS St John’s Sub Group
Name and boundary changes to be forwarded to Member Services and then the EC for
approval. The balance of the revisions are acceptable and, once the above is approved, can be
sent to the Board for approval.
b. SH Fredericton Sub Group
The boundary change must be sent to Member Services and then forwarded to the EC for
approval. After a detailed discussion on possible boundaries for this subgroup, it was agreed to
forward this to the Board for approval after the EC approval.
c. BC Region
Once the intent of “bi-annual was confirmed with the BCY Director, it was agreed to change the
wording to “twice a year” and to forward the bylaws to the Board for approval, after proper
translation.
d. Other Rules of Order
This discussion was initiated after it was found that at least one set of approved bylaws (HoC
Group) refers to rules of procedure other than AIP. It was felt that we need to maintain the
adherence to one primary set of Parliamentary Rules. Even though the HoC may have a firm
understanding of the Canadian HoC Rules of Procedure, they would then be at a disadvantage
if/when they attend other Institute meetings; such as Regional Councils and Institute AGMs,
etc. It was suggested that we approach the HoC Group to determine how agreeable they may
be to revising the Rules of Procedure in their bylaws to match the rules established for use by
PIPSC.
e. RMG AGM
It was pointed out that the RMG is the only constituent body at PIPSC that does not have a
limit on the number of delegates to their AGM based on membership numbers. Much
discussion revolved around the minimal cost for RMG AGM delegates considering they clearly
state in their bylaws that delegates may attend the Guild AGM at their own expense. The
general consensus was that the Guild should be treated similar to a Group, but no clear
decision was reached at this time.
ADJOURNMENT: The business being concluded, the meeting adjourned.