PIPSC National Office
Present: N. McCune (Chair), D. Jones (BC/Yukon), S. Fréchette (QC), J. Purdie (ON), C. Freeman (PRA/NWT), B. Gerus, (ATL), A. Goddard (NCR), J. Gagnon (Staff Resource)
The meeting was called to order at 9:15 a.m.
- Approval of the Agenda
The agenda was approved as presented.
- Approval of the Minutes
The minutes of the May 7, 2018 BLPC meeting were approved as presented.
- Matters Arising
3.1 AFS Québec Sub-Group (Amended)
This item was deferred to the next meeting. Action: S. Fréchette / J. Gagnon
3.2 Nova Scotia Chapter (Proposed)
The BLPC’s concerns were addressed with the Chapter Executive. The necessary changes will be implemented as recommended. Action: B. Gerus
3.3 Lennoxville Branch (Amended)
The latest ratified version of this constitution (2014?) will be submitted to the Board for approval and the Branch will work with that version moving forward.
Action: BOD / S. Fréchette / J. Gagnon
3.4 SH CSC Montréal Rive-Nord Sub-Group (Proposed)
The Sub-Group Executive agreed with the BLPC’s recommendations. The proposed constitution will be submitted at the September 2018 Sub-Group AGM for ratification.
Action: S. Fréchette
3.5 SP Group (Amended)
There were inconsistencies between the version presented and ratified at the Group AGM and the “final” version submitted to the BLPC. The Chair will discussion this matter further with the Group Executive. Action: N. McCune
3.6 SH Group (Amended)
The amended constitution was ratified in 2017 except for the deletion of Article 6.2.4 (Composition), which was ratified on March 9th, 2018. Although there are still a couple of missing governance articles from the model, the amended constitution will be submitted to the Board for approval in July. Action: BOD / J. Gagnon
3.7 AFS Penticton Sub-Group (Amended)
This item was deferred to the next meeting. Action: D. Jones / J. Gagnon
3.8 NR Group (Amended)
This item was deferred to the next meeting. Action: N. McCune / J. Gagnon
3.9 CFIA S&A Group (Amended)
The SGM did not take place to approve the amended BLs as a result of an issue with notice period and the posting of the amended BLs on the Web site. A new request will be made to the PIPSC Executive Committee to hold a SGM. Action: S. Fréchette
3.10 MAGE Group (Amended)
Several additional changes were made to the BLs at the last Group AGM. The Group President will be discussing those changes with the Executive in early August and will get back to the BLPC in time for the next meeting. Action: J. Gagnon
3.11 Canadian Tourism Commission Group (Amended)
This item was deferred to the next meeting. Action: N. McCune / J. Gagnon
3.12 AFS Montréal Criminal Investigations Sub-Group (Proposed)
This was deferred to the next meeting, pending feedback from the AFS Group.
Action: N. McCune / J. Gagnon
3.13 Authority of the EC
This issue will be addressed at the July Board and will be further discussed at the August BLPC meeting. Action: N. McCune / J. Gagnon
3.14 Request from Groups to Combine Meetings
As tasked by the Board in January 2018, the BLPC engaged in a discussion on a policy amendment to include the possibility for Groups to hold their planning meetings in conjunction with Executive meetings. Currently, as this is outside policy, requests are submitted to EC for consideration and approval, with costing from Finance or from requesting Groups.
The BLPC felt that although there would be no issue combine meetings, it would take away one executive meeting or it would count as two meetings. This could not be done without increasing costs. The BLPC also felt that the current policy/practice works and that if this is an issue for Groups, Group Executives could bring forward a resolution to the Board or to the AGM to make a change in policy. This matter will be brought back to the Board for further discussion.
Action: BOD / J. Gagnon
3.15 Gender Balanced Language in Institute BLs & Policies
The Team Lead of Translation and a senior translator joined the BLPC for this discussion and to present their recommendations on wording for gender neutral Institute BLs, model constitutions and Group constitutions, as per the 2017 AGM resolution.
P-4 Use of Gender Balanced Language in PIPSC By-Laws, Regulations and Policies – Sponsor: BC/Yukon Regional Council
Whereas PIPSC identifies gender in various by-laws, regulations and policies by including a “Context and Gender” section which generally states, “…expression in the masculine or feminine gender, in plural or in singular, may be substituted to give the effect to the true meaning of the…”; and
Whereas other federal unions such as the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Canadian Association of Professional Employees have adopted gender balanced language in their constitutions, by-laws, regulations and policies in French and English;
Be it resolved that PIPSC amend the PIPSC By-Laws and Regulations and all existing Policies to reflect gender balanced language;
Be it further resolved that all PIPSC Constituent bodies update their by-laws, regulations and policies to reflect gender balanced language within two years of their next AGM for member approval; and
Be it further resolved that PIPSC no longer allows a “Context and Gender” section in any future documents.
As the implementation of inclusive language will impact many Institute communications, an extensive research was made on various sites (government, press, etc) to see how this could done in the most effective manner. The work will be easily done in English but will be more complicated in French due to lack of consensus on some wording.
The work has been completed for Institute BL, for the six core Groups constitutions and for model constitutions (requiring three weeks of full time work). An estimated six months will be required to do the work for the remaining constituent body constitutions. As Institute policies are being reviewed, that work will deferred until the new policy suite is in place.
This matter will be brought forward to the Board for discussion and direction. Clarification will also be sought on whether the amended Institute BLs (gender neutral) can be approved by Board or will need to be approved by the 2018 AGM. Action: BOD / J. Gagnon
3.16 Appropriate Use of Funds for Hospitality Expenses
The Finance Committee discussed this issue and felt that should a hospitality claim be denied, the Finance Committee would review the appeal and examine whether or not the funds were used in the spirit of advancing the aims of the Institute. The Finance Committee also reviewed the amounts in Appendix "B" of the Policy on Constituent Body Finances and recommended the following to the Board and to the AGM:
Door Prizes and Gifts - The Finance Committee recommends striking the word ”Gifts‟, and changing the wording to Door Prize and Contest Prizes. The dollar amount suggested would be up to $500 total, per event. It was suggested that a separate line item could be created to track spending.
The Finance Committee also recommended that gifts should be given voluntarily and generally would be to recognize a special occasion such as the retirement of a member or PIPSC staff member, for the departure from a constituent body executive or to recognize a guest speaker. The suggested dollar amount suggested would be $250.
The Finance Committee will be submitted the following amendment to the Policy on the Board of Directors:
If a Board member wishes to recognize the departure or retirement of a Board member or PIPSC staff member, the maximum amount of that gift shall be $250 and would come out of that Board member’s hospitality expense.
The BLPC supported the recommendation however they felt that any decision around an appropriate dollar amount for gifts should be left to the Board. Action: BOD / J. Gagnon
3.17 Election of the AC Director
The BLPC will be recommending that the 2018 election for the Advisory Council Director be done under the oversight of the national Elections Committee and that any BL amendment(s) be submitted to the 2019 AGM. Action: BOD / J. Gagnon
3.18 Cross-Border Issue
Some felt that the issue pertaining to the crossing of the Canadian border should be enshrined in policy, clearly stating that the Institute does not provide insurance to members on Institute events when outside Canada. Given the legal implications, the BLPC will be seeking a legal opinion on this issue. Action: N. McCune
3.19 BLPC Training on Parliamentary Procedures
A proposal for training on August 17th was provided for the BLPC’s information. The Chair noted that Marilyn Best (AGM Co-Chair) would take part in the training and that an invitation would also be sent to Richard East (AGM Co—Chair). The proposal will be submitted to the Board for approval in July. Action: BOD / J. Gagnon
3.20 Resolutions Sub-Committee Meeting
Proposed members of the 2018 RSC will consist of Nancy McCune (Chair), Glenn Maxwell (AC Director – TBC), Sean O’Reilly (Chair, Finance Committee), John Purdie (BLPC Rep), Tony Goddard (BLPC Rep) Benoît Pelletier (Finance Committee Rep) and Marilyn Best (Finance Committee Rep).
A request to the Board will also be put forward to allow the other three BLPC members to attend the RSC meeting of August 16th, as observers. Action: BOD / J. Gagnon
- New Business
4.1 Excerpt of Board Meeting Minutes – June 2018
Relevant excerpts of the June 2018 Board meeting minutes were provided for information.
4.2 Montréal West Branch (Amended)
The amended constitution was presented to the May 31, 2018 Branch AGM, where some issues were raised.
There are currently 16 locations covered by the Branch, 6 with more than one employee and 10 with only one employee. Since a ‘workplace’ is only represented by an address, it would be possible to have priority for 16 positions on the Executive however only 11 are allowed. The Branch is looking to find a way to limit the number of positions with priority however, the Branch Executive feels that a decision of this nature cannot be made from the floor at the AGM and that a mechanism needs to be put in place before the AGM is held. The Branch Executive also feels that ending up with priority for all sites except for those representing the majority of members, should be avoided.
The BLPC felt there was lack of clarity regarding the composition of the Branch Executive in terms of “workplaces” and how those would be determined by the Elections Committee. There was also concern raised with possibly infringing on the rights of members to run for office if not represented in a “workplace” (as per amended definition) as some could be acclaimed and some would be required to run for elections.
It was suggested that the 10 “one-member workplaces” could be defined as one workplace, which would be more inclusive. It was also suggested that the election process be defined in their regulation. The composition of the Branch Executive will need to be clearly defined.
The BLPC will be recommending that the Branch refer to the model constitution for other minor changes. Action: S. Fréchette
4.3 Montérégie Branch (Amended)
Proposed amendments were submitted to clarify the composition of the Branch Executive and how it will be established:
7.3.1.1 Les postes de président, de vice-président, de secrétaire et de trésorier (selon le cas pour cette élection) sont comblés par le candidat ayant obtenu le plus de votes.
7.3.1.2 Suite à l’élection du président, de vice-président, de secrétaire et de trésorier (selon le cas pour cette élection) le Comité des élections identifie les lieux de travail d’où proviennent le reste des membres de l’Exécutif (y compris le président, de vice-président, de secrétaire et de trésorier nouvellement élu).
7.3.1.3 Dans le cas où un lieu de travail qui a plus de 100 membres n’est pas représenté à l’Exécutif, une des trois situations suivantes s’applique :
7.3.1.3.1 si un seul candidat se présente dans ce lieu de travail, le candidat est déclaré élu par acclamation;
7.3.1.3.2 si plus d’un candidat se présentent, le candidat ayant obtenu le plus de votes est déclaré élu;
7.3.1.4 Tous les postes restant à combler le sont par les candidats ayant obtenu le plus de votes au classement général.
Article 6.2 (Composition) will need to be clarified in terms of which workplaces should be represented on the Executive. Some felt that if diversity is the ultimate goal, it should be reached through motivation of their membership and not by enshrining rules in the BLs.
Action: S. Fréchette
4.4 AFS Montérégie Sub-Group (Amended)
The BLPC was unclear on the intent of limiting written nominations to two weeks before the AGM and felt that written submissions should be allowed up to and including at the AGM. The reference to “member in good standing” should be removed. Action: S. Fréchette
4.5 AV Southern Vancouver Island Sub-Group (Proposed)
4.1 All members shall be eligible to hold office, nominate members for positions on the Sub-Group Executive, propose amendments to the Constitution and By-Laws of the Sub-Group, and vote in Sub-Group affairs.
This article will have to be amended to comply with the AV Group BLs, which state that only regular members can hold office. It was clarified that the Sub-Group has not yet been officially approved. Action: D. Jones
4.6 Québec Region (Amended)
Some were of the view that the four positions of Branch Presidents on the Executive should not be voted by Branch Presidents but by Regional Council delegates who are appointed as regional representatives and mandated to represent the Region as a whole.
Some felt that a vote by the Regional Council would not be representative of the Region as some Branches are larger and have more delegates at the Council.
The amended constitution, ratified in 2018, will be submitted to the Board for approval in July.
Action: BOD / J. Gagnon
4.7 By-Law 7.1.1 and By-Law 10.2.2
The BLPC engaged in a brief discussion regarding these two BLs and whether or not their needed to be clarified.
7.1.1 Groups and Sub-Groups may, in accordance with their constitutions, determine the level of participation of Retired members in Group and Sub-Group affairs.
10.2.2 Constitution Each Sub-Group shall be governed by a Constitution, consistent with these By-Laws and those of the appropriate Group, providing as a minimum, the right of each member to be a candidate and to vote for the election of Sub-Group Executive members. Each Sub-Group shall, upon amendment of its Constitution, submit it to the By-Laws and Policies Committee and the appropriate Group Executive for review. Any amendments to the Constitution take effect only upon approval by the Board and ratification by the Sub-Group membership
There was agreement not to proceed with any changes at this time and continue with status quo.
- Parked Items
5.1 Ville-Marie Branch (Proposed)
The Branch constitution was ratified at the April 12, 2018 Branch AGM. It will be submitted to the Board for approval in July. Action: BOD / J. Gagnon
- Adjournment and Next Meeting
The meeting adjourned at 4:10 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for August 17-18, 2018