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SP Nanaimo Sub-Group

DRAFT MINUTES from 2025/26 Annual General Meeting

  1. Call to Order: Maria Cornthwaite called the meeting to order at 12:00 pm and provided a land acknowledgement.

The meeting took place in a hybrid format, with the chair present at the Pacific Biological Station (PBS).  In total, 29 SP members attended in person at PBS. Members joined via Microsoft Teams from other workplaces including the DFO Front Street office (8 SP), DFO Comox office (7 SP), DFO Courtenay Aquaculture office (4 SP), DFO Campbell River Tamarac St office (4 SP), and DFO Campbell River Alder St. office (6 SP). Members also attended remotely via Microsoft Teams from individual/home offices (18 SP), for a total of 76 SP Nanaimo Sub-Group attendees and 7 guests (CR and VR classifications). Of the 76 SP Nanaimo members, four departments were represented: DFO (71 members), DND (1 member), ECCC (3 members) and HC (1 member). There was also one presenting guest National SP Executive.

  1. Approval of the Agenda: Maria outlined the agenda. A request for additions to the agenda was made.  No additions offered. Motion to accept agenda was made by Jocelyn, seconded by Katherine – motion accepted
  1. Adoption of the Minutes from 2024 AGM: A request for additions to the minutes https://pipsc.ca/groups/sp/subgroups/sp-nanaimo/sp-nanaimo-sub-group-draft-minutes-202425-annual-general-meeting was made. Motion to accept the minutes of the last AGM (held February 2025) was made by Karen Hunter, seconded by Jocelyn– motion accepted.
  2. Introductions and opening remarks:  Maria thanked everyone for coming and acknowledged the guest speaker, Mr. Bryan Van Wilgenburg, SP Group president.  Maria introduced the members of the sub group executive and requested that attendees hold questions and discussion not related to AGM business until the end of the meeting, to ensure sufficient time for Bryan’s presentation.  Maria suggested that an additional session could be organized if members wish further discussion.
  3. Business arising from the 2025 minutes:
  • None suggested
  1. New Business:
    1. Presidents Report – Maria Cornthwaite
      1. Maria’s report attached

 

    1. Treasurers Report – Erin Herder
      1. Presented the budget for 2025.
      2. We had a smaller allocation last year than usual because we had too much unused money in the bank account. For example, in past years there have been lunch and learns held, however there were none in 2025.
      3. It was emphasized that it is important for smaller offices to also think about what they might want to do to use the budget and bring ideas to the Executive group.
      4. Bryan acknowledged that the main limiting factor for organizing events and spending our budget is the volunteer time needed to make events happen. Thanks to those who organize events and bring suggestions forward.
      5. Motion to approve 2025 budget was presented by Joceyln and seconded by Audrey Ty.
      6. The budget for the upcoming year (2026) was presented by Erin Herder.
      7. Discussion regarding funding for PBS barbeque and increases in the cost of food. Last year, was increased to $750.00 because of this
      8. It was noted that members can ask for funding for activities throughout the year – executive just needs to meet and approve the request
      9. A new line item for office seasonal events of $1000.00 was added to be shared among all offices.
      10. Discussion regarding charities. Not allowed to give money directly to charities but can sponsor events that are doing things for charity. The reason behind this is that if PIPSC has extra money, it should go back to the members to choose whether they want to donate it to the charity of their choice.
      11. There was discussion regarding community outreach. If people want to organize demonstrations, we can support that. Example of Labour Day picnic in Ladysmith. Can we have representation as awareness raising for PIPSC? Other unions there but PIPSC is missing from there. Kayleigh and Howard will discuss further. We have a table and tent that can be used.
      12. A request was made for morale boosting activities following WFA meetings– coffee in the lobby for staff community –  This is considered “Networking” and we can absolutely support that - always a question of the organizing time and effort and who wants to volunteer.
      13. A request was made to purchase a special cake for the annual bake sale as a fundraiser since this money goes to charity.
      14. Motion to approve the 2026 budget was raised by Jocelyn and seconded by Katherine.

 

    1. Elections – Maria Cornthwaite

Election of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Members at Large

      1. Election of President: Kayleigh Gillespie nominated by Stacey Rehel. No other nominations received. Kayleigh elected President by acclamation
      2.  Election of Vice President: Shaorong Li nominated by Shelee Hamilton. No other nominations received. Shaorong elected Vice President by acclimation.
      3. Election of Treasurer: Erin Herder nominated by Kayleigh Gillespie. No other nominations received. Erin elected Treasurer by acclimation.
      4. Election of Secretary: Melina Sorensen was nominated by Stacey Rehel. No other nominations received. Melina elected Secretary by acclimation.
      5. Election of five (5) Members at Large: Michelle Charbonneau was nominated by Katherine Charles; Hilari Dennis Bohm was nominated by Melina Sorensen; Cristopher MacDonald was nominated by Michelle Charbonneau; Stacey Rehel was nominated by Melina Sorensen; and Brett Howard was nominated by Jocelyn Nelson. Five nominations were received for five positions. Since there were no other nominations received, Michelle Charbonneau, Hilari Dennis Bohm, Cristopher MacDonald, Stacey Rehel and Brett Howard were elected as Members at Large by acclimation.

Note that one nominee (C. MacDonald) was not able to attend the meeting, but the assembly agreed that as he had accepted the nomination, in the absence of any additional nominations he could be elected.

Executive now consists of the following:

Kayleigh Gillespie (President)

Shaorong Li (Vice President)

Erin Herder (Treasurer)

Melina Sorensen (Secretary)

Jocelyn Nelson (Member-at-Large)

Monique Raap (Member-at-Large)

Michelle Charbonneau (Member-at-Large)

Hilari Dennis-Bohm (Member-at-Large)

Cristopher MacDonald (Member-at-Large)

Stacey Rehel (Member-at-Large)

Brett Howard (Member-at-Large)

  1. Guest speaker: Bryan Van Wilgenburg from the SP National Executive provided an update on bargaining priorities, processes and timelines for the next collective agreement negotiation. There was a suggestion made to create a proposal for the SP bargaining team regarding future lumpsum payments being paid in two disbursements instead of one when distributing retroactive pay following the new collective agreement.
  1. Questions and Round Table: There was very little time for discussion following the presentation as the meeting had gone overtime, and the conference room had a conflicting booking at 13:30. Bryan expressed that questions are always welcome and can be directed to him via email.
  1. Adjournment: Maria adjourned the meeting at 13:26 as the room was needed by the next group. Bryan remained available for further questions and discussion following the meeting.

Attendance: Members work for DFO unless otherwise indicated

In person at PBS Nanaimo (29 SP)

  • Andrew McMillan
  • Arash Akbarzadeh
  • Audrey Ty
  • Brett Howard
  • Christine Spice
  • Dawn Lewis
  • Derek Williams
  • Erin Herder
  • Heidi Van Vliet
  • Hilari Dennis-Bohm
  • Jill Campbell
  • Jocelyn Nelson
  • Karen Hunter
  • Katherine Bannar-Martin
  • Katherine Charles
  • Kayleigh Gillespie
  • Kayla Zielke
  • Linda Nichol
  • Maria Cornthwaite
  • Mark Higgins
  • Matt Grinnell
  • Meghan Burton
  • Michael Folkes
  • Monique Raap
  • Noel Swain
  • Sara Jessul
  • Shelee Hamilton
  • Ted Sweeton
  • Yeongha Jung

 

In person in Comox (7 SP)

  • Anna Magera
  • Jason Thompson
  • Jenna Sutherst
  • Mark Korchinski (HC)
  • Sarah Power
  • Sharon Jeffery
  • Stacey Rehel

 

In person at Nanaimo Front Street (8 SP & 1 Guest)

  • Amy Ganton 
  • Christine Rock (EC)
  • Cynthia Pekarice (EC)
  • Dillon Buerk
  • Erin Wylie
  • Jenny Smith
  • Laura Boettcher (EC)
  • Maxime Veilleux
  • Vahab Pourfaraj

 

In person at Campbell River Tamarac Street (4 SP)

  • Blair Fraser
  • Chris Marrie
  • Nathan Blasco
  • Byron Anders

 

In person at Campbell River Alder Street (6 SP & 1 Guest)

  • Greg Hornby
  • Craig Schweitzer
  • Jim Meldrum
  • Peter deKonig
  • Jenny Minford
  • Théa Rachinski
  • Emily Cicon

 

In person in Courtenay (4 SP & 4 Guests)

  • Alex Marisco
  • Brian Xhignesse
  • Emily Rutherford
  • Grace Runciman
  • Kerra Shaw
  • Melanie Barry
  • Shawn Stenhouse
  • Vanessa Metcalf

 

Online via MS Teams (18 SP & 1 Guest)

  • Alexander Dalton
  • Angela Spooner
  • Beth Pechter
  • Christine Bukta
  • Diana McHigh
  • Howard Stiff
  • Jason Thompson
  • Jessica Hawryshyn
  • Jonathan Faris
  • Katie Davidson
  • Linnea Flostrand
  • Malcolm Wyeth
  • Melina Sorensen (DND)
  • Melissa Nottingham
  • Michelle Charbonneau
  • Natalie Fuller
  • Scott Northrup
  • Shannon Obradovich
  • Shaorong Li

 

Guests (SP National Executive)

  • Bryan Van Wilgenburg (ECCC)

SP Nanaimo Subgroup 2025/2026 AGM President’s Report

Membership:

Membership in our Sub Group has remained fairly consistent at around 260.  Our SP members work for DFO, Department of National Defense (DND), Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), Health Canada, ECCC, NRCAN, and Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada (ISEDC), and are based in communities on Vancouver Island from Duncan to Port Hardy.  The list is always a bit out of date due to the time lag between the employer reporting changes, PIPSC updating their files, and the subgroup requesting a new list.  You can help by proactively updating your address and work location on the PIPSC website, and by making sure your colleagues are also aware that they should do so.

Activities in 2025-2026:

In April, we joined SP Vancouver for a webinar on leave types.  In June, we got funding from PIPSC Better Together to support participation in Nanaimo Pride Week, and we were well-represented during the Pride Parade.  More recently, SP Nanaimo has helped organize and host online WFA info sessions with our UHEW colleagues in Nanaimo. 

In the fall, the National SP Group ran a bargaining survey, and we officially had 65% of our members respond.  The real number was likely higher, as we identified lots of people who were on long term leave or recently retired.  In our region overall, there was a 167% increase in participation compared to the last bargaining survey in 2022. The surge in engagement for us is thanks to a super effort from the executive team (esp. Kayleigh and Stacey) in getting the word out, but also a super effort from you, our members, in making an effort to be involved.  Thank you for taking the time. It wasn’t a perfect survey, and it didn’t capture all our concerns, but it was a great start, it presented a good exercise in mobilizing our members, gave valuable info to our bargaining team, and will be a good model for what SP Group and PIPSC can do in future.

Representation at National Meetings:

On behalf of the subgroup, I attended the SP National AGM in Montreal in April. Shaorong Li and I attended the PIPSC National AGM in Toronto in December.  Stacey Rehel represented us at the SP Bargaining Conference last month in Ottawa.  I hope that one of our members has been selected to attend the next SP National AGM in March.  It’s really important to have our Vancouver Island perspective included in the national conversation, and I hope that when the invitations come out for future events that you’ll consider applying.

Progress over the last three years:

I was elected president of the sub group three years ago.  Back then, we worried that the sub group would not survive – attendance at AGMs had been low, long-time executive members had retired or needed to step down, and we weren’t sure we could fill positions on the executive and keep going.  It turned out that our worries were unfounded.  Thanks to your support and volunteerism, we filled up the executive, and we’ve continued to have at least 10 of our 11 positions filled with excellent people.  We changed our format to embrace hybrid meetings and encourage attendance from other worksites besides PBS.  I think we can see from today’s attendance and multiple office locations that we’ve been successful.  Thank you for showing up. 

Future direction

As I mentioned in the invitation to this meeting, the coming year will see some changes.  Although I am only one year into a two-year term as president, I am stepping down to prepare for retirement.  Our wonderful and hard working secretary Katherine Charles has decided not to run again.  However, we are leaving this SP Nanaimo in capable hands, and I know you all have what it takes to keep going.

These are tumultuous times, and we face a year of challenge and uncertainty. The sub group is here to support you and keep you connected with the rest of PIPSC.  But when you hear someone say that this is all terrible, and “What’s PIPSC doing about this?” I want you to remember that WE are all PIPSC, and so WE all need to do things. 

So I encourage you all to take whatever action you can.  It could be just becoming familiar with your collective agreement so that you know your rights, or reading your PIPSC emails and staying up to date with national issues.  You can write to your MP when you don’t like the direction things are going.  You can ask questions, share info with your friends and colleagues, and come out to union events.  You all came to this one, so you are all doing something!  You can help a friend find a steward.  You can join this executive committee.  You can consider becoming a steward. 

The reward is a better workplace for everyone, and knowing you did all you could to make it that way.

Thank you.

 

SP Nanaimo Sub-Group

2025-2026 Annual General Meeting Draft Agenda

Thursday February 19 12:00-1:00 pm

Hybrid Meeting: On MS Teams and in person:

DFO Offices in Comox (148 Port Augusta St), Courtenay (2435 Mansfield Dr),

Campbell River (940 Alder St & 1520 Tamerac St),

Nanaimo (PBS Seminar Room & 65 Front Street Room 424)

  1. Call to Order
  2. Introductions & Opening Remarks
  3. Approval of Agenda
  4. Adoption of Minutes from the previous AGM (https://pipsc.ca/groups/sp/subgroups/sp-nanaimo/sp-nanaimo-sub-group-draft-minutes-202425-annual-general-meeting)
  5. Business Arising from the Minutes
  6. New Business
    1. Presidents Report – Maria Cornthwaite
    2. Treasurers Report – Erin Herder
    3. Budget for upcoming year – Erin Herder
    4. Elections – Maria Cornthwaite
      1. Election of President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Members at Large
  7. Guest speaker: Bryan Van Wilgenburg, President of our National SP Group
  8. Questions and Round Table

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Published on 27 February 2026