1. Call to Order: Kayleigh Gillespie called the meeting to order at 12:01 pm and provided a land acknowledgement. Meetings took place in-person at multiple locations, with the chair present at the Pacific Biological Station (PBS), with 1 RE and 19 SP members in the meeting room. Other meeting groups joining via Microsoft Teams included the DFO Front Street office (3 SP and 2 CP members) and DFO Comox/Courtenay (7 SP members) offices. Members also attended remotely via Microsoft Teams from individual/home offices (14 SP members), for a total of 43 SP Nanaimo Sub-Group attendees, 1 RE attendee, and two CP attendees. Of the 43 SP Nanaimo members, four departments were represented: DFO (40 members), ECCC (1 member), DND (1 member), HC (1 member).  There were also two online guests from the National SP Executive.

2. Approval of the Agenda: Kayleigh 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

3. Adoption of the Minutes from 2024 AGM: A request for additions to the minutes https://pipsc.ca/groups/sp/subgroups/sp-nanaimo/nanaimo-sp-subgroup-draft-minutes-202324-annual-general-meeting was made. Motion to accept the minutes of the last AGM (held March 2023) was made by Jocelyn, seconded by Hilari– motion accepted.
4. Introductions and opening remarks:  Maria thanked everyone for coming and requested that all present made sure to fill in an attendance sheet. Her welcome was as follows:

“Welcome to the annual general meeting of the SP-Nanaimo subgroup.  For those who are wondering, SPs are Bi’s, PC’s, SG-PATs and others who share the SP collective agreement.  I know we have a few guests here with us from other Groups, particularly our friends the COs from the CP/AV Group – you are very welcome to attend, eat pizza, and listen to our guest speaker, but we ask that you please refrain from taking part in our election.

Special thanks to Kayleigh, Katherine, Rachel, Stacey, Monique and Jason for your efforts in getting these meetings set up and all the pizza organized.  And thanks to everyone who forwarded the meeting invitation to their colleagues who weren’t on the invitation list – more on that later.

By way of introductions, I’ll ask the members of the executive committee to wave or turn on their cameras. 

• I’m Maria Cornthwaite, president of the subgroup. With me we have:
• Kayleigh Gillespie, Vice President
• Erin Herder, Treasurer, who was not able to make it today due to her dog having surgery
• Katherine Charles, Secretary
• 7 members at large: Michelle Charbonneau, Hilari Dennis-Bohm, Jocelyn Nelson, Linda Nichol, Tammy Norgard (who can’t make it today), Monique Raap, & Stacey Rehel

I want to especially acknowledge and thank the members of the subgroup executive for stepping up and taking part in running this subgroup - you all play a really important role in ensuring that PIPSC has a presence in our workplace.”

5. Business arising from the 2024 minutes:

• None suggested

6. New Business:
   1. Updates

Membership:

1. 1. 1. For SP members who are attending but who did not receive an invitation – unfortunately, we rely on the list we receive from the PIPSC national office, who in turn compile the list from info received from the employer and info submitted by members.  Unfortunately, there’s a lag.
      2. If you didn’t get an invitation (or a colleague passed it along), or if you don’t regularly get PIPSC emails in your personal email, or if you’ve changed jobs or locations, please consider the following:
         1. Update your information on the PIPSC website
         2. Membership to the union isn’t automatic – you have to sign up.  Links are on the member tools pages https://pipsc.ca/member-tools .
         3. Send our secretary Katherine Charles Katherine.charles@dfo-mpo.gc.ca a note.
         4. Everyone is also encouraged to get a PIPSC email address (see https://pipsc.ca/member-tools ).  This provides a place to send union emails, but also lets you sign up for the SP Active google group – where you can interact with other members and gives the SP group a way to reach members directly outside the work network.

Branch news:

1. 1. 3. North/Central Vancouver Island Branch will be holding their AGM soon – please watch your (personal) email for updates and consider attending.  The Branch represents all PIPSC members in the local area and is a place to get involved in issues relevant to our BC/Yukon region.  Especially if you are not an SP and don’t have active subgroup, they’re a way to still be involved with PIPSC.
      4. PIPSC BC/Yukon region has a Young Professionals Committee (YPC).  If you’re under age 40 and interested in learning more, there is room for 5 YPs to attend this year’s Regional Council at Tigh-Na-Mara in June.  If interested, drop me a note and I’ll connect you with our Branch executive.

PBS/Nanaimo Pride:

1. 1. 5. Julia Bradshaw is one of our members based at PBS – Julia is part of a new PBS Pride Committee who will be working on organizing events in the coming year and will be asking to partner with us in the coming year. 

1. 2. Presidents Report – Maria Cornthwaite
      1. Maria’s report attached

• 3. Treasurers Report – Michelle Charbonneau
• Michelle presented on behalf of Erin Herder. For calendar year 2024 and proposed budget for 2025. 2025 budget similar to 2024 but needs to be accepted before finalized.
  1. 1. Presented the funding formula for the annual allowance
     2. Motion to approve 2024 budget by Katherine, Jocelyn seconded

1. 1. 3. Budget for upcoming year – Michelle Charbonneau
      4. Provided list of things that we cannot pay for as union
      5. Noted that the proposed budget adheres to stipulations of list
      6. Proposed budget presented
      7. Katherine proposed increasing Christmas Party and staff BBQ
      8. Maria encouraged members at other locations to request funds also
      9. Motion to increase by $250.00 both Christmas party and staff BBQ Audrey seconded
      10. Mark Korchinski – interested in outreach in the Comox Valley area. Michelle would love to set up a meeting and can invite other members in the area
      11. Request for money for pride parade. New pride group at PBS is hoping to march in solidarity between two unions. Julia Bradshaw presented cost of $200.00 for vehicle in parade – and was hoping for additional arts and crafts materials. Request made for $500.00.  Maria suggests that branch and better together has funding for this since it is branch wide and not just for SP. Limited time for discussion. This will be further explored with Julia and the executive at a future meeting.
      12. Motion to approve 2025 budget with consideration around pride piece to follow by Jocelyn, seconded by Shannon

1. 4. Elections – Stacey Rehel

Election of President, Vice President, Members at Large

i. Election of President: Maria Cornthwaite nominated by Katherine, accepted by Maria. No other nominations received. Maria Cornthwaite elected President by acclamation,

ii. Election of Vice President: Kayleigh Gillespie nominated by Katherine, accepted by Kayleigh. No other nominations received.  Kayleigh Gillespie elected Vice President by acclamation.

iii. Election of Members at Large: Four positions up for election.  Of the incumbents, Tammy Norgard would like to step down. Linda Nichol was not present and did not self-nominate.  Monique Raap and Jocelyn Nelson were willing to stand for another term. Katherine nominated both. Melina Sorensen from DND at Nanoose bay self-nominated.  All three accepted the nominations.  No further nominations received and all three elected by acclamation.  One vacancy remains which may be filled later in the year by a vote of the executive should anyone interested step forward.

Executive now consists of the following:

Maria Cornthwaite (president)

Kayleigh Gillespie (Vice president)

Erin Herder (Treasurer)

Katherine Charles (Secretary)

Michelle Charbonneau (MAL)

Hilary Dennis-Bohm (MAL)

Jocelyn Nelson (MAL)

Monique Raap (MAL)

Stacey Rehel (MAL)

Melina Sorensen (MAL)

7. Guest speaker: Leslie Naismith from the SP National Executive on Federal Approaches to Labour provided a virtual presentation. The presentation deck was distributed to online participants.

8. Questions and Round Table: There was very little time for discussion following the presentation as the meeting had filled the prescribed time slot.

9. Adjournment: The motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Katherine and seconded by Jocelyn. The meeting was adjourned at 13:01 pm.

Attendance:

In person at PBS (19 SP, 1 RE)

• Jocelyn Nelson
• Hilari Dennis-Bohm
• Katherine Charles
• Matt Grinnell
• Nick Fisch
• Dawn Lewis
• Shelee Hamilton
• Monique Raap
• Kayleigh Gillespie
• Shannon Obradovich
• Diana Dobson
• Steven Schut
• Natalie Fuller
• Andrew McMillan
• Audrey Ty
• Julia Bradshaw
• Jessica Hawryshyn
• Sara Jossul
• Catarina Wor (RE)
• Mark Higgins

In person in Comox (7 SP)

• Meghan Burton
• Maria Cornthwaite
• Sarah Power
• Stacey Rehel
• Jason Thompson
• David Willis
• Sandy Xhignesse

In person at Nanaimo Front Street (3 SP, 2 CP)

• Dillon Buerk
• Rachel McGuiness
• Maxime Villeux
• Amy Ganton (CP)
• Bryan Rusch (CP)

Online via MS Teams (14 SP)

• Michelle Charbonneau
• Alex Dalton
• Linnea Flostrand
• Kristin Gravelle
• Mark Korchinski
• Sharong Li
• Jonathan Martin
• Diana McHugh
• Jocelyn Nelson
• Erin Porzt
• Christine Rock
• Angela Schulze
• Melina Sorensen
• Christy Wilson

Guests (SP National Executive)

• Leslie Nasmith
• Gurusankar Saravanabhavan

SP Nanaimo Subgroup 2024/2025 AGM President’s Report

I want to thank each and every one of you who is here today for taking time out of your day at this very busy time of year.  Interest and engagement in your union – keeping yourself informed, asking questions, sharing what you learn with your colleagues, introducing someone to a steward, coming out to an event – all contribute to making a better workplace for everyone.  As we look ahead into 2025, that engagement will be more important than ever as we face increasingly uncertain times within the federal public service.  That’s why I urge you to keep your membership information up to date, read the emails that PIPSC sends you, take advantage of webinars and info sessions when they’re available. 

We have 260 members officially in the subgroup, plus I know some of you are not currently on the list!  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 work out of communities on Vancouver Island from Duncan to Port Hardy. 

We are very fortunate to have four stewards in our subgroup: myself, Michelle Charbonneau, Linda Nichol, and Alex Dalton.  Although as stewards we support all PIPSC members, how lucky we are as a group to have that SP-specific expertise!

In March 2024, 47 SP members attended our annual general meeting.  We elected Erin Herder as our new treasurer, and re-elected Katherine Charles as our secretary.  We also elected three new members at large: Stacey Rehel, Hilari Dennis Bohm, and Michelle Charbonneau, bringing our executive to its maximum number of 11 people.

You’ll hear about what we funded when the treasurer’s report is presented but I’ll just highlight a few events that we were involved in during 2024:

• In June, members walked in the Nanaimo Pride Parade under the PIPSC flag, with some funding from the NCVI Branch to cover the fee.  In future, I hope we can collaborate with the new PBS Pride Committee to walk together in solidarity.
• In August, the subgroup helped the Branch to organize a members’ social at the new Nanaimo Marriott downtown.  This was a really successful and well-attended event, which we all hope we can repeat.

Thank you for supporting the subgroup – please continue to reach out with your questions, talk to colleagues, introduce your new staff, and advocate for yourselves and others.  Keep up the good work!

SP Nanaimo Sub-Group

2024-2025 Annual General Meeting Draft Agenda

Wednesday March 26 12:00-1:00 pm

Hybrid Meeting: On MS Teams and in person:

DFO Comox (148 Port Augusta St)

DFO Nanaimo (PBS Seminar Room & 65 Front Street Room 504)

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/nanaimo-sp-subgroup-draft-minutes-202324-annual-general-meeting)
5. Business Arising from the Minutes
6. New Business
   1. Updates
   2. Presidents Report – Maria Cornthwaite
   3. Treasurers Report – Erin Herder
   4. Budget for upcoming year – Erin Herder
   5. Elections – Stacey Rehel
      1. Election of President, Vice President, Members at Large
7. Guest speaker: Leslie Naismith from the SP National Executive on Federal Approaches to Labour
8. Questions and Round Table

______________________________________________________________________________

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SP Nanaimo Subgroup 2024/2025 AGM Notice