Atlantic Region Newsletter - Summer 2024
From the Director
I’m sitting at home on a Thursday afternoon taking a few minutes to relax and I receive a text from the secretary of the Atlantic Regional Executive saying that she needs an article from me for the summer newsletter. No rest for the wicked I guess so I best get after it then.
The days are longer and the weather is getting warm. A great time to be out and about and enjoy the beautiful scenery that Atlantic Canada has to offer.
We just completed a very successful 80th Atlantic Regional Council in Charlottetown PEI and I feel honoured to preside over that meeting. I’m always interested in hearing the debate and discussions over resolutions to go to the PIPSC AGM.
Looking at my introduction to last summer’s newsletter I spoke about ongoing concerns about return to the office. A year later those concerns are even stronger with the announcement to increase return to the office for 3 days a week and eliminating the blanket exemption that some members enjoyed. While the Employer wants to save costs with “responsible spending” they choose to have members who have been delivering essential services to Canadians since March 2020 working from home to return to the office 3 days a week. Some employees have never been in the office as they have been hired after March 2020 and many more have not been in the office since March 2020. As noted last year, the Institute understands that some work needs be done on site but it should be “presence with purpose” and not a one size fits all approach.
In New Brunswick our provincial groups are either at the bargaining table or preparing to go to the bargaining table. With the provincial election scheduled for October of this year bargaining may be paused once the election call is made. It will be interesting to see if the upcoming election plays a factor at the bargaining table or not.
I have to note as well that on March 12th a nurse practitioner working in the clinic at DND Gagetown was assaulted with a weapon. Sadly, cases like this are not unique to DND Gagetown nor within DND as our members at CSC face very similar issues. This is not ok. Everyone deserves to work in a safe work location. One death, one workplace injury or assault is one too many.
Finally, I would like to welcome Tamara Critch, Paul Hubley and Mark Bellefleur to the Atlantic Regional Executive and a sincere thanks to Yvonne O’Keefe, Jennifer Cantwell and Gerald Hill for their service on the Atlantic Regional Executive over the past few years.
Take care and enjoy your summer.
Manny Costain
Atlantic Regional Director
Basic Steward Training February 2024
Simon and Elissa facilitated the February 2024 Basic Steward Training at The Lord Nelson in Halifax. Carolyn, the training committee chair, noted it was her first time observing the redesigned popular education module. The course was well balanced between content, group and individual activity and role play. Participant feedback was positive, noting they enjoyed the structure and flow of the course; and it was just the right amount of role play. There was excellent attendance at Your Father’s Moustache for a meet and greet hosted by Manny Costain, Regional Director, and Carolyn. We are excited to welcome 20 new stewards in the Atlantic Region. Well done! – Submitted by the Training Committee Chair
Atlantic Regional Training School
The Atlantic Regional Training School was held April 18-20, 2024 at the Oak Island Resort, NS. Twenty-five new stewards attended Advanced Grievance and Consultation modules and 25 seasoned stewards attended the newly released Anti-Oppression and By-Stander Intervention. We thank Max Way, Elissa McCarron, Simon Davenport, Cheryl Owens-Carr, Richard Gaboton, and Patricia Chong for all their expertise in facilitating these courses. Material and facilitator reviews were very positive, with several accolades raised for the facilitators. Social events included a directors Meet & Greet and a local magician. During the school tickets were sold and raised $832 for The Genevieve Francis Memorial Fund, a charity established in 2022 to provide support, recreation, and physical activity opportunities for Indigenous women and girls in Atlantic Canada.
Atlantic Regional Council
The 80th Atlantic Regional Council commenced Friday afternoon May 26th and Saturday, May 27th at the Rodd Charlottetown in Charlottetown, PEI. Friday afternoon the delegates Colby Briggs gave an informative presentation on Pension and Benefits, while Interim President Eva Henshaw sat down with
the New Brunswick Group delegates. The nominations for the executive positions and the candidate’s address took place with the presentation of the Executive of the Year award.
Saturday morning at 9:00am the business got underway by the delegates, chaired by Emmanuel Costain. Reports were received from Carolyn Hynes, Training Committee Chairperson, Cheryl Owens-Carr, Atlantic Regional Manager. Gerald Hill, Treasurer, tabled the regional budgets and financials. The delegates had the pleasure of a Q&A session with Eva Henshaw. Prior to lunch the elections were conducted by Christine LeDrew, Lori Rowe and Tony Chubbs. Carolyn Hynes, Mark Bellefleur, Tamara Critch, Paul Hubley, and Kimberly Keats were elected. Thank you to the previous executive members, Yvonne O’Keefe, Jennifer Cantwell, and Gerald Hill for their contributions and to all those that had put their names forward.
The afternoon continued with the debate of the resolutions. Branch President, Gilles Comeau and Brooke Casey gave an informative presentation on the Northern New Brunswick Branch.
At the Atlantic Regional Council the raffle proceeds of $1024 were donated to the Upper Room Foodbank-Charlottetown PEI.
Executive of the Year
The purpose of the Executive of the Year Award is to recognize the outstanding contributions of a PIPSC Member from the Atlantic Region who is active as an executive member of a constituent body within the region. What makes this award special is that the nomination comes from you: the membership. This year’s recipient is Selena Glover nominated by the Halifax SH SubGroup President.
Selena’s PIPSC journey started when she became a steward in 2011. She then got very involved locally with the goal of resolving the national rates of pay issue within the SH Group. She then followed that up at the National level as she became a member at large of the Health Sciences Group and is also currently a member of the bargaining team. Selena became the president of the Halifax SH Group in 2023 and is currently the secretary.
In her various roles as Selena has done an excellent job spearheading the revision of the SH bylaws, helping start new SH Subgroups and is completely dedicated to the welfare of the members. She is currently involved in the action being taken in DND regarding the unsafe working conditions for many of the healthcare professionals. During her role as president for the Halifax SH SubGroup, Selena organized several well attended events. One event involved members helping with a local group that provides a hot meal and basic needs support every Sunday at the Saint Andrew’s Church in Halifax to those experiencing food insecurity.
Selena’s warmth, strength, resilience, patience, sense of humour, and determination to protect and support PIPSC members is truly an inspiration. She is the definition of a fantastic mentor as she is openly willing to share her knowledge, experience, and skills with others in an effort to increase membership, not only within the SH Group and DND but across Departments and Provinces. Selena has given numerous hours to helping others whether by phone, zoom, travelling long distances by plane, or driving with individuals whom she had never met face to face. She is a force; she is there for the membership and PIPSC and works tirelessly to achieve success.
Congratulations to Selena as the recipient of the 2024 Atlantic Executive of the Year award.
Atlantic Young Professionals Committee (AYPC)
Food Insecurity and How it Impacts Youth:
Food insecurity is the inability to acquire or consume an adequate diet quality or sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways, or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so (Government of Canada, 2020). According to Statistics Canada (2023), in 2022, 18% of Canadian Families reported experiencing food insecurity in the past 12 months, up from 16% in 2021. PIPSC recognizes that this is an issue for those across our country, including our youth and in order to make an impact they donate to local food banks.
With rising food costs, this problem will only continue to worsen. With an understanding of the social determinants of health, it is easy to see that nutrition and eating healthy are integral to living a healthy life. With these rising costs no one, including young adults, are immune to the impact felt in day-to-day life. Young adults face an increased risk due to expenses such as child care, student loans, mortgage or rent. These costs can lead to people having to make the choice between paying rent or providing healthy meals, often leading to food choices that lack nutritional value due to lower cost when compared to healthy alternatives. This can lead to subsequent health issues such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease, putting a significant burden on the Canadian health care system. The children of young adults who are food insecure are at risk for being overweight and developing chronic illnesses such as diabetes later in life. Our employer has the responsibility of ensuring our wages increase appropriately for the cost of living, which is important as we negotiate during bargaining.
There is no simple solution to a complex issue that many Canadians face; however, there are some things that can be done to help alleviate the problem:
- Reduce food wastage- 40% of all food grown goes uneaten. Intervention is needed to ensure healthy food is not lost or wasted along the supply chain. We need to start thinking differently- food aesthetics should not determine whether or not a food is consumed. These food surpluses could go to local shelters or social kitchens.
- Increase knowledge and awareness about food insecurity.
- Write a letter to your local government about your concerns.
As young adults, we can be catalysts for change, particularly with the issue of food security which burdens many Canadians.
References:
https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/topics-start/food-price?HPA=1
Canada.ca (Household Food Insecurity in Canada Overview article)
Written by: Kelly Weir & Ashlee McLeod
Calendar of Events
(Items are subject to change)
July 12-13, 2024 - AYPC Meeting
July 16, 2024 - Steward Check-in, virtual
September 6, 2024 - Atlantic Regional Training committee
September 6-7, 2024 - Atlantic Regional Executive
September 19-21, 2024 - Basic Steward Training #2
October 24, 2024 - Atlantic Regional Executive
October 25, 2024 – AYPC Meeting
October 25-26, 2024 – Atlantic Steward Council
November 8-9, 2024 – PIPSC National AGM
November 15-16, 2024 – Extra Steward Training #3
November 29, 2024 – Seasonal Social
November 30, 2024 – Atlantic Regional Executive
Getting To Know your Regional Executive
A little about me:
Hi, I’m Tamara Critch and I am from Grand Falls-Windsor, NL. But really Windsor, NL, the awesome side of the tracks.
My Maltese/Westie mix Hamish and I are now living in Middle Sackville, NS, a suburb of Halifax, where we moved from Ottawa, ON during the pandemic. You know, where you get the East Coast feeling without living on an island. It has been a circuitous route to get here working for SSC. From the start of my career at DND in Gander, to Halifax, to Public Safety in Ottawa then onto SSC in Ottawa and now here.
What do I do for fun?:
Besides cuddling and walking my fur baby, I tend to do a lot of crafting. I started crafting well before the pandemic, but it ramped up during our forced isolation. I have done book folding (fold pages to show a 3D pic when the book is slightly opened), faux sea glass, painting and sewing. The painting is not professional by any standards, but it fills the empty spaces on my walls. The sewing really kicked in during the pandemic when I made masks. It got to the point where I had different generations.
Why I became a steward:
To be honest, at the start of my career I had no idea what a Steward was or what they could do for me. But I found out when I moved to Ottawa. You catch my drift. From the start, I had an idea of what was covered in our collective agreement as I was open about sharing my interpretation of the CA. But after attending a Subgroup AGM, where the Executive asked for people to put up their hand to be a Steward I decided to give it a go. I thought that if I was sharing information, then it’s best to get the correct information and not just my understanding. And there is one thing I detest is injustices. So being a Steward I can stand up for the members that feel they are unable to do for themselves. I have found it so worthwhile that I have continued to renew my Stewardship.
A little about me:
Hello everyone! My name is Paul Hubley, and I’m honoured to serve as a new Atlantic Regional Executive member for PIPSC. I am a Chartered Professional Accountant and I have a background in accounting, tax and audit, and I’m passionate about advocating for our members. Together, we’ll work towards ensuring fair working conditions, professional development, and a strong voice for all.
What do I do for fun?:
When I’m not busy with union matters, I love spending time with my family, vacationing, woodworking, biking, hiking, reading and watching movies. Whether it’s hiking along the beautiful Atlantic coastline, reading a good book, or completing a woodworking project, I believe in maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
Why I became a steward:
Becoming a steward was a natural step for me. I’ve always been committed to supporting my colleagues and advocating for their rights. As a steward, I can directly contribute to positive change within our workplace. It’s about standing up for fairness, fostering solidarity, and ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard.
A little about me:
Hi, I’m Mark, and I’m currently from Dieppe, New Brunswick. I've been with Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) for 4 years as an Engineer in the NR Group, with a total of 22 years of engineering experience. Originally from a small town in North West NB called St-Leonard, I attended engineering school at the Universite de Moncton along with NBCC in Civil Engineering Technology. Prior to ISC, I spent 18 years working as an engineer in various roles with various private consulting firms, including Colliers Project Leaders as a Project Management Professional (PMP), Strum Consulting, Genivar, and RV Anderson. I like to joke about my experience as working on planes, trains and automobiles as I have worked on numerous road and subdivision projects, multiple train station platform reconstructions, 2.4km extension at the greater Moncton International airport and many more types of projects. I have been married for 25 years and have my daughter who has graduated law school and my son who has one year left in his Bachelors in Film and Television.
What do I do for fun?:
I'm passionate about fitness, particularly working daily at my local CrossFit gym, or the one I built at home, and organizing and hosting CrossFit competitions for 200+ competitors twice a year. When I'm not at the gym, I love to travel, exploring new places around the world and cultures whenever I can with my wife.
Why I became a steward:
My decision to become a steward stemmed from my experiences at work, where I encountered some negative aspects of management towards my co-workers. I believe unions are stronger when members get involved and I want to contribute by bringing awareness and positively to our union activities.
Your Regional Executive
Director:
Emmanuel (Manny) Costain
ecostain@pipsc.ca
Vice-Chair:
Michael Pauley
hkystick@gmail.com
Secretary:
Christine LeDrew
christineledrew@pipsc.ca
Treasurer:
Paul Hubley
paul.hubley5@gmail.com
Training Committee Chair:
Carolyn Hynes
Carolyn_Hynes@pipsc.ca
Members at Large:
Scott McConaghy
mscottmcconaghy@gmail.com
Lorraine Rowe
lrowe@pipsc.ca
Kimberley Keats
kkeats@pipsc.ca
Tamara Critch
tcritch@pipsc.ca
Mark Bellefleur
mbellefleur@pipsc.ca
Tony Chubbs
tony.chubbs@forces.gc.ca
Atlantic Members Facebook Page: