NR Ville de Québec
Sub-Group
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting (AGM)
of November 7, 2024
(Translated from French)
The 2024 Annual General Meeting of the NR Ville de Québec Sub-Group was held on November 7, 2024, at the Côtes-à-Côtes restaurant, located at 1280 Lebourgneuf Boulevard, Québec City, QC.
1. Reception
After signing the record of attendance, the following members took their places in the room between 5:30 and 6:10 p.m.:
- Alex Tourigny-Plante
- Bernard Michaud, Executive member
- Jean-Luc Bédard, Executive member and treasurer
- Jessika Poirier, Executive member and secretary
- Martin Lambert
- Maude Blanchet
- Mohamed Ali Cisse
- Omar Kali, Executive member and vice-president
- Pascal Béland
- Patrick Lacoursière, Executive member and president
- Samuel Bruneau-Dubuc, Executive member
- Stéphane Mailhot
Although absent at the time of the reception, the following member joined a little later in the evening, bringing the total number of members to 13.
- Jean-Alexandre Bettez-Bouchard
Two non-members of the NR Sub-Group were also present as guests. One was Francis Bégin, representative of the Québec City Branch, and the other was a relative of a member.
2. Call to order
Patrick Lacoursière confirmed that a quorum was present (12 members; later 13 members) and declared the meeting open at 6:11 p.m.
3. President’s opening remarks
President Patrick Lacoursière welcomed the assembly and suggested a round of introductions. One by one, all those present shared their name, position, department and, where applicable, their position on the Executive Committee.
4. Reading of the notice of meeting
The notice of meeting had been e-mailed to all members and was also displayed in an on-screen presentation. Patrick Lacoursière summarized the contents. The meal and a Murder Mystery activity were scheduled to take place after the General Meeting.
5. Review and adoption of the agenda
The agenda had been posted on the NR Ville de Québec Sub-Group website and was also displayed in an on-screen presentation. Jessika Poirier summarized the contents.
Jean-Luc Bédard moved the adoption of the agenda and Francis Bégin seconded the motion.
6. Reading and approval of the minutes of the 2023 AGM
The minutes had been posted on the NR Ville de Québec Sub-Group website and were also displayed in an on-screen presentation. Patrick Lacoursière summarized the contents. The highlight was the presence of Pierre Richard and Hugo Buttau as guests to discuss the progress of the collective agreement negotiations. Jean-Luc Bédard pointed out that this was the 1st time all types of NR Group members were present (ENG, AR and SUR). Patrick Lacoursière pointed out that this was also the first time a woman (Jessika Poirier) had served on the Executive Committee.
Bernard Michaud moved the adoption of the minutes of the 2023 AGM and Omar Kali seconded the motion.
7. President’s report
Breakdown of the NR Ville de Québec Sub-Group members
President Patrick Lacoursière reiterated the role of the NR Ville de Québec Sub-Group and outlined its membership: the subgroup currently had 157 members spread across 11 departments. The departments with the most members were the Department of National Defence (60 members), Public Services and Procurement Canada (39 members) and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (32 members). There were 8 or 9 more members than the previous year.
Highlights in 2024
President Patrick Lacoursière presented a summary of the highlights of 2024. These are events in which the Executive or part of the Executive participated: three meetings of the Sub-Group president with the Québec City Branch, two meetings of the NR Ville de Québec Sub-Group Executive Committee, the Québec Regional Council in Magog, and the Steward Council in Trois-Rivières. He announced upcoming events and activities, including the PIPSC national AGM (November 8, 2025), the Québec City Branch AGM (November 20, 2024) and the NR Group AGM (November 23, 2024).
Several people, including Francis Bégin and Jean-Luc Bédard, shared their positive and negative experiences of participating in various union events, particularly the PIPSC national AGM. This event included voting on budgets and regulations for the entire PIPSC, but involved a rigid structure and a large number of people. They reminded us that every Group and Branch has places available, and that any member can apply for this experience. Someone with enthusiasm could easily have a place, as Groups/Branches like to promote commitment. To demonstrate the relevance of union engagement at many levels, Jean-Luc Bédard gave the example of a motion adopted by the Québec Region to limit the number of retired members on the collective agreement Bargaining Committee, which progressed to the PIPSC national AGM. He regrets that this motion was blocked for procedural reasons, but Francis Bégin confirmed that a new draft will be filed at the next national AGM.
Upcoming activities in 2025
President Patrick Lacoursière would like the Sub-Group to organize more social activities in 2025. In 2022, there was a bowling event in conjunction with the DS Sub-Group, and he would like to see this type of success repeated. Other examples of previous activities were also mentioned, such as a conference with an ambassador from South Korea and another with Dr. Sylvain Guimont.
Main issues and challenges
In terms of challenges, President Patrick Lacoursière recalled several ongoing projects. Jean-Luc Bédard summarized progress on the career progression file for ENGs at Valcartier Base, which involves setting up a system whereby the same position would progress from one level to another (e.g., ENG-03 to ENG-04), according to the level of experience and responsibility. Jessika Poirier wondered whether these advances could help AR and SUR members apply a similar formula, even in other departments. Jean-Luc Bédard undertook to pass on the documentation on which he relies.
Although PIPSC had presented the mandatory return to office of at least 3 days a week, and the right to work from home, as national issues, the NR Ville de Québec Sub-Group has found instead that the opinions of its members vary and has therefore not implemented any militant actions. Bernard Michaud reminded us that the Public Service Alliance of Canada has initiated legal proceedings with the federal government on this subject, and that the results of these proceedings are still pending.
President Patrick Lacoursière described the case of ENG positions that were converted to subcontractor positions within the Department of National Defence but noted that this was not a prevalent issue in 2024. Some members pointed out that the problem now is that there is no hiring, while the workload remains high. Maude Blanchet confirmed that she had noticed a similar situation at Public Services and Procurement Canada.
Québec City Branch
Francis Bégin, guest representative of the Québec City Branch, presented four activities carried out by the Branch in 2024 and two more to come before the end of the calendar year. One of the activities carried out was a pension training course, which proved very popular. Patrick Lacoursière asked if there would be another training session of this type. It wasn’t impossible, but nothing had been organized yet.
8. Treasurer’s report
Treasurer Jean-Luc Bédard presented the 2024 financial statements on the screen. NR Ville de Québec Sub-Group’s finances are sound. He reminded everyone that the 2024 figures included estimates for this evening’s AGM, but that no other expenses were planned between now and December 31. Interest was also estimated. It is expected that $381.92 will remain in the Sub-Group’s coffers on December 31, 2024. He pointed out that the AGM was paid for by the Sub-Group, but that the social activity that followed it could be reimbursed by the NR Group. This would increase the December 31, 2024, amount by approximately $700.00. It’s important not to have too much money (no more than $1,395.50) left in the account at the end of the calendar year, so as not to be penalized in our NR Group allowance. He explained the ways in which this allowance could be calculated. He also described the budget for 2025, according to which the Sub-Group would once again end up with a positive balance. To conclude, he presented the involvement incentive program.
Omar Kali moved the adoption of the 2025 financial statements and budget, and Maude Blanchet seconded the motion.
[Subsequent follow-up: Financial assistance of $1,000.00 was requested from the Québec City Branch and accepted at their Executive meeting, on December 10, 2024. The year-end balance was therefore $1,142.00]
9. Invitation to members to join the Executive
Patrick Lacoursière invited the members to declare their interest in joining the Executive Committee. There were already enough people on the Executive Committee (7 people), but anyone with a keen interest would be welcome. No one came forward.
10. New Business
Jean-Luc Bédard reminded us of the NR Ville de Québec Sub-Group’s Facebook page, where information on activities and events is shared. About 1 in 4 members were in the Facebook group, which is not very many.
There were no other topics in New Business, and no one wanted to suggest any.
11. Roundtable
In turn, each person around the table had the opportunity to speak freely on the topic of their choice.
Jean-Alexandre Bettez-Bouchard has heard of a proposal to increase union dues. He was wondering about the nature of the proposal, the reasons behind it and the opinion of the other members of the Sub-Group. Patrick Lacoursière replied that there would be a vote at the PIPSC national AGM (November 8, 2024). He was personally opposed to the increase, as was Jean-Luc Bédard. Jean-Luc Bédard expressed his concerns about the management of dues, particularly the fact that the NR Group had no strike fund. Bernard Michaud asked about the nature of the planned increase. Although no one had the exact figures at hand, the increase was estimated at an additional $300.00 or $400.00 per year. Francis Bégin was concerned about the lack of transparency of PIPSC’s senior management, who were not required to provide a detailed breakdown of their budget. Bernard Michaud would like to know when the last increase was. This information needed to be validated.
No one else brought a topic to the table.
12. Adjournment
Francis Bégin moved that the meeting be adjourned, and Bernard Michaud seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 7:23 p.m