Executive Meeting - Quebec Regional Council - May 3, 2018
EXECUTIVE MEETING
QUEBEC REGIONAL COUNCIL
MAY 3, 2018, 8:30 A.M.
CHÉRIBOURG-ORFORD HOTEL
1. CALL TO ORDER
Yvon welcomed the participants and said he would be chairing the meeting.
Present: Yvon Brodeur, Réjean Michaud, Benoit Pelletier, Lyne Larocque, Richard Doyle, Christian Tremblay, Steve Parent, Renaud Guiard, Patrick Sioui, Robert Tellier and Damien Noël
Absent: N/A
2. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Moved by: Robert Tellier Seconded by: Richard Doyle
It was decided that Other Business would remain open.
3. READING AND APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING
Moved by: Patrick Sioui Seconded by: Lyne Larocque
4. BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES OF THE JANUARY 13, 2018 MEETING
- Benoit presented a document based on PIPSC’s Harassment Policy. He had prepared it as a reminder of the policy. We looked at the document together and made some corrections to it. This text will be presented at the beginning of each event as a friendly reminder so that there is consistency and coherence in what is presented at the different events.
- Iqaluit: Yvon asked if there was a possibility of Iqaluit being affiliated with the NCR; he will bring the issue to the Board with the support of a Director from the NCR.
- Rules of Engagement / Code of Conduct: Yvon will share a model document to work on and Lyne will prepare a first draft for us on this subject; not completed. Yvon and Lyne will get back to us on the issue by the next meeting.
- Labour Day: The Board approved $6,000 for participation in this event. We will have the choice of organizing something either for May1 or the Monday in September.
Other action items are included in the agenda.
5. DIRECTOR’S REPORT
- Magali Picard was elected National Executive Vice-President of PSAC; she and Yvon will take charge of the portfolio concerning isolated posts in the Gaspé and defend the case in front of the National Joint Council.
- French training in Quebec: We are open to making some spots available to members from other regions, if places are available during our training sessions.
- Yvon informed us that he has still not received an invitation to meet with the Quebec Federal Council.
- Health Canada in Longueuil: A meeting is coming up at this location, which currently has only one Steward for 125 members.
- Eastern Quebec Branch AGM: Yvon attended the Branch's AGM on April 26 and highlighted Benoît's excellent hosting and Réjean's presentation on retirement and health care.
6. TREASURER’S REPORT
Robert presented a financial report for the period from January 1, 2018 to April 30, 2018. A few questions were asked about this report. Robert also presented a financial report for the period from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. Some corrections were made to the report, which will be presented at the Regional Council this weekend. The 2018 budget will also be presented for adoption by the Regional Council. Corrections, both in form and content, were made to the budget, and we agreed on what will be presented to the Regional Council.
7. REGIONAL AND NATIONAL COMMITTEES
- Education and Learning: Robert informed us that not much happened at the last meeting. The other regions have not given the OHS course for a very long time. The training courses taken through the FTQ should soon be recognized by PIPSC. The "Social Approach" course will be given from November 21 to 24, 2018 and we will invite members from other regions.
- Human Rights: Patrick presented his report on the screen. There has been a meeting since we last met with Mario Guertin, the new chair of the committee.
- Finance: Benoit said that there was a meeting on March 23 and another one is scheduled for May11 to discuss the budget. Overall, PIPSC's finances are in good shape. Tenants are still being sought for the Tremblay Street building in Ottawa. A discussion (in camera) took place on the strike fund.
- IT: Hugo Landry will be reporting at the Regional Council this weekend. We also learned that PIPSC’s email system will change on May 23.
- Young Professionals: The welcome package and wording of the committee's mandate have been completed. Renaud will email us the final product via PipscCollab. The members of the Executive will read it and forward their comments to Renaud.
- Status of Women: The committee held some remote meetings, given the limited number of participants available recently. We finally agreed on what we wanted to put on the card holder. The card holders will be distributed at the Regional Council through the Branch Presidents.
- Official Languages: Yvon informed us that the committee has not met since January 2018. Richard talked to us about problems with the translation of certain documents and we learned that Éric Massey will be able to make presentations in French on the new wellness program.
- By-Laws: Stéphanie Fréchette will present a report to us tomorrow at the Regional Council.
8. UPDATES ON FILES BY THEIR LEADS
- Branch Liaison: Renaud informed us that a meeting will be held tomorrow with the Branch Presidents. He will ask them if it is really necessary to have a second meeting during the year.
Hotels: With Damien’s help, we are deciding on the tentative calendar of events for 2019:
- February 5 to 9: Training School / 45 people
- April 2 to 6: Basic Steward Training / 10 people
- April 30 to May 4: Regional Council / 85 people / Trois-Rivières or Estrie
- June4 to 8: OHS training / 23 people
- September 11 to 14: Stewards Council / 105 people / Victoriaville or Québec City
- October 22 to 26: OHS and Basic Steward Training / 20 + 10 people
- November 19 to 23: Social Approach / 20 people
The same criteria for selecting the 2018 locations were used for 2019.
The remaining training courses for 2018 will be held at the Victorin.
- Mobilization: Steve has not had a meeting with the Better Together Committee since our last meeting. There are currently presentations on Phoenix and the Wellness Program available.
Promotional items: Nothing new at this time.
9. 2018 REGIONAL COUNCIL: COMPOSITION, ELECTIONS, PUBLICATIONS & RESOLUTIONS:
Composition: Following this year's experience, Lyne recommended that in future the Regional Council be officially constituted before sending invitations to the members selected to participate in the Regional Council. The current process where both steps are done at the same time creates a lot of confusion. In addition, if there is a surplus of members interested in attending the Regional Council, they should be classified as substitutes, in a specific order.
- Elections: Lyne will work with the Elections Committee to address the problems encountered this year.
- Posting: There have been problems with the posting of the CVs of members who applied for a position on the Regional Council Executive (e.g. not all CVs were posted, they were posted at different times). Meanwhile, Damien suggested that the Region's information be put on a secure portal. It was therefore moved that the Regional Director inform the appropriate authorities that, from now on, unless otherwise indicated, all Quebec Region postings must be on the secure portal.
Moved by: Patrick Seconded by: Damien
Carried unanimously.
- Resolutions: Réjean brought a resolution from the Québec City Branch regarding the participation of youth in the PIPSC AGM. Comments and corrections were submitted on this resolution. Réjean will forward the Executive’s comments to the Québec City Branch representatives so that they can make changes to their resolution before presenting it at Regional Council.
10. POSTING ON PIPSC’S WEBSITE (QUEBEC REGION):
It was suggested that the Quebec Region’s site, on the PIPSC portal, include tabs for each of the committees (Status of Women, Young Professionals, etc.) We also took looked at a message from a Quebec member asking to post something on the Region's website. We concluded that a communications officer would need to be appointed at the next Regional Executive meeting and that the duties and responsibilities of the position be described in the Strategy Committee’s document.
11. APPROVAL BY THE REGIONAL EXECUTIVE OF AN AFS STEWARD
Steve presented the case of a future AFS Steward who did not receive a positive recommendation from the Regional Director. An in-camera discussion followed on the details and circumstances of the situation. Following the discussion, it was moved by Steve (and seconded by Lyne) that the Regional Executive not oppose the appointment of this future Steward and that our decision be communicated to the AFS Group President and President Daviau.
Motion defeated by a majority.
12. STRATEGY COMMITTEE: UPDATE BY THE CURRENT COMMITTEE
As a follow-up to our meeting in March, Steve asked questions about some aspects of the work done that day, as he was unable to attend. We agreed that it would be appropriate to meet in the coming months to finalize our first draft.
13. OTHER BUSINESS
Richard received a request from his office's EAP Committee for PIPSC to commit, like the two other unions in his workplace, to contributing approximately $100 for a joint activity. We gave our approval to Richard and asked him to provide us with a report after the event.
14. ROUND TABLE
No other business was raised.
15. NEXT MEETING AND ADJOURNMENT
The date of the next meeting will be decided on by the new Executive elected at the Regional Council tomorrow. (Editor’s note: Later it was decided that the next meeting would be held in Québec City on Tuesday, July3, 2018)
Renaud moved that the meeting be adjourned. Seconded by Damien.