Record of Proceedings Meeting - Ontario Regional Executive - February 1, 2021 | The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada

Record of Proceedings Meeting - Ontario Regional Executive

Meeting Date	February 1, 2021	Time	9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Members (Present)	Peter Gilkinson, Regional Director and ORE Chair, Labour day parade co-ordinator, and Provincial Employers Group Liaison Lead Din Kamaldin, ORE Vice-Chair, and Labour day parade co-ordinator John G. Purdie – Ontario Regional Council Chair, Resolution Sub-committee member and Provincial Employers Group Liaison assistant, and Training Committee Recording Secretary Tom Yantsis – Ontario Region Treasurer Yvonne Snaddon – Branch Liaison Assistant and Young Professional Liaison Assistant Christopher P. L'Estrange – Recording Secretary, Training Committee member and Events Co-ordinator Judy Chow – Social Media Manager and Branch Liaison Lead Tom Z – ORC Vice-chair, and Resolution Sub-committee member, and Training Committee Chair Tim Azab – Labour day parade co-ordinator & Legacy Foundation Champion & Social Media Manager Kuini Chuen - LGBTQ2S+ co-ordinator, Social Media Manager, Labour day parade co-ordinator and Young Professional Liaison Lead
Members (Absent)	None
Alternates	None
Invitees/Observers
Presenters	Michael Forbes, Elections Appeals Committee Chair; Marcia Kredentser, PIPSC Ontario Manager; Michael Petryk, Trees Canada spokesperson; Nicholas and Alain, Black class action group.
Secretariat	Christopher L’Estrange

	Discussion Summary
1.	Call to order by the Chair
	Motion to begin the meeting promptly at 9:00 pm Moved by: Peter Gilkinson Seconded by: Chris L’Estrange Motion Carried
2.	Approval of Amended Agenda
	Discussion regarding the agenda. We decided the order of items for this meeting. Motion to approve the meeting agenda. Moved by: Tim Azab Seconded by: Peter Gilkinson Motion Carried
3.	Approval the February 8, 2020 Minutes
	The minutes were approved secretarially and have been posted to the PIPSC website.
4.	ACTION ITEMS
	Action Item: Judy to update the ORE regarding the purchase of a camera and a button maker. In process. THIS ENDS THE ACTION ITEMS
5.	New Business
	Selection of roles for the Steward Council Chair and Newsletter Editor positions as Pete Jozsa has resigned his position on the ORE due to moving to another Province. Tabled to the next meeting. Bookings for next 2021 and 2022. Training has been planned to be virtual. Our training backlog is a concern. Election Appeals Committee update Guest Speaker – Michael Forbes 10:00 am to 10:45 am. There have been no meetings. A report was written for the AGM. There were 5 appeals that decisions were rendered on. An appeal must be filed within 72 hours of the decision made by the elections committee. This ended Michaels presentation and questions were taken. Michael clarified for us the timelines for filing an objection to a decision by the elections committee being 72 hours of when the complainant was notified. Covid-19 – planning for our eventual return to in person meetings. 2021 Vaccine etc. Support for our Ontario members – is there anything we can do as a Region to increase our presence and support our members? What are other Regions doing. PIPSC ONTARIO office update Guest Speaker Marcia Kredentser. 11:00am to 11:45am. Marcia gave us a breakdown of grievances by category maintaining privacy. Challenges with Covid-19 were explained. Grievances have been filed since the start of the pandemic. Training issues were also shared. Courses which had been written for in person delivery, have had to be revamped for online or virtual delivery. We were given a breakdown by type of grievance on what was happening since the start of the pandemic. The pandemic has not slowed the workload of EROs in Ontario. Black class action update. Financial budget was set aside by PIPSC. Briefing note dated Dec 23, 2020 emailed to the committee (ORE). Guest Speaker 12:30pm to 2:00pm. BOD had a meeting with the black class action lawsuit team last week. Guests, Nicholas and Alain introduced themselves, and explained the background of the class action suit. Bringing about change. Questions were taken. Steward Resignations – Is this business as usual or a trend developing and if so; can the ORE take some actions to curb the issue? Trees Canada Guest Speaker 3:00pm to 3:30m. Michael Petryk of Trees Canada, discussed how we would go about this planting of trees. We would need about 25 people to volunteer to plant. With Covid-19 this will have to wait for after the pandemic. We may assist to restore a wetland or plant Oak trees for instance. Where do the motions stand for the 2020 AGM, - Part two of the AGM is scheduled for April 10, 2021. We need to book our meetings for the rest of 2021 so they are in everyone’s calendar. In person are cancelled until at least August 31, 2021 as an estimate. Complaint from TCTSO CRA – next steps. Discussion to bring all ORE up to date on this subject and source ideas. CLC Convention for 2021 – virtual?
6.	Portfolio Reports
	a) Branch Liaison – Yvonne Snaddon - Ontario Branch Presidents were invited to this meeting and attended between 3:30 pm and 5:00 pm. A general discussion ensued. Some interesting questions were asked, and concerns shared regarding retention and training of stewards, especially during the pandemic. b) Event Co-ordinator - Chris L’Estrange - There have been no in person events this past year. c) Labour Day Parade 2021 – Peter G, Din, Kuini - We will have to see whether Labour Day will be run this year. d) Legacy Foundation Champion – Tim Azab - The Foundation has been receiving generous donations from constituent bodies. e) Newsletter - tabled to the next meeting for lack of time. f) Resolution sub-committee – John Purdie, Tom Z - No issues to report. g) Secretary – ORE – Chris L’Estrange - Nothing to report. h) Social Media – Judy, Kuini - Nothing to report at this time. i) Regional Treasurer - Tom Yantsis - Treasurer's Report – 2020 Financial Statements and 2021 Budget. - Document uploaded to Google Drive, under ORE Finances in its own folder. Tom presented the 2020 financial statements and the 2021 budget and took questions. Donations to the legacy fund was queried. This sort of item is grouped with mobilization, better together etc., and put with Branch Support as a catch all. Some thought it might better broken out separately. Tom explains this detail verbally at the ORC. He will make a note on this issue going forward. Motion: To accept the financial statements for 2020 and the budget for 2021. First: Tim Azab Second: John Purdie Carried. Finance committee had it’s meeting with Zoom last Monday. They went through outstanding items, the financials, and legacy foundation. They looked at the success or concerns related to the new concur system. j) Regional Training Update – Tom Z (chair), Chris, John Tom provided his report. The training has been virtual in the past year due to Covid-19. The feedback from participants has been largely positive. Some glitches which are expected. k) Young Professionals liaison – Kuini & Yvonne - Tabled to the next meeting as we ran out of time.
7.	Sub-Committee Reports
	These were tabled to the next meeting as we ran out of time.
8.	2021 Steward Council update – Tom Z
	Heather is looking into venues dependant on Covid-19. We would plan on later in the year. Out of the city in a remote place. It’s difficult to find anything because the venues aren’t booking events for this year.
9.	2021 Regional Council – John Purdie
	Casino Windsor cannot accommodate us in 2021. Heather is checking dates available, and in some cases quotes. It’s not completely ready yet, but we may assume if in person meetings are allowed later in the year, 2021, then we may look at what is possible for a remote location. There are too many uncertainties, but we are hoping for October. Agreements will have an escape clause for Covid-19 in case we need to cancel. A general discussion regarding a virtual v’s an in-person ORC ensued. There are too many uncertainties at this time to make any decisions but our discussion was for our approach in either case. We currently have a vacant position on the executive. This was also discussed. We will hope for a fall ORC and plan for a virtual meeting. We will table this to a special meeting to discuss further.
10.	Director’s Report
	Director’s Report: Peter gave his Director’s Report. There was a presentation made at the board of director’s meeting to support Engage Canada. Peter touched on the CLC. Tim expressed his personal dissatisfaction with how PIPSC supports CLC with an annual dues payment and they do not provide any support with our requests for training assistance or other issues.
11.	Branch Presidents and Group Presidents
	This was addressed earlier in these minutes. The Presidents were invited to attend this meeting to discuss concerns or matters they wish to discuss or share with others. This was a very productive discussion.
12.	Round Table
	Everyone exchanged well wishes.
13.	Meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm
	Motion to adjourn at 5:00 pm First: Peter Gilkinson Seconded: Tim Azab Carried