Ontario and Nunavut Region Executive 

Minutes, July 18, 2026

Waterloo, Ontario

Land Acknowledgement – J. Purdie
Opening Remarks – J. Purdie 

Thanks to everyone for their participation in Meet and Greet, it shows that the region is in all the areas. We can review if having these events are working for member outreach and engagement. 
The invitation is important. Members should see we are attempting to engage with them. 
Outreach is meant to encourage and grow engagement. 
Discussion on how to support branches to encourage members to come out. 
Discussion on having a formal presentation at Meet and Greet events: 

Possibly a slideshow to put on in the background. 
Having a pamphlet or other information to hand out at the event. 
Enticement to encourage members: door prize, raffle, bingo game.

Approval of Agenda    

Consensus on the Agenda

Approval of Minutes

Discussion on the previous meeting Minutes: June 2026 Strategic Planning and regular meeting).
Consensus on the approval of the previous Minutes: June 26, 2026 ONRE Strategic Planning meeting, June 27, 2026, ONRE meeting. 

Matters Arising / Tracking Report – J. Purdie

Reviewed tracking action items and updated completed items.

Treasurer’s Report – T. Yantsis
Updated ORNE with bank account balance
Finance Committee next week on Friday
Confirmed that swag will be purchased for Steward Council – ORNE to confirm # of items and exact item to be purchased. Order needs to be in 6 weeks before event. T. Yantsis or J. Purdie will reach out to Toronto office for current numbers when Heather returns from leave. 
We are currently on budget. 
Training Committee meeting did not have meeting room booked. Training Committee met in the restaurant at the hotel. Discussion on how to reimburse cost of meeting. 
Discussion on hospitality with AFS from AGM 2025
Director’s Report – J. Purdie
President is off on leave in the summer. Full-time VP S. Fréchette is Acting in his stead. 
A lot of media pieces for PIPSC, a push to get into the media. 
Budget discussions ongoing
WFA affected members in Ontario and Nunavut region is 536 members.
As a percentage of # of members, it’s lower than other regions. 
As comparison: NCR has 4,245 members, Quebec 564 members. Atlantic 435, Prairies 389, BC Yukon 291.
Request from R. Tharmarajah – Can the BoD look into the issue with Toronto North CRA members have been reassigned to other GTA offices.

Employer only has quarterly updates on location
Branch President or sub-group President should look into their list. 
Remainder of Toronto North members will start reporting to Toronto East by end of year.

Losing members affects budget as there is a loss of revenue from dues. 
Hiring ongoing at PIPSC, however not all positions have been filled. With the loss of revenue from dues, PIPSC may need to review if all the positions are still necessary.
Looking forward to the budget coming out of the Finance Committee for the 2027-2028 fiscal.
Brent Farrington has a department that is currently reorganizing. 2028 AGM in discussions, possible location is Ottawa. 2026 and 2027 AGM is planned for the same location. Important to get feedback from 2026 before committing to 2028 at the same location. 
Branches are having AGMs ongoing. Will discuss communication with branches regarding Labour Day. 

Committee Reports
BOARD OF DIRECTORS (“BOD”) COMMITTEES 

By-Laws and Policies Committee (“BLPC”) – R. Samra
Focus has been on cleaning up by-laws, and dealing with by-laws that need approval of the Board. 
R. Samra is on the sub-committee for the AGM for by-law resolutions. 
Toronto Centre is looking to update by-laws for subgroup and branch. What are the timelines for getting approval for the by-laws before an AGM? R. Samra can receive the information and get the by-laws on the agenda for September BLPC meeting. Once approved at BLPC, it is sent to the following BoD meeting for approval. The by-laws do not go into effect until they are approved by the BoD The by-law changes can still go to the AGM for vote, however if it’s not pre-approved, there may changes that would have to go back out to the membership a second time. 
Discussion on the timelines for the BLPC process. Some information can be handled secretarially to reduce timelines. 
Next BLPC meeting tentative for Sept 8 or Sept 12. 
Is proxy voting allowed in by-laws? The Committee looks at the circumstances on a case-by-case basis. BoD may need to review in the future if they are looking to open up proxy voting on a larger scale.
Finance Committee – T. Yantsis

Next meeting in July.
Getting training package for Treasurers Training.
Request that T. Yantsis reviews the list of Treasurers that need training. Will likely hold a virtual training after the Steward’s Council. 
Budget preparation is scheduled for September BoD meeting.
J. Purdie has been requested to assist with the budget preparation.
CFO is currently working on budget preparation.
Finance Committee does excellent work on the Committee. 
Discussion on the importance of the BoD having an understanding of financial items. The BoD relies on the Finance Committee to provide financial recommendations and advice. 
J. Purdie will be advocating for an AGM financial forum on Thursday evening prior to the AGM.
Motion from C. Gagnon, seconded by R. Tharmarajah to recommend to the BoD that there is an in-person financial forum on the Thursday evening prior to the AGM. Motion passed unanimously. 

Human Rights and Diversity Committee (“HRDC”) – M. Haroon
No report at this time. Correspondence reviewed. 
Science Advisory Committee (“SAC”) – F. Scott
Received report from F. Scott. Reviewed by ONRE.
Training, Education and Mentoring (“TEAM”) Committee – B. Brawley
Met on June 29, 2026
Next meeting August 21-22, 2026
Mentoring program in progress. A presentation will be available on Steward Council
Elections Committee – T. Azab
Received report from T. Azab. ONRE reviewed update. 
Elections Appeals Committee – R. Monize
Received report from R. Monize. ONRE reviewed update.

ONTARIO AND NUNAVUT REGION EXECUTIVE (“ORE”) COMMITTEES/LIAISONS

Training Committee – B. Brawley
Requested quotes for Basic Steward Training 2027.
Requested quotes for 2027 Labour School. 
November Labour School in Hamilton November 18-21. 

Recommendation to invite an Executive from Hamilton and District Labour Council to come and bring greetings from Labour Council.
Recommendation to reach out to Worker’s Arts and Heritage Centre to see if there’s any opportunity to have a tour on Thursday night. 
Tabling opportunity for WAHC? 

By-law & Policy – L. Jeethan

Motions up to date on our document for motions of record. 
BLPC has a spreadsheet that has links to all constituent body executive by-laws. 

Visibility and Mobilization Events (“VME”) – F. Akol, 

Social Media and Newsletter – F. Akol, L. Fuller
Social media plan in place – Trying to engage more platforms. Calendar in place to get 
Looking to profile each executive member on Tiktok and Facebook with a picture and a brief intro.
Newsletter – planning to have ready for ONRC in spring 2027. 
Labour Day
R. Tharmarajah has been in contact with Toronto and District Labour Council to register for Toronto Labour Day Parade. 
1 float and 2 cars. Any vehicles need to be at the spot prior to 7am.
Possibility to rent a vehicle to carry the water/items. There’s a $XX charge at the CNE to have a vehicle enter. 
Quote for t-shirts has been received. “Defending Workers Everywhere”

Logo– Ontario and Nunavut Logo.
Discussion on the number of shirts to purchase.
Motion from T. Tharmarajah to limit t-shirts to members only at the Toronto Labour Day Parade. Seconded by B. Brawley. Motion failed. 
Food options were reviewed. VME recommends food vouchers from the CNE. 

Motion from T. Tharmarajah to provide $XX in food vouchers for members and $XX0 in food vouchers for guests. No seconder. 
Motion from T. Tharmarajah to provide $XX in food vouchers to all attendees. Seconded by B. Brawley 
Amendment from T. Macdonald, seconded by B. Brawley to amend the amount to $XX in food vouchers to all attendees – Motion passed. 

Notification will go out from the regional office soon. 
There is a meeting on September 2 prior to the Labour day event.
VME should reach out to the branch presidents in the GTA to support the Labour Day parade. 
The intention for Labour Day is to bring as much visibility to PIPSC as possible.
The PIPSC President will be invited. J. Purdie will invite on behalf of the Ontario and Nunavut region.  

Ontario Provincial Group – T. MacDonald
New VP at Juravinski Cancer Centre. 
No further updates. 
Branch Liaison – L. Jeethan
Introduction to the Branch Presidents. 
Looking to send an email once per month on different topics
Event resource document to be update and recirculated. 
Discussion on some difficulties in contacting branch presidents regarding 2026 AGM delegate seats. 
Young Professionals – R. Samra

This year, call letters need to be sent out to create a new Committee. 

Planning for 3 bowling events for the year, as these were successful.
Looking at Kingston, Scarborough, and Waterloo/London area (Southwestern Ontario) for the events. Late September 2026, October 2026, March 2027.
Any money left over from the 2025-2026 budget does not carry forward.
ONRE would like to see a budget for the $XX,XXX for the events. Current budget shows an event for 50 people is $X,XXX/event.
R. Samra is seeking permission from the Executive to hold the first bowling event in late September in Kingston.   
For Branches that are in more rural areas, could the Young Professional Committee provide information to branches to roll out for their Young Professionals.
Looking into virtual events, but they can be difficult for engagement
What are the terms for the Regional Committee – 8 members + Chair on the Committee for a 2-year term. The new Committee would need to be struck for this year. Call out should go out to Toronto Regional Office to be sent out. 
Recommendation from ONRE that R. Samra collect the information for the call letter and the Executive will look into the term and age limit for participation. 
B. Brawley found Minutes that indicated that regional Young Professionals had a 3-year term for members that started their term in July 2025. 
Motion from M. Horn for the ONRE to support the Young Professionals Committee to run a September bowling event in Kingston. Seconded by F. Akol. Motion passed. 

Legacy Foundation – C. Gagnon, F. Akol
PowerPoint presentation started to have ready for future presentations at events. 
Working on raffle ideas, 50/50 draws, deductions from expense claim (CVENT) to get ballots for raffle, Bingo. 
Entire Executive support is needed. If there’s training that we’re going to, support is needed at these events that not everyone are going to. 
Focusing on how to present information in an accessible and interesting way. 
C. Gagnon and F. Akol will determine logistics of legacy foundation fundraisers. Will look into getting some testimonials from prior recipients of scholarships. 

Ontario Region Council (“ORC”) – J. Purdie
Preliminary agenda reviewed and discussed. 
Ontario Steward Council (“OSC”) – B. Brawley
Swag- Motion by B. Brawley, seconded by R. Thamarajah, to purchase the Relay 2.0 5ft 20W PD charging station to be branded with ONRE logo. Motion passed. 
Steward of the Year and Glenn Maxwell Executive of the Year announcement has gone out. 
There has been a notice the Union Family Life Balance registration for family member. This does not apply to members that cannot get home by 8pm. 
PIPSC VP E. Henshaw has requested time for a presentation on the mentorship program. 
Networking Activities – M. Horn presented the networking items. B. Brawley will run the products by Education Committee. 
Planning Document – J. Purdie
New Business
ORE information Binder – T. MacDonald
Dated 2022. Would we like to keep this up to date?
Smart Serve Certification – J. Purdie
As long as someone has Smart-Serve, that person can supervise the bar. 
F. Akol, R. Tharmarajah, and L. Jeethan are interested in getting Smart Serve certification.
Take online and submit the receipt to T. Yantsis for reimbursement.
If we are hosting a hospitality suite, the Executive should all participate. 
Round Table
Update on clothing – Tom has placed the order and should have it by September. 
N. Mathi offered help to any of the Committees
B. Brawley was happy with participation on the Regional Training Committee
R. Tharmarajah – receiving negative feedback on the new website, would like J. Purdie to provide feedback to the BoD. 
T. Yanstis – looking forward to being back in person for meetings.