Fraser Valley Branch Executive Meeting
February 29 2024 - held virtually via Zoom
Meeting called to order at 5:05 PM PST
1. Roll Call (members of the Branch Executive)
In attendance:
Terri D’Souza (CFIA S&A), President
Adam McClean (SH), Vice-President
Aliegh LaRose (SH), Member at Large
Christine Kleindienst (SH), Member at Large
Rayna Gunvaldsen (CFIA-VM), Member at Large
Danika Overmars (SH), Member at Large
Absent:
Stephen Deo (SH), Secretary
Ravipal Kochar (SH), Treasurer
Febin Meckkaden Paily (SH), Member at Large
Lauren Brine (SH), Member at Large
Ryan Liden (CS), Member at Large
2. Approval of the Agenda (M/S/C)
No amendments made
3. Report of the President (M/S/C)
I wanted to start off by thanking the entire executive for stepping up to volunteer for a position with the Fraser Valley Branch at our AGM in December 2023. The AGM was a great success with over 30 in attendance – thank you to all who attended and to Dean Corda (BC/Y Regional Executive and Branch Liaison) and Morgan Cranny (BC/Y Regional Director) for speaking to the delegation and running the elections.
As your Branch President, BC/Y Regional Executive, and BC/Y Young Professionals Executive, I have been steadily busy since our AGM and elections. Shortly after being elected as President, I attended a Regional Executive meeting in Vancouver to begin planning for the 2024 year. Also in December 2023, I co-chaired the CFIA-VM AGM and ran their elections, which like at our AGM, resulted in a full executive. Early this month, I attended another Regional Executive meeting in Nanaimo to begin planning the Regional Council meeting in June in Kelowna. While in Nanaimo, I attended an engagement event for members in the area. Mid-February, I attended the BC/Y Young Professionals’ Committee meeting in Vancouver where we worked with Karen Hall (Transport Canada Consultation Team President) on strategic planning for the next three years to further strengthen our position as young workers in the union and in the workplace, engage membership, and develop leaders of today and tomorrow. Also in February, I was selected to be the BC/Y Representative on the National Science Advisory Committee and our first meeting is tomorrow. I am currently in Whitehorse, Yukon for membership engagement with BC/Y Regional Director Morgan Cranny and BC/Y Young Professionals Liaison Davy Chiu. We have met with many members at ECCC, DFO, NRCan, Yukon Hospital Corporation, CANNOR, PSPC, SSC, CIRNAC, and RCMP to discuss workplace issues such as the isolated post allowance. We also hosted a very successful young workers engagement event with over 20 in attendance from various departments (Yukon Hospital, DFO, ECCC, CANNOR).
Looking forward for the Fraser Valley Branch in 2024, I hope we can actively engage members through the executive and events, but also individually through Better Together funding or through special funding from the Region. I look forward to hosting lunch and learns, site visits, and membership engagement events throughout the year, and hope to have great participation. The PIPSC calendar is also full of great events for 2024 that I encourage you to attend where possible for training, awareness, and networking, and to tell your coworkers about them or bring someone along with you. Lastly, I encourage you all to apply to become a steward to gain better insight into your collective agreement, assist your fellow members, and be the local spokesperson and eyes and ears for the union.
4. Financial Report (M/S/C)
Financial report presented for 2023. Allocation for 2024 was submitted by the December 2023 deadline but has not yet been received.
5. New Business
a. By-law Amendments
The Fraser Valley Branch’s current bylaws lack succession planning for the
Executive members. We proposed to amend By-law 6.2 Term of Office as
follows:
“The term of office shall be two (2) years. The President and Treasurer terms of
office shall commence on an even year, effective at the 2024 AGM. The
Vice-President and Secretary terms of office shall commence on an odd year,
effective at the 2025 AGM.”
The by-law amendment was voted on by the executive during this meeting and
Was unanimously in favour of the amendment. The amendment is deemed
codified as of this meeting and will be brought to the Board of Directors for
approval.
b. BC/Yukon Regional Funding
Members are encouraged to apply to the BC/Y Regional Executive for funding for
events and activities, noting that Branch funds should first be exhausted and
Better Together funding should also be considered.
6. Upcoming General PIPSC Events and Meetings
The PIPSC 2024 event calendar has been released on the website.
The Fraser Valley Executive will be looking to plan 3 membership engagement events for 2024.
The callout for the Fraser Valley’s allotment of seats to the June 7-8 2024 Regional Council will be coming out shortly.
7. Next Fraser Valley Branch Executive Meeting
TBD
8. Roundtable
No new discussion was brought forward.
9. Adjournment (M/S/C)
Meeting adjourned at 5:56 PM PST