BC/Yukon Region – Regional Executive Meeting
Saturday, September 7, 2024, 9:00 – 5:00pm
Harrison Hot Springs Resort, 100 Esplanade, Harrison Hot Springs, V0M 1K0
Meeting ID: HKNGWDLSCNK
Meeting Minutes
Regional Executive Meeting – September 7, 2024
- Approval of Agenda – (All) Consensus
- Approval of Minutes – (All)
- June 6, 2024 Consensus
- Business Arising from Minutes – (All)
- Review of action items
- PIPSC AGM resolutions – (D. Corda)
- Regional Director Report - (M. Cranny)
The Regional Directors and Board of Directors meetings were held in Kelowna immediately following our Regional Council and RX meeting in June. This was quite successful overall with a nice member engagement event on the Monday. Many of the board were able to attend part of our council meeting and were impressed with how well it is run. They also really enjoyed visiting Kelowna, a first for many of them.
I was a guest speaker at the very well attended Victoria Branch BBQ June 18th. This annual event has become quite a fixture and gets around 60 members attending, some bringing spouses and children.
I took some medical leave from June 26 to August 2, 2024. When I returned I attended the Board of Directors meeting from August 8-10th in Ottawa which continued on August 12th virtually. There is a lot going on at the board level and we’re working very hard to make sure the institute is strong. One key factor is reducing costs which new Finance Director Tommy Barron and the Finance Committee are working diligently on. Another is, of course, RTO. We did attend an RTO rally in Ottawa and we know lots of members have serious concerns about this mandate that we were not consulted on as promised.
I had the pleasure of attending a North Central Vancouver Island branch member event in Nanaimo on August 13th, this was also really successful and I appreciate the efforts of the NCVI branch executive for making this happen and working with the Nanaimo SP Sub-Group to get members engaged.
I am a member of the PIPSC steering team which is made up of both members of the board and staff members and this has been really interesting and constructive. I think the connection with staff and the board has never been stronger and I love the collaboration. A key focus is the leadership message. There has also been leadership training which I have been a part of as well as coaching.
As we enter the fall, we look forward to our Steward Council. I will sadly miss it for medical reasons but know the executive committee will make sure it runs smoothly. The national AGM is in early November, folks selected as delegates have hopefully registered. It’s an election year so make sure to read up on the candidates and vote and encourage other members to vote too!
Accept and approve Morgan’s oral report. m/s/c
- Office/Staff Report – (K. Hawkins)
Provided by P. Mantler on behalf of K. Hawkins.
Greetings to everyone, I hope you're having a wonderful time together and I'm sorry to miss the meetings. I do look forward to seeing all of you next month though. I have to share, time spent with this group is really rewarding. It's a pleasure to see how well you all work together and collaborate with the Regional Office. We are grateful for each and every one of you.
The Regional Office team has been quite busy over the summer. We've had several well deserved vacation leaves to cover and an ERO assignment vacancy. We had Harinder come back for a couple of months to assist and he's about to head back to retirement in a couple of weeks. I wanted to share, as most of you know he was appointed the Order of BC in 2022. He also just received the King Charles III Coronation Medal from the Premier of B.C for his contributions to community and country. I think we all know how wonderful Harinder is, but it's lovely to see him so widely recognized. Thank you to Dean for alerting me to this as we all know Harinder is far too humble to share the recognition.
One ERO has now moved to Negotiations. We've had another ERO join us from the Prairies/NWT indeterminately. We were able to hire a new ERO who comes from the BCNU and also has federal experience with PSAC. We were very lucky to find such an experienced candidate and he sailed through his interview. I look forward to you meeting him at the Steward Council.
Turning to the Council, we will have four EROs facilitate the two sessions (Values and Ethics for Stewards and Investigative techniques). The admin staff are working on this event and we are on track.
We will have two EROs facilitate the BST this fall and our new ERO will join to assist and learn our materials.
We've had quite a few adjudication hearings booked for the region and this is a significant time burden for the EROs. I do expect, when an ERO is tied to a hearing, there will be delays in response timelines.
Finally, I anticipate some portfolio changes. CRA will not be moving, nor will the FNHA, all others are subject to discussion but I anticipate one major change will be a division of portfolios for CSC. This department has become quite taxing on the staff due to numerous issues at numerous sites and I am looking to create balance with the departure of the long serving ERO who managed this portfolio. The website will be updated once this is complete, which I expect will occur before the Council.
Have a great rest of your time together!
Accept and approve Kris’ oral report. m/s/c
- Financial Report – Treasurer - (P. MacDougall)
- Financial update – increased visibility fund. Requested funds were received by requesters. Accept and approve Pete’ oral financial report. m/s/c
- Regional Training Committee Report – (P. MacDougall)
TEAM met in August to set the participants for the Peet to Peer training on popular education to
enable members to facilitate training on non-Labour Relations issues (EG Leadership, Executive
training, etc.) They may also be able to do some sessions at Stewards councils as well. We had an
embarrassment of riches in applications with over 280 applicants which sadly left us having to send
260 denials. It is hoped the program is successful and we will have the ability to refresh the pool in
a couple of years. Screening was conducted with each region’s applications being reviewed and
ranked by a staff member and a committee member in a different region to take away bias and
favouritism. Top 10 candidates were reviewed by the committee as a whole. EDI considerations
ended up not being needed as the top ranked applicants covered all the areas already.
The regular meeting covered the usual topics:
Review of Strategic plan: Training has a new team lead, Jill Piebeck. We have 3 full time education
officers. Currently working on Scientific integrity training course, and an in-depth discussion on the
development of future courses, question on whether we should have Sargent in arms training to try
to ensure the AGMs go more smoothly.
Reviewed the Board submission for the Peer to Peer = which was subsequently accepted by the
Board.
Began our cyclical review of the training policy – due to size it was recommended that we all review
it individually and bring our recommendations to the next meeting rather than reading and
amending it all together.
Continued discussion on the creation of a mentorship program and the Steward Portal feedback
from those of us that were part of the pilot.
It appears that members are having issues with not receiving emails – best we can tell the issue is
with the individuals specific email programs – need to remind them to update spam filters etc.
Accept and approve Pete’s oral training committee report. m/s/c
-
- Review membership – bf to Nov meeting.
- Upcoming training in BC/Yukon Region
- National training initiatives
- Awards Committee – (D. Corda)
Nomination forms available all year round.
-
- Executive of the Year
- Steward of the Year – approve Unika Attridge as the Steward of the Year for 2024. m/s/c
- YPN Initiative – (D. Chiu)
- YP Forum – October 2024
The YPC met during Regional Council to determine engagement events for Steward Council. Dean Corda was invited to educate the YPs on enacting change through policy and by-laws. Two friends of the YPs were invited to observe with the intention to provide exposure to the YPC and consider them as future candidates onto the committee.
Two engagement were held during RC in Kelowna - Energyplex (indoor arcade) for families and sunset stand-up paddling for the less-committed - with a turnout of 12 and 9 respectively. There is one confirmed member who has become a steward since.
The YPC will be hosting two events at Steward Council - billiards and a more family oriented event at Science World. The YPC briefly met virtually to finalize the planning for those activities.
Davy will be meeting other regional counterparts in Ottawa in the ad-hoc Young Professional Advisory Committee to the board mid-September at PIPSC HQ.
The YPC will be meeting during the Steward Council to determine next engagement events and steps to move its strategic plan forward.
Accept and approve Davy’s oral YPC report. m/s/c
- National initiatives
- Legacy Fund & challenge cup – (S. Auchoybur)
- Raffle Basket for PIPSC AGM – AI: Katrina purchase prize up to $300 for PIPSC AGM.
- Donation prizes at Steward Council
- Legacy Fund & challenge cup – (S. Auchoybur)
- New Business
- Steward Council update – AI: Phil to find and do opening remarks for land acknowledgement. AI: Morgan will talk to Kris about sensitivity of Privilege Walk. Phil will be in charge of drink tickets. Reviewed and updated draft agenda.
- 2025 Regional Council
- Alan Messner to provide eco-tour
- EDIA criteria for AGM selections – (D. Corda) Branch selects AGM delegates in accordance with EDIA guidance. To discuss at Regional Council 2025.
- Motion to support creation of Surrey Branch (D. Chiu). m/s/c
- Next Meeting(s)
- October 17, 2024, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm, JW Marriot Hotel, Vancouver
- October 18, 2024, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm, JW Marriot Hotel, Vancouver
- October 18 - 19, 2024, JW Marriot Hotel, Vancouver
- November 27, 2024, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm, Delta Suites Vancouver – Training Committee
- November 28, 2024, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, Delta Suites, Vancouver
- February 20 – 21, 2025, TBD
- April 8, 2025, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm, Marriott Inner Harbour, Victoria
- April 9, 2025, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm, Marriott Inner Harbour, Victoria
- April 9 – 12, 2025, Marriott Inner Harbour, Victoria
- June 11, 2025, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm, Tigh-Na-Ma-Ra Resort, Parksville, Training Committee
- June 12, 2025, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, Tigh-Na-Ma-Ra Resort, Parksville, Regional Executive
- June 13 – 14, 2025, Regional Council – Tigh-Na-Ma-Ra Resort, Parksville
- August/September 2025, TBD
- October 16, 2025, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm, Westin Hotel, Whistler, Training Committee
- October 17, 2025, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm, Westin Hotel, Whistler, Regional Executive
- October 17 – 18, 2025, Steward Council, Westin Hotel Whistler
- Roundtable
- Adjournment - To adjourn. m/s/c