Draft Minutes of the 2018 National Capital Regional Council

Minutes of the National Capital Regional Council

April 20 and 21, 2018

Hotel Hilton Lac-Leamy, Gatineau, Quebec

“DRAFT”

Friday, April 20, 2018

The 2018 NCR Council opened at 1:00 p.m. by playing of the National Anthem. A moment of silence followed for Workers Killed or Injured on the Job. Gordon Bulmer read the Equity Statement. Steve Hindle, Chair of the NCR Regional Council then introduced Greg Scriver, NCR Chair of the NCR Region.

Approval of the Agenda. M/S Raymond and Del Dickson Carried.

Chair’s Opening Address – Greg Scriver

Greg Scriver welcomed delegates to the 2018 NCR Regional Council. He introduced members of the NCR Executive. He thanked the Executive for their hard work done during the past year. He also thanked NCR staff: EROs, Allison Tomka, Manager, NCR Region, Anne McBride, Caroline Létourneau, and Linda Jubainville.

He then provided a verbal report of activities done during the last year. He addressed: Phoenix; the PIPSC Legacy Cup; the Legacy Foundation information booth at the registration desk; Bill C-27; Canadian Labour Congress activities; post cards that were sent to local MPs, Bill Morneau and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; the September Labour Day Parade; CLC Lobby Day held on February 6, 2018; guest speakers Larry Rousseau and James Pratt from the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) attending today; Pharmacare; Special General Meeting held on March 1, 2018; the Bronco Tragedy; and the passing of Jonathan Pitre. He mentioned that all reports are posted on the virtual binder. He stated that if anyone has any questions or concerns, they can speak with him or anyone on the NCR Executive.

Steve Hindle opened the floor to questions and remarks. Mark Walton mentioned that the PIPSC Web site was down. Pierre Touchette challenged all other CS members to donate $1 each towards the Legacy Foundation. He also encouraged other groups to participate.

Steve Hindle mentioned some notable people in the audience: Debi Daviau, President and Gary Corbett, past President of PIPSC.

Approval of the 2018 NCR Regional Council Minutes.

Moved by Stacy McLaren /Seconded (but no name mentioned) for approval.

Steve Hindle asked if there were any errors/omissions in the 2017 Regional Council minutes. Yves Cousineau asked if Motion 2 was going to the submitted to the PIPSC National AGM. He mentioned that this motion was carried and amended. Sherry Oake, Chair of the NCR By-Laws Committee stated that it was referred to the Board of Directors for disposition for the National By-Laws Committee. It was in reference to the awards structure brought forward by Steve Anderson.

S. Hindle stated that the 2017 Regional Council minutes will be corrected to reflect this change.

Motion Carried.

Matters Arising from the Minutes

Steve Hindle mentioned that there was a briefing note from the NCR Region Chair responding to NCR Council members regarding the motion to explain the creation of Branches in the NCR. He indicated that this briefing note is posted on the virtual binder for information purposes. There were no other matters arising from the minutes.

Guest Speakers - Larry Rousseau / James Pratt CLC

G. Scriver introduced two guests from the Canada Labour Congress – Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President and James Pratt.

Larry Rousseau thanked Greg Scriver for inviting him to speak to the NCR Regional Council. He addressed the following topics: Phoenix; thanked public servants for their hard work; Harper era; the power of unions; the October 19, 2015 Federal Election; the participation of 19 federal public service unions signing a solidarity pact; his running for office at the CLC; that PIPSC joined the CLC in 2014; CLC exists to settle disputes - there are 55 affiliates and over 3 million members; CLC is aware of what is going on from coast to coast to coast and is the most influential and powerful body doing lobbying for its members; Debi Daviau also participates at the Council meetings at the CLC; Legislative priorities of the labour movement; working with the federal government; attending lobbying meetings with MPs and Prime Minister Trudeau to discuss labour priorities. It is money well spent! Other topics addressed were Pharmacare; Health Care System; trade; pay equity – the CLC launched a campaign – ‘’Done waiting’’ – visit donewaiting.ca; and retirement/security – Bill C-27.

After Larry Rousseau’s presentation, a Q&A followed.

Katie Oppen thanked Larry Rousseau for addressing pay equity for women. She stated that the reason the numbers are low for women is because there is no Child Care System. She asked if the CLC can make it a high priority. Larry Rousseau responded that they are applying pressure to have a National Child Care System in place and it will also be an election issue in Ontario.

Debi Daviau thanked Larry for coming today. She indicated that it was a pleasure to work with him over the years. She pointed out that the CLC does do work for the affiliates and we are really ‘’Better to Together’’. She provided a few examples of when they asked Hassan Yussuff, President of the CLC to assist PIPSC in assisting with our objectives. For example, he assisted them getting back at the bargaining table when the Liberal Government was elected. He also helped us on other issues and with Phoenix. Hassan also has the ear of the Prime Minister and certainly has access to ministers. She also mentioned that she attended an L7 meeting which is a Labour Component of the G7 a few weeks ago. They had meetings with the Prime Minister and some ministers. They discussed a short list of priorities. One of them is the status of women. Government also has gender equality.

Ray Paquette thanked the CLC for giving him inspiration in 2014 regarding members that are affected by domestic violence. Language was incorporated in their AV Collective Agreement. It took four years to talk to the Government about it. They were able to get a MOA/EWSP. He asked if the Federal Government and the Canada Labour Code Part 2 will be combining violence in the workplace and harassment in all cases and what is CLC’s movement on this? Larry Rousseau responded that the CLC supports to put this in the CLC Part 2.

James Pratt’s presented on Pharmacare. He mentioned that he coordinates political action and does government relations for the Congress. He thanked PIPSC for the work done on C-27.

He stated that 3.5 million Canadians can’t afford the medical drugs that they need. He then presented a video on Judy Pope’s story who faced an impossible choice: keep their family home or pay for medication that would prolong her life.

He also stated that in our country 8.4 million working Canadians don’t have medical benefits. That number is rising and most of these Canadians are women, young workers and workers that are poor. The CLC did a 25 city tour on Pharmacare. He mentioned that some workers that have a medical plan, are capped. It is not working for the people that have it. It is profit driven. The cost of medical drugs in Canada is very high. The result being workers that have illnesses, can’t get cured or treated and it is very costly to the Health Care System. Canada pays the second highest prices for drugs in the world. Canada is the only developed country with a universal Health Care Program but has no drug plan. The bureaucracy required to administer it, is in the billions of dollars. He stated that if we were able to create a universal Pharmacare Plan and streamline that process by public servants, the estimates would be savings of approximately $11 billion a year. The biggest savings would be in buying in bulk.

The CLC’s goal is to establish an act of parliament, a universal prescription drug plan that provides coverage for all residents regardless of their income, age or where they live.

Last fall, two reports came out about the cost of a Universal Pharmacare Program. One report came out just before the Health Ministers meeting. They estimated that an actual prescription plan would cost governments, businesses and Canadians 11 billion dollars a year.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer did a similar study and they used the Quebec model. It is the most expensive one in the world where a Universal Pharmacare Program is in place. Even with the Quebec model, there were some savings of approximately four (4) billion dollars a year.

The CLC also did some public research on the matter to see where Canadians are on this issue. They found that Canadians overwhelmingly support the creation of a Pharmacare Plan. The number one reason that Canadians support Pharmacare is because they believe that everyone should have affordable access to the drugs they need.

The CLC launched a campaign on Labour Day – ‘’A Plan for everyone’’. They also held the largest Lobby Day in CLC history to Members of Parliament and the Senate. They received overwhelmingly support on this and stated that we must continue to push on this issue.

Governments held meetings to discuss Pharmacare. There was strong support from the provinces.

On Budget Day, the Federal Government launched the Advisory Council of the Implementation of National Pharmacare. The next day, Bill Morneau stated that they will be leaving the government’s options open. This means that our work is not done. As the Committee starts, we will need to take in account the following five principles in order to get it done right: universality, accessibility, comprehensiveness, public administration and portability. A lot of work will need to be done when this committee meets and does consultation. There may not be much time to prepare. He stated that we can win this. Pharmacare is the right thing to do. Prices are out of control. We have an opportunity to complete the dream of Tommy Douglas.

Once James Pratt’s presentation was done, he thanked the Council. A Q&A followed.

Treasurer’s Report – Michelle Tran - Michelle Tran presented the 2017 Income Statement and 2019 Budget Proposal. She then introduced Bryan Adderley who sits on the Finance Committee.

Bryan Adderley indicated that the Finance Committee met and are recommending to approve the 2017 Income Statement for 2019.

Motion to accept the 2017 Income Statement as presented.

M/S Bryan Adderley/Michael Kenny

Discussion continued on the Income Statement expenses:

line item 2 Regional Council;
line item 5 – PrePIPSC AGM Delegate Meeting;
line item 21 – Assisting Other Entities Expenses;
Michelle Tran responded that for line item 2, NCR Executive Members stayed at the Hilton the night before the Regional Council because they helped with the setup of the NCR Regional Council last year. As to line item 5, she explained that they now have the PIPSC AGM Delegates Caucus Meeting at the Hilton LacLeamy and the cost is minimal. Two to three years ago, it was held at another location. As to line item 21, PIPSC approved that constituent bodies can now donate up to $2,000 to the Legacy Foundation. She stated that they did not have a line item for the Legacy Foundation so the expense shows up at line item 21.
Ray Paquette asked if there was going to be any Branch Presidents Meetings that year. Michelle Tran indicated that PIPSC paid for the first meeting and there was no second meeting and that is why no expenses appear on the Income Statement.
Line item 1 Annual Allowance. A delegate asked why is there a difference of $ and $ from the 2017 Approved and 2017 Actual. Michelle Tran indicated that PIPSC paid the Annual Allowance before the end of December 2017.

All in favour of the motion. Carried

2019 Budget.

Motion to approve the 2019 Budget for NCR as presented.

M/S Bryan Adderley/Michael Kenny.

Michelle Tran reviewed the 2019 Budget Proposal.

Moved by Jennifer Carr to have an amendment to line item 2 – NCR Regional Council. She stated that she would like to have this line item reduced to $0. She would prefer not to have an expense for this line item or not to permit the entire Executive to stay the Thursday night before the NCR Regional Council. It was seconded. There was some discussion on the amendment. Motion was defeated.

Moved by Ray Paquette to have line item 21 be amended from $2,000 to $0. This was in regard to the donation of $2,000 to the Legacy Foundation. The motion was seconded. Discussion continued on the motion. Motion was defeated.

There was discussion on the opening balance of 2019 / annual allowance. No changes were made.

Katie Oppen asked to change line item 21. She stated that she would like to have the text changed to show that it is a donation instead of ‘’Assisting Other Entities Expenses’’. The Chair stated that no motion was required and that the text is to be changed.

Katie Oppen proposed an amendment to line item 19 - ‘’Observer AGM’’ to be increased from $1,000 to $5,000. M/S K. Oppen and it was seconded. Carried

Katie Oppen also suggested that it may be helpful to have line item 7 – ‘’Other Events’’ be broken down into more line items such as Education, Social Events, Networking and Mobilizing. That way, priorities can be determined. The Chair indicated that the Treasurer will take this into consideration for next year’s budget.

Zul Nanji asked for clarification on the 2019 Budget Proposal. He stated that he had some reservations regarding the Annual Allowance amount being reported correctly. The Chair responded that a report will be presented at next year’s meeting showing the actual expenses - the 2018 Income Statements. This will then give an opportunity to address questions. He also suggested that if delegates have questions, they can be directed to the Treasurer.

A delegate asked if there were any items showing diversity initiatives and where they were being reported. Michelle Tran responded that they are reported under other events. She also made a suggestion to the delegate indicating that delegates are to bring their ideas forward to the NCR Executive for consideration. The Chair responded that these types of discussion can be made with the Treasurer.

There was some discussion on showing the correct bank balance. Michelle Tran provided an explanation on the Income Statement Bank Balance. She further explained the formula that PIPSC uses. The Chair suggested that the Treasurer should work with PIPSC Finance staff to find a way to make a clearer presentation for next year’s meeting.

Lisa Chau proposed an amendment to have an actual diversity events line item added in the amount of $5,000. It was seconded (name unknown). Ray Paquette asked what kind of items this would include. Katie Oppen indicated that PIPSC has a Human Rights Committee. Lisa Chau responded that this would include at least four groups under this umbrella. Carried

The Chair then asked if there were any other discussion on the budget as amended.

All in favour of the Amended Budget. Carried

Action: Katie Oppen suggested that a report on financials be presented for next year’s meeting. The Chair then responded that Katie Oppen should meet with the Treasurer on this.

Resolutions to the PIPSC AGM

The Chair introduced John McFarlane who sits on the By-Laws Committee for the NCR Region.

Yves Cousineau then presented the motion on P-1 Competencies. He stated that this motion is to be presented to the PIPSC 2018 AGM.

Moved by Yves Cousineau/Seconded by Glen Schjerning

P-1 Professional Competencies

Whereas many occupational certifications require continued competency, a concept included in some collective agreements;

Whereas members elected or appointed to full time executive positions no longer have opportunities to exercise their professional competencies;

Be it resolved that PIPSC investigates and reports to the 2019 AGM amendments to Institute By-Laws, Regulations and Policies to allow or provide opportunities for elected executive to exercise their profession and to maintain the continued competencies required for their substantive position.

Note 1: spelling corrected. SO

Yves provided further explanation. The Chair stated that he and John McFarlane had a discussion on this as there was no cost associated with this. It is likely that the Resolution Sub-committee will put a cost on this. A vote was done on the motion proposed. Carried

Action: The Chair stated that this motion will be forwarded for presentation to the PIPSC 2018 Annual General Meeting (AGM).

B-1 Stewards

Moved by Yves Cousineau/Seconded by Gordon Bulmer

Yves Cousineau then presented the motion B-1 Stewards. He stated that this motion is to be presented to the PIPSC 2018 AGM.

Whereas representatives of the Institute must be protected against retaliation by the employer for union activities, either as an appointed steward from the workplace, a member of the Board, a spokesperson or a group president (Ref By-Laws 12 and 23);

Whereas recognition of representatives of the Institute is included in collectives agreements with the employers (PSLRA or separate employers) for union activities and consultation (where applicable);

Whereas the Institute must train, guide and monitor its representatives; and the Institute has means to rescind appointment of steward and representative, the role of group executive in PIPSC By-Laws 12 is unclear;

Be it resolved that PIPSC investigates and reports to the 2019 AGM amendments to Institute By-Laws, Regulations and Policies to accredit representatives of the Institute for Consultation with the employer.

Be it further resolved that in the interim, By-Laws 12 be corrected, to distinguish between union internal activities by regular member (such as Board), representation of members in the workplace, and other external union activities by the following amendments: [addition are underlined, deletion crossed-out]

BY-LAW 12 STEWARDS

12.1 Definition A Steward shall be an official representative of the Institute when appointed by the Institute. The employer shall be notified of the appointment by the Institute. Only a Regular member may be a Steward.

12.2 Board of Directors By virtue of being elected to the Board, a Regular Member is appointed as a Steward for the duration of term of office and the employer shall be notified.

12.3 Group Presidents By virtue of being elected President or acting for President of a Group, a Regular Member must be trained and be appointed as a Workplace Steward before assuming the duties to speak on behalf of the group. The employer shall be notified of the appointment by the Institute.

12.4 Workplace Stewards

12.24.1 Duties and Responsibilities The duties and responsibilities of a Steward shall be as defined in the Regulations.

12.34.2 Term Stewards shall be appointed for a term as specified in the Regulations.

~~12.4 Methods of Selection~~ ~~The following methods shall be used to recommend appointments of Stewards by the President:~~

12.4.23 By Appointment The authority to appoint a Workplace Steward rests exclusively with the President.

12.4.23.1 Sub-Group, Branch and Regional Executives may recommend Workplace Steward appointments to the appropriate Group Executive which, in turn, may recommend the appointment to the President.

12.4.23.2 A Group Executive may recommend Workplace Steward appointments to the President.

~~12.4.3 Board of Directors~~ ~~By virtue of being a Regular Member who is member of the Board.~~

12.54.4 Re-Appointment of Stewardship The authority to renew a Workplace Steward's term rests exclusively with the President. Upon expiry of the term of Stewardship, a Workplace Steward may be re-appointed. ~~as follows:~~

~~12.5.2 By Renewal~~ Subject to the recommendation of the appropriate Group Executive, by choosing to renew his term of office~~, unless the member loses an election for the position of Steward. 13~~

12.64.5 Termination of Stewardship A member shall cease to be a Steward for any of the following reasons:

12.64.5.1 If he ceases to be a Regular member of the Institute.

12.64.5.2 If notification of his resignation as a Workplace Steward is received at the Institute National Office.

12.64.5.3 If he is not reappointed following expiry of his Stewardship.

~~12.6.4~~ ~~Where the member is a Steward only by virtue of serving on the Board, his Stewardship shall end when his term of office expires or when he ceases to be a Regular member.~~

12.4.6 Denial Should the President has causes to refuse an appointment or a re-appointment of a Workplace Steward recommended by a Group Executive, the appropriate Group President, and the Consultation Team President if applicable, shall be informed confidentially of the reasons.

The followings are not part of the resolution but are provided to aid the delegates:

BY-LAW 23 INSTITUTE SPOKESPERSONS

23.1 President Authority to speak for the Institute as a whole shall rest with the President. This authority may be delegated by the Board to others within special fields or competence or knowledge or under special circumstances.

23.2 Presidents of Groups and Chairs of Regional Executives Presidents of Group and Chairs of Regional Executives shall be empowered to speak for the Institute on such matters as come within their area of jurisdiction, but not on behalf of the Institute as a whole.

23.3 Stewards Stewards may speak on behalf of the employees whom they represent on matters which may come within their competence, both within the Institute and in dealing with employers.

As amended By-Law 12 would read:

BY-LAW 12 STEWARDS

12.2 Board of Directors By virtue of being elected to the Board, a Regular Member is appointed as a Steward for the duration of term of office and the employer shall be notified.

12.4 Workplace Stewards

12.4.1 Duties and Responsibilities The duties and responsibilities of a Steward shall be as defined in the Regulations.

12.4.2 Term Stewards shall be appointed for a term as specified in the Regulations.

12.4.3 Appointment The authority to appoint a Workplace Steward rests exclusively with the President.

12.4.3.1 Sub-Group, Branch and Regional Executives may recommend Workplace Steward appointments to the appropriate Group Executive which, in turn, may recommend the appointment to the President.

12.4.3.2 A Group Executive may recommend Workplace Steward appointments to the President.

12.4.4 Re-Appointment of Stewardship The authority to renew a Workplace Steward's term rests exclusively with the President. Upon expiry of the term of Stewardship, a Workplace Steward may be re-appointed. Subject to the recommendation of the appropriate Group Executive, by choosing to renew his term of office.

12.4.5 Termination of Stewardship A member shall cease to be a Steward for any of the following reasons:

12.4.5.1 If he ceases to be a Regular member of the Institute.

12.4.5.2 If notification of his resignation as a Workplace Steward is received at the Institute National Office.

12.4.5.3 If he is not reappointed following expiry of his Stewardship.

A vote was done on the proposed motion. Carried

Action: The Chair stated that this motion will be forwarded for presentation to the PIPSC 2018 Annual General Meeting (AGM).

B-2 Regulation to clarify the NCR Executive Election Process

Moved by Tony Goddard / Seconded by John Meier, NCR Statscan Branch

Tony Goddard presented this motion. He indicated that this motion is not to be presented to the PIPSC AGM. This motion is to develop a regulation for the NCR. He then reviewed the motion with the Council.

WHEREAS governance of the National Capital Region (NCR) is of the upmost importance to the members of the NCR Council and;

WHEREAS the process of electing Executive members must be a fair and open process and;

WHEREAS the NCR Council has no approved regulations to detail how the election process shall be conducted;

Therefore, be it resolved that the NCR Executive develop a detailed Regulation to assist the Elections Committee in conducting the election of executive members to the NCR Executive and;

Be it further resolved that the Regulation developed shall include but not be limited to the following specifications:

the Elections Committee, as outlined in By-law 11.1, shall be approved by the NCR Council before the election process is started;
the nominated candidates shall have the option of providing a scrutineer to monitor the counting of ballots;
the ballots provided will be consistent and sequentially numbered;
only the Elections Committee and scrutineers shall be present during the counting of the official ballots;
the full tabulation of ballots, as reported by the Elections Committee (By-law 11.1.6) , shall be presented to the NCR Council in its entirety and;

Be it further resolved that this Regulation be presented to the NCR Council for approval at the 2019 NCR Council meeting.

The Chair stated that the NCR Executive develop a regulation for the Executive Elections in the Region.

There was some discussion on the motion. He stated that one thing that may not be allowed by the Institute is the sequential numbering of ballots; there could be an issue with anything that could identify a ballot with a member. Gordon Bulmer asked if we adopt this, would this preclude the adoption of electronic voting. The Chair did not believe that it would as long as the people developing the process include that as a possibility. Following discussion, a vote was done. Carried

Action: The Chair stated that the NCR Executive is tasked in making this happen.

Late Resolution – Funding Resolution Change for PIPSC AGM

Moved by Michael Kenny / Kalmin Estrin

Funding Resolution Change for PIPSC November AGM

Whereas, the annual allowances were last revised effective January 2015 and

Whereas, inflation continues to erode the ability of smaller subgroups to effective serve and communicate with their members,

Therefore, be it resolved that the annual allowance for subgroups and branches be revised as follows:

Sub-Groups and Branches will receive the greater between the following options:

Option 1 - Base amount of $750, plus $13.00 per member per year for the first 1,000 members and $4.00 per member per year in excess of 1,000 members.

Kalmin Estrin mentioned that what was attached is the current formula which is a base amount of $750, plus $10 per member and $3.00 per member over 1,000.

What is not included is Option 2, which speaks to having a group, a sub-group or a branch that is over 2,000 members. They get a slightly different formula. The calculation at the bottom is wrong. Sub-groups do not include every single member of PIPSC, because not every single person is in a sub-group. They did the numbers and based on the membership list that was used as of December 2017. The total for sub-groups and branches comes up to $170,000 approximately that receive an allotment. That is the maximum. He stated that this region never gets the maximum and some of the other larger sub-groups and branches. He stated that this will help all of the smaller sub-groups that are struggling and are trying to serve their members and to communicate with them. He asked for support for this motion and asked that it be brought at the PIPSC Annual General Meeting for consideration.

The motion was moved and seconded.

The Chair asked for clarification on the proposed motion. He asked if it was for Branches and or Sub-groups. It was stated that it was for both. Kalmin Estrin clarified that it is only for Option 1 to be brought to the PIPSC Annual General Meeting for consideration. There was some discussion if the motion was in order and the Chair stated that it was. Following discussion, a vote was done. Carried

Action: The Chair stated that this motion will be presented to the PIPSC Annual General Meeting.

Elections – Nominations – Gordon Bulmer Committee Chair

Gordon Bulmer addressed this topic. He explained the rules and procedures for the elections. Four positions were open. The Election Committee was comprised of Gordon Bulmer, Patricia Williams, Terry Sing and Margaret Bigras. Gordon mentioned that the Council can appoint a scrutineer if they want.

He then opened the floor for nominations. Nominations received: Brian Hassall, Ann Thériault, Tom Iwinski, Michelle Tran, Zul Nanji, Stacy McLaren, Andrée Doucette, Norma Domey, Karen Parr and Lisa Chau. No further nominations were received. Further nominations will be taken on Saturday. Nominations were suspended until Saturday at 11:00 a.m.

The Chair of the Regional Council recessed the Council until Saturday.

Saturday, April 29, 2017.

The meeting was called to order by the Chair at 9:00 a.m. Stacy McLaren indicated that the NCR Executive did a new project this year. A silent auction was done at the reception in support of the Legacy Foundation. Winners were announced. They raised $410.

President Daviau’s Address and Questions

President Daviau presented on the following:

PIPSC: 47 professional groups / 57,000 members. She provided a breakdown of PIPSC groups.
Collective objectives: Scientific integrity, contractingout and tax fairness.
What does PIPSC do for its members? Negotiate salaries and working conditions, collective agreements; workplace representation; legal defence (i.e. challenging legislation, Employers and mitigating internally); Government Relations; and Mobilization and Communication.
Organizational changes.
Vision / Mandate / Strategic objectives.
What we do? We deal with issues that impact our members. For example, Phoenix – we are doing everything to support our members; lobbying Nix Phoenix Campaign; trying to find an alternative system; advocating a claims office due to tax issues and other financial losses; dealing with human rights issues such as parental and disability issues; financial assistance for people that are close to losing their houses; lobbying MPs and political parties. She encouraged members to reach out to their MPs.
The present government is listening to us.
Tax Fairness: Canadians broadly support us on this initiative. Last year’s budget did support this initiative. CRA is cracking down on offshore and cheats. Government is using our language.
Public Science: A lot of education and exchanges have been done. We have made a lot of headway. Muzzling. We have reached a Memorandum of Understanding on science integrity with every department that has more than 10 scientists.
Outsourcing: One of the most important issues we have been facing in the last few years. CSs have been able to fortify language on contracting out. They have been organizing a grievance campaign. They are tracking these cases.
Equity and Diversity: Waheed Khan has been working on this issue.
Young Professionals: Members that are under 40 years of age.
Women issues: Katie Oppen has been taking the lead on this.
Harassment and Violence in the Workplace and Domestic Violence: Ray Paquette and the AV Group have made efforts on these issues.
We are trying to reach broad audiences. Communication / Mobilization and Digital Tools. Online lobbying; surveys; lunch and learns, etc.
Government Relations: There has been some positive impacts to move our agenda. She talked about the PIPSC Annual Lobby Day. PIPSC has built some kits for our members so that they can take those out to their MPs. There have been lots of meetings with federal ministers and deputy heads to move our issues. PIPSC has participated at the Annual CLC Lobby Day (for issues such as Pensions, Pharmacare, Pay Equity, etc).
Broadbent Institute: A few stewards attended the Summit in Edmonton. She stated that we continue to create good relations with them to help us in our positions.
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA): We have partnered with them to do some research to help us reach our objectives and positions in the Public Service.
Urban Worker Project: This project is relating to working conditions for nonunion workers and consultants.
Media Relations: We have done a lot of work on this, but we have a way to go. We are doing better.
Phoenix: We need a working pay system; Damage Settlement for Phoenix; Retro Pay survey. 10,000 responses received. A lot of data to sort out.
Bargaining: Contracts will be expiring by the end of June and December of next year.

Questions and concerns were addressed. Norma Domey asked about the status on the Phoenix policy grievance and about the Phoenix strategy that was brought down to stewards. PIPSC had created a template for stewards to use. She also stated that there is only one PIPSC staff resource assigned to deal with the Phoenix grievances across the country. She mentioned that she has been dealing with Phoenix grievances at her department. She spoke specifically on one of her cases that was brought to the third level and it was denied, and the member was not expecting this. She is concerned that this will affect the relationship with the member moving forward. She asked President Daviau what she recommended. President Daviau indicated that the third level is not the final level. It still has to go to Arbitration. They are also negotiating on the policy grievances. She stated that this information is on the PIPSC Web site, but we could do better to communicate this and that PIPSC is making changes to have additional resources to assist with the Phoenix backlog.

Elizabeth Mckay Andrews asked for an update on negotiations and on the Employee Wellness Support Program (EWSP). President Daviau indicated that the EWSP is progressing well and we now have a Memorandum of Agreement. There are three levels. There is an Advisory Team which consists of representatives from the six core Treasury Board Groups, one CRA representative and one representative for the Separate Employers. There is also a Technical Team consisting of our negotiators and they exchange with the Treasury Board technical people on bringing forward or advancing the language that our Advisory Team has worked on. We also sits on the Steering Committee with the Secretary of the Treasury Board and other bargaining representatives. There will be no voting. She mentioned that Vice-President O’Reilly is the liaison to her office on this. If you need additional information to contact V-P O’Reilly.

John MacFarlane stated that when Phoenix was implemented, compensation advisors were also eliminated. He asked if there is a way we can get them replaced. President Daviau responded that PIPSC has been advocating on this issue. The government has hired some people. Some resources have been allocated to departments to deal with complex issues. She stated that some of our members responded through the retro survey that what they need is the ability to have resources to assist them to make sure that they are being paid correctly. If the Government can’t provide this assistance, PIPSC may need to train people to do this. She mentioned that this is not the type of services we usually provide.

The Chair thanked President Daviau for her presentation.

Elections: Further Nominations, Candidate Speeches, and Voting

Steve Hindle addressed the elections. The following candidates accepted nominations: Katie Oppen, Tamara Critch and Michael Simard. Doors were tiled during the candidate speeches. Following the speeches, Gordon Bulmer stated that there were four positions on the NCR Executive up for Elections. Voting was done and it was mentioned that the election results would be announced in the afternoon.

Awards Presentation – Del Dickson.

Del Dickson addressed the Awards Presentations. He thanked members of the NCR Awards Committee comprised of Peter Taticek, Margaret Bigras, Glen Schjerning and Patricia Williams.

Glen Schjerning presented the NCR Unsung Hero Awards to the following NCR members: Olga Botygina, Natalia Kim, Olivia Leung, Shirley Gillette, Matthew MacLeod, Fred Ma and Chris Siu.

Del Dickson then presented the 2018 NCR Executive of the Year Award to Anthony (Tony) Goddard. A gift was also presented to Anthony. Anthony thanked the Executive.

Del indicated that there was also another NCR Executive of the Year award to be presented to Lynn Morris. However, Lynn was not able to attend the Council this year and Ray Paquette accepted the award on her behalf.

Phoenix Update – Shelley Melanson

Shelley Melanson provided an update on the Nix Phoenix Campaign. She stated that PIPSC was the only force calling out to get rid of Phoenix. The Government agreed to invest money to investigate in developing a new pay system. She stated that we need to continue to apply pressure. The key components are: research on background; a strong message; membership mobilization; a strong government relations plan; and obtain public support.

She also mentioned that PIPSC has been working on understanding the issue. As a result, a survey was sent out. It gave PIPSC the opportunity to address the Contracting-out/Outsourcing issue. Town hall meetings were organized; the Institute is looking at ways to mobilize our members by digital/national builder campaign; and are finding ways to talk to the public sector. A lot of success has been done. The government hired more staff at the Pay Centre and made progress in government relations.

Q&A followed. Steve Hindle thanked Shelley and Debi Daviau for their presentation.

Staffing Presentation for the NCR Region – Allison Tomka

Allison Tomka explained some of the issues the NCR Region has been facing in the last few years. As a result of these challenges, a new NCR structure is being proposed consisting of three working teams, one Manager and one Office Administrator. Each team will have a Team Lead, one Labour Relations Officer, three Employment Relations Officers and one Administrative Assistant.

When creating the new team structure, various factors were taken into consideration. This new structure will help improve services to our members and for our consultation teams. It will also help in providing positive changes such as job satisfaction; provide career development opportunities to staff; and will also provide timely assistance to our members. Once the new structure will be in place, information will be sent out to all NCR stewards. New portfolios will be posted on the PIPSC Web site. The implementation date proposed is set for June 2018. Q&A followed. Some concerns brought forward were: Classification staff; pitfalls; hiring more Employment Relations Officers; the Phoenix Team; problems encountered with translation services; and the administration of steward lists to include language they prefer to use. Steve Hindle thanked Allison for her presentation.

Cvent / Concur Demonstration – Andrew Gize

Andrew Gize provided an update on the three new projects that PIPSC will be undertaking for meeting, travel and expense management. CVENT will be what PIPSC will be using. It is the world leader on meeting management. PIPSC has been using an in-house system since 1995-96. The current system is more internally generated and does not work well with external systems. For booking of reservations and claims, Concur will be the expense management tool that will be used. Andrew then provided a demonstration of the tools. Timelines have not been confirmed yet, but it will be this year. Greg Scriver thanked Andrew Gize for his presentation.

Informatics – G-Suite by Allen Iverson

As Allen Iverson was not able to attend the NCR Council, Greg Scriver provided an update on G-Suite. He indicated that it was clear that the membership had asked that we get rid of Groupwise. As a result, a new email system will be implemented in two phases. Staff/Board members will use Office 365 and the PIPSC membership will be using gmail. It will be free of charge, because we are a non for profit organization. It will be more user friendly, more collaborative, mobile accessible and will be secure. Each member will have 30 GBs of data space. G-Suite will be an all in one package. He explained what the next steps are regarding migration to the gmail account. Q&A followed. The ITPS Committee will be preparing information packages for members to assist them in the transition. A concern was brought forward regarding members with special accommodations. Steve Hindle thanked Greg Scriver for his presentation.

Election Results

Gordon Bulmer addressed the Council and thanked everyone that ran and voted. The top four members-at-large that were elected were: Lisa Chau, Stacy McLaren, Michelle Tran and Brian Hassall. As per the by-laws, the ballots will be destroyed in 30 days. Gordon Bulmer thanked the Election Team for their support.

Science Advisory Committee

Norma Domey provided an update on the work of the Science Advisory Committee. The Committee has been working very hard on member’s behalf and she is very proud to sit on this Committee. The Science Advisory Committee’s mandate is to address concerns and issues in public science. Three years ago, the Science Advisory Committee proposed a strategic plan to the Board of Directors and the President. The Board approved it in principle. Six key activities were put forward. A survey was done in 2012-13 and again in 2017 and associated reports were prepared in late 2017-18. She stated that if you have not been engaged, please consult with your Departmental Consultation Team President. The reports and associated links with the details are available on the PIPSC portal. Some scientists still feel that they can’t talk to the media. She mentioned that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. She addressed conference attendance for women for career advancement; science at senior management level; technical advancements; artificial intelligence; March for Science; and bridging relationships with the Chief Science Officer. She encouraged delegates to look at the Science Advisory Web Page for additional information. She thanked the NCR Executive for giving her time on the agenda to speak to the Council. Q&A followed. Topics addressed were legislation and regulations in science; and muzzling on science. Steve Hindle thanked Norma for her presentation.

Other Business

Jennifer Carr mentioned that she and a few other members are available to make lunch and learn presentations on the Employee Wellness Program. If anyone is interested they are to contact her.

Sherry Oake mentioned that she plans on doing a review of the NCR By-laws next year if she is re-elected as By-Laws Chair. She also thanked Katie Oppen for her passion and her work on women’s issues. She also mentioned the Women’s Day dinner that was organized. She thanked Michelle Tran for her work as Treasurer as she helped her in organizing NCR events.

Brian Murray addressed steward recruitment and providing training for those new stewards and the need for getting young stewards involved and interested.

Sean O’Reilly encouraged members to participate on the Policy Suite Survey.

Katie Oppen announced that June 7 is the provincial Election Day in Ontario. Quebec will also be going to the polls this year. Katie encouraged members to vote, and to vote for a pro-labour candidate.

A delegate addressed the legalization of cannabis. The NCR Chair stated that the Institute has been starting to work on this. He also mentioned that the President of the Ottawa South Branch has been organizing information sessions on cannabis.

Closing Remarks by Chair

Greg Scriver thanked the NCR Planning Committee members consisting of Stacy McLaren, Gordon Bulmer, Michelle Tran, Patricia Williams, Glen Schjerning and himself. He also thanked Anne McBride, NCR staff for organizing this event. He encouraged delegates to fill out the evaluation form. This information will help the Executive in organizing the next Council. He encouraged members to bring questions, concerns, ideas or proposals forward to the Executive. He indicated that the newly-elected NCR members and current members are to meet after the Council ends. Greg mentioned that $751 was collected for the Legacy Foundation. He also mentioned that we have to find new ways to do steward recruitment. Suggestions are also welcomed. A gift was then presented to Steve Hindle for Chairing the NCR Regional Council.

Door Prizes were drawn.

The NCR Regional Council delegates then adjourned the 2018 Regional Council.