The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
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THE PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTE OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE OF CANADA 

Meeting of the Executive on February 22 and 23, 2019 (1st of the year)

Trois-Rivières Delta – Meeting started at 9:00 a.m.  

 

  1. Welcome and call to order:

Yvon welcomed everyone and will chair the meeting.

In attendance: Yvon Brodeur, Richard Doyle, Stéphanie Fréchette, Hugo Landry, Nancy Lavoie, Réjean Michaud, Benoît Pelletier, Gerlando Renna, Robert Tellier and Christian Tremblay.

Absent: Martine Lacroix.

Richard and Christian are unable to attend on February 23.

 

  1. Reading and adoption of the agenda – February 22 and 23, 2019:

The items to be discussed by Richard and Christian will be moved up on the agenda, as they are unable to attend tomorrow.

Other business will remain open.

Proposed by: Benoît Seconded by: Stéphanie

  

  1. Reading and adoption of the minutes of the last meeting – December 14, 2018:

Proposed by: Richard Seconded by: Robert

 

  1. Business arising from the minutes:
    1. Reserve $25,000 on the cash flow balance of the BMO account 31-12-2018:

$9,000 for an advanced training on grievances, $4,000 for a meeting with regional office staff and $12,000 for short video (4 x $3,000).

  1. Mentorship: at the TEC meeting he attended in Ottawa, Benoit reported that nothing is happening in the rest of Canada on the matter. Richard added that in CSC, this approach works for newcomers and they are referred to experienced stewards.
  2. Attracting new stewards: try to target good people rather than opening the process to everyone; the registration form should be refined. Christian suggested that we could train information officers (“poteaux” as they say in the FTQ); Robert added a caveat to this approach regarding the fact that they would not be covered by union immunity (like a steward would be). At the same time, it is proposed that Richard become our official steward officer. Among other things, we will forward steward renewals to him, rather than to the director.
  3. How to energize your union: Nancy attended this training session (via the FTQ) and she was very satisfied. Nancy gave a verbal summary and passed around the documents she received. A written report is forthcoming.

 

  1. Meeting of Branch Chairs on May 2, 2019, in the afternoon and on May 3, 2019, in the morning (before the RC):

Richard sent a bilingual invitation to all Branch Chairs to this effect. Richard asked them for topics for discussion and suggestions for promotional items. He would like to finalize the agenda in mid-April.

Gerry would like to see efforts made for the documentation provided at the RC to be available in English, for those who want it. Simultaneous translation may not be necessary if no request is made for it. On the topic of Iqaluit, Christian suggested that a motion could be passed to have this Branch report to the National Capital.

 

  1. Director’s Report: 
    1. Board meeting:  Yvon reported that the first meeting of the new Board went well.
    2. Finalizing the national committees: the Board finalized the member composition of the various national committees. Among others, Pierre Morin will be the Quebec representative on the Science Advisory Committee. 
    3. Lobbying – Ottawa: see item 9 m)
    4. Lobbyists (Registry) and types of lobbyists: Yvon spoke with Emily Watkins (Debi’s advisor) and it will take persistence to move forward on this matter.
    5. Finalizing the RC – (May 3 and 4, 2019): invitations were sent to members for this purpose on Friday, February 15. 
    6. Welcome kit: Hugo posted the nearly finalized version of the welcome package on the Google Drive. We must send him our comments and possible additions as soon as possible. As an officially regional document, we will eventually share it with various committees (training, bylaws & policies, …). Unanimously, the Regional Executive Committee congratulates the Youth Committee for their excellent work. We will present it to the Branch Chairs on May 2, 2019.
    7. Professionals Canada: Robert asked for a vote on whether we agree or disagree with the proposal to join Professionals Canada. After a discussion, the majority of members are against this project and the others are ambivalent. We will wait for the report from the Advisory Committee, but we must be prepared to make a case against it.
  2. Regional Committees – Continuation of the mandates + Liaison Officers:
    1. Youth Committee: Hugo remains our liaison. On this subject, Hugo will send an invitation to all members aged 40 and under to offer them the opportunity to join the Youth Committee. He will ask Linda Martel to provide him with a list of Quebec members aged 40 and under.

As a follow-on getting more young people to take part in the National AGM and the fact that the number of stewards invited has been increased to over 600 members, we ask Yvon to discuss the possibility of increasing the number of days for the next AGM from 2 to 3 with the other Regional Directors.

  1. Status of Women Committee: Stéphanie.
  2. Training & Education Committee Martine (TEC), Robert (FTQ) and Benoît (Hotels).
  3. Resolutions Committee: Stephanie, Robert and Hugo. 
  4. Diversity Action Committee: Mario Guertin.
  5. Harassment & Violence in the Workplace Committee: Nancy.
  6. Communication & Information Committee: Hugo. 
  7. Political Action, Mobilization and Lobbying Committee: Christian.
  8. Branches: Richard (liaison officer).

 

  1. Treasury:
    1. Robert presented the Region’s financial report for 2018. A reserve of $25,000 was made at the end of the year (see point 4a.). We are preparing the budget for next year and will present it to the members at the RC. 
    2. Proposal to purchase a computer for the Executive: could be useful for the Treasurer and/or Secretary. After discussing the matter, we feel it’s not necessary for the moment and we can use the equipment we already have.

 

  1. Report of the Regional and National Committees:
    1. Education and learning: Robert attended a TEC on February 11.

Several topics were discussed: First aid in mental health, increase the number of JLP facilitators, differences in provincial legislation (including OHS), review of the basic course (online), training budgets to be provided for next year, the symposium on union training, renewal, communications and steward evaluations, the “Do Better” campaign, the CLC training school (vs. FTQ in Quebec), training on leadership, consent, OHS and the online form for information lunches.

Nancy and Hugo will be taking the FTQ training to be co-instructors.

The FTQ union training seminar will be held in Longueuil on April 9 and 10. Possibility that the basic steward training will be given by peers in Quebec.

Concerning the last training school (beginning of February 2019): the training went very well, but the food wasn’t great. Christian suggested changing the name of the training to “Political Action, Lobbying and Mobilization”.

Yvon also asked that we plan seats for francophones outside Quebec at our training sessions.

  1. Finance Committee: next meeting, March 22. We should prepare our regional budgets for next year.
  2. Hotels: for the 2020 Steward Council–one of the Villegia hotels (Chéribourg or Manoir des Sables). For the 2020 RC: Delta Trois-Rivières, Estrimont, Villégia (three hotels) and Hotel Pur in Quebec City. We suggest that Benoit ask for quotes from each of the hotels for the next two years.
  3. Youth: at the next RC, in addition to the welcome package, a document on the new Childcare Policy will be presented. The next youth symposium will try to attract more new young people than “former” participants and more people per region.
  4. Status of Women: Committee meeting on March 19 and 20. Since the committee has not yet been formalized, Debi asked for reports to be produced in the hope that it will become a Board committee. 
  5. Task Force on Official Languages: meeting on March 14 and 15 in Ottawa. They’ve extended an invitation to the Commissioner of Official Languages. The committee, chaired by Yvon, is still missing members in the National Capital Region, the Atlantic Region and possibly the Prairies.
  6. Bylaws and Policy Committee: meeting to review policies on January 9 and 10. Next official meeting, March 23. 
  7. Science Advisory Committee: Jean Bérubé. 
  8. Human Rights Committee: Mario Guertin.
  9. Professional Recognition and Qualifications Committee Johanne Potvin. 

Yvon will ask the representatives of the last three committees to present reports when they are involved in activities related to their portfolios. 

  1. Information Technology Services and Projects Committee: Hugo presented Greg Schriver’s report. He mentioned various issues: emails in “Nation Builder” instead of HTML, two applications replaced E-Claim, one for event management and one for refunds, a simpler form to record videos, publishing “dos and don’ts”, looking for a PIPSC IT logo.
  2. Harassment & Violence in the Workplace Committee: Nancy is in the process of writing the committee’s mandate with Yvon’s help. They asked Valérie Charrette to assign them an ERO to guide them through the process.
  3. Political Action, Mobilization, Lobbying Committee: Christian did a lobbying session in Ottawa with Yvon, Stéphanie and Denis Caissy. His written report is not completed; despite the fact that the session went well, two hours is definitely not enough time to prepare before appearing before MPs to defend files.

 

  1. File updates by those in charge:

                  Branches, Policy Actions and Promotional Items previously covered.

  1. Regional Council, May 3 and 4, 2019 (Manoir des Sables):

Yvon will send us the agenda in the next few weeks. 

As far as motions go, we could present one regarding the change of Region for the Iqaluit Branch. 

There will also be a need to follow up with RC members on the 2018 motions.

-Seats reserved for young people during PIPSC activities;

-Change the order of motions at the National AGM;

-Require union values when hiring staff at PIPSC.

 

  1. Strategic meeting with Montreal regional office staff – set a date:

Prior to a meeting between all regional office staff and members of the Region’s Executive Committee, Yvon, Gerry and Martine should meet with Valérie, and possibly Frédéric, to clarify certain issues and lay the groundwork for a productive meeting between all stakeholders. We will set a meeting date together at that time.

 

  1. Strategic Committee 2017:

Hugo put the latest version from Renaud Guiard on the Google Drive. Yvon asked us to read it before the next meeting, to make improvements and possibly make a presentation on how the work is coming along at the next RC.

 

  1. Ontario Steward Council – September 6 and 7, 2019 (Delta Trois-Rivières): 

Martine and Robert were in charge, assisted by Hugo, Nancy and Christian.

-Speaker to invite Hugo extended an invitation today.

-Theme: Wellness?

-Facilitator: Richard Doyle.

-Friday afternoon: mobilization, Saturday morning: RO report and case law, Saturday afternoon: invite spouses/partners. Ask the Youth Committee for ideas.

 

  1. Succession Quebec Regional Director:

As Yvon may be in his last term, he suggested that we should think about finding a successor. Before determining who may be interested in succession, it was suggested that Yvon draw up a list of his tasks, committees, contacts and all that the functions of a Regional Director imply.

We suggest preparing a budget line item (approximately $7,500) to allow potential candidates to attend events Yvon attends. We could call this budget item: “project-observers-PIPSC activities.”

 

  1. Miscellaneous 
    1. Union ribbons: 

Christian suggests creating a ribbon to represent the labour movement. He will look for a suitable colour and/or a particular pattern.

  1. Indigenous representatives at the CLC: 

Yvon asked if we know of anyone from the Indigenous community who could represent us at the CLC. A few names were given: Yvon will contact them.

  1. Quebec Region Calendar:

Yvon will ask Anne Renaud to put more events on the regional calendar on the PIPSC’s website.




 

  1. Round table: 

Hugo will ask Anne to contact the PIPSC to add a “Regional Committees” tab on the Quebec Region’s website. A list of all our regional committees with their activities could be included under the tab.

Anne should also be asked again to post the 2017 minutes on the Region’s website: Réjean will contact Anne.

Réjean will be giving a presentation on pension funds in St-Hyacinthe on Wednesday evening, March 20, at Stéphanie’s request.

Gerry shared with us the issue regarding the name of his sub-group (Criminal Investigations-Montreal rather than 200 Guy Favreau). He will have to settle everything at his first Sub-Group AGM in the coming weeks.

 

  1. Date of the next meeting and the following ones:

Our next meeting (the 2nd) will precede the CR and the meeting with the Branch Chairs and will take place onMay 1, in the afternoon and May 2 in the morning.

We are planning all future meetings as follows:

3rd: Monday, June 17 in Trois-Rivières at 9:00 a.m. (possibly at the FTQ office);

4th: Thursday, September 5 at the Delta Trois-Rivières at 9:00 a.m. (before the OSC);

5th: Monday, October 21 in l’Estrimont at 8:30 a.m. (to discuss AGM motions);

6th: Friday, December 6 at the Montreal RO at 8:30 a.m. (preceded by dinner the day before with the regional office staff).

 

  1. Closing remarks:

Yvon wished everyone a safe return, hoping that the next meeting will be as productive.

 

Adjournment:

Proposed by: Nancy Seconded by: Gerry 

 

Published on 5 November 2020