2024 Ottawa South Branch (OSB) Hybrid AGM Draft Minutes
PIPSC HQ - 250 Tremblay Rd Ottawa
DATE: Thursday October 3, 2024 TIME: 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Chair: Arnold Smith
The Chair welcomed members to the AGM. Procedures were covered for a hybrid meeting. Virtual attendees were advised to submit questions via the zoom “chat” or interactively.
The Chair provided the Land Acknowledgement for the Unceded Territory of the Algonquin Nation.
The Chair provided PIPSC Equity Statement.
Roll Call of Executive Members:
Present:
President: Madeline Blais (RMG - NAVCAN retired)
Vice-President & Treasurer: Rob Wloch (CRA)
Secretary & Member at Large: Xuede Chen (CRA)
CRA Rep: Yannick Effe Bibang (CRA)
NAVCAN Rep: Michael Diec (NAVCAN)
Member-at-Large: Arnold Smith (RMG – CRA retired)
Member-at-Large: Chris Siu (CRA)
Member-at-Large: Jack Stalica (NAVCAN)
Introduction of the Election Committee:
Chris Siu, Michael Diec, and Bakkey Yuen (from the floor)
Voting Machine Testing
DOT provided the instructions of how to use the voting devices for the attendees on the floor and how to vote via Zoom for the virtual attendees. Testing vote was conducted.
Adoption of the Agenda
Motion to approve the Agenda:
Moved by: Jack Stalica;
Seconded: Xuede Chen;
Vote Count: 34 In Favour, 0 Opposed, and 1 Abstain;
Motion was Carried.
Adoption of Minutes of 2023 AGM
Moved by: Xuede Chen;
Seconded: Steven Hindle;
Motion Carried.
Business Arising from the 2023 Minutes: None.
By-Laws – No submission for by-laws.
Financial Report: Treasurer – Rob Wloch
The Financial Report covered the actual expenses of 2023, the year-to-date expense of 2024, and the budget for 2025.
Amendment was needed after some questions were asked and answered to include more of the events in the list of expenses.
Motion to approve the 2023 Financial Report
Moved by: Rob Wloch;
Seconded: Jack Stalica;
Motion Carried.
Motion to approve the 2024 Year-to-Date Financial Report
Moved by: Rob Wloch;
Seconded: Yannick Effe Bibang;
Motion Carried.
Motion to approve the 2025 Budget
Moved by: Rob Wloch;
Seconded: Yannick Effe Bibang;
Motion Carried.
Motion to approve that the Ottawa South Branch (OSB) contribute $2000 to the Legacy Foundation Scholarship from the 2024 OSB Allocation
Moved by: Rob Wloch;
Seconded: Steven Hindle;
Motion Carried.
Elections & Results: 4 Positions
Description of voting process and four OSB Executive positions up for election were provided by the Chair Arnold Smith and the Election Committee Chair Chris Siu.
Dots was used for election process. Some test runs using the clickers were done to ensure results were correct. The voting by the virtual attendees was handled by DOTS remotely.
President Position: Madeline Blais was nominated by Yannick Effe Bibang.
Madeline Blais was acclaimed as the President.
CRA Representative Position: Yannick Effe Bibang was nominated by Xuede Chen.
Yannick Effe Bibang was acclaimed as CRA Representative.
Member at Large Positions (2): Xuede Chen was nominated by Liwen (Tom) Shao; Francois Potvin self nominated; and Michael Gracequist was nominated by Yannick Effe Bibang.
Xuede Chen was elected by the first-round votes;
A run-off vote was needed and conducted:
Michael Gracequist was elected by the run-off votes;
Elections Results:
Madeline Blais was elected as the President.
Yannick Effe Bibang was elected as CRA Representative.
Xuede Chen and Michael Gracequist were elected as the Member-at-Large.
All positions commence January 2025 for 2 year period.
Report of the President – Madeline Blais
Welcomed the attendees.
Thanked to the volunteers, the OSB Executives, and the LMB and DOT workers for all the helps, as well as thanks to Sean O’Reilly for attending.
OSB held or is holding quite some successful events, organized by OSB alone or jointly with other branches:
Information & movie events: Beetlejuice 2 in September; and upcoming, Best Christmas Pageant Ever has been arranged for November 2024 – registration notice has been sent and closed.
Social networking events: Bowling in March 2024 Dooley’s in May, 2024 and Mont Cascade (joint event with the Gatineau Branch) in July 2024.
Steward Appreciation Event: Upcoming in October 2024, joint event with the Ottawa Centreville Branch and the DND Branch).
We also considered baseball and hockey events, but could not make it happen yet. We will be working to improve things and are open to your suggestions and recommendations. Please let us know if you have any ideas for future events of interest.
The PIPSC AGM will be held in Toronto in November 2024; you can register for being an online observer even if not a delegate.
There is a PIPSC election. The voting starts on October 16, 2024. To vote, you need to have an account and ballot key; if you have not received any email about that, please contact PIPSC.
There has been a decrease in the number of stewards. PIPSC has been holding steward schools and focusing on the recruitment of new stewards. If interested in becoming a steward, please submit your name. If you have work concerns, there are a list of Steward names on the website Member Tools – Find a Steward.
The number of RANDS have increased. New employees may not know that they are paying dues, but have not yet signed up for union membership. Under Member Tools – How to Become a Member, they can register.
The Retired Member Guild (RMG) is a venue for retired members to remain engaged and active in the union; you pay only about 1-month equivalent union due comparing to regular members’ 12-month dues.
Service Plus has partner companies with discounted products and services. It is free to join for regular members and retired members.
We have a visibility item for distribution; those on-line will be contacted to receive their item. Many thanks to Chris who has organized the purchase and distribution.
Thanks to Jack Stalica for his contributions as an OSB executive; he has decided to not run this time. And welcomed Michael Gracequist to join the team.
Thank you for attending tonight.
Motion to approve the Report of the President.
Moved by: Madeline Blais;
Seconded: Yannick Effe Bibang;
Motion Carried
Other Business – None.
Adjournment – Moved by: Francois Potvin; Seconded by: Michael Grcaequist; Carried.