The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
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Quebec Regional Executive Meeting - December 8, 2017

EXECUTIVE MEETING

QUEBEC REGIONAL COUNCIL

DECEMBER 8, 2017, 8:30 A.M.

HÔTEL GOUVERNEUR PLACE DUPUIS, MONTRÉAL

  1. CALL TO ORDER

Present: Réjean Michaud, Patrick Sioui, Benoit Pelletier, Renaud Guiard, Lyne Larocque, Damien Noël, Richard Doyle, Steve Parent

Absent: Yvon Brodeur, Robert Tellier, Christian Tremblay

  1. READING AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Moved by: Renaud Seconded by: Benoit

  1. READING AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS

Moved by: Lyne Seconded by: Renaud (for September 14, 2017 meeting)

Moved by: Lyne Seconded by: Steve (for November 9, 2017 meeting)

  1. BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 14 AND NOVEMBER 9 MEETINGS

Follow-up on the management of the Region’s private Facebook page: Renaud will take steps as administrator to block access to unidentified individuals.

Richard has followed up as planned. We have no information on what Yvon has done to follow up.

A discussion ensued on the Region’s position on what is to be posted on its Facebook page.

Renaud, Christian and Robert are managing the Facebook group; decisions will be made by the Regional Executive. Renaud will advise the other administrators that they will be losing their administrator rights.

  1. DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Yvon was not at the meeting so no report was given.

  1. TREASURER’S REPORT

Since Robert was absent, the Treasurer’s Report was not presented. Robert emailed us to say that we would be receiving the report the following week.

  1. REGIONAL AND NATIONAL COMMITTEE REPORTS

Training and Education: Benoit participated in a meeting last Monday. The Committee is working on changing the structure of the courses. Some Regions reacted to the proposed structure.

The Steward renewal form will be changed to include a summary of Steward duties in recent years.

PIPSC will be recognizing the training of the FTQ and other organizations in coming years.

Human Rights: Patrick reported that the Committee had not met since our last meeting.

Finance: Benoit informed us that the next meeting would take place next Monday. The team is discussing different activities and where to seek funding.

IT: No news from Christian Gaboury.

Young Professionals: The Youth Symposium, held prior to the AGM, was a great success. The Quebec Young Professionals Committee members found it to be more of what they already knew, but it was very worthwhile for the other Regions. There were a few panellists at the Symposium, and the event went well overall.

The Committee had a virtual meeting to talk about the Symposium and upcoming activities.

The members would like our feedback on the mandate that was presented. It seems clear that it will be included in the regional structure. We will discuss the mandate at our next Regional Executive meeting.

Status of Women: Lyne confirmed that things were going very well on the Committee. The next meeting is to be held in January. She informed the Committee members that the idea of cellphone pockets was rejected. They accepted the decision and quite liked the idea of card holders.

They would even like a Branch liaison for the Committee. The Young Professionals Committee would like one as well. Lyne and Renaud will send a message to that effect.

It was proposed that 2000 units be ordered at a cost of $6000. Approved by majority vote.

Official Languages: Yvon was not at the meeting to give his rapport.

By-Laws Committee: Lyne said that her request for time off to work on the By-Laws was refused. Nonetheless, she did work on the Region’s By-Laws. Some were approved, while several of them have not yet been revised. Lyne said that her term would be over at the end of December.

  1. UPDATES ON FILES BY THEIR LEADS

Branch Liaison: Renaud had nothing to report.

Hotel accommodation: Damien asked us to decide on the dates for the 2019 events. He said that that the February event cost 35% more than the same event the previous year due to late planning. He wanted confirmation on the number of people per training session. Basic Steward Training, April 13 and 14, up to 10 participants plus 3 trainers. Basic OHS, May29 to June1, 17 participants and 3 trainers. October 17 to 20, Basic Steward Training (10 + 3), plus Violence in the Workplace (20 + 3), Steward Training (Social Approach), November 21 and 24, 2018.

Damien asked for the 2019 dates.

He proposed having the same schedule in 2019 as in 2018 (give or take a few days), given that the trend in the past few years shows consistency in the dates selected.

The Executive unanimously approved the proposal.

Mobilization: Steve told us that the Better Together campaign has a new approach to Phoenix. PIPSC is no longer urging the government to fix Phoenix but rather to replace it.

Promotional items: Patrick asked where he could refer people who are looking for banners. We made a few suggestions.

  1. PIPSC’S 2017 AGM (FOLLOW-UP)

Renaud asked for comments on the AGM. Steve thought the Quebec Region was quite effective. However, he was disappointed that several of the Region’s resolutions were not discussed on the floor.

Lyne believes that having a bilingual AGM this year was positive. But she found that the choice of people, namely the Parliamentarian and Co-Chairs, was not ideal. The last-minute selection process undermined the seriousness of these positions. She also said that it is unacceptable that resolutions submitted on time must be voted on to be included.

Damien agreed with Lyne and said that it was one of the worst AGMs he had attended. He found it frustrating to have to make several references to the regulations, which diverted the discussions on some resolutions. He thinks that by counting the number of people for or against the resolutions inappropriately influenced the voting by the delegates in the room. He added that, when the Co-Chair invoked his privilege as Chair to impose his decisions, it was a breach of meeting procedures. Moreover, the Parliamentarian and the By-Laws Committee did not do their job. The choice of Co-Chair is critical to a meeting running smoothly.

Benoit thought the Region participation was appreciated by other Regions.

Renaud said he was working on a censure motion concerning the AGM.

We had a discussion on things to improve: meeting with the Finance Committee, Thursday evening, for those interested, posting was average (delays and wrong documents).

  1. STRATEGY COMMITTEE: UPDATE BY THE CURRENT COMMITTEE

The Executive worked together on the document. A meeting is needed early next year. February was proposed as a time to meet. Arrival on the evening of February 22, full days on February 23 and 24 (we added some discussion items for the Executive meeting). Location: Nicolet, Drummondville, Trois-Rivières or Saint-Hyacinthe.

  1. OTHER BUSINESS

11.01 Regional Council Selection Committee: Whereas it is set out in R4.1.4. that there are people with substitute status to replace delegates, it was decided that those with observer status cannot obtain delegate status at a Regional Council, unless they have already been selected as a substitute.

11.02 Benoit shared his concerns about the management of the hospitality suites during events. We discussed some possible solutions for future events.

Following an incident at the Training School related to a member’s absence, Yvon had to discuss the situation with the member. The Executive is expecting a report on the discussion.

Benoit said that he will prepare a document to be presented at the start of an event (National AGM model).

11.03 A survey is being conducted by the Status of Women Committee.

11.04 Official Languages: Managers are required to have a CBC language profile at Shared Services Canada. It appears difficult for members to obtain the CBC level. Are there any measures the Quebec Region can put in place? A discussion ensued. It was suggested that we ask our official languages group to do some checks so that we have a general picture of official languages in the various federal departments and agencies.

  1. ROUND TABLE

Réjean reported on his pension fund presentation at Bagotville. He had to tweak the presentation a bit. He will be taking part in a conference call with Ottawa in that regard.

Lyne asked who had given their names for the various Committees of the Board of Directors. No information received from Yvon. Réjean will ask Yvon to send us the list of Quebec members who have applied for the different committees.

  1. NEXT MEETING AND ADJOURNMENT

Participants will be arriving the evening of Friday, January 12 and the meeting will take place on January 13. Damien will let us know the location within the next three weeks (Montréal, Québec City or Trois-Rivières).

Adjournment:

Moved by: Lyne Seconded by: Damien