Ottawa Area Council – Meeting Minutes
November 8th, 2023
Present
Staff
Jason Manchester: Regional Office Staff
Guests
N/A
Regrets
Jade Conrad, Alternate Director
Leslie Pamphile, Director
June Dale, Secretary
| Meeting Minutes | ||
| 5:30 PM | Open Meeting Agenda approved by consensus | Chair |
| 5:35 PM | Motion to approve the Meeting Minutes from the September 13th 2023 meeting of the OAC Motioned: Karen Kenniphaas Seconded: Charles Baril Passed: Yes / No August 9th meeting minutes not yet available for approval. | Chair |
| 5:45 PM | Presentation: Fairness for Gatineau Some members from East and West Gatineau who must do their 2 days in the office are wondering if it is possible to get locations in Masson/Buckingham areas and in the Aylmer Sector. The current locations are far and inconvenient for members in the listed areas. Would have to be a grassroots campaignLooking to see if there’s interest in people joining from these areas in Gatineau (both members of PSAC and others unions) and providing ideas to make this happenCan work individually with people outside of OAC if there is interest Members suggested:Raising to the AEC boardRaising at component or national level of PSACLeveraging the Government of Canada’s recent announcement about converting offices to housing (with the Government of Canada looking to reduce occupancies by 50%)Lobbying to policitiansNot many members want to go in for the 60/40 split for many reasons. They experience a lot of lost time due to travel and reduced productivity in offices.Additional time is being lost by the interprovincial board being closed until next year. Traffic can be up to 3 hours each day.Childcare is also an issue.Accessibility of potential premises is a factor to consider.There is interest in research or surveys about the impact on mental health due to traffic for people returning to the office. For many, it create severe anxiety because people in a rush are not necessarily the most responsible drivers.More widespread offices would be good for the business in those areas.There are lots of collaborative opportunities around this issue, and we can recruit different people with different experiences to come and share at the table. | Steve Colterman National Vice-President Government Services Union (GSU) |
| 6:00 PM | National Convention Election “Each Area Council shall be entitled to elect and send to any National Triennial Convention of the PSAC one delegate who shall be accorded all rights and privileges of accredited delegates.” – NBoD Convention Call. Pg 8, Subsection 6 Proposed Principles That the member elected to attend the National Triennial Convention (NTC) be a delegate of the OAC. That the member elected to attend the NTC have attended at least 2 meetings of the OAC between April and October 2023. That nominations only be taken from the floor and that the delegate be selected in a simple majority vote by the OAC delegates. Adopted Principles That the member elected to attend the National Triennial Convention (NTC) be a delegate of the OAC. That nominations only be taken from the floor and that the delegate be selected in a simple majority vote by the OAC delegates. That the Ottawa Area Council elect a delegate, as well as 2 (two) ranked alternates. Delegate: Ruth Lau MacDonald Nominated by: Kerry Gervais Seconded by : Sandra Griffiths-Bonaparte First Alternate: Jean-Michel Riel Nominated by: Ruth Lau MacDonald Seconded by: Patricia Pichette Second Alternate: Luke Periard Nominated by: Ruth Lau MacDonald Seconded by: Jean-Michel Riel David raised concerns about limiting eligibility for delegates based on attendance. This has been removed from other bylaws in the past as it went against national. David recommended removing that as a criterion so there are no issues of compliance with the national level.The Ottawa Area Council receives one delegate seat to the National Triennial Convention. The Chair does not receive a seat automatically.David recommends electing 2 raked alternates so as to now miss the deadline to put people forward. He proposed a change to the agenda to reflect this. The change is adopted.The position of delegate and first alternate are acclaimed. The position of second alternate had two nominees: Luke Periard and Ryan Ward. Luke Periard was elected as second alternate by vote.David Lanthier moved to destroy ballets. Ruth Lau MacDonald seconded. Digital ballet information is destroyed. | Will Tait |
| 6:20 PM | Chair’s Updates OAC Safety PageMental Health First Aid Training CCLA Training on November 30th OAC Safety Page: The Chair is currently working with Jade Conrad to develop a webpage for the PSAC NCR website about safety at a protest, rally and/or picket line. A draft will be shared in a future meeting. Motion #1: OAC Budgeting for training and workshops Be it resolved that OAC delegates approve spending up to $3,000 to provide Mental Health First Aid and First Aid training to members of the NCR. Be it further resolved that OAC delegates approve spending up to $3,00 to provide anti-racism/anti-oppression training in collaboration with other regional committees. Moved: Karen Kenniphaas Seconded: Ryan Ward Passed: Yes / No The first aid training would be in-person with costs fully covered and a cost recovery strategy in place if the course is not full.The course would cost approximately $100 per person.The funding for the anti-oppression and anti-racism training would cover a half day of training with Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah, local educator.Members asked whether there had been discussions for the Education Committee to cover these proposed costs.The OAC has a lot of budget available for this, while the Education Committee also has a limited budget.There is also low stability for PSAC staff at present and a new education coordinator in place.Starting this process and creating a good example of it would make a good launchpad for doing this kind of project on a bigger scale in the future. Action items: Should reach out to Health and Safety Committee to collaborate on first aid trainingShould reach out to Racially Visible Action Committee (RVAC) to collaborate on anti-racism training CCLA Training on November 30th The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has agreed to host a training about Charter of Rights and Freedoms and rights to protest. It will be held on November 30.It will likely be a hybrid event, but it may be purely virtual if it gets a lot bigger. There was a large amount of interest based on the 7000person attendance for the Labor for Palestine webinar.NCR could be a pilot for a broader national course.Kerry Gervais, Jean-Michel Riel and Ryan Ward volunteer to attend as OAC representatives. | Ruth Lau MacDonald |
| 6:40 PM | Secretary’s Updates Absent | June Dale |
| 6:45 PM | Treasurer’s Updates Payment of Peoples’ History Walking Tours invoicePayment of outstanding OAC DonationsAvailable totals for remainder of OAC termPlans for updated budget presentation to OAC (special coworking meeting) If people are still waiting to receive funds, should contact Ryan so he can follow up. | Ryan Ward |
| 7:00 PM | Directors’ Updates Will Tait: Be it resolved that the Ottawa Area Council donates $500 to Minwaashin Lodge. Moved: Will Tait Seconded: Kerry Gervais Amendment from Patricia Pichette to triple the donation amount to $1500. Seconded: Jean-Michel Riel Passed: Yes / No Motion passed: Yes / No OAC Resolutions Subcommittee sent three resolutions to PSAC NCR to get sent onward. Will put out a report on the National Equity Conference in October and will share when finished.Upcoming:PSAC National Human Rights committee meetingOntario Federation of Labour triennial conventionNational lobby day Will wants to organize to support the rolling strike in Quebec. This would involve helping to show up on their pickets lines. Leslie Pamphile: Absent Jean-Michel Riel: Organized the Power Up Climate Justice rally on November 4. | Directors |
| 7:15 PM | Open Floor Kerry Gervais and Karen Kenniphaas: Come to the Members with Disabilities Action Committee’s (MDAC’s) first event! It is an event for International Day for Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) and International Human Rights Day (HRD) on December 7th from 17:30 to 19:00 on Zoom. Alain Craig: The Indigenous Action Circle’ AGM is on November 22.Indigenous members can attend and participate.Non-Indigenous members may attend as guests.If you are attending the leadership conference in December, please email the conference email to support the request that Indigenous makers should be able to vend at the conference. | All |
| 7:30 PM | Meeting Adjourned | Thank you! |
Action Items:
- Update your delegate status using the OAC online affiliation form.
Want to get in touch between meetings? Email us: oac-cro@psac-afpc.com