The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
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IT Ottawa West Subgroup

MINUTES

Regular Executive Meeting January 5, 2023 18:00

                                                 [This was an entirely virtual gathering]

 

Present:

 

Daniel Shen (President), Beverley Miranda (Vice-President), Steve Anderson (Secretary), Lisa Chau (Communications Officer), Junaid Fazal (Member at Large), Charles Dugas (Member at Large), Zhidan Guan (Member at Large), Sylvia Suska (Member at Large)

With Regrets:

Blair Mason (Treasurer)

 

The President of the IT Ottawa West Subgroup, Daniel Shen, called the meeting to order at 6:08 PM.  He mentioned that all in attendance can claim a lunch per diem, and that these should be submitted to the ITOWSG through Blair Mason.

 

AGENDA The draft agenda was presented.

 

MOTION M/S Steve/Beverley. To adopt the amended draft agenda. Carried. 

PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES The draft minutes of the December 1, 2022 meeting were presented.

MOTION M/S Steve/Zhidan. To adopt the amended meeting minutes. Carried. 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT  

• Daniel described how the month of December was very busy for the ITOWSG, and that the next Subgroup President’s meeting will be held in Victoria on April 1, 2023.

 

TREASURER’S REPORT  

• Deferred.  ACTION ITEM Blair to follow up with the Treasurer’s report at the next meeting.

EXISTING BUSINESS

YEAR END SOCIAL EVENT / Tail Gators, December 8, 2022

•     Takeaways for similar events in the future; it was a particularly busy time in that location due to it being just before the holidays and during the dinner hour / the food service was slower than we would have liked / if we advertise a dinner people expect a dinner, not a snack / lack of tables and chairs / clear boundaries and signage for special diet areas would have helped / it was difficult to hear anyone speaking / unfortunate coincidences with sound and slideshow technical issues / Daniel has heard only good feedback but Lisa said the survey feedback was more mixed / the reception desk worked well / the promo handouts were done efficiently and fairly (albeit the Executive members didn’t get any) / lots of finger food left over.

25 FITZGERALD EVENT / The Mill restaurant, December 9, 2022

  • This was an unusual gathering as most of the planning had already been done by a member at that Bell’s Corners worksite, the application for funds was informal and last-minute, and the actual venue was downtown.  Daniel attended and gave a presentation on the ITOWSG and signed up at least one RAND.

 

MOTION M/S Lisa, Beverley.  All future event funding requests have to be made through a written proposal and presentation to the ITOWSG Executive.  Carried.

ITOWSG 2022 AGM FINANCIAL CORRECTIONS

  • Deferred.  ACTION ITEM Blair to follow up with a Financial Corrections report at the next meeting

COMMUNICATION AND IT EQUIPMENT POLICY CHANGES BY PIPSC

  • Deferred.  ACTION ITEM Blair to follow up with a report on the Communication and IT Equipment Policy changes at the next meeting

ITOWSG 2022 DONATIONS FOLLOW-UP

  • Deferred.  ACTION ITEM Blair to follow up with a report on the 2022 donations at the next meeting.

POTENTIAL DND CARLING REPRESENTATIVE

  • There was a discussion about potential ITOWSG reps at both the DND Carling and 25 Fitzgerald sites.  It was the consensus of the Executive to wait until the ITOWSG AGM in the Spring and encourage any interested members to run in the election at that time.

SHARED DRIVE FILE/FOLDER FORMATS

  • Deferred.  ACTION ITEM All to follow through with the shared drive formatting at the next meeting – when Blair is present.

ITOWSG EXECUTIVE TRAINING

  • Deferred.  ACTION ITEM Daniel to follow through with any plans for ITOWSG Executive Training at the next meeting.

POWER BANK PURCHASE FOLLOW-UP / TOQUE PURCHASE FOLLOW-UP / ITOWSG SHIRTS

  • Deferred.  ACTION ITEM  Daniel to follow through with a report about the power banks, toques and shirts via email.

 

NEW BUSINESS

ITOWSG AGM 2023

  • Deferred.  ACTION ITEM  All to discuss the ITOWSG 2023 AGM at our next meeting.

FINANCIAL LAUNCHPAD TRIAL EVENT / Virtual, January 12 2023

  • Lisa indicated that she is still looking for more participants.  Those present were encouraged to find more attendees.

MEMBER ENGAGEMENT WINTER EVENT

  • Daniel started the discussion by suggesting a family skate event.  However, the conversation shifted to the impending return to the workplace intentions of the employer.

 

ACTION ITEM Steve volunteered to put together an event proposal and submit it to the ITOWSG for approval.  The event will be to discuss the employer’s increasing demands for us to return to the workplace and the impact of this on our members.

 

 

ROUNDTABLE

 

  • Zhidan raised the idea of the ITOWSG encouraging a privately-run gymnasium to reopen, for the benefit of some ITOWSG members, by providing a financial contribution.  The consensus of the ITOWSG Executive present was that this is more likely something a Branch would sponsor rather than a Subgroup.  It seemed to be outside our mandate.

 

NEXT MEETING

  • It was agreed that the next meeting would be held on February 2, 2023.  However, there was not agreement on whether it should be in-person, hybrid, or a virtual meeting.  Nor was the time of the meeting established.

ACTION ITEM  Daniel is to send a poll to the Executive asking if the next meeting should be in-person, hybrid, or completely virtual, and… at what the time the meeting should start.

SPECIAL NOTE:  The following motions were approved via email between the December 1 and January 5 meetings of the ITOWGS.

          

MOTION (Made December 14 2022 – Resolved December 17 2022) M/S Blair, Charles.  We forgo purchasing the Executive member visibility items for this year as there has been much discussion and limited consensus at this point. Carried.

 

MOTION (Made December 14 2022 – Resolved December 17 2022) M/S Blair, Charles.  We proceed with getting a quote from PowerStick for the Supernova power chargers and we order the minimum amount to avoid paying set up fees. Carried.

 

MOTION (Made December 14 2022 – Resolved December 17 2022) M/S Blair, Charles.  We move forward with the picking one of the three toques Daniel has suggested by Monday December 19th and that he order no more than 150. Carried.

 

MOTION (Made December 15 2022 – Resolved December 15 2022) M/S Beverley, Blair.  That Beverley be provided up to $1000 to replace her damaged laptop (with receipt).  Carried.

 

ADJOURNMENT M/S Daniel/Steve. Carried. 8:07 PM

 

ACTION ITEM SUMMARY

  • All to follow through with the shared drive formatting at the next meeting – when Blair is present.
  • All to discuss the ITOWSG 2023 AGM at our next meeting.

 

  • Blair to follow up with the Treasurer’s report at the next meeting.
  • Blair to follow up with a Financial Corrections report at the next meeting
  • Blair to follow up with a report on the Communication and IT Equipment Policy changes at the next meeting
  • Blair to follow up with a report on the 2022 donations at the next meeting.

 

  • Daniel to follow through with the ITOWSG Executive Training at the next meeting.
  • Daniel to follow through with the power banks, toques and shirts via email.
  • Daniel is to send a poll to the Executive asking if the next meeting should be in person, hybrid, or completely virtual, and… at what time the meeting should start.

 

  • Steve volunteered to put together an event proposal and submit it to the ITOWSG for approval.  The event will be to discuss the employer’s increasing demands for us to return to the workplace and the impact of this on our members.

 

 

Published on 6 February 2023