Québec City Chapter, Retired Members Guild
MINUTES of the Executive meeting of the Québec City Chapter of the Retired Members Guild (RMG), Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, held on February 20, 2019 at Le Rascal restaurant, 5050 Wilfrid-Hamel Boulevard, Québec City, Quebec G2E 5X5
In attendance:
Jean-Pierre Morency
Élie Ahad
Michel Bédard
Madeleine Lapointe
Léandre Sévigny
Absent:
André Cantin
Daniel Brouillette
Guest:
Luc Carrière
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1.0 Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 11:06 a.m.
The President, Jean-Pierre Morency, welcomed the members present and in particular our guest Luc Carrière. Luc is the new Quebec representative on the National RMG Executive. He wished for a productive meeting.
2.0 Review and Approval of the Agenda
The President read the agenda.
Elijah Ahad added two topics to item 14.0 Other/new business. The proposed topics were as follows:
- Strategic Plan and Steering Committee
- Meeting of the RMG National Executive
Michel Bédard, seconded by Jean-Pierre Morency, moved that the agenda be approved as amended.
Carried unanimously.
3.0 Reading and Approval of the August 29, 2018 Minutes
Michel Bédard, seconded by Élie Ahad, moved to approve the minutes of the August 29, 2018 meeting.
Carried unanimously.
Madeleine Lapointe will send the August 29, 2018 minutes for posting on the PIPSC website.
Action: Madeleine Lapointe
4.0 Business Arising from the August 29, 2018 Minutes
Item 3.0 Madeleine Lapointe to send the minutes of the March 28, 2018 meeting for posting on the PIPSC website.
Action completed
Item 4.0 Yvon Brodeur offered to follow up on the following:
- Satisfaction of PIPSC members using the services provided by the company offering travel insurance through ServicePlus;
- The reason PIPSC does not advertise the new travel insurance policy or post information on the RMG website.
In the absence of Yvon Brodeur, item 4.0 remains pending.
Jean-Pierre Morency suggested making the advertising on the service known to members. Luc Carrière offered to speak about it at the RMG National Executive meeting.
Action: Luc Carrière
Item 6.0 Élie Ahad to send us the latest RMG National Executive minutes.
Action completed
Jean-Pierre Morency asked us to consider possible action regarding the RMG National Executive’s decision not to post the minutes of their meeting on the PIPSC website.
Comments on this topic can be found at item 10.0.
Action completed
Item 11.0 Madeleine Lapointe will send an email to former members asking them the reason for their withdrawal and at the same time indicating the benefits of the new ServicePlus travel insurance.
After the email mentioned in the previous paragraph, Madeleine Lapointe received a response to the effect that the former member had left us to become a member of the National Association of Federal Retirees (NAFR) because he found the cost of their travel insurance lower than the PIPSC insurance. Madeleine Lapointe replied by sending him the price comparison between the cost of the new travel insurance offered by Service Plus for PIPSC versus the cost of the NAFR insurance. The ex-member replied that she was right and that he would get back to her about it. To date, Madeleine Lapointe has not received any further news from the former member.
Action completed
Yvon Brodeur offered to ask Linda Martel why she is sending the dues invoice to retired members in September rather than December.
Action: In the absence of Yvon Brodeur, the item remains pending.
Item 12.0 Madeleine Lapointe will book the large room at Le Rascal Restaurant for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in October 2018.
Action completed
Jean-Pierre Morency will contact Ian Tougas, a broker for the travel insurance offered by ServicePlus, for a presentation of the insurance policy at the AGM.
Jean-Pierre Morency has not received a response from Ian Tougas. Denis Arsenault, RMG member, gave a talk at the AGM on his experience with the services provided by the insurance company offering travel insurance for ServicePlus.
Action completed
Item 16.0 a) André Cantin checked with the office of the Table de concertation de la Capitale about the annual invoice. The invoice was sent and paid in September 2018.
Action completed
5.0 Update on the Chapter’s Finances
Madeleine Lapointe presented the Chapter’s statement of receipts and disbursements as of January 31, 2019. She also requested approval of the expenses incurred to send documentation for purposes of the October 2018 AGM to members who do not have an email address.
Michel Bédard, seconded by Élie Ahad, moved to accept the Chapter’s statement of receipts and disbursements as presented by Madeleine Lapointe as well as the reimbursement of expenses incurred for the 2018 AGM.
Carried unanimously.
6.0 Report by Luc Carrière, Quebec Regional Representative on the RMG National Executive
First of all, I want to thank you for supporting my nomination for this position. It will be a new challenge for me. When I take on a position, it is to move things forward and take on challenges, and not simply to hold a position. That said, PIPSC’s RMG has been seeking its purpose for years, 19 in all. As you can see, at virtually every PIPSC AGM, resolutions are brought forward to limit and even eliminate the RMG’s involvement in union business. That is why it is essential for our survival to establish the roles and responsibilities that retirees still wanting to contribute to the movement can fulfil.
I officially took office on January 1, 2019. But I have been involved since last November. First, I attended the RMG’s AGM on November 1 at the Hilton Lac-Leamy. It was a surprise to me when I learned that the RMG Vision Committee is still operating after 11 years. This does not send an encouraging message to the rest of the PIPSC membership. But as I noted on January 16 when I attended a Vision Committee meeting, its role in no way aligns with the resolution that led to its establishment. But this situation will be corrected by creating the Steering Committee composed of the four officials, President - Vice-President - Secretary - Treasurer. Their role will be to manage important issues that require immediate attention between regular Executive meetings. At our next Executive meeting, the first day will be focused on strategy and involve the entire Executive. I sincerely hope that this will be an opportunity for all of us to improve our relationship with the rest of the PIPSC members by presenting a concrete and realistic plan.
On January 17, the regular meeting of the National Executive was held. One of the points discussed was the problem during the last RMG election. A series of measures have been proposed to avoid such a situation in the future. In addition, next year will be the 20th anniversary of the RMG and the 100th anniversary of PIPSC. It will be officially announced at the PIPSC AGM in November. We also have to organize as a group our celebration with a variety of activities.
Following our requests, Luc Carrière elaborated on his report.
Last January, he attended a two-day meeting. At that meeting, Richard Rice, Treasurer of the RMG National Executive, proposed to abolish the Vision Committee and replace it with the Steering Committee. The Vision Committee had been created to provide a way forward for the RMG and to justify its existence. But in reality, the Vision Committee was doing the work of a Steering Committee. In his opinion, the committee just changed its name. He noted that several groups have a Steering Committee. Élie Ahad pointed out to him that a member from the Quebec Region must serve on the Vision Committee, since it was the Quebec Region that had suggested the committee. Now, with the abolition of the old committee and replacement with the new one, the committee does not necessarily have a Quebec representative. Therefore, the committee has not just changed its name, but its structure as well. Luc Carrière will monitor what is happening on the Steering Committee and notify us if necessary.
Action: Luc Carrière
The RMG National Executive will be holding five meetings a year. In March, there will be two meetings, one strategic (Vision) and the other an Executive meeting.
Michel Bédard finds it unacceptable that the RMG Chapters work in silos. The other Chapters do not even post their minutes. There is no communication between us. It would be worthwhile to have a meeting of Chapter Presidents to align their various initiatives. Luc Carrière pointed out the significant cost of this type of meeting. Jean-Pierre Morency suggested a conference call. Luc Carrière will bring this up at the next few meetings of the RMG National Executive.
Action: Luc Carrière
7.0 National and Quebec RMG Membership, including membership list
We do not have the RMG membership numbers at the national or provincial level.
The Québec City Chapter currently has 70 members. Since mid-July 2018, we have had 15 new retirees and 4 withdrawals. The retention rate of members is 50%, which is satisfactory.
A discussion ensued on the importance of advertising PIPSC services for retired members since, unlike regular members, they must pay a voluntary annual fee.
8.0 Activity Report – Québec City Branch
Since Daniel Brouillette was absent, we did not have a report on the activities of the Québec City Branch.
The Québec City Branch’s AGM was held on Thursday, October 11, 2018 at the Hôtel-Musée Premières Nations.
9.0 New National Executive and Ongoing Actions
The successful candidates in the election for RMG National Executive were as follows:
- Quebec Region: Luc Carrière
- National Capital Region Lynn Morris and Richard Rice
- Prairie/ NWT Region Charlotte Strandlund
Congratulations to all those elected. They came into office in January 2019.
Luc Carrière reported that he has only attended one meeting so far. There is not much going on at the moment.
Michel Bédard asked Luc Carrière if he had received the agenda well in advance of the scheduled meeting. Luc Carrière received the agenda on the day of the meeting. We pointed out to him that it is unacceptable to receive the agenda on the day of the meeting since the members of the RMG National Executive cannot prepare in advance. Luc Carrière took note of this.
10.0 Discussions and Planned Actions Regarding the Posting of Minutes of the RMG National Executive Meetings
The last posting of RMG National Executive minutes was in 2017. We are discussing various actions to force the RMG National Executive to post their minutes.
We agreed that Michel Bédard should first send an email to Luc Carrière to let him know our expectations regarding the posting of the minutes of the National Executive. In the meantime, Luc Carrière will send us the minutes approved by the National Executive.
Action: Michel Bédard
Luc Carrière
11.0 Actions Contemplated for the RMG ( pensions, health care, etc.)
Following our discussions, it was suggested:
- that a member of the RMG represent retirees on the National Joint Council (NJC). Even if it is only as an observer, the representative could have important information to share with us;
- that lobbying be done to increase the death benefit;
- that we consider affiliating with the NAFR because we have the same concerns. We are aware that this idea goes against what the National Executive wants.
Luc Carrière will find out what action the RMG National Executive plans to take in regard to pensions and health care.
Action: Luc Carrière
12.0 Discussions and Actions for the Next Federal Election
According to Luc Carrière, the PIPSC National Executive does not seem to want to take any action in preparation for the federal election this fall.
We will wait for the outcome of the decisions made to this effect at the strategic meeting of the RMG National Executive, if applicable.
13.0 Table de concertation de la Capitale and the NAFR
The next meeting of the Table de concertation will be held on February 27. Jean-Pierre Morency will attend in the absence of André Cantin. Jean-Pierre Morency did not receive the agenda for the next meeting.
Judith Gagnon, Chair of the Table de concertation, is considering bringing together certain organizations to fight budget cuts. She is placing a lot of hope in Marguerite Blais, Minister Responsible for Seniors, to increase the budgets.
The NAFR’s General Information Meeting was held on October 12 at the Patro Roc-Amadour. On this occasion, Christine Morin, Notary Public, spoke to us about Advance Medical Directives and Directives in a Protection Mandate, and Nancy White, an adviser on advance arrangements, spoke to us about planning advance arrangements.
The NAFR’s AGM will be held on April 12, 2019.
14.0 Other and New Business
- Strategic plan and Steering Committee
(this item was discussed under item 6.0)
- Meeting of the RMG National Executive
Élie Ahad asked Luc Carrière to provide us with the dates of upcoming meetings in his next report.
Action: Luc Carrière
Luc Carrière informed us that the RMG National Executive is discussing inviting all RMG Chapter Presidents to the 20th anniversary of the RMG next year. The main obstacle considered was the cost of this meeting.
15.0 Adjournment
Jean-Pierre Morency thanked everyone for their participation and Luc Carrière informed us that he had taken note of the points raised at this meeting and of his intention to bring these issues to the next meetings of the RMG National Executive.
Léandre Sévigny, seconded by Jean-Pierre Morency, moved that the meeting be adjourned at 2:20 p.m.
Carried unanimously.
Madeleine Lapointe
Secretary-Treasurer
Québec City Chapter, Retired Members Guild
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
February 24, 2019
Jean-Pierre Morency Madeleine Lapointe
President’s Signature Secretary-Treasurer’s Signature