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MINUTES of Annual General Meeting – Vancouver Sub-Group of SP Group, PIPSC Grande Villa Burnaby & Virtual (Zoom) Thursday, October 17, 2024 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM |
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SP Sub-Group Executive Tanya Evans (Elected Jan 2022) – President Vacant (Elected Sept 2023) – Vice President Timothy Powers (Elected Jan 2022) – Treasurer (regrets) Eric Crawford (Elected Jan 2022) – Secretary (regrets) Vacant (Elected Sept. 2023) – Member at large Philip Bartha (Elected Sept 2023) – Member at large Judy Hartman (Elected Sept 2023) – Member at large (regrets) Lindsay Howes (Elected Sept 2022) – Member at large (regrets) |
Tanya welcome everyone and thanked them for attending. Everyone in attendance introduced themselves. Guests: RD Morgan Cranny was unable to attend (wish him well with his surgery) has sent his regrets. Katrina Johnston and Philip Mantler from the Regional Executive attended in his place. Kevin Yang, President of the 401 Burrard St SP Sub-Group attended. Thanks to all our guests for attending. Promotional movie tickets will be provided to everyone in attendance. Approximately thirteen members were in attendance in-person, two on-line, and three guests. |
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At this time, the Chair of the Election Committee, Philip Bartha, made the first call for nominations for the Sub Group Executive Elections. The following individuals were nominated and accepted the nomination:
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Tanya reviewed her written Report of the President which is attached to these minutes. The Executive welcomes feedback on how the AGM has been held. Please let Tanya or any of the Executive know if this year’s combination of in-person and on-line was preferred or would members have any other suggestions. Tanya also expressed her appreciation to all the members of the sub-group executive. Motion to accept the Report of the President: M/S/Carried. At this time, the Chair of the Election Committee made the second call for nominations for the Sub Group Executive Elections. The following individuals were nominated and accepted the nomination: • None |
Philip provided verbal comments from Morgan Cranny, Regional Director. A copy of the report of the Regional Director is attached to these minutes. The attendees had a great discussion on what can be done regarding RTO and the importance of the union in this issue. |
Prior to the meeting, AGM participants were provided copies of the following financial documents prepared by Vancouver SP Sub-Group Treasurer Tim Powers
In Tim’s absence, Tanya reviewed the financial documents and answered any questions. Motion to accept the Financial Statement – October 9, 2024: M/S/Carried. Motion to accept the 2025 Budget: M/S/Carried. A final and third call for nominations for the Sub Group Executive Elections was subsequently made. The following individuals were nominated from the floor of the AGM:
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Philip Bartha, Chair, provided the report of the Elections Committee.
Tanya Evans will contact the new Executive for a date and location of the first meeting of the Sub-Group Executive. |
Their being no further business the Chair entertained a motion to adjourn. Tanya thanked all the members for taking time to attend this evening’s AGM. She again expressed her appreciation for all the efforts of Sub-Group Executive, our dedicated and hard-working stewards, and the incredible support from our wonderful PIPSC Staff. M / Carried. Meeting was adjourned at 7:15 PM
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SP Vancouver Sub Group Annual Report to the AGM – October 2024 We hope that the members of our Subgroup have had a good year and enjoyed engaging in local events and activities. These are a few of the events that we hosted or collaborated on this year:
We have also had 4 meetings of the executive since the last AGM. Our last AGM was November 15, 2023 online via zoom, and this year we are back in person for the AGM. We are looking to find the best way to connect with members both in person and online, and we are always open to hear your feedback, and best ways to stay in touch. Please let us know what you liked, and what you would like to see in the future. Please keep in touch with us at spvansubgroup@gmail.com. Sub Group Overview Currently we have 413 Regular, 26 RAND and 13 retired members. Some of the Departments which are represented within our Sub Group are Health, Environment and Climate Change, Fisheries and Oceans, Natural Resources, Transport, CBSA, Public Health Agency, RCMP, Indigenous Services, and Public Services and Procurement Canada. At the moment, we only have 4 Stewards in the Subgroup, and it would be very beneficial to have more Stewards representing our members, ideally at least one Steward in each workplace. If anyone is interested in becoming a Steward please check out the PIPSC website and / or talk to one of the Executive Members, we would be happy to support you. I would like to thank all of the members of our executive who have worked very hard to organize events and reach out to our members. Please know there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to plan events, find the funds, coordinate with other groups and get the message out to you! My gratitude and pleasure to work with Rob MacDonald, Tim Powers, Denis Semail, Eric Crawford, Judy Hartman, Lindsay Howes and Philip Bartha! Let’s please acknowledge all of them now! Have a burning question for the SP Executive? They can be reached via email at ask_sp@pipsc.ca An ongoing issue for the SP Group is defending public science and the valuable work that our members do, especially as applied scientists. The SP Group has created ‘Stick up for Science’ laptop stickers, which can also be applied to your car, favourite book, wherever you like! If you would like one, please email us and we can get one to you in the mail. Emerging and Ongoing Issues for the SP Group RTO – Return to Office is top of mind for employees at the moment. If you would like to know more about what PIPSC is doing for members, more information can be found here and is being constantly updated: https://pipsc.ca/news-issues/return-to-workplace Phoenix continues to be an issue for many members, including some members that have received letters for overpayment. For any questions about this issue, and your options, please refer to this webpage: https://pipsc.ca/news-issues/phoenix-pay-system/recovery-process-phoenix-overpayments-faqs Our collective agreement expires on September 30, 2026, and your SP Bargaining Team is getting ready for the next round of bargaining. Some upcoming dates to be aware of: PIPSC National AGM: November 8 and 9, 2024 in Toronto SP Group AGM: April 5, 2025 in Montreal Where can you find the SP Group on social media? SP Group Web Page: https://pipsc.ca/groups/sp Facebook: (20+) PIPSC SP Group / Groupe SP de l'IPFPC | Facebook Twitter: https://twitter.com/PIPSC_science?t=Qhk4WL4OCr5dwj1WYFNpmw&s=09 These are some interesting unofficial groups where information is being shared by Government of Canada workers about Phoenix, Canada Life, telework, retirement planning and so many other topics, which might be of interest to you! GOC Parents: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gocparents/ Telework GOC : https://www.facebook.com/groups/1606777942921223/ GOC Retired and Close to Retirement: https://www.facebook.com/groups/783608646316532/?ref=share We would like to engage more with you over the upcoming year, and encourage you to get involved with your Sub Group! We always welcome new members to the Executive, and fresh ideas! In Solidarity, Tanya Evans President, Vancouver SP Subgroup
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BC/Yukon Directors report to Vancouver SP AGM I’m sorry I could not be there myself but appreciate the executive members who have gone in my place. They will do their best to answer any questions you might have. I would like to extend a special thank you to Denis Semail for organizing this event and doing so much work for our union even though he is currently on a temporary assignment outside of PIPSC. His dedication is inspiring and greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank Tanya Evans and the other organizers for putting this together, making these events happen is a lot of work and is done from the side of their desks. I would also like to thank you folks for attending! Taking time out of your busy schedules to attend these functions is greatly appreciated. It’s a great opportunity to connect with other union members and get better informed about what is happening in the union. RTO is a big issue right now and it affects members in different ways. Some are greatly affected, others have been back to the office full time since the beginning. One of the biggest concerns is that during bargaining, our employer agreed not to make changes to working conditions without consultation even putting it in some MOU’s attached to contracts. Unions were not consulted with the this change and it was not well supported with data for why. These kind of things are a bad precedent. People are encouraged to seek accommodations where needed and to keep striving for work arrangements that work for them. There is a tool kit that has been shared with activists. If you are an activist that hasn’t received that kit, please reach out to me at mcranny@pipsc.ca and I will see about getting that to you. There has been much discussion around PIPSC finances and a dues increase. We have been operating in a deficit and it is unsustainable. Without a dues increase the institute will run out of money within 2 years. We have a new Finance Director, Tommy Barron. He and his team have taken a hard look at our finances and in conjunction with the board have looked at and imposed many cost saving measures. The finance team has also created a new budget that reflects these changes as well as what we need to continue to provide and improve services to our members. The long and the short of it is that we will be asking for a $17.50/month dues increase. Not only will this increase help us meet all our goals it will give us some cushion for the challenges ahead related to national elections and member needs. We will increase ERO’s and support staff where needed as our staff are currently overworked and nearing burnout. RTO, bargaining, problems in the workplace require lots of resources to tackle. This on top of the 25% inflation since our last dues increase. Information packages about the dues increase will be released shortly and I hope anyone attending will support this important resolution. Legal issues within PIPSC. As many know, there have been issues related to the president and colleagues and staff. This is a serious matter that the board has treated with as much care as possible to protect those involved. Earlier in the year, we made a misstep but we continue to try to find a resolution to these matters that is just and fair. Finally, we are always looking for more stewards. The role of a steward is vital to making sure our members have protection in the workplace. A steward is many things. Sometimes we are there to listen to our members voice concerns and provide options to solve issues informally, Sometimes we are asked to help them grieve a situation where the employer has broken a term of the collective agreement. Sometimes it is simply helping members understand their CA, the leave they are entitled to and things of that nature. As a steward you receive excellent training, opportunities to network with other stewards and in some cases it allows you to sit on executives or committees at work. I highly encourage you to consider becoming a steward. If you are already a steward, thank you for the work you do, it is greatly appreciated. I presume you have elections, please run for positions! Having a strong executive means being able to do more for members while spreading the load. Not sure you’re ready, be a member at large, a great introduction to the process. One last thing, please vote in the PIPSC national election. Read the bios, make choices that work for you and the union. Have a great AGM! In Solidarity, Morgan Cranny Director, BC/Yukon Region |
Published on 7 January 2026