City of Québec NR Sub-Group - Minutes from the 1st Executive - February 19, 2024

Date: February 19, 2024

Location: Pacini Lebourgneuf

Subject: The first City of Québec NR Sub-Goup Executive committee meeting of 2024

Directors present 

● Patrick Lacoursière, 

President 

● Omar Kali, Vice President ● Jessika Poirier, 

Secretary 

● Jean-Luc Bédard, 

Treasurer 

● Robert Durocher, 

Executive 

● Bernard Michaud, 

Executive 

Absent directors 

●Samuel Bruneau-Dubuc, Executive

Agenda 

1. Welcome (President) 

2. Meeting called to order (President) 

3. Opening remarks (President) 

4. Review and approval of the agenda 

5. Review and approval of the minutes from the last executive meeting (President) 

6. Tentative agreement discussion 

7. Briefing from the 1st QC executive branch meeting (President) 8. Details of upcoming events 

9. New Business 

10. Roundtable 

11. Adjournment

Agenda  item

Who’s responsible

Discussion

Action required by

1. Opening remarks

Patrick

Greetings.

2. Meeting called to order

Patrick

Meeting called to order: 6:15 p.m.  Samuel was absent. Quorum was achieved.

3. President’s  opening  remarks

Patrick

The President welcomed everyone to the meeting.

4. Reading and  approval of the agenda

Jessika

Patrick sent the agenda as an attachment to the meeting invitation. Jessika read each item of the agenda aloud.  After a question from Jessika about the quorum, there was a unanimous motion for “New Business” to be used to re-establish the regulatory framework of the Sub-Group and to remind the committee of its content.  Robert moved to approve the agenda as presented and Bernard supported this motion.

5. Reading and approval of the minutes from the last Executive meeting

Patrick

The minutes from the previous meeting were posted on the monitor in the room. Members who were present at the last Executive meeting (August 3, 2023) talked about the context of this meeting  and the highlights discussed, including careers advancement of ENGs at the Valcartier Research Centre, the acquisition of a committee laptop, the sending of the counter-report of the Québec branch and the modification of the Bien Mieux Ensemble program. Patrick corrected typos in the text. Following a question from Jessika, other members clarified the difference between branches and Sub-Groups. Branches are geographic entities  that are all Sub-Groups in a given territory, whereas Sub-Groups are entities organized according to their professional category.  Robert moved to approve the agenda and Jean Luc supported it.

6. Tentative agreement

discussion

Jean-Luc

Executives discussed the negotiations.  Jean-Luc reminded us that he asked a question at the last annual general meeting (AGM) about the status of the strike fund, given that the NR group has never been on strike. He did not receive a clear answer and would like to bring up the subject with the national branch. Jean-Luc was also concerned

that the possibility of a strike always seemed to be dismissed from the outset without members being able to vote on it. The NR group is not considered to be a very activist group, which he believes reduces the balance of power on the negotiating team. Jessika asked what types of consultations had been conducted prior to the negotiation. Patrick explained that the consultation process was mainly focused on prioritizing requests rather than on potential job action. 

Bernard shared his skepticism about the ratio of active and retired members in the negotiating committee, where the number of active members outweighs the retired members. However, it is the members involved in activities who will be most negatively affected by the pay proposals in the tentative agreement. Patrick wondered if there was any regulation on this ratio, and gave as an example the practices in place that promote parity and distribution between groups. Jean-Luc recounted an unsuccessful attempt to adopt a motion on the issue of the ratio between active and retired members in the Executive Committee. Bernard asked if there has ever been a rejected tentative agreement. No one on the executive committee could remember such an occurrence for the NR group, but it has already occurred in other PIPSC groups. 

Bernard asked if there would be a debriefing following the collective agreement to provide feedback to the negotiating team regardless of the outcome of the vote. Patrick confirmed that he would like to discuss this at the annual Sub-Group meeting later this year. Jean-Luc reminded members that the negotiating team will change between now and the next agreement, making it difficult to apply the lessons learned.

7. Minutes from the 1st QC chapter Executive meeting

Patrick

Patrick shared his experience at the City of Québec Branch Executive meeting. Though the City of Québec NR Sub-Group AGM is held at the end of the year, Patrick discovered that AGMs can take place anytime. Based on this information, Robert indicated that he would prefer for the AGMs to take place at the beginning of a calendar year to have a comprehensive overview of the previous year. 

Patrick also learned that executive meals can be reimbursed directly by PIPSC rather than via the Sub-Group budget, and that the amount allowed is of $65 per executive per meal, and does not include alchool. Jean-Luc noted that using this opportunity will free up a large portion of the budget and that this money can be redirected for activities with members.

Patrick also reported that the Québec branch is planning a retirement training, that will be given by Réjean Michaud. The training only covers the financial aspect of retirement, and will last an hour or two. It should take place around the end of March or early April. More details will be provided in the invitation that will be sent out shortly.

8. Discussion on upcoming activities

All

Patrick noted that a 5 à 7-style event had already been discussed, but nothing had been officially organized. Members brainstormed ideas for the event’s location, including Dooly’s or Tapis vert. Robert turned down a movie-related activity, which does not allow for discussion. Jessika noted that there needs to be a balance between engagement activities and opportunities for discussion, as each attracts different audiences. Robert pointed out that activities could be organized in a tournament format. The Executive Committee selected Tapis vert as the event venue. It was suggested that the event could take place on a Thursday in late April or early May, such as April 18 or 25, or May 2. Patrick noted that announcing the event to members needs to be done through PIPSC and that the schedule needs to reflect this. Jean Luc indicated that the DS Sub-Group, which includes a hundred people at the Valcartier base, could also participate, as is often the case. 

Patrick will check availability, fees, communications, and more, with Tapis vert. Once everything is organized, Jessika will send the text for the invitation to PIPSC so it can be communicated to members. 

Robert noted that the budget will likely allow for a second activity, possibly in the fall. Jean-Luc mentioned that it is difficult to organize events in the fall because people are often busy with back-to-school. Jean-Luc also reported that the reimbursement of executive meals by PIPSC remains to be implemented for the first time and that this will confirm how much money will be left for a second activity. Robert and Patrick noted that the DS Sub-Group will pay for part of the first activity if their members participate. The group chose to wait for the first event to make decisions in situ regarding a second event. There should be another executive meeting in the meantime to discuss this, possibly in June.

Patrick 

Jessika

9. New business

All

Jean-Luc and Patrick found the regulatory framework at the following address: Statutes of the NR Sub-Group of the City of Québec | The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (pipsc.ca) This clarifies some of Jessika’s questions, including the quorum. For Executive meetings, a majority of

Patrick

Executives is required (so 4 out of 7 currently). The AGM requires that at least 50% of the members who registered be present when the Town Hall is called to order. Executives questioned this definition which takes into account AGM registration rather than a percentage of members.  Group statuses and those of other Sub-Groups are looked at to try to determine if this is common practice. Although most of the NR Sub-Group statuses are not available online, we see that the Hamilton-Burlington NR Sub-Group has the same quorum definition as we do. Executives also discussed the possibility of establishing a procedure to express interest in elections ahead of the AGMs. 

The group reviewed certain bylaw provisions. Jean-Luc asked how long the Sub-Group documentation should be kept. There is no official answer, but Robert recommended seven years. Jean-Luc noted that he has archives from the City of Québec NR Sub-Group as of 2014 on a personal device. He agreed to transfer them to the Sub-Group laptop. 

Following the discussion, the Executive Committee felt that no amendments to the bylaws were required at this time. The executive agreed that the bylaws should be re-read each year.

Patrick 

Jean-Luc

10. Roundtable

Patrick

Robert drew everyone’s attention to Jessika’s presence, as a new Executive and Secretary.  Patrick thanked all the Executives for being there.

11. Adjournment of the meeting

Omar moved to adjourn the meeting and Bernard supported this proposal.  The meeting was adjourned at 9:07 p.m.  In the coming days, Jessika will send the meeting minutes to the other members of the Executive for confirmation and then to the PIPSC representative.

Jessika