The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
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75th ARC - ATLANTIC REGIONAL TRAINING COMMITTEE REPORT

May 25-26, 2018

The mandate for the Regional Training Committee is outlined in the National Training Policy. To quote the policy:

“The Regional Training Committee will determine basic and special training needs, prepare and submit regional training plans, review and recommend training content, review training evaluations, and implement a regional program of steward mentorship.”

Since the last Atlantic Regional Council, the Training Committee has been working to our mandate. I am honoured to have been chosen to chair this committee for the region by the Regional Executive. The committee works in conjunction with the staff of the Regional Office to provide training to the region’s stewards.  I will take this opportunity to thank the members of the committee for their hard work and dedication this year:  Phil Wilson, Mike Pauley, Manny Costain and Cathy Hebert.

In the Atlantic Region we have successfully completed the following training sessions over the past year:

  • September 2017: Basic Steward Training in Moncton, NB with 20 participants.
  • October 2017:  Atlantic Steward Council with 113 participants.
  • November 2017: A NB focused Occupational Health and Safety Training in Moncton, NB with 15 participants.
  • February 2018: Basic Steward Training in Halifax, NS with 15 participants, 6 of whom were refreshers.
  • April 2018: Regional Training School at Oak Island, NS with 44 participants.

Since the 2017 ARC report the region has trained 29 new stewards. We currently have 221 stewards in the Atlantic Region.

The upcoming October 2018 Steward Council is an important event for the stewards in the region as it provides training, updates on current issues and provides stewards an opportunity to network with stewards from other provinces and departments/agencies. Last year’s Steward Council topics and guest speaker presentations (Mental Health and New Education Model) were well received as noted in the event evaluations. We are currently in the process of finalizing the 2018 Steward Council themes, training, speakers and hospitality events. It promises to be educational and fun event.

The Training Committee includes funding in the budget to fund Lunch and Learn sessions. Since last ARC, I have approved 19 Lunch and Learn requests. Topics covered included: PIPSC Structure; Bill C-27; History of International Women’s day; Violence in the Workplace; Service Plus; NB Pension; Understanding Phoenix; and Employee Wellness Support Plan. We encourage anyone wishing to host a Lunch and Learn session to contact a member of the Training Committee for more information.    

The success of the activities we have hosted over this past year would not be possible without the support of the Regional Office staff.  Catherine Pinks and Donna Davis, we thank you for the patience, dedication, and expertise that you provide, without you we wouldn’t have a roof over our heads, delicious food to consumer, transportation to our events, and most importantly our event educational packages. Paul, Barry and Max, thank you for your exemplary facilitation sessions; your creativity in delivery of content and unique facilitation styles keep us fully engaged allowing for transfer of knowledge that we can effectively use when back in the work environment. Thank you all for your support this past year.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the privilege to serve as the Training Committee chair this past year. Thank you for the support I was offered in this role; this next year promises to be exciting with the ongoing work to implement PIPSC new training model. The Regional Training Committee is committed to continuing to carry out its mandate over the next year.

Respectfully submitted,

Carolyn Hynes

Chair, Atlantic Regional Training Committee