PRC Meeting Minutes (Apr 2013)

PRAIRIE REGION COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

April 19, 2013 Calgary, Alberta

Present:
Marianne Hladun, REVP Prairies
Shaun Brennand, Regina Area Council Representative
Dave Burchell, Persons with Disabilities Representative
Jerad Cooper, Northern Alberta Representative
Denni Ernst, Northern Saskatchewan Representative
David Fandrich, Southern Alberta Representative
Deborah Ferguson, Alternate REVP
Keith Gauthier, Young Workers Representative
Alex George, Aboriginal Representative
Tim Hogan, Prince Albert Area Council Representative
Timothy Hunt, GLBT Representative
Nancy Johnson, RWC Representative
Glen Johnston, North West Manitoba Representative
Chad Kemery, Separate Employer Representative
Jackie Nettleton, Saskatoon Area Council Representative
Susan Norman, Westman Area Council Representative
Petrina Runns, Directly Chartered Locals Representative
Matt Tijani, Winnipeg Area Council Representative
Clint Wirth, South East Manitoba Representative
Lisa Garnier, Regional Coordinator - Prairies
Jeffrey Vallis, Regional Political Communications Officer - Prairies
Alison Davis, Executive Assistant to REVP - Prairies

Regrets:
Imy Bhatty, Racially Visible Representative
Alec Goertzen, Calgary Area Council Representative 
David Pearson, Lethbridge Area Council Representative
Steve Van Opstal, Southern Saskatchewan Representative

Absent:
Darlene Lewis, Edmonton Area Council Representative
 

1. Call to Order: April 19, 2013
The meeting was called to order by Sister Marianne Hladun at 9:05 am. 

2. Adoption of Agenda
The agenda was adopted.

3. Hours of Session
The hours of session were adopted.
The Finance Committee will meet at 12:00 pm.

4. Opening Remarks
Sister Marianne Hladun welcomed and administered the oath of office to Brother Keith Gauthier.  She also welcomed the observers in attendance.  Meetings are open to observers and an invitation will be sent out to Locals in each meeting city.  The PRC cannot cover any expenses for observers.  It is important for members to see the work of the Council.

The monthly PRC update date calls have covered a lot of information since October but more participation would be appreciated.

The NBoD adopted a Mission Statement, which you have all received.  This was a result of some honest discussion and the NBoD continues to meet regularly.

We are still dealing with challenges with the current government; WFA is still ongoing and it looks like Bill 377 may be stalled in the Senate.  Our membership numbers have not dropped below the 170,000 mark but the average annual salary has gone down.  The PSAC budget is based on percentage dues so AEC is watching this closely.

5. Reports of Elected PRC Officers
There is a requirement in the PRC By-Laws for all Representatives to submit a report. The reports are attached as they are received. 

The reports submitted were circulated and approved by the Council and can be found on the Prairies website.

Additions to reports:

Marianne Hladun:

• Thanks to Srs. Nina Kiviluoma and Amanda-Rose Bourget for their work while on the Prairie Region Council.
• AEC met the Monday and Tuesday following the National Health & Safety Conference. 
• Will discuss further in Agenda Item 7(d) the issue of Member in Good Standing.  It is a complicated constitutional matter and the XO has been sent out to the PRC.
• The National Human Rights Conference will be held in November.  It is separate equity conferences that are hapenning at the same time, in the same place.  There are some logistical challenges but they are being addressed.  Members will apply to the conference and if you belong to more than one equity group, you will identify your priority and and the other groups with which you identify.  For the purpose of resolutions, you will only be allowed to go to one session of resolutions in the equity group that was priortized first.  You will be able to attend the workshop of any other the other self-identified equity group and attend the caucus.  The application and resolution deadline will likely be the beginning of June.  She will be asking the Equity Reps to help make the selections for the conference.
• There was a presentation on the childcare campaign in which PSAC is working with other unions; the purpose is to make childcare an election issue.  There will be a presentation at the Regional Women’s Conference on May 5th.
• The AEC is looking at the schedule for bargaining conferences and there will be further discussion.  One thing being proposed is not to have Regional Bargaining Conferences this time and to hold one National Conference and the representation would be expanded.  It has been sent back to look at how delegate entitlements would work.
• Electronic claim forms is still being worked on.  There was a budget of $125,000 attached to the resolution that passed at Convention, but there is nothing out there that meets our needs within that budget.  There is some software that runs at approximately $400,000 and could also issue T4’s.  Finance is looking at the potential savings in the long run and an analysis is being done.
• AEC has a travel budget and they are committed to not exceeding it. 
• There is still a backlog in Representation with 4000 grievances.
• Yesterday, the Saskatchewan Legislature unanimously passed Howard’s Law.  In Sask. it will now be mandatory for all public buildings to report the presence of of and condition of asbestos.  This is ground breaking legislation.

Shaun Brennand:

• Attended PRC Bylaws Committee meeting on April 18, 2013.

Glen Johnston:

• Attended PRC Bylaws Committee meeting on April 18, 2013.

Susan Norman:

• Attended PRC Bylaws Committee meeting on April 18, 2013.

6. Committee Reports

Communications Committee:
No report.

The committee has not been able to meet.  Sr. Hladun has asked Sr. Deborah Ferguson to join the committee.

Education Committee:
No report.

The 2013-2015 Education Plan has been finalized, sent out and is posted on the Prairies website.  Sr. Hladun thanks the committee for their work.  She looks forward to a comprehensive strategy and report at the next meeting.

Health & Safety Committee:

• Prairie Region Health & Safety Conference was held on November 17 & 18, 2012 in Edmonton.  There were 46 participants and over a 100 applicants.
• A copy of the final report and feedback from the evaluation forms has been distributed to the PRC. 
• Very successful workshops and the keynote speaker was well received.
• The feedback was very helpful and the committee took time to go through it to decide on some actions going forward.
• The committee has decided to use the e-newsletter format and use the H & S email network to get information to the members.
• The first letter that has been sent out is an introduction to the PRC H & S Committee.  Plan is to send one out every four to six weeks.
• At the National H & S conference last month, the committee was able to get some feedback from Prairies members during the caucus.

Finance Committee:

• There are no Financial Statements for this meeting.  In the latter part of 2012 we closed six accounts and since then we have had difficulty with our new accounting software.  We have been able to reconcile each month until January 2013.  In February, we received our allocation cheques and have been unable to allocate the funds to the projects that have been established.  We believe we have a set up issue that a couple of other regions are also experiencing.  We are working with Ottawa to rectify this problem but it will take some time.
• We will proceed with our 2012 audit and have contacted the Manitoba UTE Locals to see if they know someone who could do the audit.  No reponse as of yet.  We will also provide our 2012 books to Ottawa as is the practise every year.
• Once the issue is sorted out, an official PRC conference call will be called to provide the financials.
• Marianne will keep the Finance Committee posted on the National Forecast.  If the allocation to our region goes down then the Finance Committee will make recommendations to the PRC.
• The Finance Committee approved the committee/area council procedure document.
• At the October meeting it was decided if the information was not received then that committee/area council would receive no funds.
• Any committee/area council that has not submitted their package will be given April 26, 2013 at 4pm (MB) as a final deadline.
• A thorough review and analysis will be done of the packages and the Finance Committee will put forward recommendations, on an official conference call, in May.
• Looking for feedback on any improvements/changes to the document as we hope to put it in the Regulations.
• Overall the packages received were much more consistent.
• This year we will accept slight variations in the format as long as it is comparable.
• Would like to add to the checklist – current by-laws or advise that there have no changes and reference the year of the most current by-laws.
• If a committee/area council is not requesting funds, they still need to provide bank statements and financials (including a budget).
• We will look at recovering the funds from the Saskatoon HRC which has not been functioning for years.
• We need to determine which committees/area councils are active, inactive and closed.

Did not have time to discuss Federation of Labour Allocations.

By-Laws Committee:

• The minutes from the By-Laws Committee November 27, 2012 conference call were distributed.
• The committee has lost two members - Sr. Bourget and Sr. Kiviluoma. 
• This will not be the Convention By-Laws Committee.  This committee is tasked with reviewing the draft PRC Handbook that was previously circulated.
• The committee met on April 18,2013 and reviewed the PRC Handbook. The focus was the roles & responsibilities of PRC:

Geographic Reps:

• Were identified for deletion at the last Convention and this did not happen.
• The committee was unable to come with anything new that six geographic reps could do.
• The committee would like to have a discussion with all 6 Geo reps to get feedback on what they see their role as and what they need to be doing.
• Possibly reducing the number of Geo reps from 6 to 3, one per province.
• If that were the case when going into caucus for the election, the representation would be for a member who lives or works outside an area covered by an Area Council.
• At least once in their mandate to go out and visit the areas under their purview, which would be subject to finance.
• Maintaining dialogue with other geo reps to exchange ideas.
• The By-Laws Committee has been advised that there may be a document coming from the AEC that could change the viability geo reps.  It has something to with Area Councils and their role and mandate.  The By-Laws Committee would like a copy of that document and see the interpretation.  Marianne will get a copy of the XO that was issued years ago by Sister Nycole Turmel.

Womens Rep:

• The committee was not able to identify any additions to this role.
• The committee would like to have a discussion with the Women’s Rep to get feedback.

Equity Reps:

• The Reps would need to determine which Rep would collect minutes from which HRC.    

• The committee would like to have a discussion to discuss this further before it is added in.        

Area Council Reps:

• The role of the Area Council Reps is fairly well defined.
   

There were some commmon things that the Committee would like implemented for all Reps: holding conference calls for the specific groups (possibly twice a year) but need costing.  Reps would collect minutes for their group and send to RO’s to be posted, attending of Area Councils in their area.

The By-laws Committee had a lot of good discussion and will continue to work on the handbook.  They would like to consult each Rep group, in the next two months, as they should have input to defining their roles.  A written report will follow for the next PRC meeting.  If it is ready prior to the meeting then it will be sent out for feedback.  The committee will assume concurrence if they receive no response.

7. Agenda Items

           (a) Young Workers Committee - submitted by Sr. Marianne Hladun

At the PSAC Convention it was formalized that Young Workers Committees can be established.  It will be the same process as the formation of any committee.  It will require a letter from three Components/DCL’s to the REVP who would bring it to the AEC for approval.  When it is approved, the committee would receive a $500.00 start up cheque.  There is a line item in the National budget for Young Workers Committees.

There are currently no requests to establish a committee but there have queries to the REVP as to how to establish one.  Marianne will have further discussions with Br. Keith Gauthier as he is the PRC Young Workers Rep.  There needs to be a strong network before establishing these committees as to ensure their viability and success.  The mandate needs to be clear.  Any information that we have, from Sr. Bourget, has been sent to Br. Keith Gauthier.

Marianne has the National Youth portfolio.  There is $100,000/yr allocated to youth initiatives.  Every region has been allocated $12,000 and a plan must be submitted prior to receiving the funds. 

           (b) Logo - submitted by Br. Jeffrey Vallis

The communications committee is looking to update the Prairies logo which would be used for regional activities.  It was put out to members in the region for submissions and none were received.  The plan had been to take the members submissions and try and incorporate them into the design.  The consensus of the committee had always been to use an agency to get a slick, professional look because a logo and brand is a crucial part of any organization.  They looked a few agencies and went with Guppy Design based on their other branding work.

A package of the initial concepts has been distributed.  The Communications Committee would like to gather feedback from the Council.  The PRC provided feedback which will be brought back to the design agency.

             (c) Update on Regional Leadership Meetings - submitted by Sr. Marianne Hladun
                              Lobbying – submitted by Sr.Susan Norman

The dates changed a few times but the final dates are posted on the website. The Council will be covered under the PRC budget.  Expense claims should be sent to Alison. 

We are in the fight of our lives with the possible RAND and we need to mobilize now.  Every Local has one funded spot and if a Local covers a couple of RO cities, they must choose one location.  Locals can send additional people, at their own cost, as long as there is space.  National officers are invited to attend any or all as they will be funded by their Component.

The meetings will run 10 am – 3 pm.  The morning will be information about the RAND campaign.  The afternoon will be a train the trainer for Locals on how to have one to one discussions with their members.  We need to know every one of our members and have current contact information.

Sister Susan Norman stresses the importance of visiting visit our MP’s now, if we wait it can be too late.

Marianne is registered as a lobbyist but, as volunteers, you can meet with your MP’s.  Lobbying can be a scary prospect but after a bit of training members feel a lot more comfortable.

We don’t know what the legislation will look like yet but we need to be proactive.

            (d) Member in Good Standing XO - submitted by Sr. Marianne Hladun

Within the Constitution, the process to this point has been if you are on LWOP, Parental Leave, Disability or been laid off; you can make a request to the National President to remain a Member in Good Standing.  When you do that, you are afforded the right to participate in a Committee or a Local. However, in Sections f) & g) but there is a reference to the Regulations in these sections.  Regulation 5 refers to holding elected positions and the attendance of Convention and National Conferences.

This has precipitated a huge discussion at the AEC.  Right now, if members are making this written request, they need to indicate that they wish to hold a position. 

The proposal going to the NBoD, in June, is that for positions that are Component related should go to the Component to make the decision.  Requests that are for Committees/Area Councils would go the the AEC.  We don’t have consensus as of yet but it will be discussed further.  It’s a huge issue right now as we never anticipated WFA to this degree. 

            (e) Communication Strategy - submitted by Sr. Marianne Hladun

Did not have time to discuss.  Referred to the Communications Committee to review and present to PRC on a future call or the Sept. PRC meeting.

             (f) Regional Strategy for Political Action/Mobilization - submitted by Sr. Marianne Hladun

This will be discussed at the joint meeting with the National Officers

             (g) Definition of an Active Committee - submitted by Sr. Marianne Hladun

To have a delegate at Convention there is a requirement to hold 4 meetings per year.  Every committee/area council has a PRC rep and a staff rep assigned to it.  Each year, Ottawa asks REVP’s to identify which committees/area councils are active and funds are allocated based on that information.

Marianne suggests the following:
1) When the packages are received, we identify any red flags.  PRC reps working with committees/area councils should bring the info forward to the REVP.
2) It would be brought forward to the PRC to discuss and decide the status of the committee/area council.  Inactive would not mean it is gone but rather no additional funds would be provided until the required info is received.
3) PRC reps and staff reps would work with the inactive committee/area council o rebuild and determine a plan of action.  Do they need education?4) If the committee/area council is unable to rebuild their base, with that assistance, it would be closed.  This determination would be made at the PRC level.

Criteria needs to be established to determine the definition of an active committee/area council. 

Br. Glen wonders if it is possible to offer an orientation to new committee members or after the election of a new executive.  Should there be additions to the By-Laws regarding committees/area councils?

Br. Timothy suggests that after 9 months of no meetings, it would become inactive.  After a year and a half it would be closed and the money would go into a GIC.  After 3 years, the money would go back into general funds.

There will need to be futher discussion on the definition of active versus inactive.

8. Roundtable Discussion

• Updated Federation of Labour guidelines will be sent out to the PRC.
• Sr. Lisa Garnier will ask administrative staff to send a confirmation reply when they receive minutes to be posted.
• Timothy has received his third request to complete a Leadership Meeting survey.  Marianne will look into it.
• Susan would like to do Local visits in Westman area.  This is important as we do not currently have the contacts. 
• Marianne would like to flag the Council Members line item to see how other regions divide it between their members.  It may mean a change for the Convention budget.
• Marianne re-commits to keeping the Council informed of her travel within the region.  It will be a standing item on the PRC update calls.
• Timothy advised that he raised $3000.00 for the FairyTales Film Festival.
• Marianne would like to remind committees that they are not allowed to fundraise for committee operations or to have petty cash.
• Denni asks if a member is acting in another union how does that work?  Marianne advises that if you are remaining in the workplace and acting in another union; there two things that need to happen: 1) you would have to prepay your union dues with PSAC and 2) you cannot sign a union card with the other union.  Dues would be paid to both unions.
• Dave Burchell and David Fandrich will be at Labour College the first two weeks of May.  They will not be on the May PRC call.
• The next PRC meeting will be in Winnipeg possibly in September. The two meetings after will be held in Saskatoon.
• There will be no PRC monthly update calls in July and August.
• Each of the PRC meetings costs approximately $30,000/yr.  There was only one agenda submitted other than Marianne’s.  Currently, the By-Laws state two face to face meetings per year.  Perhaps it should be changed to one and the rest could be done via conference calls or skype.  This needs to be discussed, we may not have the same money for the next budget.

Meeting adjourned at 5:10 pm.

PRAIRIE REGION COUNCIL and PRAIRIES NATIONAL OFFICERS
MEETING MINUTES

April 20, 2013 Calgary, Alberta

Present:
Marianne Hladun, REVP Prairies
Shaun Brennand, Regina Area Council Representative
Dave Burchell, Persons with Disabilities Representative
Jerad Cooper, Northern Alberta Representative
Denni Ernst, Northern Saskatchewan Representative
David Fandrich, Southern Alberta Representative
Deborah Ferguson, Alternate REVP
Keith Gauthier, Young Workers Representative
Alex George, Aboriginal Representative
Tim Hogan, Prince Albert Area Council Representative
Timothy Hunt, GLBT Representative
Nancy Johnson, RWC Representative
Glen Johnston, North West Manitoba Representative
Chad Kemery, Separate Employer Representative
Jackie Nettleton, Saskatoon Area Council Representative
Susan Norman, Westman Area Council Representative
Petrina Runns, Directly Chartered Locals Representative
Matt Tijani, Winnipeg Area Council Representative
Clint Wirth, South East Manitoba Representative
Elaine Alt, RVP AB - NHU
Martine Babcook, RVP Western - GSU
Jackie Chaput, RVP MB - NHU
Milton Dyck, RVP S. SK - AGR
Teresa Eschuk, RVP Prairies - UCTE
Gary Esslinger, RVP Prairies - UTE
Ken Friesen, RVP MB CSC - USGE
Michele Jackson, RVP S. AB - AGR
Martin Kaminski, RVP MB - UNE
Kevin King, RVP AB/NWT/NU - UNE
Barb Kristjansson, RVP MB/NW ON/NU - AGR
Brea Lewis, Branch President SK - CIU
Meraiah Morison, 4th NEVP - AGR
David Neufeld, RVP PBC (West) - USGE
Jackie Oswald, RVP MB/SK RCMP/Justice/PPSC - USGE
Steve Pellerin-Fowlie, Branch President AB - CIU
Lorne Roslinski, RVP Rocky Mountains - UTE
Debbie Stangrecki, RVP AB/NWT RCMP/Justice/PPSC - USGE
Stan Stapleton, RVP AB CSC - USGE
Barry Stolar, RVP SK CSC - USGE
Mike Vanson, RVP N. AB/NWT - AGR
Randy Walker, RVP MB/SK - UNDE
Don Wilkie, RVP Western - GSU
Lisa Garnier, Regional Coordinator - Prairies
Jeffrey Vallis, Regional Political Communications Officer - Prairies
Alison Davis, Executive Assistant to REVP - Prairies

Regrets:
Imy Bhatty, Racially Visible Representative
Alec Goertzen, Calgary Area Council Representative
David Pearson, Lethbridge Area Council Representative
Steve Van Opstal, Southern Saskatchewan Representative
Elena Beynon, RVP N. SK - AGR
Shimen Fayad, RVP SK - NHU
Mark Gilchrist, RVP Prairie/Northern - UEW
Bonnie Heidt, NVP Western Region - UVAE
Noreen Klassen, NVP SK - CEIU
Jeff Lovegrove, Branch President MB - CIU
Sandy MacDonald, NVP NWT/AB/NU - CEIU
Pat Mason, NVP Deer Lodge Centre - UVAE
Omar Murray, RVP SK - UNE
June Winger, RVP AB/North - UNDE

Absent:
Darlene Lewis, Edmonton Area Council Representative

 
1. Call to Order: April 19, 2013
The meeting was called to order by Sister Marianne Hladun at 8:30 am. 

2. PSAC Statement on Harassment & PSAC Scent Free Policy
Sr. Nancy Johnson and Br. Kevin King were identified as the harassment coordinators.

3. Adoption of Agenda
The agenda was adopted.

4. Hours of Session
The hours of session were adopted.

5. Opening Remarks
Sister Marianne Hladun welcomed the National Officers. 

We have faced some interesting challenges in the past year and we need to be prepared for the upcoming challenges.  The AEC and NBoD are working together and having a lot more discussion.  Sister Robyn is making sure that everyone has an opportunity to speak and we are working together like never before.  We know our priority is to reconnect with our members.  We are possibly going to face some extraordinary legal challenges with the current government, and we need to be prepared internally.

We also have the distinction of the Regional Council, the regional structure and the Component structure.  We know that PRC Reps can’t just go into workplaces because it is the Component’s responsibility and we respect those lines.  She is looking to how resources can be targeted and working together leading up to 2015.  We are non-partisan but we need a government that understands the value of the public service.

At the national level, we are being very cognisant of the delegate’s wishes at Convention regarding finances.  We are now doing forecasts on the budget.  Our budget is based on the average annual salary and it is dropping.  We are maintaining our membership numbers but because of the drop in annual salary, we are forecasting a revenue shortfall.

We recognize that activitists are leaving and that some Locals are struggling and need training and support. 

The NBoD is still meeting meeting three times a year but are also having conference calls sometimes monthly.

6. Agenda Items

          (a) Convention Committees - submitted by Sr. Marianne Hladun

Would like feedback on how to structure Convention committees as she recognizes that there have been concerns in the past.  For the past few Conventions, the committees have been set up by provinces. PRC reps were assigned to a committee based on the province they were from and any Components that were not represented were offered a seat in one of the provinces.  Members of the committees went to their nearest regional office and for provinces were there were two offices had a conference call.  This saves a lot of money on travel costs.  We can’t meet just prior to Convention because we would be in violation of the Prairies By-Laws.

Traditionally, all the money we receive from Ottawa goes to convention subsidies and there are no additional funds to cover Convention Resolution Committee meetings.  A copy of the current PRC budget was provided.

There has been concern that PRC members are not elected to represent their Component.

We have identified that there needs to be more training for committees especially the Chair.

Gary E. believes Components need a voice and we need people at the table that know what they are doing in respect to resolutions.

David F. says that committees can’t rule resolutions out of order, that falls to the REVP.  If the Component has a concern perhaps they can touch base with their members on the PRC directly.  Our funds should be going to subsidies to get members to Convention.

Kevin K. says there are two Components that fully fund their delegates and rest have different models. The previous committees were stymied because they received poorly written resolutions.

Brea L. says that resolutions need to be done for the region and not the Component.  We need a strong Prairies voice at Triennial.  There are improvements to be made to structure within the region.

Glen J. says he is not hearing any solutions and the process should stay the same.  If Components have issues, they need to provide options.

Clint W. says that we are good at switching hats depending on the situation. 

Marianne has made a list of the following commitments:

• provide more info on resolutions
• develop more defined guidelines to assist in building resolutions including training in every RO
• look at the possibility of webinars
• a very specific orientation for committees beforehand

       (b) Update on Leadership Meetings/RAND Campaign - submitted by Sr. Marianne Hladun

The dates changed a few times but they have been finalized and are up on the website.  The one day meeetings will be held from 10 am - 3 pm.  There will be information on C-377, some history on the RAND formula and how to have one on one conversation with members.  One per Local will be funded.  There are layers to this campaign including a telephone town hall.

Gary E. says there is still concern about desk drops.  He would like to see something official on it. 

There is recognition that what works for one Local may not work for another.

       (c) Communications Strategy (PRC and Components) - submitted by Sr. Marianne Hladun

This item was not discussed due to time constraints.  The PRC will work on it and send to the National Officers for input.

7. Strategy Discussion 

            (a) What are the priorities for Components for the next 6 months?

            (b) What are the priorities for the PRC for the next 6 months?

            (c) What actions can we take to address priorities?

The National Officers and Prairie Region Council discussed the above questions and identified the following:

Priorities:

• Collecting Bargaining
• Communication
• Education
• Mobilization – sick leave would be a good issue and need history of sick leave to provide to members.

REVP Actions:

• Look at costing of TV/newsprint/radio ads in all 5 major markets.
• Prepare information on how the budget works ex. Political Action funds.
• Look at creating a video sidebar on the Prairies website or the Facebook page.
• Look into how focus groups work. 
• Currently looking at creating some videos.

PRC Education Committee:

• Convene a conference call with Sr. Judy Shannon to look at the TUB course.
• Look into how AF’s can assist – possibly by delivering some training.
• Look into the possibility of lobby training sessions.
• Look into the possibility of creating a DVD, which highlights PSAC successes, which could be included in the TUB package.

PRC Health & Safety Committee:

• Look at what more can be done regarding mental health.
• Have a discussion with the Education Commmittee to look at finding a way of highlighting the gains of H & S through unions.

Components:

• Will try and send info on cuts and loss of services so information is as current as possible.
• Sign up for the e-newsletter.
• REVP’s office will send info to National Officers at the same time as the PRC.
• Keep each other up to date on campaigns.
• Share lobbying information.  The REVP office also has lobby forms that can be used.
• Will advise Alison if they would like the daily media scan.
• Look at building relationships with the Federations of Labour and consider affiliating with District Labour Councils.
• Send articles that they would like to see a PSAC response to Jeffrey.

Orders of the Day

9:30 a.m.  Veronique Allard – Prairies Regional Organizer provided an overview of organizing program in the Prairie Region.
10:30 a.m. Carol Casey – Joint Learning Program, provided an overview of the program.

Meeting adjourned at 4:10 pm.