Edmonton Human Rights Committee Minutes
10 December 2015
In attendance:
- James Somers
- Cathy McLellan
- Carissa David
- Dragana Ristivojevic
- Keegan Gibson
- Sadiq Huda
- Genevieve Babineau
- Dave Burchell
- Marija Babic
Regrets: Kim Hynes, Murray Pruden
1.Call to Order
-The meeting called to order at 1750
2.Approval of the Agenda:
-election
-Forecast event ideas
3.Review and approval of the previous meeting’s agenda
-The last minutes dated were adopted.
4.Reports: The executive from 2015 went through their final reports for the year.
5.Previous business: No final financial report to present. A reimbursement cheque was written to Marianne Hladun for funds unused at National Aboriginal Day.
6.New business:
- Election: conducted by Dave Burchell, RVP
Chair- James Somers was nominated by Carissa Davis and Seconded by Dave Burchell.
-Dragana Ristivojevic was nominated by James Somers and seconded by Carissa David.
Dragana did not let her name stand, James Somers is now the chair of the committee after 3 calls for nominations.
Vice-Chair- Dragana Ristivojevic was nominated by Cathy McLellan and seconded by Carissa David. Dave Burchell was nominated by Dragana Ristivojevic and seconded by Genevieve Babineau. After 3 calls for nominations, no one else was nominated, Dave and Dragana declined. We will come back to this position later.
Treasurer- Dave Burchell was nominated by James Somers and seconded by Cathy McLellan. Sadiq Huda was nominated by Carissa and seconded by Keegan Gibson. Kim Haynes (not present) had expressed interest in letting her name stand, but no paperwork was submitted. We asked the room for nominations for Kim and received none. After 3 calls for nominations, Dave declined. Sadiq is now treasurer.
Secretary- Cathy McLellan was nominated by James Somers and seconded by Carissa David. Keegan Gibson was nominated by Cathy McLellan and seconded by Sadiq Huda. After 3 calls for nominations, both stood for the position. Cathy was elected by secret ballot. A motion to destroy the ballots was brought forward by Dave Burchell and seconded by James Somers.
Vice-Chair- Keegan Gibson was nominated by James Somers and seconded by Dragana Ristivojevic. After 3 calls for nominations, Keegan is Vice-Chair.
It should be noted that a call was made to Marianne Hladun to verify if it was ok to carry-on the vote with all the members voting as the majority of the voters were from the UTE component. It was approved and the members at the meeting approved as well.
Oaths of office we carried out at 7:07 pm.
7.Actions: Members are expected to have 1-2 events in mind that they would like to see pursued in 2016. (Ex: Pride, National Aboriginal Day…)
-The focus of the group will once again be based on positivity and inclusivity.
-James Somers, Sadiq Huda and Keegan Gibson will be meeting at the bank to add their names as signing authorities and to remove Genevieve Babineau and Kim Haynes from the list.
8.Round Robin:
- Sadiq asked for the financials for 2015 and all forms required for 2016 to familiarize with the process. The group present offered help and advice for this.
- Cathy would like to work on National Aboriginal Day as she has experience in planning events for this day with Heather Poitras which was a partner for this event in 2015.
- Dave welcomed the new executive and said that it is great to get new ideas. We are a team and include everyone. Our events help people develop new skills and promote union work.
- Marija is excited that new people are participating and reminded the group to try to recruit more members to participate.
- Dragana loved being part of the committee in 2015. There was lots of fun and energy as well as good dynamics. She is looking forward to 2016.
- Genevieve had a great year and was kept pretty busy with the planning for National Aboriginal Day. She is proud to say that the events planned were successful and is looking forward to 2016.
- Keegan thanked the group for being nominated and elected. He is looking forward to engaging in activities.
- James feels that he is a voice for human rights now, not just LGBT. It takes long hours sometimes but is definitely worth it.
9.Next meeting date, time and location:
- The next meeting was set for January 12, 2016 @1730 @ PSAC Regional Office
10.Agenda for next meeting - TBA
11.Adjournment
- The meeting was adjourned at 1944