Saskatoon Regional Women's Committee
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
PSAC Regional Office Saskatoon
Present: Nicole Wurm (Chair, AGR), Lois (UTE) Elena Beynon (AGR), Audrey Berlovan (UNE), Nancy Johnson (UTE) (PSAC term staff)
Welcome
Nicole opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. While Nancy is working as a term in the PSAC office, Nicole has agreed to assume the role of committee Chairperson.
Chairperson's and Treasurer's reports &Year End Financial Reporting
Nicole presented the Chairperson's report and reviewed activities undertaken last year. Nancy presented the 2015 financial report that she had to complete as our former Secretary-Treasurer (Jacque Maurice) left without completing the books. She is no longer part of the RWC as she has accepted a term admin position in Thunder Bay. It was audited and submitted to the Prairie Region office along with the proposed budget for 2016 by the March 15th deadline. Nancy provided copies of the financial report and proposed budget. The committee members were provided with rall submitted reports and then reviewed them. The committee is satisfied with the completed reports and thanked Nancy for completing them. She stated that the PRC finance committee will review in April and allocations along with a summary will be provided to the committee via REVP’s office. All the RWC’s books and records are in the Admin drawer for the new treasurer.
Of note, our support of the Summer Snack program was a success and we never have any trouble finding volunteers from the membership. In 2015, the PSAC sponsored a hot dog day and it was suggested that we organize a joint RWC/Area Council volunteer day for the upcoming year and increase our contribution this year as the program now operates 7 days a week and has increased the number of parks to 8.
2016 Proposed Budget and Activities
Our bank balance as of December 31, 2015 was $494.55. The RWC is requesting a total of $3805.45 from the Prairie Region to cover activities in 2016. This includes donations to Feminists for Change, Mothers' Centre Women's Group and Take Back the Night as well as participating in activities to support Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Summer Snack Program, National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, International Women's Day, PSAC Dragon boat team, sponsoring a bus to attend May 8th MMIW activities in Regina, Local outreach to increase the profile of the RWC and sponsoring a Women in Leadership event.
The current balance is $38.45, there is not enough funds in the account to pay for the meeting dinner expense but the committee approved the expenditure and to be paid when additional funding received. Nancy paid the bill with her credit card and advised she can wait to be paid.
Lois has kindly agreed to be the new Secretary-Treasurer.
Upcoming Conferences
The next regional Women's Conference will be held June 10-12, 2016 in Winnipeg. Registration is now open and information can be found on the PSAC Prairies website. Registration closes on Friday, April 8th and resolutions must be submitted by Sunday, May 8, 2016. All RWC members were encouraged to apply online but they must also have their Local president certify them to be a member in good standing. The RWC will look into hosting a resolutions writing course. As RWC Chair, Nicole will be part of the steering committee for the Women's Conference.
Other upcoming conferences include the Aboriginal conference in April in Winnipeg, Visible Minority in the fall in Calgary, the National Human Rights Conference in March 2017 in Toronto as well as the next Prairies Region Conference April 21-23, 2017 in Winnipeg.
Roundtable
a) 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote in Saskatchewan
It was suggested that the RWC do something to mark this milestone. One suggestion was to have bookmarks made and to be given away at a women’s event. Nancy will look into the costs of having this done by the University of Saskatchewan Student Union printing services.
The RWC will also be having a movie night on Friday, April 15th at 5:45pm at the regional office and screen the movie Suffragettes. Nancy will send out a poster to all Locals inviting them to attend.
b) Domestic Violence at Work Training
This is a course that trains people to recognize the signs of domestic violence in the workplace and suggest resources where professional help can be obtained. A train-the trainer course will be held in Regina May 2016 following the Paths (Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of Saskatchewan) at a cost of $500. Nancy will be attending in her role as Chair of the Prairie Lily Foundation. She will enquire about the possibility of offering the training in Saskatoon as members of the RWC may be interested in attending such a course.
Next Meeting
To be determined