Minutes of the Annual General Meeting June 6, 2018
410 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal 2:00-3:00 p.m.
1. Call to Order and Welcome
The President, Ginette Lamontagne, called the Annual General Meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. She welcomed all the members and introduced the Head Table: Henry Leighton (Vice-President, External), Kate Maguire (Vice-President, Internal), Bob Stanley (Treasurer) and Recording Secretary Susan Button.
2. Approval of the Agenda
Moved by Linda Montreuil, and seconded by Fran Groen, that the Agenda for the meeting be accepted. Carried unanimously.
3. Approval of the Minutes of Annual General Meeting of June 1, 2017
The Minutes of the meeting of June 1, 2017 had been distributed to the members. The President asked if there were any additions or amendments. Moved by Allan Oliver, seconded by David Brown, that the Minutes be approved as presented. Carried unanimously.
4. Report of the President
The President, Ginette Lamontagne, reported that she was very pleased to say that MURA was thriving and that membership had grown to 400.
a. Statement of Principles:
The President was proud to announce that a Statement of Principles between McGill University and MURA had been signed on May 14, 2018. This was a significant achievement as it represented the University’s formal recognition of MURA as an association that links retirees from all sectors of the University and collaboration between MURA and the University will be greatly facilitated. MURA and its members are now officially part of the McGill University Community. The President stressed the importance of collaborations across the McGill community and the positive impact that would have in the future.
b. Fostering Collaborations:
As MURA has entered into partnership agreements with MUNACA, MUNASA, MAUT, and SEU Local 800-Trades, members of these organizations may become full members of MURA without paying the annual membership fee. Also, MURA has been talking with Diana Dutton, Associate Vice-Principal, Human Resources, regarding recruitment and placing a MURA form in all retiree information packages. Earlier this year Gregg Blachford and Joan Wolforth assisted at several pre-retirement workshops for McGill staff. The President extended appreciation to Board member Kathy Mayhew, who serves as MURA’s representative on the Staff Benefits Advisory Committee and provides a voice in the discussions regarding optimum coverage for active employees and retirees.
c. McGill Community for Lifelong Learning Programs (MCLL):
MURA has also undertaken to advertise MCLL as it is primarily for people of retirement age who want to continue learning for the joy of it and share their knowledge and experience with others.
d. College and University Retiree Associations of Canada (CURAC):
MURA also represents McGill retirees as a designated member of CURAC, which links over forty member organizations. CURAC speaks publicly on issues of concern for the over fifteen thousand individual of college and university retirees across Canada. Ginette Lamontagne, Kate Maguire and Bev Tallant attended the 2018 Conference held at Dalhousie University in Halifax. The President was delighted to announce that MURA will host the CURAC annual conference during McGill’s Bicentennial in 2021. We can expect between 50-75 members from across Canada to attend and an organizing committee will be formed.
e. New Premises:
The President was very pleased to report that MURA now has a permanent office located in a beautiful Victorian building at 515-517 Pine Avenue. She extended her appreciation to Allan Oliver for his help in organizing this new office space.
5. Report of the Vice-President, Internal
The Vice-President (Internal), Kate Maguire, reported that the past year had been very successful with a number of well-attended events and she extended her sincere appreciation to all the members who supported these events and activities.
A new event - the Holiday Season Luncheon in December 2017, held at the École des métiers de la restauration et du tourisme de Montréal – was a resounding success and one will be scheduled again this year. The Museum Lunch & Tour of the Queens of Egypt exhibit at the Pointe-à- Callière Museum in Old Montreal was well attended. Unfortunately, one event – the tour to Charlevoix and Quebec City organized by the Université de Montréal’s retiree association- had to be cancelled.
The Vice-President encouraged all MURA members to take part in the events and activities: Fall Luncheon/Lecture, Bi-weekly Bridge at the Faculty Club, the Cycling Group, the Book Club, the Restaurant Group, and also to contact her with any suggestions for other special interest groups or venues. She also asked members to contact Joan Wolforth if they would like to write for the Newsletter or had any suggestions.
6. Changes to Constitution and By-Laws
Vice-President (External), Henry Leighton reviewed the proposed changes to the Constitution.
Current Article 3: Membership. There are at the moment two classes of membership: Regular Member – open to all McGill University retirees - and Associate Member – any person who is the spouse or partner of a regular member is eligible to become an Associate (non-voting) member. It is proposed to create a new category of Affiliate Member as follows:
Proposed under Article 3 to add:
Paragraph 3. Affiliate Member. Retired employees of other universities, retired employees of McGill University affiliated institutions, organizations, and entities, and employees of McGill University nearing retirement may apply for Affiliate Membership in the Association. Acceptance will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Executive Committee.
Bev Tallant moved, and Lawrence Mysak seconded, the motion that this additional category be established.
After some discussion among the members of this motion, it was agreed to modify the last sentence so that: Acceptance will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Board.
Proposed: Also, Paragraph 3 to be renumbered Paragraph 4. The Vice-President then reviewed the change to the By-Laws
Current By-Law 8.
Membership in the Association is contingent either on payment of a membership fee, the exact amount to be determined and approved each year for the succeeding year at the Annual General Meeting, or on a membership fee waiver. Fee waivers may be provided to former members of employee groups that have negotiated fee waiver agreements with MURA. Membership fees will be payable annually be September 1st.
Proposed : By-Law
Regular Membership in the Association is contingent either on payment of a membership fee, the exact amount to be determined and approved each year for the succeeding year at the Annual General Meeting, or on a membership fee waiver. Fee waivers may be provided to former members of employee groups that have negotiated fee waiver agreements with MURA. Membership fees will be payable annually be September 1st.
Associate Members do not pay fees.
Affiliate Members pay the Regular Member fee.
After further discussion, it was then proposed that as these two modifications were so intertwined that they be considered together. James Coulton proposed this as a friendly amendment and the motion passed unanimously.
7. Financial Review
The Annual Financial Report for the year ended March 31, 2018 (Appendix I) prepared by Pierre Gagnon of Services Administratifs et Comptables D.G. Inc. had been distributed to the members and the Treasurer, Bob Stanley, reported that he was confident that the Association was on a sound financial footing with revenues of $16,141 compared to $12,213 last year. He also clarified that the large increase in the office expenses was a result of the set-up required for the new office space at 515 Pine Avenue.
Judy Pharo moved, and Gordon Burr seconded, the motion that the Annual Financial Report be accepted and the motion was passed unanimously.
8. Resolution on the Annual Membership Fee 2018-2019
The Treasurer, Bob Stanley, put forward the motion that: The annual membership fee for individual memberships in MURA for the year beginning September 1, 2018 shall be Twenty Five Dollars ($25.00). Seconded by Carol Cummings-Speirs and passed unanimously.
9. Presentation of the Budget for 2017-2018
The Treasurer, Bob Stanley, presented the Budget for April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019 which had been distributed to the membership (Appendix II) and reported that he felt that MURA was in a positive and strong position due to the agreements signed with the staff organizations. These agreements will simplify recruitment and membership renewals and will help to put MURA on a solid financial footing.
A motion was proposed by Ron Guttmann, and seconded by Joan Hagerman, to adopt the budget dated April 19, 2018 and the motion passed unanimously.
10. Nominating Committee Report
The President reported that a nominating committee, composed of Chair Linda Jacobs Starkey, Chuck Adler and Linda Montreuil, was struck to oversee the election of new members to the Board as Steven Blagrave and Henry Leighton were retiring.
A search had been made and David Kalant and Katherine Gray-Donald (as Vice-President, External) were asked to serve and responded positively. She proposed that the two members be acclaimed by the Assembly.
The 2018-19 Board members are the following- elected by acclamation.
Executive
Ginette Lamontagne, President
Kate Maguire, Vice-President (Internal)
Katherine Gray-Donald, Vice-President (External) Bob Stanley, Treasurer
Board
James Coulton
David Kalant
Maria Keenan
Kathy Mayhew
Allan Oliver
Eduardo Pereira
Judy Pharo
Bev Tallant
11. Closing Remarks
The President extended her sincere appreciation, and that of all the members, to the Board members for all their time and efforts on behalf of MURA. Steven Blagrave was not in attendance. Ms. Lamontagne presented Henry Leighton with a gift as a token of appreciation for his support and encouragement while Vice-President, External.
12. Adjournment
There being no further business, Carol Cummings-Speirs moved, and Lydia Martone seconded, that the meeting be adjourned. Carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 3:02 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Susan Button
Recording Secretary
