Annual Report 2022

The Board of the McGill University Retiree Association (MURA) is pleased to submit this annual report to the members of our association. The report covers the period since the last AGM from June 2021 to June 2022.

1. Nominating Committee Report

As per the MURA bylaws, a Nominating Committee was formed in Fall 2021 to provide a list of suggested nominees for one vacancy on the MURA Board.

The Nominating Committee, that consisted of Kathy Mayhew (Chair), Ron Critchley and Richard London nominated Rosemary Cooke for the Vice-President (Internal) position that will be vacated by Kate Maguire on June 1, 2022. As per the By-Law Amendment vote on December 11, 2021, Bob Stanley’s position of Treasurer was extended to 2025. As there were no new nominations, we are pleased to welcome Rosemary Cooke as VP Internal. The new Board will be ratified at the upcoming Annual General Meeting on June 1st, 2022.

2022-23 Executive and Board of Directors

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2. Liaison with Employee Associations

Outreach

Partnership agreements between MURA and four major employee associations/unions: SEU Trades – Downtown, MAUT, MUNACA, MUNASA, ensure financial contributions to provide MURA with stable, ongoing revenues in exchange for free MURA membership for all future eligible retirees. Through its monthly Communiqués, annual Newsletter and maintenance of an up-to-date Website, MURA keeps the associations/unions’ Executive/Boards informed, connected, and aware of the benefits of MURA membership in retirement. With its Annual Report, MURA engages with these employee groups to apprise them of its achievements and the broad range of Events and Activities, Information Sessions, Speaker Presentations, Conferences, etc. that their retirees enjoy. By maintaining continuous contact with these groups, a seamless transition from active employment to active participation in MURA in retirement is facilitated.

Pre-Retirement Sessions

The key to successful retirement is early preparation. Every three years or so, and in collaboration with MAUT, MUNASA, MUNACA and SEU – Trades (Downtown), Pre-Retirement Sessions (PRS) are offered to active McGill employees who are near retirement or to those who want to plan-ahead. A session was held for MUNACA on March 22, 2022, and arrangements are being made for MUNASA, MAUT, and SEU for 2023.

3. Events

The extended pandemic failed to halt what MURA offers to its members. Thanks to platforms like Zoom, many gatherings, lectures, and entertainment continued as virtual events. Below is a list of events enjoyed by our members. Please use this link to view information about upcoming and past events on our website.

A. Information Sessions

• Two Factor Authorization (2FA) Training Session
• Travel Insurance Information Session
• McGill Library Information Workshop

B. Social Events

Happy Hours

Virtual happy hours nicknamed Quarantinis were held on a regular basis in the fall and winter. A” Getting to Know You” virtual happy hour was held on November 16^th, 2021. MURA hosts an annual new member reception in the fall, and we did not want to wait any longer to get acquainted with people who have joined since March 2020.

Fall Walking Tours
September 16 & October 7 & 8, 2021

Inspired by Montréal’s “River to Mountain Walkway,” MURA offered provided its members the opportunity to explore and learn more about their hometown with a guided tour from the McGill campus to Old Montreal

Imagine Monet Immersive Exhibit
December 15 & 16, 2021  

In lieu of the annual holiday luncheon, fifty MURA members enjoyed being immersed in Claude Monet’s magnificent paintings at the Arsenal Contemporary Art.

Virtual Gourmet Cooking Class
March 16, 2022 

Twenty members had a great time cooking along with master chef Erwann of the Ateliers & Saveurs Culinary School.

Trivia Nights

Professor David Harpp had organized Trivia Nights at the Faculty Club as a Centraide fundraiser for many years. Since the pandemic, Trivia Nights moved online via Zoom. The MURA team, that joined in August 2021, and appropriately called the MURA Freebirds, has thoroughly enjoyed these fun-packed evenings where we always learn something new. We attended sessions on October 2021, January, March and April, 2022, and we took third place at our last game! We invite members to create additional teams and partake in this fun activity. Hopefully these fun nights will return to the Faculty Club in the fall. Send us an email if you wish to join: mura-arum.association [at] mcgill.ca

C. Cultural Events

10th Anniversary of Salle Bourgie Virtual Concert
October 3 – 17, 2021 

The concert featured OSM musicians, under the direction of their new conductor Rafael Payare, as well as Les Violons du Roy and their new conductor Jonathan Cohen.

Concert presenting the MURA-MSS Social Club
L'Église St-Andrew & St-Paul Church December 6, 2021

In celebration of the return of public concerts, in cooperation with the McGill University Retiree Association (MURA), the ensemble presented the MURA and Medical Students Society (MSS) Social Club, a group fostering social and professional interactions between retired medical as well as other professionals and medical students at McGill University. The audience enjoyed a special performance by I Medici di McGill ("Physicians of McGill") Orchestra, under the baton of Guest Conductor Maestro Adam Johnson with the inspiring Russell Iceberg as soloist.

D. Lectures

Virtual Fall Lecture: Managing your Digital Assets: Yesterday, today & tomorrow
Thursday, October 28, 2021

Maître Nancy Cleman, Advocatus Emeritus, Partner, Lapointe Rosenstein Marchand Melançon presented a very enlightening session on how to manage and deal with digital assets such as email, social media, and related matters.

Nutritional Issues in Older Adults 
March 29, 2022

Dr. José A. Morais, MD, FRCPC, CSPQ, McGill medical researcher and Director of the Division of Geriatric Medicine, McGill University presented this virtual lecture hosted jointly by the McGill Community for Lifelong Learning (MCLL) and the McGill University Retiree Association (MURA). It was viewed by 119 participants.

4. Activities

Except for the Cycling and Golf groups, MURA activities remained online. MURA was pleased to offer Pickleball that began in March 2022. Below is a list of ongoing activities. Please use this link for complete information about MURA activities.

• Book Clubs
  • Downtown Book Club
  • Cercle de lecture (en français)
  • West Island Book Club
• Cycling Group
• Golf Group
• Pickleball
• Restaurant Group (will hopefully resume in the fall)

5. Communications

MURA communicates with its members in a variety of ways, through its website, its monthly Communiqués, its Facebook page and its annual Newsletter.

Website: The new MURA website was launched on March 17, 2022. It is now part of the McGill Website Management System (WMS). Kate Maguire and David Brown took the required training that will enable them to edit this site. Kate, assisted by David Brown, maintains this up-to-date bilingual website, writing text and finding creative designs while Ginette Lamontagne edits the English text and translates it into French. Events, activities, and news are featured as they occur. Once completed, a brief report is given on the highlights of the events and the number of participants. Link to the website

Communiqués: Upcoming events, activities, information sessions and other news from MURA appear in the regular Communiqués. Also included in the Communiqués are cultural, educational, and informative announcements from other sources that may be of interest to our members. These bulletins are sent to all members as well as to the leadership of our partner associations and unions, and McGill’s senior administration. Link to the current MURA’s Communiqué.

Facebook: 99 members are subscribed to MURA’s Facebook group. It is a forum for members to report on their experiences and offer feedback as participants in the various MURA activities. The MURA Facebook page entitled “McGill Retiree Association” is a private-group page, that can be viewed by anyone with a Facebook account. Members are welcome to post their comments in English or in French. Facebook link.

Newsletter: Edited by Debbie Mercier, MURA’s Annual Newsletter highlights stories of members in retirement, their travels, their experiences, their engagement in the community, and their reflections on the past and the future. The newsletter also provides information on such relevant topics as seniors’ discounts, financial planning etc. Link to the MURA Newsletter.

Email: Through the MURA email address mura-arum.association [at] mcgill.ca, members can communicate with the association, ask questions, and register to confirm their attendance at events. Kate Maguire acknowledges all emails and refers them to the appropriate volunteer for a full response, if appropriate.

6. McGill Community Engagement

Part-time Employment – Collaboration with HR

Faculties and departments are often in need of expertise to fill gaps between hires, when employees are on temporary leave, or for brief project assignments. MURA is pleased to support HR by facilitating the process of finding suitable temporary replacements as it provides opportunities for retirees to contribute their skills, earn a little extra revenue, and help the institution. Kate Maguire announces these part-time positions by sending out the postings, inviting MURA members to apply.

McGill Communities Council (MCC)

Initiated in 2013 by Ken Hastings as MAUT’s response to social unrest on campus, the MCC is a valuable gathering of all members of the McGill community. Represented by David Kalant, MURA is pleased to be a member of MCC, as we appreciate keeping up to date with campus issues affecting students, staff, and faculty.

We actively contribute to the monthly meetings through our participation in discussions on topics that affect the wider McGill community. During the pandemic, the group met more frequently to share much needed information regarding sanitary health and safety procedures, and to support each other through a very difficult time for students, faculty, and employees.

MURA-Medical Student Society Social Club

The Club proposes an antidote to the isolation and loneliness of the current pandemic, a major problem faced by seniors including members of MURA. On the other hand, medical students often lack the opportunity to interact with seniors willing to share their experience and knowledge outside the classroom. Both issues motivate the formation of this multigenerational Club and inform its plan of action.

7. Wider Community Engagement

College and University Retiree Associations of Canada (CURAC)

MURA is an active member of CURAC that advocates policies to improve the welfare of seniors in matters of healthcare and financial issues across Canada. Through CURAC, virtual lectures organized by MURA are announced to their 40 member associations, representing approximately 20,000 university retirees across the country. MURA is an active participant in CURAC’s activities. We are pleased to report that in 2021 Ginette Lamontagne joined the CURAC Board for a two-year term in addition to Honora Shaughnessy serving as Secretary of the CURAC Board. These nominations further strengthen the productive relationship between MURA and CURAC.
 

8. Perspectives for the Future

The pandemic has permanently changed the various ways that associations such as ours will operate in the future. We expect that meetings via Zoom - that are so convenient - will continue, as will virtual or a combination of virtual and in-person versions of other selected activities. The benefits of virtual events have led to greater inclusion and participation beyond Montreal and Quebec borders. We realize that virtual meetings and events may sometimes be a poor substitute for in-person gatherings that allow for casual “chit-chat” and new friendships that are both productive and enjoyable. Accordingly, we will seek to find a good balance between virtual and in-person events.

Several events that had been planned to take place in collaboration with local university retirement associations were among the casualties of the pandemic. When “normalcy” returns, MURA plans to actively engage once again in joint projects with our sister university retiree associations. The events that were held jointly with Concordia and U de M were very popular with our members and have proven to offer opportunities for broadening friendships, as well as a means to share the costs of organizing events. We hope to arrange day trips to concerts, museums, and other recreational outings in the near future.

9. Conclusion

In closing, we are pleased to report that MURA, and the McGill Community more generally, have demonstrated remarkable resilience in the face of the on-going worldwide pandemic. The collegiality, commitment, and resourcefulness among members of the McGill Community that have been demonstrated during this challenging time are indicative of the strengths that have supported our institution over the past 200 years and will be instrumental as we move forward to meet future challenges as well as embrace new opportunities.

MURA/ARUM Board of Directors, June 1, 2022