Update from President & BOD, 2014-10-01
It has been four months since the Ottawa AGM and the passing of our new Articles of Continuance and By-laws. Your new Board of Directors has been very busy adjusting to these and the necessary changes brought about by the Not For Profit Corporations Act.
Over the course of the summer, the Directors were tasked with formulating a Mandate for their new positions and Committees, which included some strategic planning in moving forward under the new act. We had Video Conference, on the 3rd, September, with a very heavy agenda planned and it was a disaster due to technical problems with the network. On the agenda were topics of importance such as, the e-voting strategic plan for the coming year and 2015 AGM, Appointment of our Treasurer and coming to grips with compliance with the new Act.
Our newly appointed Financial Officer (Treasurer), John Francis of Kingston Division, has already proven to be a great asset, however, in order to get a better understanding of the Association there were and are many questions to be answered, included of course is the strategic plan for the Consolidated Financial Reports that must be submitted annually to Corporations Canada, and appointment of an outside Auditor/Public Accountant.
In addition to this we were faced with the fact that our Executive Officer, advised he was leaving at the end of September. It was decided that the BOD would hold a two day meeting/workshop at the Canadian Police College on Sept. 24/25 in order to expedite this planning process as opposed to conducting several Video Conference meetings. In the mean time we were made aware that our Executive Assistant, would also be leaving after being successful in a full time employment position with another Federal Department beginning the 6th October 2014.
Last week we met as a Board and were most successful in coming to grips with our understanding of the implications of the new Act and developing courses of action. Firstly, we have identified five areas for us to pursue in our strategic planning for the next several years, and agreed to have each Director, redesign their Committee Mandates to reflect these working areas. This was as a result of reviewing the 2013 and 2014 Surveys put forward from the Association Office and Executive Officer as well as reviewing the new Act and by-laws. In addition the Association manual was reviewed, being redrafted, in an attempt to ensure compliance with the changes seen as a result of our deliberations. Our new Executive Officer, Mark Gaillard was able to attend and we all benefitted from the interaction at the meetings.
As you are now aware, our outgoing Secretary, Alex Geddes, has signed a short term contract beginning the 1st., October to replace the Executive Officer and Executive Assistant, until the end of December, when Mark is scheduled to commence. A search for an Executive Assistant is underway with applications to be received by the 15th October 2014 to fill the Executive Assistant position. A selection board has been struct to eventually select a new Executive Assistant. We originally planned to communicate the results of our deliberations and make-up of the new committees with their mandates along with the surveys at the end of the meetings last week, however with the departure of our Executive Officer and Assistant at the end of this week, we are in a position to ask your patience.
The whole package of Mandates, committees, strategic plans will be distributed once we have finalized the planning. I assure you that the planning for the E-voting, the Consolidated Financial Reports, the hiring of an Auditor, a new Executive Assistant, are well underway. I also was impressed with the fact that our Association has and is moving forward as one under the new act. Our Financial Officer, views the Financial team to include all Treasurers, who will be integral in providing the necessary information to comply with the act. We have established a new Communications Committee, with a view towards updating our website and the way we communicate. We are assessing the whole membership process and look forward to the result of their deliberations. The Advocacy program is proving to be a broader mandate than imagined and requires a review.
Our relationships with the RCMP internally and our external partners is another area we are developing some strategic planning. In closing, we will in short order, have a new Executive Officer and Assistant set up in our Association Offices at the Canadian Police College. Revamp the various committees to eliminate duplicity in workloads, which also includes, the Association Secretary's position and our Association Advocacy Program with Provincial Advocacy positions. Have an E-voting process in place for 2015 AGM, and hopefully a rejuvenated Membership and Communications Strategy as well.
Dave LeBlanc
President