Heather Buzila, President
Editors Canada held its 2022 annual general meeting (AGM) on June 18 via the Zoom platform. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AGM was held in person and in conjunction with the annual conference. Because the conference was virtual this year, the AGM was also held virtually.
Please note, at its May 2022 meeting, the national executive council (NEC) voted to continue holding the AGM online each year, even when the conference is held in person. For more information about this decision, please see the June 2022 national e-news update.
Attendees
A total of 62 members, 2 student affiliates, and 3 staff members were registered for the AGM.
At the peak of the meeting, 42 people ended up participating.
Parliamentarian
I asked Gael Spivak to be my parliamentarian for the AGM, and I introduced her as such at the beginning of the meeting. Gael’s knowledge of Robert’s Rules of Order was valuable during the meeting, and I asked her questions using the chat function in Zoom and out loud during the meeting.
Approval of various business items
All these items were approved without discussion:
- the agenda
- the 2021 annual report
- the 2021 auditors’ report
There was some discussion on the motion to approve the 2021 draft AGM minutes, which resulted in a friendly amendment to the motion to include the background pieces of the substantive motions as an appendix to the minutes.
The treasurer, Breanne MacDonald, discussed the association’s financials, including how all branches have now moved to using the national bookkeeping service, which helped the audit go very smoothly. We also ended the year with a large surplus, which will help the association rebuild its reserve and gives Editors Canada a contingency fund for future planned projects.
Substantive motions
There were four substantive motions that members submitted before the AGM. As noted in the call-to-meeting email, substantive motions from the floor are not permitted because members need time to think about and discuss them, and members who are not at the meeting cannot vote on them.
The first three substantive motions were made because the NEC had voted on these issues in error, when they should have gone back to the membership for a vote because they had originally been voted on by the membership.
The first two motions, Motion on Guidelines for Ethical Editing of Students Texts and Motion on Agreement Template for Editing Services, were approved without discussion.
The third substantive motion, Motion on Francophone Affairs director position, had some discussion. Members asked for clarification as to why the change had been made in 2019, and Nancy Foran, who was on the francophone affairs committee at the time and was involved in recommending this change, explained the survey that went out to francophone members and the results that preceded this change. The motion passed.
The fourth substantive motion, Motion that the Editors Saskatchewan branch be dissolved, also had some discussion, mostly around the reasons behind dissolving the branch, if the branch would become a twig, and what would happen to the former Editors Saskatchewan members. The branch chairs had previously confirmed Editors Saskatchewan was unable to maintain the minimum 30 members required to form a branch and that it would not be reforming as a twig. I confirmed that existing Editors Saskatchewan members would be asked to change their membership to another Editors Canada branch or twig. As well, the portion of their membership fees that previously went to Editors Saskatchewan will flow to their new branch or twig. The motion passed.
Appointments and elections
Members voted to appoint Hogg, Shain & Scheck as the auditor for 2022.
I, as president/past president and chair of the nominations committee, discussed the work the committee did to solicit nominations for committee chairs and for director positions on the national executive council. I then presented the list of nominees for the 2022–23 NEC.
After nominees are named, there is a call for nominations from the floor. Robert’s Rules of Order says that if there are no extra nominees, the slate is automatically acclaimed, without an election. (See RONR, 11th ed., p. 443, ll. 7–14.)
There were no nominations from the floor, so the slate was acclaimed.
President’s Awards
I announced the winners of the President’s Award for Volunteer Service. They were
- Natalia Iwanek (Editors Toronto)
- Fazeela Jiwa (Editors Atlantic)
- Amber Riaz (Editors British Columbia)
- Jess Shulman (Editors Toronto)
- Vicky Bell (Editors Ottawa-Gatineau)
The winner of the Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award was Patricia MacDonald from Editors Atlantic. Patricia was chosen because of her work on various committees, task forces, and the NEC, as well as her work on many Editors Canada programs and products.
Congratulations to Patricia and all the other winners.
Certification
The certification steering committee (CSC) recognized six new Certified Proofreaders:
- Beau Brock
- Janis Cleugh
- Julie Duncan-Taylor
- Jesse Marchand
- Ashley Rains
- Shelley Svidal
The CSC also recognized four new Certified Structural Editors:
- Amy Allen
- Maureen Nicholson
- Ashley Rains
- Wendy Theodore
Other business
There was no other business to discuss.
Adjournment
The AGM was adjourned at about 4:45 p.m., EDT.