Maria Frank, President
Editors Canada held its 2023 annual general meeting (AGM) on June 24 via the Zoom platform. The meeting was called to order at 1:02 p.m., EDT.
Attendees
A total of 56 members, 4 student affiliates and 3 staff members were registered for the AGM.
At the peak of the meeting, 44 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.
Approval of various business items
All these items were approved without discussion:
- the agenda
- the 2022 draft AGM minutes
- the 2022 annual report
- the 2022 auditors’ report
The treasurer, Tara Avery, discussed the association’s financials. Although membership, webinar and conference revenue all decreased in 2022, Editors Canada ended the year with a modest surplus, which will allow the association to rebuild its reserves and fund future 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 substantive motion, Motion to approve the new Decision Making Policy and Decision Making Procedures, had some discussion. A member asked if members could overturn decisions made by the national executive council (NEC) and committees. Gael confirmed that yes, members can overturn NEC and committee decisions. The same member also pointed out a typo in the documents.
The next three motions, Motion to approve the new Forum Monitor Mandate and Editors Canada Forum Guidelines, Motion to approve the Lignes directrices de révision éthique des travaux étudiants, and Motion to adopt the revised Professional Editorial Standards, were approved without discussion.
All four motions passed with a majority vote.
Appointments and elections
Members voted to appoint Hogg, Shain & Scheck as the auditor for 2023.
Heather Buzila, 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 NEC. She then presented the list of nominees for the 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
- Gael Spivak (Editors Ottawa–Gatineau)
- Emily Stewart (Editors Ottawa–Gatineau)
- Sylvie Collin (Editors Québec)
- Maureen McGuigan (Editors British Columbia)
The winner of the Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award was Gael Spivak from Editors Ottawa–Gatineau. Gael was chosen because of her work in creating many policy and procedures documents and establishing many of Editors Canada’s partnership agreements, in addition to the many roles she held in committees, task forces and the NEC.
Congratulations to Gael and all the other winners.
Certification
The certification steering committee (CSC) recognized three new Certified Copy Editors:
- Beau Brock
- Brock Peters
- Katherine Morton
The CSC also recognized three new Certified Stylistic Editors:
- Jodi Di Menna
- Robin Marwick
- Ashley Rains
Additionally, the CSC recognized one new Certified Professional Editor:
- Ashley Rains
Other business
There was no other business to discuss.
Adjournment
The AGM was adjourned at 1:32 p.m., EDT.