Maria Frank, President
Editors Canada held its 2024 annual general meeting (AGM) on June 27 via the Zoom platform.
Attendees
A total of 67 members, 6 student affiliates and 2 staff members were registered for the AGM.
At the peak of the meeting, 41 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 the following items were approved without discussion:
- the agenda
- the 2023 draft AGM minutes
- the 2023 annual report
- the 2023 auditors’ report
The treasurer, Tara Avery, discussed the association’s financials. Although webinar revenue exceeded expectations, membership, certification and conference numbers all decreased in 2023, and Editors Canada ended the year with a deficit. The main reason for this deficit is attributed to revenue earned at the conference, which was considerably less than revenue earned in 2022. Administration costs were also significantly higher than those incurred in 2022 as a result of new membership benefits and website costs.
Substantive motions
There was one substantive motion 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 substantive motion, That members approve the updates to the English Guidelines for Ethical Editing of Student Texts to align them with the updated Professional Editorial Standards 2024, was approved without discussion.
Appointments and elections
Members voted to appoint Hogg, Shain & Scheck as the auditor for 2024.
Heather Buzila, past president and chair of the nominating committee, discussed the work the committee did to solicit nominations for committee chairs and for director positions on the national executive council (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.
Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award
I announced that the winner of the Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award was Berna Ozunal from Editors Ottawa–Gatineau. Berna was chosen because of her years of work around the organization. Her work and leadership in developing the new Professional Editorial Standards was highlighted in her nomination letter. Congratulations to Berna!
Certification
The certification steering committee (CSC) recognized four new Certified Proofreaders:
- Cecilia Ki
- Robin Marwick
- Brock Peters
- Michelle White
The CSC recognized four new Certified Structural Editors:
- AJ Hanson
- Cory Hare
- Shauna McNally
- Brock Peters
The CSC also recognized one new Certified Professional Editor:
- Robin Marwick
Other business
There was no other business to discuss.
Adjournment
The AGM was adjourned at about 7:03 p.m. (ET).