Minutes of the Annual General Meeting

Tuesday, June 2, 2021

Meeting via Zoom, 14:30-16:00

 

 

Part 1 - Annual General Meeting Business

1. Welcoming Remarks (Ginette Lamontagne)

President Ginette Lamontagne opened the meeting by welcoming all participants. She then went on to introduce the agenda in two parts; the first part related to the business of the Annual General Meeting and the second part related to a special presentation to be delivered by Yves Beauchamp, Vice Principal, Administration and Finance. The subject of the presentation is “Transforming the McGill Campus”.

Ginette then introduced Kate Maguire to describe the meeting rules and the voting procedures for any votes required during the AGM. Kate explained the use of the RAISE HAND feature of Zoom for this meeting that would be replacing the YES/NO voting feature used in previous meetings. Robert Stanley explained that this was necessary due to a December 2020 Zoom upgrade which significantly changed the functionality of the YES/NO feature rendering it useless for our purposes at this meeting.

Ginette then moved to accept the agenda as presented. Lorraine Torpy seconded the motion.
Motion Passed: Yeas – 31 Nays – 0

It was at this point that Ginette recognized Claude Lalande. Claude spoke of his experience and suggested that we change the voting paradigm by first asking the voting membership if they would like to take a vote on a given motion. If not, the motion would be considered “accepted”. The membership agreed to accept this paradigm.

After verifying that there were no questions regarding the minutes of the MURA Annual General Meeting 2020 held on September 9, 2020, Ginette moved to accept the minutes. Claude Lalande seconded the motion. Ginette then asked the membership if anyone wanted a vote on this motion. As there was no request for a vote, the motion passed.

Ginette then thanked Diana Grier-Ayton for taking the minutes for the AGM 2020 and thanked Richard London for agreeing to take minutes for this AGM 2021.

 

2. Launching of MURA’s Bicentennial video (Judy Pharo)

Ginette Lamontagne then introduced Judy Pharo to present a video produced by MURA in celebration of the McGill Bicentennial.

Judy told the story of an organization, MURA, faced with the challenge of maintaining a presence in a world affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its ability to successfully adapt many of their social programs to an online environment (e.g. book clubs, special projects, etc.).

One of the special projects tackled by a MURA subcommittee of very active MURA members was the production of a video as a “birthday gift” to McGill to commemorate their bicentennial year. Memories and related stories were solicited and consolidated into a video with story-boarding, video graphing, editing and narration provided by professionals resulting in a vibrant and enjoyable testimonial to our great institution.

Kate Maguire then ran the video “Honouring the Past, Celebrating the Future” for the membership.

At its conclusion, Ginette Lamontagne read the list of collaborators that helped in the production of the video. Well done!

3. Acclamation of the 2021-22 Board (Katherine Gray-Donald)

Ginette Lamontagne then introduced Katherine Gray-Donald to present the changes to the MURA board for 2021-22.

Katherine presented some statistics, most important of which that current membership of MURA is at 449 members; a slight increase from last year.

Katherine went on to identify the nominating committee for new board members which included Wes Cross (Chair), Marie Béland, and Juan Vera, and thanked them for their contribution.

The result of the nominations on the new MURA board is as follows:

Executive:

Ante Padjen President (2021 – 2024) NEW

John Gradwell VP External (2021 – 2024) NEW

Kate Maguire VP Internal (2019 – 2022)

Bob Stanley Treasurer (2019 – 2022)

Ginette Lamontagne Past President (2021 – 2024) NEW

Additional:

Patricia Forbes (2021 – 2024) NEW

Bob Huot (2020 – 2023)

David Kalant (2021 – 2024) Returning

Debbie Mercier (2020 – 2023)

Pamela Miller (2021 – 2024) New

Lawrence Mysak (2021 – 2024) New

Eduardo Pereira (2020 – 2023)

Saul Ticktin (2020 – 2023)

Kathrine spoke on behalf of all board members in looking forward to working with the new president, Ante Padjen in 2021 – 2022.

Ginette thanked Katherine for her time served as VP External and for her contribution to two MURA initiatives; the knitting club and the West Island book club.

Ginette also thanked all the board members for their service throughout 2020 – 2021 and welcomed all the new board members for 2021 - 2022.

4. Finances (Robert Stanley)

Ginette Lamontagne introduced Robert Stanley, Treasurer to report on Finances for 2020 – 2021 and Budgets for 2021 – 2022.

Robert Stanley reported that the financial statements were prepared this year by Mongiat-Bernucci. The previous accountant Pierre Gagnon passed away in the fall of 2020 and MURA chose to contract with this firm as they currently are contracted by MAUT and MUNASA. These statements remain unaudited, as the expensive audit process (approx. $10K) of the statements was deemed as not necessary by the board and agreed to by the membership several years ago.

Robert presented a slide that showed a $10,000 surplus of revenue over expenses for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021 largely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Robert explained that the revenue entry listed as “Other Income” of $1750 this year was related to contributions from affinity sponsors to support a one day online assembly produced by MURA for the College and University Retiree Associations of Canada (CURAC) in April 2021. Total expenses for this same conference will only by booked in fiscal year 2021-2022 as they were only incurred after March 31, 2021.

Robert then reported the balance to Changes in Net Assets of $31,537 as at March 31, 2021; an increase of approx. $10,400 over the previous fiscal year end. Net Assets on the Balance Sheet are $33,437 as at March 31, 2021; an increase of approx. $11,300 over the previous fiscal year end.

At this point, Robert asked if there were any questions and there were none.

Robert then moved to accept the financial statements for the year ending March 31, 2021 as prepared by Mongiat Bernucci on May 26,2021 . Lorraine Torpy seconded the motion. Based on the new protocol, Robert then asked if anyone required a vote and when no one responded, Robert stated that the motion was passed unanimously.

Robert continued with the presentation of the proposed budget for fiscal year 2021-2022. Forecasted revenues are similar to those from the previous fiscal year. Robert noted two significant entries in the Budget proposal:

 

1. Due to financial constraints at MUNASA, their annual contribution to MURA to cover membership dues for their retired members will be a fixed $2,500 (down from last year’s contribution of $5,038). Bob reassured the membership that this would not compromise MURA’s ability to continue to deliver services to the MURA membership.
2. Once the accounting for the MURA/CURAC virtual conference is finalized, MURA is expected to receive an additional $5,350 of revenue as CURAC’s contribution to cover MURA’s expenses for the conference.

On the expense side, Robert explained the proposed $16,860 expense budget for 2021-2022 which amounts to an increase of $6,000 over the previous fiscal year. He highlighted two items in particular as follows:

1. a $2,000 entry to cover travel expenses for delegates to the annual CURAC conference in Vancouver
2. a $5,000 entry for conference expenses incurred in 2021-2022 for the one-time MURA/CURAC conference hosted by McGill in April 2021. This expense was largely due to hosting and translation fees contracted for the video conference. Please refer to the revenues report above for the revenue entry to be received in 2021-2022 from CURAC to help cover these expenses.

At this point, Robert opened the floor for questions. Marie-Louise Moreau explained that approximately 40 of the 449 members are paying $25 annual MURA membership fee out of pocket. She asked that MURA consider the rest of the membership pay the same $25 annual membership fee out of pocket. Robert explained that the bulk of MURA membership have their fees covered by the associations to which they belonged during their careers at McGill (e.g. MAUT, MUNASA, MUNACA, unions, etc.).

Robert read a resolution related to membership dues that keeps the rate at $25 for the fiscal year 2021-2022. Robert tabled the motion and it was seconded by Kathy Mayhew. No one requested a vote and the resolution was passed unanimously.

Robert read a second resolution to accept the annual budget for 2021-2022, version R-4 dated May 4, 2021, as presented to the membership. Robert tabled the motion and it was seconded by Lawrence Mysak. No one requested a vote and the resolution was passed unanimously.

Ginette thanked Robert for his presentation.

5. Benefits (Kathy Mayhew)

Ginette Lamontagne then introduced Kathy Mayhew to present changes to McGill’s benefit plan for retirees.

Kathy Mayhew started by stating that she greatly appreciated serving on the board since 2015.

She then reported on the first meeting of 2021 of the Staff Benefits Administration Committee (SBAC) focussing on the following 3 changes:

1. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health benefit limits have been raised from $1,000 to $2,000 annually. In addition to the mental health professional expenses allowed currently, namely psychologists and social workers, psycho therapist and marriage and family councillor expenses are now eligible.
2. Currently, only one anti-obesity drug is covered by the McGill plan. Additional anti-obesity drugs will now be covered. The reimbursement limit of $2400 will remain.
3. After 65 years of age, the McGill supplemental health plan does not cover drugs. Most members sign on with the RAMQ health plan for drug coverage after 65. The government of Quebec has legislated that the McGill plan offer some kind of drug coverage for those retirees (effective July 1, 2021). However, preliminary estimates for the cost of this additional McGill drug plan will be approximately $3,500 (single) and $7,000 (family), It is thus recommended that retirees continue to subscribe to the RAMQ plan after attaining the age of 65 as the McGill plan will not offer any additional benefits when compared to the RAMQ plan. N.B. Those retiring in 2017 or later when the McGill plan did not exist will be given the choice to opt into the new McGill drug plan after 65 years of age and new retirees will be given this choice at retirement.

Kathy also reported that the previous year saw a drop in insurance claims and an increase in mortality, probably attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kathy mentioned that although she will no longer be a MURA board member, she will continue her membership on the SBAC on behalf of MURA.

Ginette thanked Kathy for her years of service on the MURA board and her continued commitment to serve on the SBAC.

6. MURA Newsletter (Debbie Mercier)

Ginette Lamontagne introduced Debbie Mercier to report on the MURA newsletter.

Debbie Mercier explained that the next edition of the MURA newsletter will be released later in June 2021. She went on to thank all the contributors to the latest edition and encouraged membership to “keep those cards and letters coming”.

Ginette thanked Debbie for her report.

7. General Discussion (Ginette Lamontagne)

Ginette opened by explaining that despite the pandemic, MURA was still able to offer a rich set of activities that were convened in an online environment over the last year. Ginette then opened the floor to the membership for questions and comments. Several members did respond:

Karen Cavenaugh (email) – Karen asked if there were currently any plans for new activities post-pandemic.

Ginette responded by reminding the membership of the long list of current groups and suggested a bowling group and a tennis group as new groups should there be interest. Ginette suggested other initiatives that bring together Retiree Associations (RA) from other Montreal based Universities (e.g. wine tasting, concerts, etc). As well, she suggested that there might be interest in day trips outside the city (e.g. Museums in Ottawa or Quebec City, etc.) where comfortable transportation would be provided. She then redirected the question to the membership for further suggestions.

Lorraine Torpy – suggested a bowling club and an art group.

Maureen Coote – suggested a walking group and organized walking tours. Ginette praised the benefits of walking tours and said that she hoped that there would be many more to come in the following year.

Ante Padjen reminded the membership that this is not the only opportunity to provide suggestions to the MURA executive and they should just drop a note to the MURA offices should they have additional suggestions in the future.

Anita Badri– suggested an art exhibit with works from retirees

Henry Leighton – suggested a PickelBall group

Ginette summarized and thanked the membership for their suggestions.

 

Part 2 – Special Presentation

Introduction of Speaker (Robert Stanley)

Ginette Lamontagne introduced Bob Stanley to make the formal introduction of Dr. Yves Beauchamp, the keynote speaker for this session. Bob provided a long list of credentials, highlights, achievements and awards received by Dr. Beauchamp during his illustrious career.

Presentation – “Transforming the McGill Campus” (Yves Beauchamp, VP Admin and Finance)

Detailed minutes or notes related to this presentation are not included here. The audience was asked by Dr. Beauchamp to keep the details revealed in this presentation confidential.

The presentation was comprised of three sections:

1. RVH Project (11 minutes)

Dr. Beauchamp discussed the details related to the renovation of the old heritage buildings of the Royal Victoria Hospital site and plans to integrate them into the new “McGill Sustainability Hub” .

2. Fiat Lux Project (9 minutes)

Dr. Beauchamp explained this project as an effort to double the seating and study space available to students and faculty in the McLennan, Redpath and Redpath Hall libraries with an emphasis on transporting books that have not been borrowed for decades to a remote location off campus.

3. New Model of Work (7.5 minutes)

Dr. Beauchamp revealed plans for a post pandemic return to work for faculty and staff and the efforts currently underway to facilitate the new model.

3. Q & A period – (Ante Padjen)

 

At the conclusion of the formal presentation, Dr. Ante Padjen led an interesting Question and Answer session (24 minutes) with Dr. Beauchamp.

4. Thanking the Speaker (Beverlea Tallant)

Ginette called on Beverlea Tallant to deliver the official thank you to Dr. Beauchamp on behalf of MURA. Beverlea thanked Dr. Beauchamp for his engaging presentation and for all the support he has given to MURA over the years.

Beverlea also made a plea to Dr.Beauchamp to include the participation of two of the faculties for their respective expertise. Firstly, the Physical and Occupational Therapy (POT) department might be consulted with respect to access for the disabled to these new spaces. And secondly, with relation to the new ideas for workspace, that the Psychology department be consulted on the potential effects of these new workspaces on employees when they eventually return to campus.

Part 3 - Closing Ceremonies

1. Toast to MURA’s sixth anniversary (Debbie Mercier)

Before turning the floor over to Debbie Mercier, out-going president Ginette Lamontagne offered her heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the MURA membership for their support over the years. She also thanked her husband, David Brown, for his continued support of her as well as his support for MURA.

Debbie Mercier recited a poem she wrote in honour of Ginette in appreciation of her 7 years as president of MURA. She also gave mention to the 4 other members who are stepping down from the MURA board. It was at this point that David Brown presented his wife Ginette with some lovely gifts from the membership of MURA. Debbie then raised a toast to Ginette specifically and to celebrate MURA’s 6^th anniversary.

2. Adjournment (Ginette Lamontagne)

Ginette officially adjourned the meeting but invited everyone to remain online to continue with informal virtual celebrations.

Respectfully submitted

Richard London
Recording Secretary