The third and final day of the 7th COPE SEPB Convention was just as action packed as the previous two.
The main highlight of the morning were the election and installation of officers. The results of the election were as follows:
National President: Annette Toth
Region 1 Vice-Presidents: Maryève Boyer & Loïc Breton
Region 2 Vice-Presidents: Tanya LaRush & Lorrie Vandersluis
Region 3 Vice-Presidents: Stephanie Kerr & Preston Smoke
Region 4 Vice-Presidents: Anderson Charles & Christy Slusarenko
Following the installation of officers, delegates then passed a special resolution to add David Black, outgoing national president, in the Constitution as a National Honourary President and delegate with full rights at the National Convention.
A tribute video to David thanking him for his work with our national union was also played for delegates at the Convention.
Delegates also continued work in the morning to debate the remaining resolutions. The following resolutions were carried:
- The union will encourage locals to develop regionally significant policies to address the growing impact of food insecurity, support the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and Quebec Federation of Labour (FTQ) campaigns to increase minimum wage across Canada, participate in lobby efforts to increase income assistance, and support organizations working to address food security;
- To invite the CLC to maintain awareness and mobilization efforts around the establishment of a public and universal Pharmacare program;
- Amend all Policies and Regulations of the National Union so as to make them gender neutral;
- Amending the governing per diem entitlement and claim process policy;
- Updating the compensation for National Executive;
- Together with the CLC, promote fairer taxation among the various political parties;
- Together with the CLC, demand the Government of Canada put in place the necessary measures to curb speculation on the rise in rental costs; and
- Together with the CLC demand that the government take concrete measures aimed at care and services for seniors so as to improve access, quality and safety.
An amended resolution calling on COPE SEPB to make an immediate public commitment to fully diverse its defence fund and all other investments from all coal, oil, and gas companies and assets, and to commit to work towards a just and green transition for workers in these industries, was referred back to the National Executive
The Vice-President Report for Seat Reserved for Women was also presented to Convention. All written reports can be found here.
In the afternoon, delegates were treated to a special equity panel discussion chaired by Adrienne Smith, transgender human rights activist and social justice lawyer.
The panel was comprised of:
– Carmen Watson, Communications Advisor with the BC Treaty Commission
– Joulene Parent, executive with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU)
– Danny Ramadan, author, public speaker, and LGBTQ-refugee advocate
– Dan Coulter, BC Parliamentary Secretary for Accessibility
The session probed the panelist to talk about their work and what motivates them, when they felt like they were part of a team, dealing with imposter syndrome, dealing with the idea that there’s only so much equity to go around, dealing with hate, dealing with tokenism, what gives them hope, and much more.
Panelists also took questions from the delegates.
The conclusion of the equity panel marked the end of the formal business of the 2022 COPE SEPB Convention.
WATCH: Equity Panel Discussion
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