NCR Executive Board Election Reform - Required!

You should have received an email from PIPSC with the invitation to the NCR Regional Council – April 2025. (If you did not receive it, please contact PIPSC immediately at 613-228-6310 / 1-800-267-0446 to make sure you receive it). The deadline to submit your interest is Friday February 28, 2025.

As your colleague who was elected to the NCR Executive at the last year’s Council, I strongly encourage you to do so, even if you think that you cannot attend this meeting in person. You should be given the opportunity to attend and vote remotely. There will be two very important votings happening there: one to elect new NCR executives, and the other on the resolution (NCR Electoral Reform) aimed to change how NCR executive are elected.

Most likely though you will not be selected as a delegate for the NCR Council anyway (because there are just very few spots available there for members who are not part of the existing NCR executive network). This very fact however will add further pressure to conduct the much needed NCR Electoral reform!

With your help, we can bring the improvements to our union! Otherwise, we can only blame ourselves.
Do your part - submit your interest to attend the NCR Council! Read my newsletter to learn more.

UPDATE: 2025-01-13

Following the majority of NCR Executives voting against the NCR Electoral Reform, I can no longer work on this resolution in my previous capacity of the NCR Bylaws Committee Chair, but have to do it now in the capacity of a regular member. See Motion Defeated and Read my newsletter to learn more about this development.

NCR Electoral Reform - Resolution for 2025 NCR Council

Authored by the NCR By-Laws Committee (Chair: Dmitry Gorodnichy. Members: LPD, HZ)

Developed: 10 OCT 2024. Last updated: 25 JAN 2025

Whereas:

The current in-person electoral process for the National Capital Region (NCR) - the largest region in the Union that represents over 40,000 members (over 50% of the national PIPSC membership) disenfranchises the vast majority of regular NCR members who cannot vote in the NCR elections, because they cannot attend the NCR Council.
The infrastructure for new electronic electoral process is available . It is used in National Elections and Elections in several groups, promoted on the PIPSC website as a significant step towards a more modern and efficient union:"This new elections platform is just the latest example of our work modernizing our processes and using technology to make PIPSC among Canada's most effective and efficient unions." [PIPSC - A new era for PIPSC elections] .
The reform of the electoral process will achieve the following three objectives, in line with the Union mandate:

Enhance Transparency and Member Engagement:
To enhance transparency, members representation, and engagement by establishing a more inclusive and extended electronic electoral process that allows broader member participation in the NCR Executive Board elections.
Strengthen Democratic Representation:
To strengthen democratic representation within PIPSC by ensuring that the elected leadership better reflects the diverse perspectives of its membership.
Eliminate Conflict of Interest Risks:
To eliminate the risk of apparent, potential and perceived conflict of interest by preventing acting NCR Executives from influencing the outcomes of the new NCR Executive elections.

Additional details for discussion:

Currently, 4 of the 13 NCR Executives (NCR Directors) are elected once every three years during the National PIPSC elections. These elections are conducted electronically, allowing any NCR member to vote, with a voting rate of 12%, according to the 2024 PIPSC National elections data. The remaining 9 NCR Executives are elected during the NCR AGM (referred to as NCR Council), where only the Council delegates are allowed to vote. The majority of these delegates are selected from the existing NCR Executive network. Voting at the Council occurs over 24 hours.
NCR Council delegates are chosen by the active NCR Executive Board from a list of members who apply, resulting in approximately 200 members (less than 1% of eligible NCR members) being able to vote. This number is significantly lower than what could be achieved through electronic regional elections, as is done for national elections.The number of Council attendees is constrained by the physical capacity of the hotel venue where the Council is held.
This current system disenfranchises a large portion of NCR members (over 11% = 12% - 1%), including those unfamiliar with the election process, those who unable to attend the Council on specific dates, and those who wished to attend but were not selected as delegates by the NCR Board.
The process also creates a risk of apparent, potential, and perceived conflict of interest for active NCR Executives, as they hold the authority to select Council delegates and may hypothetically exclude members who could run against them for executive positions.

Be It Resolved That:

The election process for the NCR Region Executive be updated to allow all NCR members to vote for candidates using an electronic voting system.
Adequate advance notice will be provided to NCR members for nominating candidates and participating in the voting process online.
Full details of the related by-law changes are outlined in the accompanying document, “NCR Electoral Reform” (attached below).

ATTACHMENT: "Resolution for the NCR Council - NCR Electoral Reform” (gdoc)

Key References:

https://pipsc.ca/regions/ncr/bylaws
- BY-LAW 6 NATIONAL CAPITAL REGIONAL COUNCIL
  - 6.1 Purpose
  - 6.9 Voting
  - (NEW) 11 Election Procedure
  - 12 (old 11) ELECTION OF THE REGIONAL EXECUTIVE

https://pipsc.ca/regions/ncr/regulations
- R5.2 National Capital Regional Council
https://pipsc.ca/about/governance/committees/blpc
- Institute By-Law 17.2.2 – BLPC Mandate:
  (d) drafting new policies and amendments to existing policies as required and submitting them to the Board for approval and reviewing all policies, from time to time, to ensure their relevance, clarity and application.
- The primary purpose of the BLPC is to ensure that the constitutions and bylaws of the constituent bodies are consistent with the PIPSC Constitution and Bylaws.

Recommended changes in NCR By-Laws

BY-LAW 6 NATIONAL CAPITAL REGIONAL COUNCIL

6.1 Purpose

The National Capital Regional Council shall be the supreme governing body of the National Capital Region. The functions of the National Capital Regional Council shall be:

To meet yearly
To propose the direction of NCR affairs
To consider any matter brought before it
To receive reports from the NCR Executive

CHANGE
To elect members to the National Capital Regional Executive
TO
To announce the results of the National Capital Regional Executive elections
To make recommendations to the PIPSC Annual General Meeting
To promote the interests of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada

CHANGE

6.9 Voting All registered delegates present at the NCR Council are eligible to vote. Voting for positions on the Executive shall be by secret ballot in accordance with By-Law 11. Otherwise, voting shall normally be by a show of hands. Each member shall have one (1) vote. Decisions shall be by a simple majority vote.

6.9 Voting All registered delegates present at the NCR Council are eligible to vote. (DELETE all information related to Executive selection from BY-LAW 6 section, keep it only in BY-LAW 11 section)

ADD:

6.9 Executive Election results Election results will be made announced, including the number of votes received by each candidate.

ADD

INSERT NEW SECTION BEFORE 11. (WHAT USED TO BE SECTION 11 WILL BE SECTION 12 )

NEW: BY-LAW 11 Election Procedure

XX.1 The Elections Committee shall serve as Returning Officers and shall establish procedures for the efficient conduct of an election, the counting and tabulating of ballots and all matters directly related thereto not otherwise specified in these By-Laws.

XX.2 Ballots must be distributed at least three (3) weeks prior to the date set as the deadline for the return of ballots.

XX.3 Effective 2025, all members in NCR may vote for the members of the NCR Executive Board

XX.4 Ballots must be received at the National Office of the Institute by the date and time specified by the Elections Committee.

XX.5 The candidate receiving the highest number of votes for a position shall be declared elected.

XX.6 The Elections Committee shall ensure the membership is informed of the results of the election as soon as possible.

XX.7 Successful candidates will take Office on May 1 of the year of the election.

Motion Defeated (5 to 3)

On January 13, 2025 during its first NCR Executive Board meeting with newly elected NCR directors, Dmitry moved the motion prepared by the NCR By-Laws and Policies Committee (BLPC), of which he was Chair, to discuss the NCR Electoral Reform at the upcoming in April NCR Council (See all motions moved by Dmitry during this meeting here).

Despite very low attendance at this meeting -- only 8 out of 13 executives were able to attend it. Of these were two were former directors whose mandate has officially ended in December 2024 but who were "asked" (Motion carried at their last executive meeting in December 2024) to stay past their term until NCR Council in April, and only one of the new four directors -- forum was called, and Dmitry's motion was defeated: 5 to 3.

Of those 8 executives who attended the meeting, only two others, beside Dmitry, supported the motion: the newly elected director, and the Chief Steward. The remaining five board members voted against the motion. By doing so, they effectively reinforced the apparent or perceived conflict of interest highlighted in the rationale for why NCR electoral reform is urgently needed, as they personally have benefited from the current electoral process.

None of the objections stated against the Electoral Reform -- such as "prohibitive cost", "only groups are allowed to do electronically because of their geographically spread" , "it is against the NCR by-laws", "this will disenfranchise some members" (without stating which exactly members will the reform disenfranchise) -- withstand the scrutiny as compelling grounds to block this much-needed improvement for the transparency and operation of the Union in the National Capital Region.

Furthermore, No interest to further discuss any of the issues raised by the BLPC-developed Electoral Reform proposal -- neither at the time when these issues were first presented to the executives in September 2024, nor before or after the motion was brought forward in January 2025 - was shown by anyone among the NCR executives. There was not a single email or off-the-room conversation initiated to discuss the motion, despite by multiple attempts to do so. - In stark contrast to many other topics (such as social activities or NCR jackets etc) that have seen lengthy online and off-line discussions.

Timeline of Electoral Reform Efforts

April 2024:

Dmitry is elected to the NCR Executive, vowing to advocate for better transparency and member representation.

May 2024:

At his first NCR Executive Meeting, Dmitry is appointed Chair of the NCR By-Laws Policies Committee (BLPC) and tasked with inviting members to form the committee.

June 2024:

Dmitry invites two colleagues from his interdepartmental data science community of practice to join the NCR BLPC.
The NCR Executive Board approves the new NCR BLPC members at its second meeting.

July 2024:

The NCR BLPC holds its first meeting and identifies several opportunities for improving NCR operations.
The main recommendation is Electoral Reform—changing the bylaws to allow all NCR members to vote in elections via an electronic voting system, similar to national elections.
This recommendation is informally communicated to the NCR Executive Board at its third meeting, with further discussion planned for the next meeting.

August 2024:

Dmitry is on vacation and unable to attend the NCR Executive meeting. Discussion on Electoral Reform is postponed.

September 2024:

The NCR BLC reiterates its recommendations to the NCR Executive Board, requesting that Electoral Reform be added to the agenda for the next meeting.
Dmitry gathers feedback from the former NCR BLPC Chair and Chairs of various groups that use electronic elections.

October 2024:

The first draft of the Electoral Reform proposal is developed and presented to the NCR Executive Board.
Four senior executives express strong objections and recommend that Dmitry consult the National Bylaws and Elections Committee before further discussion.
Their objections are recorded and addressed in the next draft.

November 2024:

Feedback from NCR Executives, Elections@pipsc.ca, and groups using electronic ballots is received and incorporated into the proposal.

December 2024:

A formal request for approval of the NCR Election Change proposal is submitted to the National Bylaws and Policies Committee (BLPC).

January 2025:

The motion is presented to the NCR Executive Board, with a new Director and two previous Directors voting.

Scenario 1: NCR Board votes in favour

NCR execurives submit Resolution to the NCR Council

Scenario 2 (Current): NCR Board votes against

A private member resolution can still be submitted to the NCR Council, but it will be deprioritized and placed at the bottom of the resolution list.

March 5, 2025:

Resolutions are submitted to the NCR Executive Board to ensure inclusion in the NCR Council workbook.

April 4, 2025:

The Electoral Reform proposal is presented for voting at the NCR Council.

Scenario A: Resolution Approved

The resolution passes with majority support (over 50% of delegates).
2026 and beyond: The new electoral process is implemented, marking a major victory for democracy within PIPSC.

Scenario B: Resolution Rejected

The resolution fails due to either:
- Lack of time for discussion (as often happens with deprioritized resolutions).
- Defeat by a delegate majority, many of whom have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.
2026 and beyond: No electoral changes. A significant loss for democracy within PIPSC.

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