Minutes of the Board of Directors' Special Meeting - April 29, 2024 – Virtual Meeting
Attendees
Members of the Board of Directors (the Board):
- Paul Walsh, Chairperson
- Mary Reid, Vice-Chairperson
- William Adair, Director
- Wissam Constantin, Director
- Kory Earle, Director
- Maureen Haan, Director
- Brad McCannell, Director
Regrets:
Laurie Ringaert, Director
Christopher Sutton, Director
Accessibility Standards Canada Public Officers:
- Philip Rizcallah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
- Dino Zuppa, Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Director General, Standards and Research
- Andrée Deslauriers, Director, Governance, Policy, and Engagement
- Philipe Sarrazin, Chief Financial Officer and Director General, Corporate Services
- Martine Bareil, Chief of Staff, CEO’s Office
- Daniel Morin, Manager, Governance
- Valerie Patrick, Senior Data Analyst, Corporate Services
- Jasmine Desloges, Coordinator, Governance
- Hangameh Mumtazi, Coordinator, Governance
- Badra Benyamina, Junior Policy Analyst, Governance, Engagement
Minutes
1. Welcoming remarks and roll call
- 44-1 Motion presented, seconded and carried by all to open the meeting at 12:03 p.m. EST.
2. Land acknowledgement
- P. Walsh presented a land acknowledgement as a small act of reconciliation with Indigenous people of the St. John’s region from where he was participating.
3. Motion to extend the meeting beyond two hours
- 44-2 Motion presented, seconded and carried by all that section 4.5.3 of the Governance policy be suspended only for this meeting to allow the meeting to be held beyond the allocated 2 hours duration.
4. Board meeting agenda
Document 3A: Agenda
- 44-3 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board approve the agenda, with modification for item 9 that M. Haan is presenter.
5. Minutes of Board meetings
Document 5A: Board minutes of November 16, 2023
Document 5B: Board minutes of December 11-12, 2023
Document 5C: Board minutes of January 17, 2024
Document 5D: Board minutes of February 12, 2024
- 44-4 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board approve the minutes of the Board meetings 5A, 5B (with modification to add “Me” before the name Paul-Claude Bérubé), 5C, and 5D, as presented.
6. 2023-2024 ASC Annual report
Document 6A: Briefing Note
Document 6B: 2023-2024 ASC Annual report
- P. Sarrazin presented the 2023-2024 Accessibility Standards Canada Annual report.
- An accessible PDF format will be presented to the Treasury Board Secretariat and will then be tabled to Parliament.
- Board members suggested revisions to current Annual Report and advised on future reports.
- 44-5 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board approve the 2023 to 2024 ASC Annual Report as modified, with removal of bullets on page 8, emphasis on key accomplishments, and modification of texts as discussed by Board members.
- Action: M. Reid will send text editing to P. Sarrazin by Friday, May 3, 2024.
7. ICT Standard (Information and communication technology products and services
Document 7A: Briefing note
Document 7B: ICT standard
- D. Zuppa provided a summary of the ICT standard which covered areas of application and intent, benefits and gaps, as well as alignment with the organization’s standards and bases. This is the first standard to be recommended to the Minister.
- The present ICT standard has already received approval and application in 30 countries. The standard would ensure that ICT products and services in Canada are accessible and applicable to people with disabilities.
- Shared Service Canada tested the standard to ensure it was applicable as they would be the Department to apply this standard. Accessible Directorate Canada would be responsible for the regulation for the standard if approved by the Minister.
- 44-6 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board approve the standard “CAN/ASC - EN 301 549:2024” to be submitted to the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities and recommended for adoption into regulation, as presented.
Action: A technical briefing session will be scheduled between D. Zuppa and the Board members to further understand and discuss the content of the ICT standard with emphasis on plain language. Going forward, technical briefings to be provided in advance of standard approval. Board members asked to consider other ways of receiving information on standards that are ready for final approval.
8. New items presented by the CEO
- Board of Directors:
- The Privy Council Office confirmed that all directors who were renewed have been informed.
- Affordable Housing:
- Based on the recent Government of Canada budget to invest in accessible housing, the CEO presented the opportunity for the organization to prepare a guide for “Accessible Ready Housing”.
- The housing guide could include items such as cost estimates for making it accessible to offset future expenses from the beginning, readiness of homes to adapt to any disability now and in the future, and blueprints of features for accessibility.
- The CEO recommended that a Scope of Work-Terms of Reference for “Accessible Ready Housing” be created for a technical committee to prepare the work. Development will be based on some of the built environment standards already in place.
- Board members advised:
- following SAFERhome’s model, and
- visitable requirements.
- Board members to provide further criteria to include in the technical committee on accessible ready housing.
Action: B. Adair and a public officer will prepare a briefing note and motion to present to Board members for an email vote. The document Scope of Work (Terms of Reference) for Accessible Ready Housing will be included in the voting mailout. The voting email and documents will be sent out in the next few days.
Update concerning the email vote on “Accessible Ready Housing”:
The result of the Board email vote held on the amended motion on May 1, 2024 was confirmed on May 2, 2024.
- 44-11 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board approve the proposed Scope of Work for a standard on Accessible Ready Housing, and that the Board strongly recommends the standard address essential components including a level entry, wider doorways, and a washroom on the main floor.
9. In-Camera session
- CEO Performance assessment for 2023 to 2024
- CEO Commitments for 2024 to 2025
- 44-7 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board proceed to the in-camera session.
- 44-8 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board approve the CEO performance assessment for 2023 to 2024 as presented.
- ACTION: CEO commitments for 2024-2025 will be presented to Board members in the next few days for email voting with motion to approve. Board members will forward their vote to the Chairperson by Monday, May 6, 2024.
- 44-9 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all to end the in-camera session.
Update concerning the email vote on “CEO 2024-2025 Commitments”:
The result of the Board email vote held on the motion of April 30, 2024 was confirmed on May 8, 2024.
- 44-12 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all that the Board approve the CEO commitments for 2024-2025 as presented.
10. Concluding remarks and adjournment
The Chairperson thanked everyone for welcoming him to the Board of Directors.
- 44-10 Motion presented, seconded, and carried by all to adjourn the meeting at 3:08 p.m. EST.