Minutes of the Board of Directors’ Regular Meeting - September 13 to 15, 2021
Attendees
Members of the Board of Directors (the Board):
- Me Paul-Claude Bérubé, Chairperson
- Mary Reid, Vice-Chairperson
- William Adair, Director
- Kory Earle, Director
- Maureen Haan, Director
- Penny Hartin, Director
- Brad McCannell, Director
- Dr. Joe McLaughlin, Director
- Laurie Ringaert, Director
Accessibility Standards Canada Public Officers:
- Philip Rizcallah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
- Philipe Sarrazin, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Director General, Corporate Services
- Dino Zuppa, Senior Director, Standards and Grants and Contributions
- Maggie Saunders, Director, Intergovernmental Affairs
- Louis-Philippe Daigle, Manager, Governance and Reporting, and Deputy Chief Financial Officer
- Micah Walter, A/Senior Policy Analyst, Governance and Reporting
- Christopher Collmorgen, Manager, Stakeholder Engagement (September 14)
- Martine Bareil, Manager, Communications (September 14)
- Matthew Zic, Senior Program Advisor (September 15, 2021)
- Daname Gogue, Manager, Grants and Contributions (September 15)
- Jasmine Desloges, Coordinator, Governance and Reporting
- Anthony Jolicoeur, Coordinator, Governance and Reporting
Minutes
Monday, September 13, 2021
1. Welcoming remarks and roll call
The meeting opened with a roll call and words of welcome from the Chairperson.
The Chairperson congratulated Laurie Ringaert, Kory Earle, Brad McCannell and Mary Reid for the renewal of their terms as members of the Board of Directors of Accessibility Standards Canada.
23-1 Motion presented and seconded to open the meeting at 12:00 p.m.
Carried by all.
2. Land acknowledgement
Director Joe McLaughlin presented a land acknowledgement in honour of Indigenous peoples of the province of British Columbia, from where he was participating in the virtual meeting, as Accessibility Standards Canada affirms its commitment to reconciliation.
3. Board meeting agenda
Document 3A: Proposed agenda
The Chairperson presented the proposed agenda for approval.
23-2 Motion presented and seconded to approve the agenda of the Board of Directors’ regular meeting held on September 13, 14 and 15, 2021 with modifications to the content of the agenda. Item 18 on the agenda “Risk Management” was postponed to the December 2021 Board meeting, and the item “Contribution of the Board” was added under the subject matter “Other Business”, item 47.
Carried by all.
4. Declared Conflict of interest form and confidentiality statement
The Chairperson reminded Board members to sign the form and to return them to him by the end of the day.
5. Get to know me
Director Brad McCannell gave a summary of his life and work experience to his fellow Board members.
6. Minutes of Board meetings: June 1-2, 2021 and June 17, 2021
Document 6A: Regular Board meeting minutes (June 1-2, 2021)
Document 6B: Special Board meeting minutes (June 17, 2021)
The Chairperson noted that there were differences between the English and the French versions of these minutes. He suggested that the Board approve the minutes and he will make some verifications to know why the minutes do not say the same in both languages and report to the Board at the next Board meeting.
23-3 Motion presented and seconded to approve the minutes of the Board of Directors regular meeting held on June 1-2, 2021 as presented on September 13, 2021.
Carried by all.
23-4 Motion presented and seconded to approve the minutes of the Board of Directors Special Meeting held on June 17, 2021 as presented on September 13, 2021.
Carried by all.
7. Board of Directors’ appointments (Governor in Council)
The earliest the Board could anticipate any additional appointments to fill the two available positions on the Board of Directors would be in the spring 2022.
8. Appointment of independent standing committee members
The Chairperson recommended that this item be postponed to the December 2021 Board meeting after the new structure for Standing Committees is put in place in the coming months.
23-5 Motion presented and seconded that the item “Appointment of independent standing committee members” be postponed to the December 2021 Board meeting and that Chairs of Standing Committees review this item in preparation for the next Board meeting.
Carried by all.
9. Board member resignation process
At the special Board meeting of June 17, 2021, Board members agreed to put into effect a resignation process to be included in the By-law and Governance policy. This item was further discussed under the item “By-law and Policy Review”.
10. Business arising
Document 11A: Action item list
Document 11B: Board motions list
Both documents were reviewed and it was recommended that some of the actions in the completed list be removed.
11. Correspondence
No item to report on this matter.
12. Chairperson’s update
The Chairperson presented a verbal report outlining his activities since the last Board meeting. Discussion followed with a proposal from Director Laurie Ringaert to consider a “Consent Agenda” for future Board meetings. This would mean that business items would be presented at the beginning of a meeting and conversations on strategic areas would follow. This item was deferred to the new Internal Affairs committee to be reviewed and presented at a future Board meeting.
13. Standing Committees membership
Document 8A: Briefing note
Director Brad McCannell stated that the proposal to create 2 Standing Committees in lieu of the current 4 Standing Committees is in agreement with the discussions held at the June 17, 2021 Board meeting and specifically the document “Recommendations for Board Performance” (document 30B). The Governance policy modifications presented at the meeting reflect the new Standing Committee structure.
23-6 Motion presented and seconded to modify the Standing Committee structure from 4 to 2 committees, including the “Internal Affairs Committee” and “External Affairs Committee”, as presented on September 13, 2021. The members of the Internal Affairs Committee are Directors Mary Reid, Maureen Haan, Laurie Ringaert, and Joe McLaughlin as Chair of the Committee. The members of the External Affairs Committee are Directors Brad McCannell, Penny Hartin, Kory Earle, and Bill Adair as Chair of the Committee.
Carried by all.
While Board members approved the Chairperson’s suggested committee member appointments, they also proposed to develop a process whereby all Board members would be involved in future discussions on the selection of committee members.
The Chairperson thanked all Directors for their committee work over the past two years and particularly the past Chairs of the Standing committees: Kory Earle (GC), Maureen Haan (SPC), Penny Hartin (ERC) and Brad McCannell (PAC).
14. CEO’s update
Document 15A: CEO’s report
Document 15B: 3-year rolling strategic plan
The CEO, Philip Rizcallah, presented a summary report outlining the latest activities of the organization. The report explicitly linked activities to the 3-year rolling strategic plan to show the organization’s progress.
The CEO stated that the planned youth engagement event is being postponed to next year because of the federal election. He added that planning is still underway.
There has been some internal restructuring and changes in some of the reporting relationships and responsibilities since the Chief Operating Officer has left the organization. The focus of staffing efforts will be on the Grants and Contributions and the Standards Development teams. There are plans underway to develop a centre of expertise on topics and questions related to research and standards development.
There was interest from Board members to attend a workshop on disability etiquette which would be provided by a staff member of Accessibility Standards Canada.
15. CFO’s update
Document 16A: Financial report
The CFO, Philip Sarrazin, presented a summary report of the financial results for the year 2020 to 2021 for Accessibility Standards Canada. 89% of the total budget was used for this fiscal year and the unspent portion was mainly due to COVID-19 and the stabilization of operations. Integrated planning strategies will be applied for the new fiscal year to allocate resources to priorities. The first quarterly financial report for the year 2021 to 2022 is now available on the organization’s website.
16. Risk management
Document 18A: Briefing note – Risk mitigation
This item was postponed to the December 2021 Board meeting.
17. Governance Committee update
Document 19A: Committee report
The Chair of the Governance Committee, Kory Earle, presented the committee update.
18. Board training follow-up
The Chair of the Governance Committee reported that there were no other items to present.
19. By-law and policy review
Director Kory Earle, gave a summary of the By-law and policy review process that the Governance Committee underwent over the summer. The final proposed changes were identified in each document.
Because of time constraints this item and the two following items on the agenda for the day were postponed to the following meeting day.
23-7 Motion presented and seconded to adjourn the meeting at 4:00 p.m.
Carried by all.
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
20. Welcoming remarks and roll call
The meeting opened with a roll call and words of welcome from the Chairperson.
The Chairperson informed Board members that all members have sent him their “Declared Conflict of Interest Form and Confidentiality Statement”.
23-8 Motion presented and seconded to open the meeting at 12:00 p.m.
Carried by all.
21. Land acknowledgement
Director Bill Adair presented a land acknowledgement in honour of Indigenous peoples in the province of Ontario, from where he was participating in the virtual meeting.
22. By law and policy review (continued from previous day)
Document 21A: Briefing note – By-law and policy review
Document 21B: Briefing note – Standing committees membership
Document 21E: Governance policy annual review
Document 21C: By-law
23-9 Motion presented and seconded to approve the proposed amendments in the By-law as presented on September 14, 2021.
Carried by all.
Document 21D: Governance policy
23-10 Motion presented and seconded to approve the proposed amendments in the Governance policy as presented on September 14, 2021 with modifications.
Carried by all.
The modifications were noted and will appear in the Action Item List document presented for the December 2021 Board meeting. The Governance policy with amendments and modifications as approved will replace the current policy.
Board members also agreed to defer two proposals raised during the meeting to the Internal Affairs Committee:
- The proposal from Director Penny Hartin to stagger standing committee member term lengths to avoid full turnover; and
- The proposal from the Vice-Chairperson to reconsider the section about voting and references related to “give up one’s vote” (abstain).
Document 21F: Code of conduct and ethics
23-11 Motion presented and seconded to approve the proposed amendments in the Code of conduct and ethics policy as presented on September 14, 2021.
Carried by all.
Document 21G: Whistleblower policy
23-12 Motion presented and seconded to approve the proposed amendments in the Whistleblower policy as presented on September 14, 2021.
Carried by all.
Document 21H: Recruitment policy
23-13 Motion presented and seconded to amend the Recruitment policy with modifications on page 4, to replace the words “Nominations Committee” with “Internal Affairs Committee”.
Carried by all
Document 21I: Travel reimbursement and salary per diem reimbursement guidelines
23-14 Motion presented and seconded to approve the proposed changes in the Travel reimbursement and salary per diem reimbursement guidelines as presented on September 14, 2021 with modifications.
Carried by all.
The modifications to the “Travel reimbursement and salary per diem reimbursement guidelines” will be included in the Action Item List document to be presented at the December 2021 Board meeting.
23. Summary whistleblower report
Document 22B: Summary whistleblower report
The Vice-Chairperson presented this item stating that a Summary whistleblower report is presented at a Board meeting once a year. No concerns were presented under the Whistleblower policy during the past year.
24. Communications protocol review
Document 27A: Briefing note
Document 27B: Communications protocol
The Vice-Chairperson presented the amendments to the Communications protocol.
23-15 Motion presented and seconded to approve the proposed amendments to the Communications protocol as presented on September 14, 2021.
Carried by all.
25. Performance Appraisal Committee update
The Chair of the Performance Appraisal Committee, Brad McCannell, presented the committee update. No questions followed.
26. Board assessment form and process
Document 29A: Briefing note
Document 29B: Board assessment form and process
Document 29C: Board evaluation questionnaire
The Chair of the Performance Appraisal Committee, Brad McCannell, informed Board members that the committee has streamlined the Board evaluation process. The Committee addressed items in the previous assessment report done by the consultant and proposed a new draft process. The questionnaire is to be approved for its content. The approved questionnaire is to be sent out by SurveyMonkey. The timeline for the evaluation process was also presented.
23-16 Motion presented and seconded to approve the documents 29B (Board Assessment Form and Process) and 29C (Board Evaluation Questionnaire) as presented on September 14, 2021 with modifications.
Carried by all.
27. Performance appraisal committee: Recommendations for Board performance
Document 30A: Briefing note
Document 30B: Recommendations for Board performance
Board members were informed that the recommendations proposed in document 30B came from the external evaluation report provided by the consultant and the committee responded to these recommendations one-by-one as outlined in the document.
The Chairperson proposed that recommendations 7 to 10 be removed as these have been reviewed in previous discussions. Another proposal was to replace “standing committees” with the “Internal Affairs Committee”. The Chairperson and CEO will review the list of recommendations and refer them to the appropriate committee if action is needed.
23-17 Motion presented and seconded to approve the Performance Appraisal Committee’s list of recommendations for Board performance as presented on September 14, 2021 with modifications.
Carried by all.
28. Communication Disabilities Access Canada presentation
Due to being in caretaker mode during the election period, it was not possible for Ms. Barbara Collier of Communications Disabilities Access Canada (CDAC) to attend the meeting for her presentation.
23-18 Motion presented and seconded to postpone the invitation to Ms. Barbara Collier of CDAC to the next Board meeting. A letter of invitation will be sent to Ms. Collier to attend the December 2021 Board meeting.
Carried by all
29. Harmonization work with provinces and territories
Document 33A: Briefing note
The CEO and the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, Maggie Saunders, presented an update on the recent activities and partnerships developed with the provinces. Because of the federal election and the caretaker convention, the work is presently focused on research, drafting documentation, and organizing work for when the organization can resume external engagement.
30. External Relations Committee update
Document 34A: Committee report
The Chair of the External Relations Committee, Penny Hartin, presented the committee report. No questions followed.
31. Annual Public Meeting report
Document 35A: Briefing note
Document 35B: Annual Public Meeting report
Document 35C: Presentation – APM report
Director Penny Hartin, presented the Annual Public Meeting report for information and discussion purposes. It was recommended that Board members review the document and that all modifications or recommendations be sent to the Manager of Stakeholder Engagement, Christopher Collmorgen. The committee will then review these recommendations and present this item at the December 2021 Board meeting.
32. Communications and stakeholder engagement strategies
Document 37A: Briefing note
Document 37B: Communications strategy
Document 37C: Stakeholder engagement strategy
Document 37D: Spokespersons guidelines
Document 37E: Spokespersons-Board form (Bilingual)
Document 37F: Spokespersons-Board form (English)
Document 37G: Presentation - Strategies
The Manager of Communications, Martine Bareil, presented the Communications strategy for 2021 to 2022. The strategy outlined the objectives, target audiences, approaches and key activities, and included a section on “risks and considerations” which will be monitored regularly. Board members recommended involving industry at the early stages of activities.
The Manager of Stakeholder Engagement, Christopher Collmorgen, presented the Stakeholder engagement strategy for the period of April 2021 to March 2023. The strategy contains all elements of the original strategy with the addition of a section on “risks and considerations”. These will influence the way in which programming is carried out to achieve the organization’s goals and deliver on the mandate. Board members agreed that this document provides a good foundation for generative discussions.
Board members reviewed the updated Spokespersons guidelines and forms used to respond to external requests. It was agreed that unilingual forms would be used to allow easier operation of screen readers.
23-19 Motion presented and seconded to approve the 2021 to 2022 Communications strategy as presented on September 14, 2021 with modifications as well as the 2020 to 2023 Stakeholder engagement strategy, the Spokespersons guidelines and the Spokespersons forms, in English and French only, as presented on September 14, 2021. Future adjustments to both strategies will be provided by the External Affairs Committee.
Carried by all.
33. Concluding remarks
The Chairperson recommended that Item 38 (Protocol of Meetings and Presentations from Stakeholders) on the agenda be presented at the next day of the meeting, September 15, 2021.
23-20 Motion presented to adjourn the meeting at 4:00 p.m.
Carried by all.
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
34. Welcoming remarks and roll call
The meeting opened with a roll call and words of welcome from the Chairperson.
23-21 Motion presented and seconded to open the meeting at 12:00 p.m.
Director Laurie Ringaert requested and it was accepted that item 20 on the agenda (Board training follow-up) be added to the item “Other business”.
Carried by all.
35. Land acknowledgement
Director Kory Earle presented a land acknowledgement in honour of Indigenous peoples in the province of Ontario, from where he was participating in the virtual meeting.
The Chairperson designated the following persons to present the Land acknowledgement at the December 2021 Board meeting: Directors Maureen Haan and Penny Hartin, and CEO Philip Rizcallah.
It was recommended by the Chairperson that item 38 (Protocol of Meetings and Presentations from Stakeholders) on the agenda be postponed until after the in-camera session.
23-22 Motion presented and seconded to postpone item 38 (Protocol of Meetings and Presentations from Stakeholders) until after the in-camera session.
Carried by all.
36. Technical committee criteria: Process for selecting members to technical committees
Document 43A: Briefing note
Document 43B: Technical committee selection process
The Senior Director of Standards and Grants and Contributions, Dino Zuppa, presented the process for selection of technical committee members. It was stated that the organization is presently undergoing an assessment to obtain Standards Council of Canada (SCC) accreditation to become a recognized standard development organization.
All terms of reference are written based on the criteria established by the SCC. The Accessibility Standards Canada process for selecting members of technical committee makes it mandatory that each technical committee have a minimum of 30% of members who identify as people with disabilities. To date, the technical committees have been averaging well over 30% participation of people with disabilities. It was also highlighted that this was the first time that the SCC was assessing an organization with a mandatory minimum of 30% participation by people with disabilities.
23-23 Motion presented and seconded to approve the document entitled Process for selecting members of the technical committees, as presented on September 15, 2021.
Carried by all.
37. Technical committee terms of reference
Document 44A: Briefing note
Document 44B: Technical committee terms of reference
Document 44C: Terms of reference - Wayfinding and signage
Document 44D: Terms of reference - Emergency measures
The Senior Director of Standards and Grants and Contributions presented the terms of reference of the proposed wayfinding and signage as well as emergency measures technical committees. The importance and alignment of each proposed technical committee was highlighted.
23-24 Motion presented and seconded to approve the Terms of reference for the Technical Committee on Wayfinding and Signage and for the Technical Committee on Emergency Measures, and the document 44B (Technical committee terms of reference), as presented on September 15, 2021.
Carried by all.
38. Grants and contributions: Results for research proposals
Document 45A: Results for research proposals
The Manager of Grants and Contributions, Daname Gogue, presented a summary on the outcomes of the latest research proposals for the period of 2021 to 2022, with a brief description of both the assessment and funding decision processes. Once funding decisions are made and funding agreements are signed with all selected applicants, the funding information will be posted online in accordance with the Government of Canada’s commitment to an open government.
Discussion by Board members on having equally balanced partnerships between researchers and people with disabilities.
39. Departmental results report
Document 46A: Briefing note
Document 46B: Departmental results report
The CFO, Philipe Sarrazin, presented the final version of the 2020 to 2021 Departmental Results Report for approval. This is the first report presented in response to a Departmental Plan set for the same year. A few editing changes will be made as recommended by Board members. Once approved by the Board of Directors, the report will be submitted to the Minister for approval. It will then be submitted to Treasury Board Secretariat for the President of the Treasury Board to table it in Parliament along with the reports of other departments and agencies.
23-25 Motion presented and seconded to approve the Accessibility Standards Canada 2020 to 2021 Departmental Results Report, as presented on September 15, 2021.
Carried by all.
40. Strategic Planning Committee update
Document 48A: Committee report
The Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, Maureen Haan, presented the committee update. No questions followed.
41. Strategic plan follow-up
The CEO’s office will now be responsible for reporting on the Strategic plan in lieu of the Strategic Planning Committee. The new “Internal Affairs Committee” of the Board will review the Strategic plan moving forward.
23-26 Motion presented and seconded that a 3-year Strategic plan replace the current 3-year Rolling strategic plan.
Carried by all.
42. Annual calendar update
Document 50A: Board meeting dates - Winter and spring 2022
The Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, Maureen Haan, presented the proposed dates for the next Board meetings to be held in the winter and spring of 2022. The proposed dates are as follows: February 9 to 11, 2022, March 30 to April 1, 2022 and May 30 to June 1, 2022. The spring Board meeting will be held during National AccessAbility Awareness Week and will include the Annual Public Meeting.
23-27 Motion presented and seconded that the proposed dates for the winter (February 9 to 11, 2022) and spring (March 30 to April 1, 2022 and May 30 to June 1, 2022) Board meetings be accepted as presented on September 15, 2021.
Carried by all.
43. Roadmap to 2040
Document 51A: Briefing note
Document 51B: Roadmap to 2040
Director Maureen Haan, presented the final draft Roadmap to 2040 and discussed additional modifications. Board members agreed to several modifications to clarify sections in the document.
It was recommended that the 3-year Strategic plan for the organization be reviewed to consider how the Roadmap to 2040 impacts it.
23-28 Motion presented and seconded to approve the Roadmap to 2040 as presented on September 15, 2021 with modifications.
Carried by all.
44. Generative discussion
Document 53A: Briefing note
Director Maureen Haan guided the discussion and reminded Board members that topic suggestions for the generative discussion item can be referred to the Chair of Internal Affairs Committee for review. The Board member who made the suggestion for a chosen topic would be the one to guide the discussion. Board members then proceeded to discuss the topic of Canadian identity.
45. In-camera session
23-29 Motion proposed and seconded to proceed to an in-camera session with invitation to the CEO.
Carried by all.
23-30 Motion proposed and seconded to return to the meeting for the remainder of the items.
Carried by all.
46. Protocol of meetings and presentations from stakeholders
Document 38A: Briefing note
Document 38B: Protocol of meetings and presentations from stakeholders
Document 38C: Presentation – Protocol
23-31 Motion presented and seconded to postpone the presentation of the document 38B (Protocol of Meetings and Presentations from Stakeholders). The External Affairs Committee will review the document and this item will be presented at the December 2021 Board meeting.
Carried by all.
47. Other business
a) Governance Committee training
The Chair of the Governance Committee reported that the Committee met the day before regarding Indigenous awareness training and specifically step 1 of the plan. It was decided that Directors Bill Adair and Kory Earle would co-facilitate the training with Director Laurie Ringaert. The Committee proposed the following date for the training: Thursday, November 4, 2021 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. EST. Resource materials will be provided prior to the training date.
23-32 Motion presented and seconded to move forward with the proposed plan for the Indigenous awareness training for November 4, 2021, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. EST.
Carried by all.
b) Contribution of the Board
Board members recently received a briefing note for information which outlined the conditions and criteria under which staff members can request advice or a special task from Board members. These conditions were further expanded upon and clarified relative to the Board mandate. Board members would follow the conditions and criteria under which staff members can request advice or a special task and the conflict of interest requirements as outlined in the By-law.
48. Concluding remarks
The Vice-Chairperson recognized on behalf of the Chairperson the contribution of all Board members and all staff in the preparation for the three day meeting. The CEO reiterated that support will be provided to the two new Standing Committees.
49. Adjournment
23-33 Motion presented to adjourn the meeting at 3:57 p.m.
Carried by all.