Annual Meeting Backgrounder
1. Slide 1
MUSICAL INTRO
F: Welcome to a presentation designed to give you some background information on ETFO's Annual Meeting.
2. Slide 2
M: To navigate through this presentation, click on the forward button on the toolbar below. Once this presentation has finished downloading, you will also be able to navigate using the menu buttons on this page.
3. Slide 3
M: Annual Meeting takes place every year in August. ETFO, like other trade unions, is a member-based, democratic organization. The Annual Meeting is the primary venue for members--represented by delegates from the locals--to determine the priorities and actions the federation will undertake on their behalf.
F: The Annual Meeting ratifies the priorities of the organization, elects the Executive, approves the budget and fee, amends the Constitution, votes on resolutions, and fulfills a variety of other responsibilities.
4. Slide 4
F: Members of provincial Executive, delegates, functionaries and provincial office staff all attend the Annual Meeting.
M: The largest number of participants at Annual Meeting is the delegates from all the ETFO locals across Ontario. The number of delegates that a local sends to Annual Meeting is determined by the size of its membership. Each local sends a minimum of two voting delegates to the meeting as well as additional delegates calculated on the basis of one per every one hundred and twenty members of the local. The local may also send alternate delegates and observers to the meeting. For example, the Elementary Teachers of Toronto, ETFO's largest local, will send over 80 delegates to the meeting. On the other end of the spectrum, some locals will send two delegates to the meeting.
F: Functionaries are members who have volunteered to take on special responsibilities at the Annual Meeting, such as acting as poll clerks.
M: ETFO provincial office staff also attend Annual Meeting in a supporting role and to observe the proceedings. Following the meeting, staff will work to implement the programs and services approved at the meeting.
5. Slide 5
F: The bulk of the time at Annual Meeting is spent debating and voting on resolutions and the federation's yearly budget. In addition, there are a number of meetings for interest groups such as The Black Members' Caucus and the Joint Equity Members' Caucus. There are addresses by the Minister of Education, the leader of the New Democratic Party, ETFO's president, a social justice speaker, and representatives from the Ontario Teachers' Federation and the Canadian Teachers' Federation.
M: Celebratory events include the Annual Dinner and the yearly presentation of awards to recognize exemplary programs at the local level, distinguished academic achievements, and outstanding contributions to education and the federation by members and others. Finally, elections are held every two years for positions on the provincial Executive.
6. Slide 6
F: This year is an election year for the provincial Executive, and so delegates will hear speeches from all the candidates and have the opportunity to attend the candidates' hall on Tuesday evening to meet the candidates and ask any questions they may have.
M: Elections for the 14 provincial Executive positions will take place on Wednesday and will follow the order indicated on this slide. Following each election, unsuccessful candidates have time to indicate that they are interested in running for another position. When this occurs, delegates are given time to meet with their delegations to discuss their support of the candidates.
7. Slide 7
F: Candidates who submit their nomination forms by March 1st are listed on the ETFO website and in documents such as the Annual Meeting Booklet. However, members can also be nominated from the floor at the Annual Meeting.
M: This year, the candidates for President who submitted their nominations by March 1st include:
David Clegg from the York Region Teacher Local, and
Sam Hammond from the Hamilton-Wentworth Teacher Local.
F: The sole candidate at this time for First Vice-President is Barbara Burkett from the Ontario North East Teacher Local. Keep in mind, however, that the unsuccessful candidate from the election for President can choose to run for the position of First Vice-President.
8. Slide 8
M: The candidates for Vice-President nominated by March 1st include Martin Long from the Elementary Teachers of Toronto Local and Hilda Watkins from the Greater Essex County Teacher Local.
F: One of the Vice-President positions must be held by a woman, and the candidates contesting this position so far include Liz Papadopoulos from the Elementary Teachers of Toronto Local and Sharron Raymond from the Peel Teacher Local.
9. Slide 9
M: Hilda Watkins is the candidate for the position of OTF Representative.
10. Slide 10
M: The candidates for Executive Member who were nominated by March 1st include....
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F: Four of the Executive Member positions must be held by women. The candidates for these positions nominated by March 1st include...
M: To read messages from each of the candidates who was nominated by March 1st, please click on the button on the bottom of the page.
12. Slide 12
M: As stated previously, the vast majority of the time at Annual Meeting is spent debating and voting on resolutions. Many of these resolutions are amendments to ETFO's governance structure as outlined in its constitution, priorities, bylaws, policy statements, and position statements.
Other resolutions relate to the work that OTF does on behalf of Ontario's teachers, collective bargaining, the cause of equity in the federation and in society, the support provided by provincial office, and specific actions to be undertaken on behalf of the membership.
F: Some resolutions are tabled that deal directly with the ETFO budget, while many others have an impact on the budget as there are costs associated with implementing them if passed. To help delegates make informed decisions, budget projections are updated throughout the Annual Meeting to reflect the impact that various resolutions will have on ETFO's bottom line.
13. Slide 13
M: Here are some example resolutions--chosen randomly.
F: To read all the resolutions, click on the button at the bottom of the page.
14. Slide 14
F: For more information on ETFO's Annual Meeting, follow the link on this slide to the ETFO website.
M: And be sure to check your inbox for the next edition of the @ETFO eNewsletter, which will introduce the new ETFO Executive and outline some of the major events from Annual Meeting 2007.