Minutes of the

2017 Annual General Meeting

Held at Four Points Sheraton, Kingston, ON- 29 October 2017

Attendance

Board of Directors
Andrea Siew – President
Robert Smallwood– 1VP
Francois Messier – VPAP
Scotty Marshall - Treasurer
Lynn McFadden-Davies – Secretary
Patrick Morgan – Communications Director (elected)
Pete Manuge – Outreach Director (elected)
Greg Jensen - Strategic Advisor
Rob Nash – President Winnipeg Chapter (by teleconference)
Absent – Linda Lander Membership Secretary / Membership
LGen (Retd) Marc Lessard
Branch Advisor – Col Hugh Ferguson
BGen (Retd) Glenn Nordick
Dean Martins
LCol Mike Beauvais
Cdr Michael Barefoot
Cdr Sly Therriault
LCdr Jeff Ross
CPO1 Tom Scott
Ron MacPherson
Ron Roach
Neil Thompson
Gord Graham
Al Dickie
Chris Hordal

1.  Introduction. After coffee and pastries, the AGM was called to order at 0855hrs. The President announced that we have made our AGM accessible to all members for the first time with conference call capability to Europe and across the country. She then reported on the main CMIA activities since the last AGM on 29 Oct 2016. She commented on the last AGM Minutes from 2016 and asked if there were any questions. Nil response. A motion was made to accept the CMIA 2016 AGM Minutes by Sly Therriault and seconded by Glenn Nordick. Vote passed unanimously.

President’s Report

2.  General. Report was disseminated in advance to all members. Throughout 2017, CMIA experienced several successes. CMIA hosted the 35th Branch anniversary Gala coordinated with the reactivation of the CIntC on its 75th anniversary. The CANIC, Mental Health First-Aid courses, activation of the Winnipeg Chapter, Academic bursary, Benevolent fund use, launch of a CMIA Facebook page, republication of the Scarlett to Green book, launch of the membership management software, launch of the Weekly Bulletin, and growth of professional affiliations. Our partnership with TD Meloche Monnex Insurance (TD MMI) continues to develop and benefit the membership. The President announced that CMIA has now been incorporated for one year and that CMIA is in the final stages of completing its first tax return. The establishment of other Chapters appears to have stalled; however, there are numerous locations across Canada that have expressed interest, namely Kingston.

The President went on to congratulate Mr. Lee Platz for the General Weeks Award. Lastly, she highlighted CMIA’s greatest challenge continues to be member attraction and retention, being a national organization, and bilingualism.

3.  Financial Report. Report was disseminated in advance to all members. The President briefed the budget for 2017/18 fiscal year on behalf of the Treasurer. She reviewed the spending, liabilities and assets’ giving the bottom line that CMIA is healthy and may run a slight spending deficit in the upcoming fiscal year, but that it is manageable given the strength of financial position of the association. Questions from the membership were tabled and answered. Gord Graham raised a concern about the cost of postage for mailing coins. It was agreed that the Board would review the current process of mailing coins to new graduates from CFSMI. It was suggested that they could be presented on graduation. A motion to Approve the 2017/18 CMIA Budget was made by Ron Roach and seconded by Hugh Ferguson. Vote passed unanimously.

4.  Membership Report. Report was disseminated in advance to all members. The VP 1 briefed the Membership Report on behalf of the Membership Secretary, stating first despite several challenges we have had a modest but relatively steady increase in the membership for the past 4 years. Since Jan 2017 CMIA has approx. 132 new members. He went on to highlight new metrics on CMIA Membership:

a.  Serving vs non-serving: 80% serving vs 20% non-serving

b.  Regular vs Associate: 97% Regular vs ~3% Associate

c.  Regular vs Reserve: 77% is Regular vs ~23% is Reserve

5.  In summary, CMIA made significant process on our Membership database management and membership application process. Data is reliable and memberships are paid up. CMIA made significant progress in improving our communications with members through Get Response – almost always with positive feedback. He briefed that the Board will embark on a recruiting campaign from January to April.

6.  Discussion was generated by the attendees on possible solutions to increase membership including CFSMI briefings to 6A courses on the importance of the Association, adding a “where are they button” to our Facebook page, on Facebook add a “like” and receive free attendance to a CMIA event, Jeff Ross will provide email of serving members at release to the Association, offer a one year free membership on release, increase representation from outside of the NCR, and attracting with other groups in the intelligence realm (including MET, GEO, SIGINT and students).

7.  Changes in the Board of Directors. The President announced the resignations of Chuck Beatie as VP Communications and as a result the Board has split the position in two – Communications Director and Outreach Director. The President expressed her appreciation on behalf of the BOD and general membership for the 6 years Chuck gave as the VP 2 Communications. The President then introduced the volunteer for Outreach Director, Pete Manuge and Communications Director, Patrick Morgan. A motion to accept Pete Manuge as Outreach Director was made by Greg Jensen and seconded by Ron Roach. Membership unanimously voted in favour. A motion was made to accept Patrick Morgan as Communications Director by Mike Beauvais and seconded by Al Dickie. Membership unanimously voted in favour.

8.  By-Laws. The President requested a change to By-Law 1, Article 1.05, to amend the fiscal year date from 31 December to 30 June to align with our tax year. The motion to adopt the date change was made by Sly Therriault, seconded by Tom Scott and passed unanimously.

9.  There was a discussion to amend By-Law 1, Article 3.02 sub-para C on eligibility for Lifetime status. The President suggested changing the age from 65 to 75. After a lengthy discussion the motion to change the age was not passed. It was felt by the attendees that there was no requirement for a Lifetime status based on membership years and age. Therefore a motion to delete Article 3.02 sub-para C, eligibility for Lifetime Status, from Article 3.02 was made by Glenn Nordick and seconded by Greg Jensen. Motion was passed with 1 Nay and 22 Yays.

10.  Article 8.01 added sub-para G, Officer at Large for Fiduciary Oversight, who reports to the 1VP, with the role of providing oversight on the financial records and who can be called on to take over the duties of the Treasurer during periods of absence or dismissal, until their return or replacement is appointed. This position can be filled by either a Regular or Associate member. A motion was made to adopt the new Officer at Large for Fiduciary Oversight by Glenn Nordick, seconded by Greg Jensen and passed unanimously.

11.  Strategic Plan. The Plan was disseminated in advance to all members. The Strategic Advisor, Greg Jensen, gave an overview of CMIA’s Strategic Plan for the next five years (2018-2023). Questions and comments were tabled and answered by Greg. Of note was the commitment made by Cdr Barefoot to increase the CMIA presentation to all courses in house at CFSMI. The motion to endorse the Strategic Plan to further develop and implement was made by Sly Therriault and seconded by Mike Beauvais. The motion was passed unanimously. It was also suggested by Chris Hordal that the implementation progress be briefed at the next AGM.

12.  Support to CFSMI and Home Station. Cdr Barefoot briefed the membership on the well-established relationship CMIA has with CFSMI and thanked the BoD for all the support. He was concerned about the CMIA retention of CFSMI graduates and is committed to do his best to assist with the issue. He will provide feedback as he extends the CMIA presentation to all courses in house at CFSMI assisting with the problem set.

13.  The Cdr went on to explain the progress with the Home Station. He stated he does provide an annual report to the Branch Advisor on this progress and will share this report in future. He also highlighted the funding for the Intrepid Bar at Vimy Mess and when construction is anticipated to begin; how the C&E and Int Branch have had three initiatives and the success and bonding that has come from them; and that the C&E Museum is willing to allow the Int Branch to have a display within the museum. All exciting developments. He thanked CMIA for funding to support the preservation of artifacts at CFSMI but suggested we need to re-establish the Historical Committee.

14.  Awards. The President announced to the membership the winner of the CMIA Award Mr. Trevor Cave and gave a short synopsis of his contributions to CMIA as the Treasurer. The gift is a gift certificate and a Lifetime membership to CMIA. The Education Bursary was awarded to Ashley Gellert, daughter of WO Gellert. It was a tough decision as all five applicants were very strong.

15.  Winnipeg Chapter Report. Report was disseminated in advance to all members. The CMIA Winnipeg Chapter stood up in January 2017 in accordance with the MOU established by CMIA BoD. They have a body of three for their BoD (president, vice-president, and treasurer), the Chapter President is Robert Nash. Rob Nash provided a summary of his Report.

16.  They’ve held one event to date, a summer BBQ, which hosted approximately 30-35 persons. They supported the Air Intelligence Dinner and will host their first AGM on 1 Nov 17. The CMIA grant of $500 supported the Chapter with the purchase of a banner, assisted with the BBQ and will support the upcoming AGM.

17.  The year ahead will see the focus on building the network with the Met School and the JMC Gagetown and support the next Forecasters course in December 2017. Other focuses will include the “Old and Bold” project, an outreach initiative in Winnipeg to contact former Int Branch members and build a relationship with the Intrepid Society.

18.  Scarlett to Green Project. Dean Martins gave the membership an update on the Scarlett to Green book project and where the initiative has led the CMIA. Book will hopefully be published by January 2018. Questions from the membership were tabled and answered by Dean.

19.  New Business. The attendees proposed the following: For a follow-on Anniversary Weekend event in Kingston to open CFSMI for retired Int Branch members to tour the school; the CO of the CFSMI as an observer on the CMIA BoDs; and lastly, provide the CD of historic pictures and the Rivers video for sale to the membership.

20.  Conclusion. The President closed indicating that work towards CMIA’s internal organization and processes will continue, and that CMIA continues in a good financial position to support major events, such as the CANIC, IOT, and other smaller events such as Home Station. She also thanked all the membership for attending and participating in the AGM and if there were follow-on comments please feel free to email them to the Secretary. The President requested a motion to adjourn CMIA AGM 2017. Al Dickie made the motion to adjourn the CMIA AGM 2017 and Sly Therriault seconded it. The vote was passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 1203hrs, 29 October 2017.

(Original Signed)

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Produced by Lynn McFadden-Davies, Secretary

(Original Signed)

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Approved by Andrea Siew, President

12 November 2017

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